Albay News August 2014

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Albay - Archived News
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Seal of the Province of Albay
Interactive Google Satellite Map of the Province of Albay
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Location of Albay within the Philippines
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Provincial Capitol Building of Albay, in Legazpi City

Dietary supplement is a product that contains vitamins, minerals, herbs or other botanicals, amino acids, enzymes, and/or other ingredients intended to supplement the diet. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has special labeling requirements for dietary supplements and treats them as foods, not drugs.

Manufacturers and distributors of dietary supplements and dietary ingredients are prohibited from marketing products that are adulterated or misbranded. That means that these firms are responsible for evaluating the safety and labeling of their products before marketing to ensure that they meet all the requirements of DSHEA and FDA regulations.

Mayon volcano albay province.jpg

Wars of ancient history were about possessions, territory, power, control, family, betrayal, lover's quarrel, politics and sometimes religion.

But we are in the Modern era and supposedly more educated and enlightened .

Think about this. Don't just brush off these questions.

  • Why is RELIGION still involved in WARS? Isn't religion supposed to be about PEACE?
  • Ask yourself; What religion always campaign to have its religious laws be accepted as government laws, always involved in wars and consistently causing WARS, yet insists that it's a religion of peace?

WHY??

There are only two kinds of people who teach tolerance:
  1. The Bullies. They want you to tolerate them so they can continue to maliciously deprive you. Do not believe these bullies teaching tolerance, saying that it’s the path to prevent hatred and prejudice.
  2. The victims who are waiting for the right moment to retaliate. They can’t win yet, so they tolerate.

DOST sets Aug. 22 deadline of applications for undergraduate scholarships

By Danny O. Calleja [(PNA), CTB/FGS/DOC/CBD/]

LEGAZPI CITY, Aug. 20 (PNA) -- Graduating high school students who would like to avail of scholarships for priority science and technology (S&T) courses have until Friday, Aug. 22, to submit their applications for the 2015 Department of Science and Technology-Science Education Institute’s (DOST-SEI) Undergraduate Scholarships Examination.

This was announced Wednesday by the regional office for Bicol here of the DOST which said the nationwide examination shall be held on Sept. 21 with results to be announced in March 2015.

Tomas Briñas, the DOST regional director, said priority S&T courses for the scholarship grants include agriculture, agricultural biotechnology, biochemistry, computer science, environmental science, fisheries, food technology, forestry, geology, information technology, science/mathematics teaching, statistics, and engineering courses.

Interested parties may download the application form at www.sei.dost.gov.ph or www.science-scholarships.ph.

Application forms are also available at the Science Education Institute office at the DOST Compound in Taguig City and in all DOST regional offices, Provincial Science and Technology Centers, and offices of congressmen and senators, Briñas said.

Scholarship qualifiers may enroll in any of the state universities, colleges, and tertiary institutions identified as Centers of Excellence or Centers of Development by the Commission on Higher Education and in DOST-SEI identified network institutions all over the country.

Among these are the University of the Philippines, University of the East, Ateneo de Manila, Ateneo de Davao, De La Salle University, University of Santo Tomas, Mapua Institute of Technology, Don Bosco Technical College, Siliman University, Mariano Marcos State University and St. Louis University.

Meanwhile, the DOST-SEI, citing excellence and overall contribution in nation-building, has paid tribute to its honor scholar-graduates and current scholars in two different occasions, a statement reaching here Wednesday from the DOST’s S&T Media Service said.

A total of 253 scholars who graduated with honors and 525 who finished graduate degrees for the school year 2013-2014 were awarded during the “In Touch with Excellence” ceremonies held as part of the 2014 National Science and Technology Week celebration, it said.

Around 400 scholar-graduates and ongoing scholars were also honored in a gathering dubbed as “Scholars’ Night.”

Overall, the statement said there were 12 summa cum laude, 55 magna cum laude, 187 cum laude, seven honorable mention, one with academic merit, and one with academic distinction scholar-graduates who were awarded both in the undergraduate and graduate levels during the ceremony.

Four scholar-graduates were also given incentives for completing their degrees earlier than the prescribed period of studies.

The S&T Media Service said 64 honor graduates under the DOST-SEI Merit Scholarship—the agency’s pioneer scholarship program for undergraduates—were recognized which listed seven summa cum laude, 21 magna cum laude, 34 cum laude and two honorable mention graduates.

On the other hand, Republic Act 7687 or the Science and Technology Scholarship Act of 1994 produced 189 scholar graduates with honors headlined by five summa cum laude, 31 magna cum laude, 145 cum laude, one with academic distinction, one with academic merit, five honorable mention and three early graduates.

As for the graduate scholarships, a total of 351 MS and 36 PhD students graduated under the Accelerated Science and Technology Human Resource Development Program (ASTHRDP).

It produced three magna cum laude and eight cum laude graduates.

The program is a unified and innovative human resource development strategy aimed at hastening the production of highly trained scientists by awarding MS and PhD scholarship grants to eligible individuals who will fill in the gaps of identified areas of science and technology.

Under the program, nine scholars finished cum laude, and one as an academic excellence awardee.

On the other hand, the Engineering Research and Development for Technology (ERDT) program—a graduate scholarship program in priority engineering courses and related field—recorded 136 MS and two PhD graduates.

DOST Secretary Mario Montejo has congratulated the scholar-graduates for maximizing the opportunity of being entrusted as “science scholars of the people.”

We are proud that you put in the hard work to not only finish you studies, but pursue excellence in the S&T fields you choose to be in,” Montejo said in his statement.

He said DOST is further intensifying its scholarship program as he believes in the capacity of science scholars as change-makers in the future.

Albay board OKs ordinance limiting use of ambulances

(PNA), LAP/FGS/EMC/CBD/

LEGAZPI CITY, Aug. 19 (PNA) -- The Sangguniang Panlalawigan of Albay approved Monday an ordinance aimed at curbing blatant and frequent misuse of government ambulances, intended to be utilized for sick constituents.

Entitled “Regulating the Use of All Government Ambulances in the Province of Albay, and Providing Penalties for Violations Thereof,” the ordinance is authored by 3rd District Board Member Rhederick N. Riva from Oas, and co-authored by 3rd District Board Member Herbert S. Borja from Polangui.

It aims to make government ambulances readily available to transport the seriously sick and injured patients requiring immediate medical treatment to or from a facility to another that is sufficiently equipped to handle the matter and save lives.

The legislation states that it has been observed that in many instances, government ambulances have been gravely misused, to the detriment of the public, whereas said vehicles have been seen in recreational areas where they have no business being there.

"There were cases where fees have been collected for their use, defeating the very purpose they were purchased for," Riva said.

According to the ordinance, it is unlawful for public officials or employees to use government ambulances for personal use or as an office service vehicle and it shall also be unlawful to use these vehicles for transporting patients deemed not in a medical emergency situation.

Whether with fees or not, government ambulances cannot be used for private purposes but government officials or employees shall not refuse the use of any government ambulance by patients who cannot pay fees, nor should there be any deprivation of use to any individual due to their gender, religious beliefs, economic status, or political affiliations; and government ambulances cannot be used to transport cadavers.

"There are exceptions though given to the use of government ambulances in non-emergency situations and these include the use of the vehicles in official and authorized medical outreach missions and other hospital services and operations related to medical missions, delivery of medicines and other medical supplies," Riva explained.

Public officials or employees caught violating this ordinance shall be penalized, after due process, with a P1,000 fine, and or imprisonment of one month for the first offense.

Second offense entails a fine of P2,500 and or six months of imprisonment; and being caught for a third time will result in a fine of P5,000 and or imprisonment of one year, without any prejudice to the filing of appropriate administrative charges.

Albay reconstruction gets P37M from DepEd for school repairs

(PNA), LAM/JCN/UTB

LEGAZPI CITY, Aug. 18 (PNA) -- Albay gets an added boost for its energized reconstruction and economic rehabilitation initiatives with the recent release by the Department of Education (DepEd) of P37 million for the repair of 98 schools devastated by Typhoon "Glenda" last month. DepEd comes as the second government agency so far to have subscribed to the reconstruction program of the province.

Albay Governor Joey Salceda said DepEd Secretary Armin Luistro, FSC, readily responded to their call for rehabilitation assistance under their Plan for Albay Glenda Early Recovery and Reconstruction (PAGERR), which was formulated immediately following the July 16 devastation.

Salceda said PAGERR has started to get vital support because it has a clear and defined plan and direction. Albay is the United Nation’s global model in disaster risk reduction and management.

“We thank Secretary Luistro for his speedy response, as the second biggest contributor to PAGERR less than a month after Glenda,” Salceda said.

Albay posted a Zero Casualty score against Glenda’s onslaught, which was widely praised, but it sustained more than P9.3 billion in damages, particularly in agriculture, housing, educational facilities and other infrastructures. The howler claimed over a hundred elsewhere in the country.

PAGERR is a well defined reconstruction plan with standing requests to various government agencies and non-government institutions for assistance. Salceda noted that having no casualty — even if it’s a great achievement — tends to get lesser appeal to donors unless there is a clear rehabilitation plan.

The Department of Agriculture was the first state agency to respond to PAGERR’s call for assistance with a P6- million commitment under its quick response scheme designated as Bicol Rehabilitation Assistance for Glenda – Agricultural Sector. It was aimed at propping up the badly hit areas of the region.

Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala personally delivered the contribution to Albay along with 1,000 bags of certified rice seeds, five units of hand tractors, 9,000 packets of assorted vegetable seeds, 9,000 pieces of pili seedlings, 185 bags of hybrid corn seeds, 15 bags of open-pollenated variety corn seeds, 54 sets of garden tools and 1,000 pieces of laminated sacks or canvass pieces.

Salceda organized PAGERR immediately after Albay was placed under a state of calamity. Its assigned taskes include assessment of needs, identification of intervention options in specific sites and their beneficiaries, implementation of responsive projects, and submission of formative and summative reports to the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council.

Salceda orders inventory of evacuation shelters as Mt. Mayon’s restiveness intensifies

By Rhaydz B. Barcia [(PNA), CTB/FGS/RBB/CBD/RSM]

LEGAZPI CITY, Aug. 17 (PNA) -- As the restiveness of Mt. Mayon continues to intensify due to magma buildup, Albay Governor Joey Salceda has ordered an inventory of school classrooms that could be used as evacuation camps of tens of thousands of Albayanos should the volcano explode.

Salceda's directive to local government units came two days after the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology raised the alert warning status of Mt. Mayon from Level 1 to Level 2 due to the abnormal activities of the volcano.

The governor wants local officials across the province to assess the classrooms, water, toilet facilities -- including solid and liquid waste disposal system, communal kitchen, medical station with provision for normal spontaneous delivery, breast-feeding corner and recreational space to ensure the comfortable condition of the evacuees in times of natural calamity.

He also reactivated the health emergency teams (HETs) to be dispatched to the different local government units to be affected by the Mayon volcano eruption.

The HETs are composed of rapid health assessment team, medical team, SPEED team, mental health and psychosocialteam, nutrition team, and health promotion team and water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) team.

He also alerted the ALbay HEMS emergency officers on duty at the Albay Operation Center at this early so that all disaster responders will be in place before the possible hazardous explosion of Mayon volcano.

Ed Laguerta, Phivolcs resident volcanologist, reported increasing volcanic gas emissions and slight but persistent swelling due to the intrusion of magma beneath the volcano while sulfur dioxide emission posts an average of 850 tons per day, higher than the normal 500 tons per day, for the past two months now.

Albay promotes healthy lifestyle for employees

By Connie B. Destura [(PNA), CTB/FGS/EMC/CBD/RSM]

LEGAZPI CITY, Aug. 16 (PNA) -- The Provincial Government of Albay -- in partnership with the Department of Health-Commission on Population Regional Office 5, National Nutrition Council-Region 5, and Team Albay/OCD 5 -- has developed a series of activities which will promote the general welfare of its employees and several other concerned stakeholders in Albay.

The move is in line with the celebration of the National Nutrition Month, National Disaster Consciousness Month and World Population Day.

Governor Joey Sarte Salceda, in a memorandum, enjoined all officials and employees of the PGA to support and participate in one of the culminating activities lined up in the calendar of events scheduled for the celebration, the Healthy Lifestyle Promotion or HATAW, to be led by the Provincial Health Office HATAW team.

The activity is on Aug. 20 at the Peñaranda Park in Legazpi City starting at 7:00 am.

HATAW, a popular short physical program launched by the DOH in 1994, is a mix of exercise and dance which can be done almost anywhere and anytime.

Its popularity stems from the enjoyable physical training which involves fast body movements that result in the production of several progressive health benefits.

Due to the reduced physical activity that many office workers experience on a daily basis, PGA employees or any other office worker subjected to limited bodily movement are exposed to dangers that produce grave consequences to their health.

Studies have shown that the lack of adequate physical activity has been associated with increased risk for cardiovascular diseases, diabetes mellitus and obesity.

It also increases the risks of colon and breast cancer, high blood pressure, lipid disorder, osteoporosis, depression and anxiety.

With healthy employees and officers, the PGA and all other offices will be able to provide more than adequate service to their clients and their constituents.

‘Move heaven and earth’ to fast track power restoration in Albay, priests ask Salceda

By Danny O. Calleja [(PNA),CTB/FGS/DOC/CBD/]

LEGAZPI CITY, Aug. 15 (PNA) – Local parish priests have asked Albay Governor Joey Salceda, considered as among the authors of the privatization of Albay Electric Cooperative (Aleco) into the hands of San Miguel Corp. (SMC), to “move heaven and earth” to hasten the restoration of power in the province.

“We appeal to Governor Salceda, considered among the authors and avid supporters of privatization, to do more than what he is presently doing and move heaven and earth to hasten power restoration in Albay for the sake of our suffering people,” the priests said in an open letter circulated in the province over the week.

The letter was signed by 45 Albay-based priests headed by Msgr. Ramon Tronqued, St. Raphael de Archangel Parish priest and vicar general of the Diocese of Legazpi.

Apart from Salceda, the letter was also addressed to Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Jericho Petilla, the management of Albay Power and Energy Corp. (APEC) and to “the Big Bosses of San Miguel Corp. (SMC).”

APEC is a fully-owned and -controlled subsidiary of SMC Global Power Holdings Corp., created to run the affairs of the cooperative after the giant firm took control of the business and operations of Aleco early this year.

“We, the undersigned Priests of the different cities and municipalities of the Province of Albay make this urgent appeal for the immediate restoration of electric power in the whole province, and by immediate, we do not mean a period of one month or so,” the letter said.

Power supply in the entire province was cut off at the height of the devastation wrought by typhoon "Glenda" last July 15.

After Glenda, the people of Albay thought that APEC could have power at the soonest time possible only to be told that it would take a month or so for power in the province to normalize. APEC, being backed by a blue chip corporation—SMC -- could easily restore power if it wants, the priests said in the letter.

“We are sure that before APEC/SMC signed the privatization contract, its corporate geniuses must have factored in the pact that Albay is always ravaged by typhoons; why the seeming inefficiency? The old Aleco, even with its inefficiency, did not take long to reenergize the province after typhoon Reming which was even more destructive than Glenda,” they said.

Reming struck Albay in November 2006 and by Christmas time that same year, power was restored in almost all parts of Albay, the priests recalled in the letter.

As of Friday, reports gathered by PNA have it that only about 30 percent of the province has been reenergized -- mostly town centers and city propers.

Here, Mayor Noel Rosal said power has been restored in about 80 percent of the city with only those outskirt barangays whose distribution lines suffered heavy damages left, but already being attended to.

DENR-EMB Bicol to put up MRFs in selected towns, cities

By Samuel M. Toledo [(PNA), CTB/FGS/SMT/CBD]

LEGAZPI CITY, Aug. 14 (PNA) – The National Solid Waste Management Commission (NSWMC) has identified four municipalities in the region to be the beneficiaries of the materials recovery facility (MRF) this year in order to increase the waste diversion rate and strengthen the local government units' (LGUs) practice of waste management.

The Environmental Management Bureau V of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR-EMB V) through its Solid Waste Management Section (SWMS), conducted a dialogue with concerned local officials last Aug. 8 in Legazpi City to discuss the putting up of MRF.

“Despite the passage of Republic Act 9003, otherwise known as the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000, solid waste and its proper management remain one of the major environmental problems of the country,” EMB Bicol Director Roberto Sheen, said.

Sheen explained that less than half of the LGUs in the country have completed and implemented ecological solid waste management programs even as the amount of solid waste to be managed increases each year as growing population and economic growth becomes highly imminent.

The MRF is an area where collected waste materials are stored until they are sold to recyclers or processed for composting.

“Based on Section 32 of RA 9003, every barangay or cluster of barangays should establish a MRF that will receive household-generated wastes to segregate and recyclable materials from residual waste,” Sheen said.

The MRF recipients are Bacacay town and Tabaco City in Albay; San Pascual in Masbate; San Vicente in Camarines Norte; and Milaor in Camarines Sur.

The LGUs will be the one to determine which barangays in the recipient towns and city would be serviced by the MRFs, and where these will be installed.

The EMB V, through the Ecological Solid Waste Management Commission (ESWMC), will be the agency to monitor the MRFs.

“This is one of the measures we are conducting so that LGUs will be further encouraged to practice proper waste segregation and increase their awareness and compliance to RA 9003. We are looking forward for the positive effects of this project,” Sheen added.

The beneficiaries were identified through the following criteria: willingness of the LGU to support the program, cluster of at least three barangays or a minimum total waste volume of one ton a day.

The LGU should also have existing practice of segregation at source and segregated collection, available area for MRF, area is big enough for the two MRF components (composting and segregated storage), availability of Waste Analysis and Characterization Study (WACS) data, ability to divert at least 50 percent from the total waste volume, can tie-up with buyers/recyclers and percentage of waste diversion rate, Sheen said.

Resilient Tourism: Foreign tourists surge anew in Albay

By Johnny C. Nunez [(PNA), CTB/JCN/UTB]

LEGAZPI CITY, Aug. 13 (PNA) -- Albay’s resilient tourism program has speedily and effectively put the province back on track shortly after Typhoon Glenda’s recent devastations, with foreign tourists flocking back in droves to the country’s fastest growing destination.

Less than a month after Glenda pummeled the province, the newly opened Albay International Gateway (AIG) rolled out the red carpet last August 8 to welcome 154 Chinese tourists who flew direct from Xiamen on board a Cebu Pacific Airlines’ flight.

The batch kicks off Cebu Pacific’s initial 18-cycle, three-month running contract flights from August 8 to October 10 this year.

Albay Gov. Joey Salceda said the province’s strong disaster resilient program made the project possible, with the entire machinery of the local government focussed on getting back on track immediately after the disaster, particularly in tourism.

Glenda mauled Albay for over seven hours last July 16. Personally led by Salceda, the provincial government machinery immediately started clearing the debris evening of the same day so that residents woke up the next morning with almost all the roads already passable.

Salceda said water and power supplies were heavily derailed, but the local government resorted to alternative sources particularly in critical areas. Team Albay’s Water and Sanitation unit provided continuous supply of potable water while commercial and industrial outfits made available their power generators.

Telecommunication systems were likewise heavily damaged but were back in service in five days, while public offices have reopened immediately the following day. Airplane flights were also restored the following day using back up facilities, he added.

The first batch of about 300 Chinese tourists flew in here early this year on board the Philippine Airlines flights, also from Xiamen, in time to celebrate the Chinese New Year in Albay.

Salceda said the AIG was established under Executive Order 29, designating Legazpi City as an international gateway for direct flights from foreign tourism markets. It marks a local government breakthrough in tourism, one that opens doors to and from various parts of the world through non-traditional routes, the links to which were worked out. China, Korea and Taiwan are initial targets.

The Bicol International Airport in Daraga town, which is now under construction, is set to open in 2016 but Salceda said tourists “don’t have to wait that long to enjoy Albay’s wondrous experience.”

The Department of Tourism has declared Albay as the fastest growing tourism destination in the Philippines with a 66% growth rate in 2013. With the AIG, Salceda said they hope to make that record consistent.

“We put in place our CIQS or customs, immigration, quarantine and security systems. We made necessary adjustments to standards of international airports and institutionalized the operating mechanisms under our Albay International Gateway Committee (AIGC) which now supervises the international flights,” said Salceda, who chairs the AIGC.

A noted economist, Salceda said the new Albay gateway could bring in about P6.5 billion in revenues to Albay a year, five times its annual budget. A Chinese tourist can spend around US$ 1,000 per day during his 5-day stay in the province. This will also help create jobs for Albayanos at a rate of one job opportunity per tourist.

“Many more direct flights to Albay are expected to follow and bring to the heart of Bicolandia thousands of tourists and holiday-seekers who will help boost our Albay BOOM economic battlecry,” Salceda enthused.

The governor said the gateway also opens up Albay for global engagements, particularly the upcoming Asia Pacific Economic Conference (APEC) in 2015, which kicks off in December this year.

Chinese tourists swarm Legazpi as Ibalong Festival takes off

By Danny O. Calleja (PNA), FPV/FGS/DOC/CBD/

LEGAZPI CITY, Aug. 12 (PNA) – A throng of Chinese tourists arrived at the airport here Monday afternoon via a chartered Cebu Pacific flight that flew them in directly from Xiamen City of Fujian province in China as the city celebrates this month the Ibalong Festival.

They were welcomed to the city by Mayor Noel Rosal, Department of Tourism Bicol Regional Director Maria Ong-Ravanilla and Elizalde Co, owner of the Misibis Bay Resort in the nearby Sto. Domingo town where all of them will be billeted during their four days and three nights stay.

Misibis Bay is a posh resort hotel considered as a private tropical hideaway built on a pristine stretch of beach serving as a luxury island playground along Cagraray Island where Albay’s hospitality abounds.

This group, composed of 154 individuals, represents the first batch of a series of arrivals arranged by Misibis Bay management and the city government as part of the direct international flight tourism program, which opened early this year the Legazpi airport as the country’s newest gateway.

Interviewed by local newsmen at the airport while waiting for the arrival, Rosal said this series of chartered flights from Xiamen will go on until October this year with four flights a week but “we are working on an arrangement with Cebu Pacific and the China International Travel Service to extend it up to the end of this year.”

The coming of the initial batches is timed with the city’s holding this month of Ibalong Festival whose events will be an added entertainment to the Chinese tourists who are very much attracted to Mt. Mayon and going around lava fronts around its foot on board all-terrain vehicles, Rosal said.

“During their stay, these Chinese tourists will enjoy the overflowing of celebrations in this prime tourist destination known in the whole travel industry world as the City of Fun and Adventure,” he said.

Ibalong Festival is a yearly non-religious fiesta here depicting Bicol’s early beginnings based on the Ibalong Epic written by the late Prof. Merito Espinas that tells of mythical super heroes, villains, monsters and wild animals in the ancient times.

This is the longest running tourism promotion-related festival in the Bicol Region that expresses warmth and goodwill to all people and encourages visitors and tourists to celebrate with the Legazpeños.

“And hopefully, next year and onward, we would be able to arrange a year-round direct flights program with the Legazpi Domestic Airport as the gateway while we are awaiting for the completion of the Southern Luzon International Airport now ongoing construction in the nearby Daraga town,” Rosal added.

This new airport, which has been placed by the Department of Transportation and Communications as a priority project intended to boost Bicol’s booming tourism industry, is scheduled to be completed and put into operations before the end of the term of President Benigno S. Aquino III in 2016.

The opening of the Legazpi Airport as gateway for direct international flights came last January with the coming in of the maiden chartered flight of Philippine Airlines with 156 Chinese tourists on board from Xiamen.

Xiamen and the surrounding southern Fujian countryside are the ancestral home to large communities of overseas Chinese in Southeast Asia.

The city is one of the four original Special Economic Zones opened to foreign investment and trade when China began economic reforms in the early 1980s.

The direct flight program was first arranged with local and China-based travel agencies as an undertaking in line with the Aquino administration’s policy to achieve inclusive growth through tourism that will have direct impact on the community.

Rosal said having Legazpi as the newest direct destination for the Chinese travel market means getting them into a yearly cycle wherein they will be coming via chartered flights in a frequency of at least twice a week.

Each of these tourists spends between USD 500 and USD 1,000 a day and with the coming of 230 weekly would mean as much as USD 230,000 weekly tourism receipts for the city and some parts of Albay where they would be buying souvenir items and food, among other expenditures, he said.

Tourism will definitely take a crucial role in the city, the province of Albay, the Bicol Region and the country’s pursuit for inclusive and horizontal growth that will benefit not only big investors such as hotel operators but also the people in the countryside, where most of the tourist destinations are located, by providing more opportunities for employment and business ventures, the city mayor said.

“The opening of the city as gateway for direct international flights takes advantage of the foreign market trend showing that international tourists do not tend to stick to one local destination as they follow a cycle leading them from one place to another,” he said.

Parallel with these developments, what the city government is doing is to improve its capacity to accommodate more tourists, taking into consideration that the city is also fast emerging as one of the country’s convention capitals.

“We are now hosting an average of 20 big conventions and similar occasions yearly, bringing in to the city around 60,000 visitors each year. So far, we only have 2,009 hotel rooms that can accommodate in one occasion some 5,000 people,” Rosal said.

More accommodation facilities are needed, that is why the city government has been encouraging and attracting more investors to venture into this endeavor and the response is very encouraging, he added.

Albay to nominate Mayon Volcano as UNESCO Biosphere Reserve

By Connie B. Destura (PNA), LAM/FGS/CBD/

LEGAZPI CITY, Aug. 11 (PNA) -- The provincial government of Albay will nominate Mayon Volcano as a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, Governor Joey Sarte Salceda disclosed Monday.

In a letter to Regional Executive Director Gilbert Gonzales of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) in Bicol, Salceda said the Philippines National Commission for UNESCO has provided the province with information for its guidance on the nomination of Mayon Volcano as a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve.

A Biosphere Reserve, he said, is an internationally designated protected area meant to demonstrate a balanced relationship between people and nature, hence, promoting values such as sustainable development.

“The status is conferred by UNESCO, particularly by its Man and the Biosphere Program and currently, there are only two UNESCO biosphere reserves in the Philippines – namely, Palawan and Puerto Galera,” Salceda said.

He invited Gonzales to join a meeting on the nomination of Mayon Volcano as a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve on Aug. 13 at the UNESCO office in Pasay City.

He also invited Edelberto Matusalem, Protected Area supervisor for the Province of Albay, to join the meeting.


DA to pilot Bicol for ‘supercrops’

By Alladin S. Diega

THE Department of Agriculture (DA) said on Sunday that the Bicol region, specifically Albay province, would be the pilot area for climate change-resistant or -adapting crops.

Agriculture Secretary Proceso J. Alcala was quoted in a statement as saying the move is “in line with government’s climate-change resiliency program.”

“The region will also serve as the laboratory for the DA’s quick-turnaround-planting-and-production-after-a-typhoon initiative,” Alcala said, adding that the regional share of Bicol in the proposed DA budget of P48.4 billion will be P1.9 billion.

The secretary said the region “deserves” the additional funds considering its share in agricultural production last year was worth P57 billion. “That is why even if the land area of Region 5 is small and it is often visited by typhoons, the Oragons [an endearment for local residents of the region] ranked sixth in rice production, eighth in hog production and seventh in coconut and corn production,” Alcala said.

Latest DA estimates on the damage wrought by Typhoon Glenda on the agricultural sector in Bicol is valued at P3.98 billion, the aggregate total for crops, livestock, agri-infrastructure, abaca and fisheries.

Meanwhile, the DA’s Philippine Crop Insurance Corp. recently distributed indemnity checks worth nearly P285,000 to 22 farmers from Naga City, Canaman, Pili and Baao, the statement said.

On Friday Alcala and Albay Gov. Joey Salceda spearheaded the distribution of a similar assistance, valued at P5.9 million, to farmers and fishermen in Albay in turnover rites in Legazpi City.

Last week the DA has launched the government’s rehabilitation plan for the agricultural-fishery sector in the region. “Starting with the distribution of initial assistance valued at nearly P6 million to affected farmers and [fishermen] in Sorsogon,” Alcala said.

He added that the first batch of livelihood and production support to beneficiaries in Bicol aims for the swift and timely delivery of aid to the devastated farmers and fishers.

The Bicol Rehabilitation Plan, Alcala said, is a rebuilding plan that entails the provision of production support, which include various machineries, fishing boats and gears, replacement seeds of rice and corn and other planting materials, and new stocks of animals.

Top California-based Fil-Am triathlete model promotes sports tourism in Legazpi

(PNA), CTB/FGS/RBB/CBD/PJN

LEGAZPI CITY, Aug 9 (PNA) -- A top Filipino-American triathlete model is now in this tourist-destination city to promote sports tourism.

Kim Kilgroe will swim, bike and run in the rigorous rolling terrains of Legazpi City on Sunday morning.

Kilgroe, whose grandmother is a native of Tabaco City, flew in this city for the first time to lead and grace the first-ever Mt. Mayon Triathlon—a kickoff event of the monthlong Ibalong Festival of Legazpi.

“I came here to bring and promote sports tourism. Legazpi City is a great location for triathlon where one swims, bikes and runs, with the beautiful icon of Mayon volcano at the background,” she said.

Kilgroe, 24, and 200 participants in the professional, elite and relay team categories will be showing their prowess in the triathlon where in just an hour the competing teams will go for a 1.5-kilometer swim in the water off Legazpi then take a 40-kilometer bike ride from this city going to Sto. Domingo town and vice versa, then make a 10-kilometer run along the rolling topography of this city.

But before the official competition set on Sunday by the city government, Kilgroe conducted a free swimming and sports clinic on Friday and Saturday among the youth, including children, with proficiency in swimming to help them develop their own potentials.

“My Lola is from Tabaco, Albay. It's nice to be here for the first time. I'm motivated by the desire to be the best version of myself in every aspect, and to help others reach their own potentials and live unlimited. I enjoy helping new athletes on their form and progression, so I'm planning a series of Train-Unlimited Tri-Camps in various provinces of the Philippines,” she said.

The tri-clinic is focusing on swimming and running techniques.

“We are having pool and open water swimming clinics to improve everyone's swimming techniques. I especially love working with youth and inspiring them to pursue sports and healthful activities, so my events are open to all ages and levels. I'm doing an initial event in Legazpi before the inaugural Mt. Mayon Triathlon this weekend. We are inviting young athletes to come, participate and learn how to become better triathletes,” the lady triathlete added.

Kilgroe also expressed gratitude to Mayor Noel Rosal for hosting the first-ever Mt. Mayon Triathlon despite the effect of typhoon "Glenda."

“Thanks to the City of Legazpi and the Ibalong Festival organizers for hosting us and bringing the Mt. Mayon Triathlon together in a short period of time, even with the typhoon that recently passed. We are so excited for the first triathlon in this province on Sunday. What a great location to swim, bike and run.This is one of my favorite areas in the Philippines now,” the Filipino-American triathlete said.

Kilgroe said that after Bicol, she will also go to Davao, Cebu, Bohol and Ilocos Norte for multi-day camps.

“On my radar for potential multi-day camps are Davao, Cebu, Bohol and Illocos Norte. With so many people gaining interest in the multi-sport community, I'd love to help bring more resources to those outside of the Metro Manila area,” she said.

Fr. Jay Jacinto of Naga City, race director, said Legazpi City is the most scenic place and fantastic area for a one-hour triathlon owing to its best location, with Mt. Mayon at the backdrop.

Rosal said the 1st Mayon Triathlon will be similar to the “Tour of Luzon” wherein 200 foreign and Filipino veteran or elite riders will be competing on Sunday.

He said there are politicians like Rep. Datu Arroyo of Camarines Sur and former AKB Rep. Pido Garbin who will be joining the triathlon.

“Next year, it will never be the same again. It will be a bigger event next year as part of the Ibalong Festival. The participants of this event are not after the prize because they’re well-off and whose bikes cost about Php 0.5 million or so. They’re not after the money but the trophy and prestige,” Rosal said.

The winners will receive Php 20,000 for first prize, Php 15,000 for 2nd prize and Php 10,000 for the third prize.

DA Sec lauds increasing food production in Albay despite frequent calamities

By Sally Atento-Altea (MAL/SAA-PIA5/Albay)

LEGAZPI CITY, Aug 8 (PIA) –Department of Agriculture secretary Proceso Alcala lauded the province of Albay for sustaining its increasing food production over the years despite calamities frequently visiting the province.

“I congratulate the good leadership and resiliency of the people of Albay for continued increase in production despite being hit by calamities,” Alcala said during the press conference for turn-over of rehabilitation assistance Wednesday to farmers and agri-stakeholders affected by typhoon Glenda in Albay.

“Eventhough constantly devastated by typhoons, the province has sustained its increasing yield,” he added.

Albay governor Joey Salceda noted in the same event that the rice sufficiency percentage of the province has increased in six years from 73% in 2008 to 94% in 2013.

He attributed such increase to the farmers in the province citing them as the”backbone of economic development in the province.”

The AlbayProvincial Agriculture Services earlier reported that based on official records, production in 2013 rose to 215 metric tons or 215,000 kilos in harvest from 52,000 hectares planted.

In 2012 160 metric tons or 160,000 kilos is in production from 43,000 hectares planted.

The Philippine Bureau of Agricultural Statistics (BAS) likewise posted increasing volume of production for coconut from 149,594.96 metric tons in 2008 to 180,333.07 metric tons in 3013 and pili nut from 1,528.71 metric tons in 2008 to 2, 132.45 metric tons in 2013.

The same is true with abaca from 1,404.64 metric tons in 2008 to 1,617.26 metric tons in 2013.

Salceda added forested areas in the province have also increased to 88% of which most of the trees planted are Pili trees provided by the DA.

Moreover, the governor cites climate change as a factor that hinders poverty alleviation among farmers in the province despite the programs implemented and assistance given by the DA.

He mentioned for instance coconut planters who lost their investment as typhoon Glenda severely damaged coconut trees with its fruits supposedly to be harvested this year.

“Six years ago after Reming, our farmers planted coconut trees which take about six years to bear fruit. Now we are on the sixth year, supposedly a time for harvest, but we are hit by typhoon Glenda damaging our coconut plantations,” he said.

“Basically our farmers lost the capital they invested so what returns will they get?” Salceda added.

In response to the impact of climate change to agriculture, DA secretary said the present administration has been implementing long-term intervention through construction of concrete farm to market roads and provision of climate resistant rice varieties.

One of these varieties is the drought resistant, submarine type and salt water tolerant green super rice currently studied in Camarines Sur.

Chinese tourists coming during Legazpi’s Ibalong Festival

By Danny O. Calleja [(PNA), CTB/FGS/DOC/CBD/]

LEGAZPI CITY, Aug. 7 (PNA) – A series of Cebu Pacific chartered direct flights will be flying in here hundreds of Chinese tourists from Xiamen City, China, as the city celebrates the Ibalong Festival.

The first flight is scheduled to arrive Friday, Aug. 8, carrying 165 passengers who will stay for four days and three nights.

All of them will be billeted at the Misibis Bay Resort and Casino in the nearby Sto. Domingo, Albay.

Misibis Bay is a posh resort hotel considered as a private tropical hideaway built on a pristine stretch of beach serving as a luxury island playground along Cagraray Island where Albay’s hospitality abounds.

At least two other flights, which will arrive on Aug. 11 and 16, are also scheduled -- each carrying the same number of passengers, city Mayor Noel Rosal announced in a press conference here Thursday.

These Chinese tourists will be in the city in time for the celebration of the Ibalong Festival, a yearly non-religious fiesta depicting Bicol’s early beginnings based on the Ibalong Epic written by the late Prof. Merito Espinas that tells of mythical super heroes, villains, monsters and wild animals in the ancient times.

“This is the longest running tourism promotion-related festival in the Bicol region that expresses warmth and goodwill to all people and encourages visitors and tourists to celebrate with the Legazpeños,” Rosal said.

The festival’s formal opening will be on Aug. 16 but preliminary activities -- like the screening of candidates for the Mutya ng Ibalong beauty pageant, which was held last Aug. 3, the kick-off of the Mt. Mayon Triathlon on Aug. 10 and opening of the 2nd Ibalong National Women’s Beach Volleyball Championship on Aug. 15-17 – will serve as advance activities.

The festivities -- loaded with events that will offer fun, exciting adventures and lot of surprises -- will run until Aug, 3.

These events will be an added entertainment to the Chinese tourists who are very much attracted to Mt. Mayon and going around lava fronts around its foot on board all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), Stephen Chen of the China International Travel Service (CITS) said during the same press conference.

“During their stays, these Chinese tourists will enjoy the overflowing of celebrations in this prime tourist destination known in the whole travel industry world as the City of Fun and Adventure,” Rosal said.

This Xiamen-Legazpi direct chartered flight project was arranged with Cebu Pacific and CITS by the city government under Rosal in partnership with the management of Misibis Bay headed by business tycoon Elizalde Co.

Initially, these series of chartered flights from Xiamen will go on until October this year with four flights a week but “we are working on an arrangement with Cebu Pacific and the CITS to extend it up to the end of this year,” Misisbis Bay general manager Ian Mayer Varona said.

“Hopefully, next year and onward, we would be able to arrange a year-round direct flights program with the Legazpi Domestic Airport as the gateway while we are awaiting for the completion of the Southern Luzon International Airport (SLIA) now ongoing construction in the nearby Daraga town,” Rosal said.

This new airport, which has been placed by the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) as a priority project intended to boost Bicol’s booming tourism industry, is scheduled to be completed and put into operations before the end of the term of Pres. Benigno Aquino III on 2016.

The opening of the Legazpi Airport as gateway for direct international flights came last January with the coming in of the maiden chartered flight of Philippine Airlines with 156 Chinese tourists on board from Xiamen.

It was first arranged by the provincial government of Albay under Gov. Joey Salceda with local and China-based travel agencies as a program in line with the Aquino administration’s policy to achieve inclusive growth through tourism that will have direct impact to the community.

Rosal said having Legazpi as the newest direct destination for the Chinese travel market means getting them into a yearly cycle wherein they will be coming via chartered flights in a frequency of twice a week.

Each of these tourists spends between US$ 500 and US$ 1,000 a day and with the coming of 230 weekly would mean as much as US$ 230,000 weekly tourism receipts for the city and some parts of Albay where they would be buying souvenir items and buy foods, among other expenditures, he said.

Tourism will definitely take a crucial role in the city, the province of Albay, the Bicol region and the country’s pursuit for inclusive and horizontal growth that will benefit not only big investors such as hotel operators but also the people in the countryside, where most of the tourist destinations are located, by providing more opportunities for employment and business ventures, the city mayor said.

“The opening of the city as gateway for direct international flights takes advantage of the foreign market trend showing that international tourists do not tend to a local destination as they follow a cycle leading them from one place to another,” he added.

Parallel with these developments, what the city government is doing is improve its capacity to accommodate more tourists taking into consideration that the city is also fast emerging as one of the country’s convention capitals.

“We are now hosting an average of 20 big conventions and similar occasions yearly, bringing in to the city around 60,000 visitors each year. So far, we only have 2,009 hotel rooms that can accommodate in one occasion some 5,000 people,” Rosal said.

More accommodation facilities are needed, that is why the city government has been encouraging and attracting more investors to venture into this endeavor and the responds are very encouraging, he added.

Legazpi’s Ibalong Festival comes with more fun, adventure this August

By Danny O. Calleja [(PNA), CTB/FGS/DOC/CBD/]

LEGAZPI CITY, Aug. 6 (PNA) – The city government here has issued a guarantee that the 2014 holding of Ibalong Festival, which comes this month, will be loaded with more fun, adventure and surprises.

“I assure you of more fun, exciting adventures and big surprises as we go along with this month-long celebration—the 23rd Ibalong Festival,” City Mayor Noel Rosal, who is also chair of the festival executive committee, told a press conference at the city mayor’s office Wednesday.

The festival’s formal opening will be on Aug. 16 but preliminary activities like the screening of candidates for the Mutya ng Ibalong beauty pageant, which was held last Aug. 3, the kick-off of the Mt. Mayon Triathlon on Aug. 10 and opening of the 2nd Ibalong National Women’s Beach Volleyball Championship on Aug. 15-17 will serve as advance activities.

The triathlon event is one of the big surprises offered this year as it will be participated in by about 200 celebrated international players, Rosal said, describing the event as a grueling physical fitness competition that will pass through varied routes along the Legazpi Boulevard to the town of Sto. Domingo, Albay, near the foot of Mt. Mayon.

The women’s beach volleyball games expected to be played among teams coming from big universities and colleges around the country will be held also along the Legazpi Boulevard.

To highlight the formal opening program of the festival on Aug. 16 will be the rolling out of the Ibalong Festival Weekend Market that will open up business opportunities to small and medium enterprise operators in the locality and those coming from far as Metro Manila and Cebu, City councilor Lilian Ramirez, the event’s committee chairperson, said in the press conference.

In support to the festivities, the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) will be holding its 2014 Southern Luzon Cluster Science and Technology Fair at the city’s Ibalong Centrum for Recreation from Aug. 17 to 20, according to Tomas Briñas, the DOST regional director for Bicol.

The event will also mark the launch in the city of Juan Time that will make Legazpi the first local government unit in Bicol to have the giant Juan Time clock to be mounted by the DOST at the heart of the city’s business center, Briñas said.

He said the S&T fair -- which will be focused on regional development thrust, tourism and disaster risk reduction and management (DRRM), will be attended by delegations headed by DOST regional directors from 16 regions of the country.

In this affair, Legazpi will showcase its tremendous gains in tourism development that has made the city achieve remarkable growth in the travel industry and in DRRM that won for it the national championship in the Gawad Kalasag Awards of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council last year, Briñas said.

“Legazpi recognizes DRRM not only as a program but also as a culture—a trait that other LGUs should replicate,” he added.

One more big surprise that Ibalong Festival 2014 will be pulling, according to Rosal, is the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Legends Exhibition Game to be held at the ICR on Aug. 22.

The game will feature veteran Bicolano PBA players like William “Bogs” Adornado who hails from this city, Fortunato “Atoy” Co of Daet, Camrines Norte, and Rommel Daep of Manito, Albay.

They will be joined by Vince Hizon, Paul Alvarez, Noli Locsin, Nelson Asaytono, EJ Feihl, Bong Hawkins, Gerome Ejercito and Gerry Codiñera in playing against the Ibalong Team.

Other events include the Ibalong Zumba Party at the ICR and Otaku Summit at the Pacific Mall on Aug. 23; 1st Ibalong Color Run at the Legazpi Boulevard on Aug 24; the Ibalong Enduro Pilipinas Mountain Bike Race along the foot of Mt. Mayon; the Operation Hoops Care Goodwill Mission to the Philippines at the ICR on Aug. 26-27; and the Siram na Sana: A Legazpeño Food Festival at the Casablanca Convention Hall.

The traditional Ibalong Street Presentation, which will feature six contingents to portray in different styles the epical heroes of Bicolandia -- Handyong, Baltog, Bantong and Oryol -- and the Ibalong epic through dances and colorful attires, will be held at the city downtown on Aug. 30.

During the street presentations, the competing contingents will parade in the streets wearing masks and costumes to imitate the appearances of the heroes and the villains, portraying the classic battles that made their way into the history of Bicol.

At night of the same day will be the coronation of the Mutya ng Ibalong at the ICR.

Ibalong Festival, now on its 23rd year, is a month-long non-religious fiesta depicting Bicol’s early beginnings based on the Ibalong Epic written by the late Prof. Merito Espinas that tells of mythical super heroes, villains, monsters and wild animals in the ancient times.

“This is the longest running tourism promotion-related festival in the Bicol region that expresses warmth and goodwill to all people and encourages visitors and tourists to celebrate with the Legazpeños,” Rosal said.

Albay International Gateway welcomes more flights with China

By Connie B. Destura [(PNA), LAM/FGS/CBD/]

LEGAZPI CITY, Aug. 5 (PNA) -- The Albay International Gateway (AIG) is ready to welcome more chartered flights from mainland China as the initial 18-cycle, 3-month run will start on Aug. 8 until Oct. 10, with each cycle scheduled on Mondays (arrival) through Fridays (departure) and vice-versa.

This initial 3-month run—made possible through a 1-year contract of Cebu Pacific with their Chinese partners—may be extended depending on the success of its implementation.

The first batch of tourists for this run will arrive on Aug. 8 from Xiamen, China, bringing in a full load of 179 passengers to Albay.

Earlier this year, 285 Chinese tourists from Xiamen flew in to the province to celebrate the Chinese New Year, coming in two batches -- the first arriving on Jan. 30, while the second came in on Feb. 6.

The AIG committee chaired by Governor Joey Sarte Salceda, along with representatives from different government agencies and other stakeholders, is now again readying all the provisions needed to accommodate the coming tourists.

Like the previous batches of Xiamen tourists, the incoming visitors will be billeted at the Misibis Bay Resort and Casino, with occasional tours to be made to the different landmarks and attractions in Albay.

Funds have been allocated for the Legazpi airport for its expansion to accommodate the different government offices that are required to service direct international flights arriving to the airport, as well as add wider areas and more chairs for the convenience of the passengers.

As committee chair, Salceda has pledged the full support of the provincial government in this endeavor to further boost the image of Albay in the international market as a tourist destination and fully coordinate with the different agencies to achieve this goal.

Roxas orders BFP to help contain Albay bush fire

(PNA), LAM/CLTC

MANILA, Aug. 4 (PNA) -- Interior and Local Government Secretary Manuel Roxas II on Monday directed the regional office of the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) in Bicol to mobilize all resources necessary to help contain an ongoing bush fire that has already razed some 6,000 hectares of forest and grasslands in two islands of Rapu-Rapu, Albay.

In a statement, Roxas specifically instructed the BFP-Regional Office in Bicol to coordinate with their counterparts from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to ensure that the bush fire would not spread to residential areas nearby.

“I expect our BFP Regional Office to mobilize all possible resources. All our fire-fighters and fire trucks in the region must be ready to help the DENR contain the bush fire,” the DILG chief said.

“Kailangang hindi makatawid ang sunog sa mga bahayan (Hope this will not cross to the houses. We must ensure zero-casualty in this tragedy,” he added.

According to a report from the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), the bush fire started around 8 a.m. on Sunday with kaingin as the possible cause of the incident.

The NDRRMC said the fire has initially affected six of Rapu-Rapu’s 34 barangays, namely: Poblacion, Morocborocan, Sitio Acal, Mananao, Guadalupe, and Buenavista, which were occupied by about 5,000 households.

Other fire incidents were reported in Sitio Minto, San Ramon and Batan Island.

In his initial report to the DILG Secretary, SC/Supt. Carlito Romero, BFP Chief, said 14 Forest Fire Protection Officers had already been deployed from Albay to comply with Roxas’ directive.

Romero said two Forest Fire Specialists who had been tasked to assume lead command at Rapu-Rapu Island had also boarded an Air Force plane with personnel from the Office of Civil Defense to conduct aerial assessment of the affected area.

The team, he said, had recommended the deployment of bucket bomb or choppers with water buckets to help contain the bush fire.

The Initial Assessment/Operations Team likewise recommended that the following actions be taken immediately:

·Rapu-Rapu to declare State of Calamity;

·Municipality of Rapu-Rapu and threatened barangays to activate Local Disaster Risk Reduction Management Councils on a 24-hour operation in order to intensify monitoring and preparedness actions required;

·Prepare evacuation sites and request Philippine Air Force for the availability of Huey 2 with Bumby Bucket.

Power co-ops in other provinces help Albay

By Ma. April Mier (Inquirer Southern Luzon)

LEGAZPI CITY, Philippines—Albay Power and Energy Corp. (Apec) has restored power supply in nearly 50 percent of its “backbone lines” in Albay province, 18 days since Typhoon “Glenda” hit the province on July 15.

“Only 13 percent of households have been energized but we have reached almost half of the commercial or backbone areas,” Russell James Serrano, chief of the technical operations and maintenance division of Apec, said in an interview on Saturday.

The backbone lines are the electric poles or posts, which are connected to the main roads where hospitals, schools, the central business district and other major institutions are located, he explained.

In Legazpi City, the business center of Albay, more than 50 percent, or 43 of its 70 barangays, had their backbone lines energized while supply was restored in 13 lines in Tabaco City and 10 in Ligao City.

In the municipality of Malinao, power had been restored in the backbone lines of seven villages.

Jane Rogando, head of Apec’s customer service division, said that with the help of the National Electrification Administration, volunteers from electric cooperatives across the country came to help in the power restoration work in Albay.

Seven teams with 42 personnel from six electric cooperatives in Luzon arrived in Albay on July 30. They were from Central Pangasinan Electric Cooperative, Pampanga Electric Cooperative, Nueva Ecija Electric Cooperative, Pampanga Rural Electric Cooperative, Tarlac Electric Cooperative (Tarelco) 1 and Tarelco 2 to augment restoration efforts.

On Aug. 4, Rogando said they expected three more teams to come from Zamboanga Electric Cooperative (Zamelco) 1, Zamelco 2 and Peninsula Electric Cooperative in Bataan.

She said they had earlier projected that it would take three months before power could be completely restored in Albay but that they could shorten the period with the formation of Task Force Glenda, which is composed of electric cooperatives outside Albay.

Legazpi City Mayor Noel Rosal, in a text message, said the city expected full power restoration before the end of August.

Albay has 15 municipalities and three cities— Legazpi, Ligao and Tabaco.

PNoy commends Albay’s zero casualty in Sona

(Manila Standard Today)

LEGAZPI CITY—President Benigno Aquino III has lauded Albay for its ‘zero casualty’ record during the recent onslaught of Typhoon Glenda as a most noteworthy feat of a local government unit in disaster risk reduction, during his fifth State of the Nation Address (Sona).

Halfway through his Sona, Aquino thanked Albay Gov. Joey Salceda for prompt action during Glenda’s onslaught. The typhoon mauled Albay for eight hours on July 16. It claimed over a hundred lives elsewhere in the country.

Salceda attributes their zero casualty score to their “preemptive evacuation” strategy which required the evacuation of about 101,000 families to safe evacuation centers hours before Glenda’s forecasted landfall in the province. Packing over 180 kph center winds, Glenda wrought extensive damage in Albay worth about P9.1 billion, with some 98,000 families rendered homeless.

In his Sona, the President reported that the national government is implementing some technology-driven DRR programs, under it is Project Noah, for effective and fast disaster warning system and monitoring of heavy rains and flash floods.

These DRR programs, coupled with prompt action by LGU officials like Gov. Salceda, can save more lives and prevent deaths, Aquino stressed.

If a province that is considered a highway for strong typhoons can achieve this (zero casualty) feat, there’s no reason why other LGUs cannot achieve the same, Aquino said, which drew cheers from the crowd at the Sandiganbayan where the President delivered his address.

Salceda, who was present during the Sona, said it was a pleasant surprise to have been included in the President’s Sona, but added that “Albay rightly and richly deserves to be mentioned,” for working hard to achieve its ‘zero casualty’ goal during disasters.

The governor had pioneered “preemptive evacuation towards zero casualty’ that is now a byword in Albay and which the national and many local government units have already adopted. The strategy is complemented by investments in safe comfortable evacuation centers which also serve a classroom during normal days.

For its feats the United Nations has declared Salceda s its DRR champion and Albay as its global model in DRR and Climate Change Adaptation. The governor now sits as co-chair of the UN Green Climate Fund, the first Asian to have held the position of the prestigious international body tasked to fund global climate change programs.

Tourism propels Bicol as Phl fastest growing region

By Johnny C. Nunez [(PNA), LAM/JCN/JSD]

LEGAZPI CITY, Aug 1 (PNA) -- Driven by tourism, Bicol (Region V) has now emerged as the country’s fastest growing region with an impressive 9.4 % growth last year, according to Albay Governor Joey Salceda, citing the latest report of the National Statistics Coordination Board (NSCB).

The recent NSCB report said Bicol’s 9.4% growth in 2013 outpaced those of the other 17 regions of the country, including Metro Manila or the National Capital Region (NCR) which registered a 9.1 percent growth rate.

Salceda, who chairs the Bicol Regional Development Council (RDC), said Bicol has now risen from the ruins of disasters that had stunted it for decades. He added that tourism has been the principal driver of the region’s impressive economic growth, led by Albay, now the Philippines’ fastest growing tourist destination, which posted a truly staggering 66% tourism growth last year.

The Almasor (Albay - Masbate-Sorsogon) Tourism Alliance, which Salceda organized as RDC chair, also posted a 42 percent growth in arrivals in 2013, contributing to the over all regional economic growth.

Salceda, a respected economist and 3-term Bicol RDC chairman, said Bicol’s growth was also pushed by better yields in energy production of the Tiwi and Bacman geothermal plants, higher public investments in infrastructure and acceleration retail trade, further supported by the full infusion of Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program or 4Ps into the countryside.

Reacting to the NSCB report, Salceda said Bicol’s growth rate is indeed phenomenal, having occupied the lowest rung in the country’s economic ladder for decades. It has often been listed as third or second, if not the poorest region of the country. This was blamed to the regular onslaught by strong typhoons.

Knowledgeable authorities credit Bicol’s economic breakthrough to Salceda’s leadership of the region’s RDC. The Albay governor was a former economic adviser to Philippine presidents.

“What can you expect but a fast growing economy in Bicol since Gov. Joey Sarte Salceda is the head honcho in planning for the region,” former NSCB director-general Jose Ramon Gatmaitan Albert noted.

Quoting the NSCB report, Salceda said “Bicol picked its momentum from 2012 with 6.9% recorded growth to top the other 17 regions of the country last year, including NCR with its 9.1%, powered by a strong service sector and Agriculture, Hunting, Forestry and Fishing (AHFF) with 57% and 23.4%, respectively.”

The governor said the formula for Bicol’s phenomenal growth lies in its hidden strengths, which the RDC capitalized on in planning and executing its banner programs, particularly, tourism.

As RDC chair, Salceda charted Bicol’s economic direction, with special emphasis on tourism, of which the region has great potentials. He organized the Almasor, which had immediately gained significant international recognition at the ITB Berlin in Germany, the London WTM last year, and the Guangzhou Travel-mart, early this year.

The NSCB report said the Service sector’s growth in Albay accelerated from 6.2% in 2012 to 11% in 2013. Except for Transport, Storage and Communications (TSC), all its sub-sectors recorded higher growths, as follows: Trade and Repair, 9.7% to 10.8%; Finance, 10.9% to 14.4%; Real Estate, Renting and Business Activities (RERBA), 2.8% to 17.1%; Public Administration, 4.2% to 8.2%; Other Services, 2.2% to 11.4%.

The NSCB report likewise show the following 2012-2013 growth trends: AHFF, 2.9% to 4.5%; Agriculture and Forestry, 3.1% to 5.4%; Fishing, 2.5% to 2%; Industry, 14.6% to 10.8%; Construction, 14.2% to 22.4%; EGWS, 9.3% to 13.4%; Manufacturing, 5% to 9.6%; Mining and Quarrying, 11.8% to 4.2%.

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