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==Iloilo airport ready to accept int'l flights -CAAP==
*Source:http://www.philstar.com/nation/article.aspx?articleid=802225
*Monday, April 30, 2012 1:19 PM
:((JSC/LAF-PIA6 Iloilo))
ILOILO CITY, Philippines – The New Iloilo Airport is now ready to accept international flights, said Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) area manager Efren Nagrama on Monday.
Nagrama said that except for some last minute works such as putting up of counters and tables for the Bureau of Customs, Bureau of Immigration and Deportation and the Quarantine, the Iloilo airport in Sta. Barbara-Cabatuan towns is almost ready to accommodate international flights.
He confirmed that the Cebu Pacific airline company is already intending to start its direct international flight from Hong Kong and Singapore to Iloilo by October or November this year.
The CAAP official said the airport could now accommodate Airbus 330 which could carry around 300 passengers.
Iloilo Governor Arthur Defensor Sr. and Sen. Franklin M. Drilon are working together so that the Iloilo airport could finally accommodate international flights soon.
The duo were also instrumental in the relocation and upgrade of the airport from its old site in Mandurriao, Iloilo City to the new location in Sta. Barabara-Cabatuan towns which opened its doors to commercial traffic on June 14, 2007.
Nagrama said opening international flights would really have a big impact on the local economy and tourism as more foreign students from Hong Kong and Singapore could be invited to study in the prestigious universities here.
Overseas Filipino workers and tourists could also avail of direct flights to Iloilo without passing by Metro Manila or Cebu City.
==WV council tackles five-year plan for children==
*Source:http://www.pia.gov.ph/news/index.php?article=931335656700
*Sunday, April 29, 2012
:By Lilibeth A. French (JSC/LAF-PIA6 Iloilo)
ILOILO CITY, April 29 (PIA6) - - The Regional Sub-Committee for the Welfare of Children (RSCWC) in Western Visayas recently met for a two-day strategic planning to determine its direction towards the development of the children in the region for the next five years.
Department of Social Welfare and Development 6 Director Minda Brigoli said the activity is a realization of previous discussions on meetings about the various concerns for children in the region especially on how to pursue plans geared towards their development.
Brigoli added that also given attention during the recent presentation of accomplishments of various agencies on the seven millennium development goals for Western Visayas was on how to firm up plans for children along poverty and hunger, education, health, employment and others.
"We really wanted that our children get nurtured, protected and be provided with the necessary kind of care because we know their situation", said Brigoli as she lauded the participation of the representatives of some 25 member agencies in the activity which according to her was one of the suggestions of the Council for the Welfare of Children on how to run the affairs of the RSCWC.
Organized in 1990, RSCWC is composed of representatives of various agencies with DSWD as Chairperson. It served as the extension of CWC at the regional level and replicates the CWCs functions to coordinate the implementation and enforcement of laws relative to the promotion of child and youth welfare in the region.
Aside from coming up with a five-year inter-agency strategic plan of action, the activity revisited the roles and functions of RSCWC in terms of program implementation by its member agencies. It also sought to strengthen the RSCWC coordination, linkages and leadership in providing technical assistance to local government units especially in the Search for a Child Friendly LGUs.
CWC Executive Director Brenda Vigo who attended the strategic planning briefed the participants on the on-going search for the 2012 Presidential Award for Child Friendly Municipalities and Cities, a recognition given to deserving local government units for their vital role in promoting children’s rights to survival, development, protection and participation as well as in ensuring child-friendly governance.
==181 firms to offer 39, 234 jobs in May 1 job fairs==
*Source:http://www.pia.gov.ph/news/index.php?article=931335532256
*Saturday, April 28, 2012
:By Lilibeth A. French (JCM/LAF-PIA6)
ILOILO CITY, April 28 (PIA) -- Some 181 local companies and overseas recruitment agencies offering 39,234 jobs will join in the simultaneous job fairs that will be held in the cities of Iloilo and Bacolod for the Labor Day on May 1.
Data obtained from Department of Labor and Employment 6 showed that of the 181 participating agencies, 135 are local companies and 46 are overseas recruitment and manning agencies.
As of April 27, DOLE 6 data indicated that the 135 participating local companies committed to bring some 4,492 job positions including those in the Business Process Outsourcing while the 46 overseas recruitment and manning agencies have lined up some 34,742 sea and land based job opportunities.
Sixty-three firms with 3,826 local and overseas vacancies will participate in the Bacolod City job fair while 117 companies with 35,408 job opportunities both here and abroad will be at the Iloilo City job fair.
The venues for the job fairs in Iloilo City will be at SM City Mall in Mandurriao for the local companies and overseas recruitment and manning agencies while Amigo Plaza Mall in Iznart Street for the Business Process Outsourcing.
The participating firms will also be joined by about 10 government agencies aside from DOLE during the job fair to provide frontline services related to entrepreneurial opportunities and job applications.
Officials from the city and provincial governments of Iloilo and from the employer and workers sectors as well as DOLE are expected to grace the opening of the job fairs in Iloilo City which will be preceded by a mass and a motorcade.
==DILG looks into LGUs’ technical capability vs disasters==
*Source:http://www.pia.gov.ph/news/index.php?article=911335443980
*Friday, April 27, 2012
:(JCM/ESS/PIA-Iloilo)
ILOILO CITY, April 27 (PIA) -- The local government units and the country in general, are ready for disasters in terms of institutional set up, protocol and people, the Department of Interior and Local Government said.
“But as to technical preparedness we still have to look into it,” Interior and Local Government Secretary Jesse Robredo told media during a press conference here, April 26.
Robredo, who was here for the Tapatan on Disaster Preparedness, said there is still the need to boost equipment as well as financial capability of the LGUs to enable them to be fully prepared.
Robredo said the readiness of the LGUs are to be assessed as to how transparent and accountable the disaster preparedness fund is used and whether the infrastructures such as roads, bridges and buildings that are vulnerability factors are addressed.
Robredo said the Tapatan, which is a series of summits focused on disaster preparedness of LGUs, is setting measures of compliance that must showcase exemplary environmental governance.
He said the series of Tapatan summits are being kicked off here in Western Visayas as the experience of the region serves as model for the country.
On the other hand, the DILG-6 annual report for 2011 showed that the agency, being the Vice-Chair for disaster preparedness, has embarked on a project called “Enhancing LGU Capacity on Disaster Reduction and Management and Climate Change Adaptation.”
In the region, two provinces were identified as pilot areas for the project, namely, Capiz and Iloilo.
The identified vulnerable municipalities in Iloilo are Tubungan, Alimodian and Igbaras, while for Capiz, there are the municipalities of Sapi-an, Sigma and Roxas City.
DILG said these municipalities were already given series of basic trainings on Disaster Risk Management and Climate Change Adaptation, Workshop on Updating the Ecological Profiles, Rationalizing the Local Planning System, Community-Based DRRM and Early Warning System, and Social Preparation.
Meanwhile, Secretary Robredo said the series of Tapatan activities seeks to instil in the minds of the LGUs, the public and all stakeholders, their respective tasks, functional and operational roles, before, during and after disasters.
“We must always prepare for the worst, for it is better to be safe than sorry,” Robredo said.
==News Feature: CSC,DOH bats for smoke-free gov't offices in WV==
*Source:http://www.pia.gov.ph/news/index.php?article=921335419523
*Thursday, April 26, 2012
:(JCM/VWV/PIA 6-Iloilo)
ILOILO CITY, April 26 (PIA 6) -- Sanctions ranging from administrative charges to dismissal from service will be imposed on government workers found violating the Civil Service Memorandum Circular 17, Series of 2009, which prohibits smoking in government offices and premises.
Dr. Ma.Julia Z. Villanueva, DOH 6 Cluster Head of Non-Communicable Disease Prevention and Control said that objective of the government’s policy is to afford the government workers and transacting public to enjoy fresh air in smoke free government buildings and premises.
Smoking is also prohibited in government vehicles.
In her lecture during a seminar sponsored by the Department of Health and Civil Service Commission, Dr. Villanueva said that 10 Filipinos die every hour due to tobacco-related diseases, such as heart disease and lung cancer, among others.
According to a study, workers exposed to second-hand smoke have 35-50 percent increased risk of heart disease, and constant exposure to second-hand smoke nearly doubles the risk of a heart attack.
Workers exposed to second-hand smoke at work have 25 percent elevated risk of lung cancer.
Villanueva said that deaths due to smoking in the Philippines in year 2003 was recorded at 23,250 of which 4,307 died of lung cancer; 7,705 died of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease; 5,384 of Coronary Artery Disease; and 5,854 of Cerebrovascular disease-.
She quoted the WHO Director-General Dr. Margaret Chan as saying “reversing this entirely preventable tobacco epidemic must now rank as a top priority for public health and for political leaders in every country of the world”.
Dr. Villanueva also aired the threats posed by second-hand smoke which has at least twice the nicotine and tar as the smoke inhaled by the smoker.
Nicotine is the addictive ingredient of tobacco, while tar is the black, thick, sticky substance that when inhaled sticks to the lungs which results to reducing its elasticity and narrowing the tubes that transport air. It has five times the amount of carbon monoxide, the poisonous chemical found in car exhaust fumes that decreases the amount of oxygen in the blood.
Tobacco smoke also contains 7,000 chemicals and 70 of the chemicals are carcinogens or cancer causing substances, Dr. Villanueva said.
DOH 6 Human Resource Management Officer Mary Ann C. Bachoco said that human resource is the most important asset of the organization as she cited Section 18 of the of Article 2 of the 1987 Philippine Constitution that the “State affirms labor as a primary social economic force. It shall protect the rights of workers and promoted their welfare”.
Bachoco said that the CSC Mermorandum Circular No. 17 is designed to promote safe and healthy workplaces and to protect non-smokers from secondhand smoke which can cause life-threatening diseases.
She said that documentary evidence must be submitted against any violators of the 100% smoke-free government bureaucracy.
Section 36 of the CSC Rules state that the respondent must be given by the disciplining authority not less than 72 hours or 3 days to submit his/her answer to the charges which answer must be in writing and under oath. Supporting sworn statements and documents may also be submitted.
For successful implementation of the CSC Memorandum Circular No. 17, the management of each government agency is enjoined to designate an implementation committee to enforce the policy, particularly on raising the awareness of employees; conduct survey on the smoking prevalence among employees; putting No Smokinbg and/or Smoking Area signages in conspicuous places; and compliance monitoring, reporting of violations, investigating and acting on decisions.
Mr. Vizur Ty C. Gaitano, CSC 6 Division Chief, Public Policies and System Evaluation lectured on Joint DOH and CSC Memorandum Circular 2010-01: prohibition Against Tobacco Industry Interference in the Bureacracy.
==Preparations for disability prevention and rehab week on==
*Source:http://www.pia.gov.ph/news/index.php?article=931335324738
*Wednesday, April 25, 2012
:By Lilibeth A. French (LAF-PIA 6)
ILOILO CITY, April 25 (PIA) -- The Regional Council on Disability Affairs (RCDA) in Western Visayas has started to plan out this early, activities for the 34th National Disability Prevention and Rehabilitation Week in the region.
In a recent meeting, Department of Social Welfare and Development-6 Focal Person for Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) Judith Marte, presented the suggested activities from the National Council on Disability Affairs (NCDA) for the commemoration of the observance on July 17 to 23, 2012.
The NCDA’s suggested activities include a dialogue or round table discussion regarding PWDs employment in big corporations; re-run of entrepreneurship appreciation seminar; skills training; fun run; forum on sensitivity training; early prevention, detection, and intervention of children with disabilities; mobility clinic; franchising for PWDS, among others.
Some of the initial activities identified by the group to be undertaken this year are a motorcade, mass, a two-day regional congress of persons with disabilities, and an exhibit of various products of PWD organizations in the region.
The Department of Labor and Employment, which is one of the member-agencies of RCDA, was tasked to chair this year’s celebration with the primary aim to pay tribute to millions of Filipino PWDs nationwide in recognizing their valuable contributions to nation building.
Carrying the theme “Mainstreaming Persons with Disabilities Program in Economic Development,” the annual observance also seeks to stimulate public awareness on disability related concerns particularly on disability prevention, rehabilitation, and equalization of opportunities for PWDs.
==Robredo, Salceda To Lead 1st Regional Summit On Disaster Preparedness==
*Source:http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/357910/robredo-salceda-to-lead-1st-regional-summit-on-disaster-preparedness
*Tuesday, April 24, 2012, 4:33pm
:(Manila Bulletin Article)
ILOILO CITY, Iloilo (PIA) — Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Jesse Robredo and Albay Governor Joey Salceda will lead the first regional summit on disaster preparedness in Western Visayas.
The DILG-initiated event, slated this Thursday, April 26 at the Sarabia Manor Hotel here, is themed “2012 Tapatan on Disaster Preparedness.”
Joining Robredo and Salceda as resource persons will be Climate Change Commission Secretary Mary Ann Lucille Sering.
Robredo said the summit seeks to develop a culture of preparedness among local government officials and the public for them to be able to respond more effectively and mitigate the adverse effects of disasters.
DILG-6 Director Evelyn Trompeta said participants to the summit will include local chief executives of 139 provinces, cities, and municipalities in the Western Visayas region, with their local disaster risk reduction and management officers, partner agencies, and representatives from the academe and civil society.
She said summit participants are expected to sign a pledge of commitment for disaster preparedness indicating their firm resolve to carry out their local disaster risk reduction and management plans.
The Tapatan will build on the success of last year’s series of summits focused on the Full Disclosure Policy (FDP), which requires making public all pertinent financial information about programs and projects.
==Nuclear energy safe, says Cojuangco==
*Source:http://www.panaynewsphilippines.com/index.php?view=article&id=8:nuclear-energy-safe-says-cojuangco
*Monday, April 23, 2012
:BY SAMMY JULIAN-Manila News Bureau Chief (PN)
ILOILO City – Former Pangasinan congressman Mark Cojuangco is taking his campaign for nuclear energy down to the grassroots.
The people themselves will push for nuclear energy if they fully understand its benefits, he said over popular radio-television program Reklamo Publiko yesterday.
During the 14th Congress, Cojuangco authored a resolution seeking the revival of the mothballed Marcos-era Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP).
Nuclear energy is safe, the former lawmaker stressed. He cited the situation in Japan.
“Some people were worried about radiation. However, the fact of the matter is that life in Japan is quite normal right now,” Cojuangco said.
When a 9.0 earthquake and subsequent tsunami hit Japan last year, nuclear reactor Fukushima Plant 1 suffered a major damage.
The earthquake and tsunami disabled the reactor’s cooling systems, leading to nuclear radiation leaks and triggering a 30-kilometer evacuation zone surrounding the plant. On April 20, 2011, Japanese authorities declared the 20-kilometer evacuation zone a no-go area and may only be entered under government supervision.
However, Cojuangco pointed out, the incident did not generate a nuclear catastrophe as feared.
Nuclear energy is the cheapest source of power; it is also the most reliable, cleanest and answers the problems on global warming and climate change, said Cojuangco.
Modern nuclear power plants, he said, uses the “passive cooling system” that no longer needs human intervention.
Cojuangco is proposing the use of small modular reactors, a relatively new and safer form of nuclear power, for Mindanao.
He said small modular reactors were favored by the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (US-NRC) and it even issued combined licenses to the states of Georgia and South Carolina to build small modular reactors.
Cojuangco said the Philippines should start constructing the plants now so that it could go on stream by 2018.
“It takes time to build a nuclear power plant. So the Philippines, this early, should already decide to secure permits from international nuclear commissions,” he said.
As part of his own research, Cojuangco said, he even went to South Korea and inspected a turbine generator and other nuclear equipment being auctioned there.
Cojuangco also said the government should seriously consider reviving the BNPP which was completed in 1984 after eight years of construction by the government of then President Ferdinand Marcos.
Built 100 kilometers north of Manila at a cost of $2.3 billion, the BNPP was hounded by controversy and has never produced power after President Corazon Aquino ordered its closure, one of her first decisions after she took over as president in 1986.
A strong advocate of nuclear energy, Cojuangco said fears about the dangers of the BNPP remain unfounded, pointing out that the facility does have the same safety features as its “twin” power plants are still currently in use.
Cojuangco said the country needs at least 2,000 megawatts of electricity to address the current power crisis, adding that the BNPP, which can generate at least 620 megawatts, could help ease the power situation.
The National Power Corp. (Napocor) earlier received a report from the Korea Electric Power Corp. that $1 billion is needed to rehabilitate the BNPP, a move opposed by several sectors.
Napocor also identified at least 14 prospective sites for a nuclear power plant, with one in Cansilan Point in Bayawan City, Negros Oriental, and Cauayan and Talusan Point in Sipalay in Negros Occidental.
Cojuangco’s proposal provides that the host community where the proposed nuclear power plant will be built would be assured of power supply at a discounted rate -- or even supplied with free power – for as long as 60 years, the life span of the nuclear power plant.
The host community would also be given a share of the tax derived from the sale of the nuclear power, he added.
==TUMADOK DUPED TO OK MEGA DAM? Dialogue done in haste – group==
*Source:http://www.panaynewsphilippines.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1
*Sunday, April 22, 2012
:(PN)
ILOILO – An organization serving indigenous peoples in Panay and Guimaras islands claimed that the Free Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) in favor of the final survey and engineering design of the Jalaur River multipurpose dam is not reflective of the genuine sentiment and informed consent of the Tumandok (indigenous people) in the mountain barangays of Calinog and Lambunao towns.
“The FPIC meetings conducted by the government in the barangays did not provide all the necessary information the Tumandok need to know so as to give informed consent on the dam,” claimed Cynthia Deduro, executive director of the Panay-Guimaras Indigenous People’s Network.
Advocates of the dam simply magnified the supposed benefits that the people will derive from the project and did not inform the Tumandok of the danger posed by the active West Panay Fault line in the area, claimed Deduro.
“Neither did they inform the Tumandok that the project area is prone to earthquake-induced landslides,” she added.
As early as February this year, Deduro’s group issued a warning that an active fault line in Panay Island could endanger the multibillion-peso Jalaur River Multipurpose Project 2.
West Panay Fault is located in the West Panay Mountain Ranges within the vicinity of Calinog and Lambunao.
The mega dam project will be funded by the Korean Eximbank. It involves the construction of a hydropower plant and an irrigation system traversing six municipalities.
It starts at the headwaters of the Jaluar River in Lambunao town in north-central Iloilo and ends in the town of Tigbauan in the south.
According to Deduro, the United Nations (UN) Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) gives the Tumandok the right to determine and develop priorities and strategies for their lands or territories, and other resources.
The Declaration also emphasizes that “ States shall consult and cooperate in good faith…in order to obtain their (indigenous peoples) free and informed consent prior to the approval of any project affecting their lands or territories and other resources.”
“According to the leaders of Tumadok communities in Calinog, they were not informed of the complete story behind the construction of the Jalaur River dam. Indeed, the FPIC conducted by the government to justify and hasten the release of fund from creditor bank(s) does not qualify under the UN guidelines,” said Deduro.
MEGA DISASTER IN WAITING?
The West Panay Fault could cause a strong earthquake, warned Deduro.
In April last year during the quarterly meeting of the Regional Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council in Iloilo City, Director Renato Solidum Jr. of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology confirmed the active status of the West Panay Fault.
The Madia-as Mountain Range was in fact a result of the collision between the Palawan micro-continental block that separated from mainland Asia and met Panay Island, he said.
He added that the collision is still ongoing and from time to time tremors can be felt.
The West Panay Fault starts from San Remigio in Antique province going to San Joaquin, Iloilo in the south, then stretches through Lambunao and Calinog towns in Iloilo up to Ibajay town in Aklan province at its northernmost point.
“This is very dangerous because the Jalaur River Multipurpose Project 2 is located on an active fault line,” warned Deduro.
Billions of public funds may be wasted if a strong tremor hits the project area, she added.
Expected to be completed in 2017, the mega dam project is envisioned to improve rice productivity by expanding Iloilo’s irrigated areas from 22,340 hectares to 31,840 hectares, as well as increasing cropping intensity from 1.62 to 2.0 and average yield from 3.25 metric tons per hectare to 5.20 metric tons per hectare.
The strongest ever earthquake recorded in Panay Island was the 8.3 magnitude earthquake in 1948.
It damaged 55 churches in the island, with 17 totally collapsing.
==DENR-6 holds cadastral survey bidding ==
*Source:http://www.pia.gov.ph/news/index.php?article=911334904015
*Saturday, April 21, 2012
:By Elsa S. Subong (JSC/ESS-PIA6 Iloilo)
ILOILO CITY (PIA) -- The Department of Environment and Natural Resources-6 (DENR) recently held a bidding for its cadastral survey of nine municipalities in the region.
DENR-6 Executive Director Julian Amador said seven contractors participated in the bidding for the municipalities in the provinces of Guimaras, Antique, Iloilo and Negros Occidental.
Amador said a cadastral survey is a type of land survey intended to determine the administrative property of a city or municipality and its component barangays, including the determination of administrative boundaries of public lands in alienable and disposable lots for titling purposes.
He said the competitive bidding was intended to hasten the conduct of the cadastral survey in the region so that local government units can be informed of the boundaries of their localities to help them in their planning, taxation and internal revenue allotment purposes.
Contractors who have complied with the bid requirements were Geograph Solutions and Geolane Land Consultants (Joint Venture) for the cadastral survey of Kabankalan, Negros Occidental; Manangan Surveying Office for Sipalay, Negros Occidental; and RUC Survey and Realty for Sibunag, Guimaras.
Amador said DENR Undersecretary for Staff Bureaus and Project Management Manuel D. Gerochi attended the bidding as an observer, as Environment Secretary Ramon Paje has tasked the agency’s senior officers to monitor the conduct of the cadastral survey biddings across the country.
On the other hand, DENR Bids and Awards Committee Chair Dr. Alicia Lustica said the funding for the cadastral survey for the above-mentioned municipalities will be sourced out from the regular allotment of the DENR.
Lustica said cadastral surveys for the other municipalities will be funded by the World Bank.
For 2012, the DENR said, the Aquino administration has allotted P3.56 billion for the cadastral survey program.
==Iloilo City and Huaibei, China to forge ties==
==Iloilo City and Huaibei, China to forge ties==
*Source:http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=&nid=2&rid=420879
*Source:http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=&nid=2&rid=420879
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