Albay News January 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.

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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.

Albayanos hail visit of Chinese visitors from Xiamen as boon to tourism

By Nancy I. Mediavillo [(PNA), FPV/FGS/NIM/CBD/]

LEGAZPI CITY, Jan. 31 (PNA) – “Kung Hei Fat Choi!”

For the first time, some 160 Chinese from Xiamen will greet Albayanos, especially Filipino-Chinese in the province, with these words as they celebrate the Chinese New Year Friday in Albay, specifically in Misibis Bay Rain Tree Resort in Cagraray, Albay, a leisure-entertainment destination.

The arrival Thursday morning of the Chinese guests has been considered by Albayanos as a unique event and a boon to the tourism industry of Albay.

The visitors arrived here on board a direct chartered flight from Xiamen, China.

Governor Joey Sarte Salceda said the new route has opened the door of Albay to other countries.

“First Xiamen, next will be other cities in China, Korea and Taiwan,” Salceda said.

The economist governor said some P6.5 billion will be contributed to the coffers of Albay once the Legazpi airport receives more foreign tourists as an international gateway.

“This amount is almost five times the annual budget of the province,” he said, explaining that a Chinese tourist would spend an average of USD 1,000 for a one-day stay in the province.

Salceda said the tourism industry will open employment opportunities to Albayanos.

For every tourist, there will be at least one local resident that will be given employment or livelihood income, he added.

Gerard Panga, Philippine tourism attache to China, said Albay will be the new tourist destination in the Philippines after Boracay, Cebu and Clark.

Panga said the province has many things to show, not only its natural resources but also its culture and arts, among others.

Tourism Undersecretary Ma. Victoria Jasmin said there is indeed a need for international access outside Metro Manila like Albay.

Jasmin added that there is a need to facilitate the completion of the Southern Luzon International Airport as a result of the influx of foreign tourists.

Aside from this, she said, there will be international conferences to be held in the province like the 150th ASEAN tourism officials meeting and the World Trade Organization meeting in May. In this connection, Albay is very much ready to support the the tourism program of the national government through its tourism-related initiatives like the formation of t he Almasor (Albay-Masbate-Sorsogon) tourism alliance, Salceda said.

In fact, the Department of Tourism has approved at least 321 tourism infrastructure projects for the Almasor.

The Albay chief executive also expressed confidence that the SLIA, located in the neigboring municipality of Daraga, will open before President Aquino’s term ends in 2016.

The DOT allocated P2.2-billion funding for the airport runway this year.

In 2015, he said, there is a need for another allocation of P2.2 billion for the airport terminal and other requirements for its full operation.

Albay welcomes Chinese tourists from Xiamen via direct PAL flight today

By Nancy I. Mediavillo (PNA), JBP/FG/JSD

LEGAZPI CITY, Jan. 30 (PNA) -- The province of Albay opens its doors today as an international gateway with the arrival this morning of a chartered flight of the Philippine Air Lines from Xiamen, China, carrying 160 Chinese tourists.

The PAL plane is scheduled to land at the newly renovated Legazpi airport at 11:55 a.m. after a two-hour-and-40-minute flight from Xiamen.

Gov. Joey Salceda, who joined the flight from China, said the event is the realization of the dream of Albay to open its doors to the world as an international gateway.

With Salceda is Jerry Panga, Philippine tourism attache to China.

The Chinese visitors, the first batch to come here, will stay in the province for five days and celebrate the Chinese New Year here on Friday.

They will be met at the airport by a welcoming group headed by Tourism Undersecretary Victoria Jasmin, Department of Tourism Bicol Regional Director Maria Nini Ravanilla and Legazpi City Mayor Noel Rosal.

The group will then proceed to Misibis Bay Rain Tree International Resort where they are booked.

Ravanilla said the resort was chosen owing to it classification as an entertainment and leisure destination, a priority consideration of tourists for their accommodation.

One consideration also is the sight of Mayon volcano, Albay’s main icon.

The Chinese guests will visit the ATV (all-terrain vehicle) riding area in Legazpi City and will have a butanding (whale shark) interaction in Donsol, Sorsogon.

The second batch of Chinese visitors will arrive on Feb. 3 and composed of 180 persons while the third group of another 180 members will come on Feb. 7.

This is part of dry-run flights for the succeeding regular direct flights from Xiamen, China, to Legazpi City starting June up to December this year, Salceda said.

He added that this is part of the province’s preparation for its global engagement and Albay Boom.

Albay Boom is an ambitious multi-faceted development program of his administration.

Dorothy F. Colle, provincial tourism officer, said the province has to give the best travel experience to the foreign guests.

This, Colle said, is the key for Albay’s realization of its target of 600,000 tourist arrivals in 2016.

She added that this will be the contribution of the province to the 10 million foreign tourists being targeted by the national government in the same year.

DTI-Bicol pushes registration of geographical indication for ‘Bicol pili’

By Emmanuel P. Solis [(PNA), CTB/FGS/EPS/CBD/]

LEGAZPI CITY, Jan. 29 (PNA) – The Department of Trade and Industry Regional Office 5, in partnership with the Intellectual Property Office Philippines, is pushing for the registration of an geographical indication (GI) for “Bicol pili” as part of its developmental approach in the use of industrial property for the total development of the pili nut industry in the region.

Jocelyn LB. Blanco, DTI Bicol regional director, explained a GI or geographical indication is a specific intellectual property right that designates a product from a specific region and whose characteristics result in both the natural conditions of its origin and the expertise of local producers.

More commonly, Blanco said, a geographical indication consists of the name of origin of the goods or products.

She gave as example 'Champagne' which is used exclusively for French wines in the Champagne province of France.

“A GI is a powerful intellectual and economic asset not only of the region but also of the nation, as it leverages products to compete globally,” Blanco said.

It is a valuable marketing tool in today’s global economy, she added.

The DTI’s move towards a GI for Bicol pili aims to promote and better protect the pili nut in the local and international markets.

This dynamic instrument leads to wider market reach, including trade negotiations between and among economies, Blanco also said.

After almost a couple of years of negotiations, and having been able to build an institution from a cross section of stakeholders of the pili industry, a whole-day consultative meeting is scheduled on Feb. 18 at the DTI Regional Office 5 Conference Room, 3rd Floor Albay Capitol Annex Bldg. in this city.

The meeting will equip the pili stakeholders with enough information on the requirements needed for the registration of Bicol pili as a GI.

More importantly, the meeting aims to organize the technical working group that will draft the Code of Practice.

Spanish gov’t agency officials now in Albay

(PNA), FFC/FGS/NIM/CBD

LEGAZPI CITY, Jan. 28 (PNA) -– Officials of the Agencia Española de Cooperacion Internacional para el Desarollo (AECID) or Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation arrived in Albay Tuesday morning to meet with Governor Joey Sarte Salceda in a move to strengthen cooperative relations between the provincial government and the Spanish government on disaster risk reduction program.

The AECID group is composed of Antonio Gonzalez, head of the AECID Department of Cooperation for Asia and Arab Countries, and Vicente Sellés, AECID coordinator general.

The meeting was arranged by Norberto Gómez de Liaño, AECID deputy coordinator general.

After the meeting, the AECID officials visited the various projects of the agency in the province.

The AECID recently turned over to Albay a new water filtration machine with a capacity of 33,000 liters per hour.

The new filtration machine was used in Tolosa, Leyte, which was hard hit by super typhoon “Yolanda.”

It can be recalled that the AECID donated a water purifying machine to Albay after the province was devastated in 2006 by typhoon “Reming.”

Salceda said the new water filtration equipment will increase the capacity of Albay in producing potable water not only for the province but also for other areas that would be needing the humanitarian assistance of Team Albay-Office of Civil Defense 5 which it has been extending for the past seven years.

The latest typhoon-ravaged areas the team had helped were the provinces of Samar at Leyte.

In this connection, Dr Cedric Daep, head of the Albay Public Safety and Emergency Management Office and the Climate Change Academy, said the Water Sanitation Unit of the Team Albay-OCD5 is always ready to get the filtration machine from Leyte.

Daep said they are just waiting for a better schedule for the purpose, based on the instructions of Salceda.

Albay vows domination to reclaim championship in the Palarong Bikol

(MAL/PGAlbay/PIA5)

LEGAZPI CITY, Jan. 27 (PIA) -- With this year's Palarong Bicol (Bicol Games) at bay, Albay has vowed domination to reclaim the championships in the regional games set on February 2 to 7 in Virac, Catanduanes.

Albay provincial sports coordinator Roderick Mendoza the province's prides carrying the monicker "Albay Vulcans" is comprised of 723-man delegation ready to show force in the Palarong Bicol 2014 , sending a strong message of its will to bring back the championships it held in 2011 and 2012.

Mendoza is confident Albay’s athletes and officials are well prepared to bring home the championships.

The Vulcans, fresh from a 45-day rigorous training at the Provincial Sports Center in Travesia, Guinobatan are set to avenge their loss to Camarines Sur for the top honors in last year’s edition of the competitions.

In last year's Palrong Bicol, Camarines Sur wrestled back the championship crown from Albay, followed Camarines Norte and Naga City to complete the top four places.

The Vulcans are favored to dominate the athletics, swimming events, basketball and volleyball games in this tough week-long sports event.

Gov. Joey Sarte Salceda meanwhile has approved the provincial government’s financial assistance of P1,000 for each athlete and official to boost the province’s campaign in the 17 sports disciplines where Albay has notable entries.

The send-off for the entire delegation will be today at the Provincial Sports Center.

Salceda is expected to join the Vulcans during the opening ceremonies on February 2.

Organizers meanwhile said more than 6,000 athletes, coaches, trainers, officials, and support staff are expected to troop to the Catanduanes Athletic Complex for the week-long sports competion.

The province of Catanduanes hosts to at least 12 visiting delegations in the Palarong Bicol for the second straight this year.

Salceda urges Albay students to prepare for National Achievement Test

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

LEGAZPI CITY, Jan. 26 (PNA) -– With only 39 days to go, Gov. Joey Sarte Salceda on Sunday urged Albay students to prepare for the National Achievement Test (NAT) which starts on March 5 for fourth year secondary students.

The examination date for elementary, Grade III, is March 11, while for elementary, Grade VI, the schedule is March 13.

“We have 39 days from now to prepare for the NAT where our ranking has been designated as a socially desirable goal of the entire province,” Salceda said.

He noted that in 2007, Albay Division ranked 177th out of 183 divisions, “so we decided to implement robust measures to correct it and more than that, to work for a goal.”

The first step the provincial government did was to establish the Provincial Education Department, which is solely dedicated to education and the first and only one of its kind in the entire country.

“Education is now the biggest item in the entire provincial budget – accounting for 24 percent,” the provincial chief executive said.

With the capacity of PED, he said, the provincial government launched and sustained various programs, including giving recognition and financial rewards to schools and their General Parents-Teachers Associations.

These awards are being given during the “Titser’s Nyt” of the Daragang Magayon Festival.

“We have launched Kadunong for local government units, BAKAS for barangays and other programs as well as lobbied quite successfully with the Department of Social Welfare and Development for higher 4P coverage from 11,000 in 2010 to 76,000 in 2013 to combat the impact of malnutrition on student performance and participation,” Salceda said.

Thus, he proudly noted, from 2007’s 177th place in NAT, Albay ranked 19th in 2011 but slipped to 29 in 2012.

“But we remain confident that we will achieve our goal of being in Top 20 by 2014 and Top 10 by 2016. We cannot do it alone, we need the support and prayers of everyone in this regard,” the Albay governor, a product of educators – both his parents being public school teachers, said.

Looking forward, he said, “I know that the future success of our people is significantly determined by our performance in school and the behavior of our educational system.”

When asked what he would consider to be his greatest achievement or highest legacy of his administration, he said his answer is simple: improving Albay’s NAT standing from 177th to Top 10, because that makes Albay the bastion of education in Luzon.

Albay LGUs, DSWD ink Php 209-M pact for infra projects

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

LEGAZPI CITY, Jan. 25 (PNA) -- The Provincial Government of Albay, six of its municipalities and the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) have entered into a memorandum of agreement for the funding of the local government units' various infrastructure projects totaling P209 million.

Board Member Herbert Borja, representing Governor Joey Sarte Salceda, DSWD Regional Director Arnel Garcia and the municipal mayors of the identified six LGUs formalized the agreement with the signing of the MOA on Friday at the Hotel St. Ellis in Legazpi City.

The six municipal chief executives present were Jorem Arcangel of Jovellar; Cherilie Sampal, Polangui; Gregorio Ricarte, Oas; Henry Callope, Pio Duran; Anne Gemma Ongjoco, Guinobatan; and Cesar Daep, Manito.

The P209-million projects, funded under the DSWD’S Community-Driven Development (CDD) program, are set to be implemented in the six municipalities starting January this year and expected to be completed in July.

CDD aims to bring about more equitable access to quality basic services, reduce poverty, achieve inclusive growth and improve human conditions in the poorest areas of the country.

Albay is one of the three pilot provinces chosen for CDD projects along with Leyte and Compostela Valley.

Earlier, Salceda released the province’s cash counterpart of P75 million in addition to the P100-million funding provided by the Asian Development Bank through the DSWD.

The balance of P36 million is the counterpart of the six LGUs.

The six municipalities have already submitted their respective projects for funding allocations, which are mostly construction and rehabilitation or improvement of farm-to-market roads.

They were chosen on the basis of their location, poverty incidence, good housekeeping, active linkages and logistical readiness.

ECCP picks Albay as PHL's next wave industrial center

By Johnny C. Nunez [(PNA),SCS/JCN/EBP]

LEGAZPI CITY, Jan. 24 (PNA) -- The European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (ECCP) has picked Albay as the site of the next wave Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Southern Luzon that will shortly host low-cost, labor-intensive manufacturing industries.

The prospect of a SEZ is a welcome development for the province, which will strongly boost its new economic battle cry: Albay BOOM. For investors, Albay is admittedly a better choice owing to its low labor costs compared to Central Luzon and Metro Cebu.

Henry J. Schumacher, ECCP vice president for external affairs, in a recent letter to Albay Gov. Joey Salceda, said they have chosen Albay on account of its good business climate, investors-friendly ambience, ability to provide low-cost leases, attractive labor policies, receptivity to public-private partnership (PPP) projects that will attract real estate firms to develop businesses on reduced costs, and excellent disaster mitigation and adaptation measures, among others.

“We feel Albay could be such a location and we would like to discuss our concept in more detail with you,” Schumacher said. A coordinating conference was subsequently conducted with Schumacher and John Forbes, legislative committee chair of the American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines on the proposal, who were both impressed at how fast the governor responded to the ECCP plan.

Salceda explained that Albay should lose no time in responding to opportunities that would help realize its economic goals. The ECCP manufacturing ventures will focus on garments, footwear, and furniture, where Albay has posted impressive growth and quality records. He immediately ordered the creation of the Albay Domestic/Export Enterprise Zone Committee.

The governor expressed confidence his province will soon realize its “Albay BOOM” goals with the province’s conversion into a new economic zone in Southern Luzon.

Albay’s economic development thrust, he added, can further be boosted by the creation of a Domestic/Export Enterprise Zone (D/EEZ) that will satisfy the initial requirement for developing ecozones.

Albay has a large pool of young workers who can be trained and developed further under a proposed Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) Industrial Scholarship Program where young high school graduates are hired for apprenticeships for 18-24 months.

Various sites have already been pinpointed for the ECCP proposed SEZ during a recent meeting convened by the Albay Provincial Planning and Development Office that was attended by officials from state agencies, including the Department of Trade and Industry, TESDA and local businesses.

Salceda said among the proposed locations are Barangays Homapon and Banquerohan in Legazpi City, the Embarcadero de Legazpi, Legazpi Domestic Airport as a possible D/EEZ, and areas in Polangui town located along the national highway.

The “Albay Boom” drive takes over from the province’s “Albay Rising” economic campaign initiated by Salceda six years ago following his election as governor. The campaign has gone through various stages of developments in tourism, health, education and commerce.

European businesses eyeing expansion in Albay

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

LEGAZPI CITY, Jan. 23 (PNA) -- Albay will soon host a low-cost, labor-intensive manufacturing industrial area with a potential capacity to be developed into a special economic zone where labor costs are substantially lower compared to those in Central Luzon and Metro Cebu, according to the European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (ECCP).

“We feel that Albay could be such a location and we would like to discuss our concept in more detail with you during your next visit to Manila,” Henry J. Schumacher, ECCP vice president for external affairs, told Albay Governor Joey Sarte Salceda in a recent letter.

He said Philippine business groups and joint foreign chambers have been active in recent months in developing a paper on manufacturing in relation to the inclusive growth goal of the government.

Schumacher added that the business group is moving manufacturing businesses, specifically labor-intensive ones, to new locations where infrastructure is available and where industrial zones can be created and labor costs are substantially lower compared to Central Luzon and Metro Cebu.

The ECCP official noted that Albay has high potential, considering its favorable climate -- investors-friendly as it is able to provide low-cost leases, has more attractive labor policies, and is considerate to public-private partnership contracts to attract real estate firms to develop businesses on reduced costs.

Albay has also a large pool of new workers which can be trained through a proposed TESDA (Technical Education and Skills Development Administration) Industrial Scholarship Program wherein high school graduates aged 18 years old and above are hired for apprenticeships for 18-24 months.

With this ECCP proposal, Salceda said he is confident of an “Albay boom” resulting from the province’s conversion into a new ecozone in Southern Luzon.

The economist-governor, also chairperson of the Regional Development Council for Bicol, is bent on making it a reality with the initial creation in Albay of a Domestic/Export Enterprise Zone (D/EEZ), an initial requirement for developing ecozones.

In a recent meeting called by the Provincial Planning and Development Office with representatives from government agencies such as the Department of Trade and Industry, TESDA and local businesses, some possible sites for D/EEZ have been identified.

Among the proposed locations are Homapon, Banquerohan, Embarcadero de Legazpi, Legazpi Domestic Airport (initially declared as D/EEZ) and Polangui area along the national highway.

The focus is on such industries as food, garments, footwear, and furniture industries where Albay has potentially recorded an impressive growth.

Albay province, specifically Legazpi City, has been recognized by the Asian Institute of Management owing to its good business climate and excellent disaster mitigation and adaptation measures.

The EECP's plan to expand businesses in Albay coincides with the opening of the Legazpi City domestic airport as a new gateway for international chartered flights in Southern Luzon.

Biliran thanks Albay, Valenzuela for typhoon aid

(The Philippine Star)

Naval, Biliran, Philippines - – Gov. Gerardo Espina of this province thanked Albay and Valenzuela City which donated P500,000 each for the victims of Typhoon Yolanda which ravaged Biliran, along with Leyte and Samar, last November.

Vice Gov. Harold Imperial, who headed Team Albay on their visit to the province last Jan. 10, turned over the check to Espina, representing Albay’s assistance to the typhoon victims.

Witnessing the event were Biliran Vice Gov. Eriberto Tubis Jr. and members of the provincial board.

Recently, Team Albay was honored by the Publishers Association of the Philippines with the Most Outstanding Disaster Response Award, and Gov. Joey Salceda as Filipino of the Year.

Last Nov. 23, Valenzuela first district Rep. Sherwin Gatchalian visited this capital town to meet with Espina and turned over the city’s P500,000 donation for the typhoon victims.

Biliran faced the onslaught of Yolanda last Nov. 8, with 112,528 residents or 70 percent of its population directly affected. The howler left 5,444 families homeless, and damage to properties, livelihood, and infrastructure was estimated at P740 million.

Espina said the generosity of Albay and Valenzuela City has given immeasurable hope to Biliranons whose lives were devastated by the typhoon in their quest to rebuild their lives and their future.

Bicol’s tourism infra projects get P1.4-B funding this year

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

LEGAZPI CITY, Jan. 21 (PNA) -– Fresh funds worth over P1.4 billion have been allocated by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) to projects that would boost Bicol’s booming tourism industry.

The projects to be funded are under the Convergence Program on Enhancing Tourism Access (CPETA) that the DPWH is implementing in partnership with the Department of Tourism.

DPWH Regional Director Ronnel Tan on Tuesday said that among the major projects under CPETA is the improvement of a road connecting Tabaco City and Malinao town, both in Albay, with Buhi, Camarines Sur, worth P591 million.

Others are the improvement with construction of two concrete bridges of the Pres. Cory Aquino Boulevard, a five-kilometer coastal road along the famous Bagasbas Beach in Daet, Camarines, for P450 million; the Iriga-Buhi Road in Camarines Sur worth P368 million; and the Virac-Antipolo-Igang Road in Virac, Catanduanes, costing P75 million.

These road projects, according to Tan, will provide safe, efficient, convenient and easy access to tourism-identified areas, fortifying Bicol’s tourism roadmap for development.

CPETA, he said, is in support of the strategic approach in Bicol tourism development being pursued by Albay Governor and Regional Development Council Chairman Joey Sarte Salceda, such as the Albay-Masbate-Sorsogon Tourism Alliance and the Catanduanes-Camarines Sur-Camarines Norte Tourism Link, aimed at accelerating tourism development and enhance the region’s attractiveness.

Tan said the funding was provided through DPWH Secretary Rogelio Singson based on the endorsement made last year by the RDC and on the need of these tourism clusters for completion of priority projects with the likes of infrastructure development to make the region fully accessible to its external market.

The DPWH and the DOT regional offices in Bicol, he said, have long been pushing for an aggressive program on providing quality roads and bridges that will encourage tourist influx in the region.

According to Salceda, increase in tourist arrivals will certainly step up economic opportunities not only in rural areas but also in urban centers.

These roads target the increase in tourist arrivals, thereby correspondingly uplifting the economic condition of Bicolanos through anticipated boom in the tourism industry, the Albay governor added.

Last year, the DPWH Central Office has also provided an amount of P849.728 million for Bicol roads leading to tourist destinations wherein P409.460 million has been assigned for the province of Camarines Norte, P250.268 million for Camarines Sur and P190 million for Sorsogon.

This new fund, according to Tan, is part of the P8.65-billion allocation provided by the DPWH this year to Bicol under the National Expenditure Program (NEP).

The whole amount, Tan said, represents a slight increase from last year’s budget of P8.542 billion provided under the 2013 National Appropriations Act.

The whole amount will fund a total of 247 projects for implementation in the entire region, with the biggest bulk going to Camarines Sur which is given P2.425 billion for 73 projects.

Albay, Tan said, gets P2.388 billion earmarked for 33 projects; Camarines Norte, P1.108 billion for 46 projects; P996.5 million for Sorsogon’s 38 projects; P891.061 million for 31 projects in Catandunaes; and P840.31 million for 26 projects in Masbate.

Almost half of the whole amount of NEP appropriation for Bicol this year will be implemented by the DPWH regional office, particularly those projects beyond the limit of authority granted to district engineering offices but whose amount does not exceed P150 million pursuant to DPWH Department Order No. 55, series of 2010, he added.


Farmers in Albay town gets P1.5-M livelihood assistance from DOLE

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

GUINOBATAN, Albay, Jan. 20 (PNA) -– Town Mayor Ann Gemma Ongjoco here has expressed optimism that local farmers who have embraced coco net weaving as an alternative industry will be able to improve their purchasing power out of the about P1.5-million in livelihood assistance recently granted by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE).

This is a good start this year for the Guinobatan Coco Twine Workers Organization (GCTWO), an organization of coconut farm workers which the DOLE Bicol regional office on Sunday granted P1.49-million in forms of equipment, supplies and materials for their coconut twine manufacturing, Ongjoco on Monday said.

Beneficiaries of the grant are 150 farmers who have bonded themselves into the organization that is pursuing the coconut twine making, a fast-raising industry that converts coconut husk coir into high-end industrial products, she said.

Members of the GCTWO are distributed among the villages of Bubulusan, Lomacao, Malabnig, Upper Binogsacan, Muladbucad Grande, Muladbucad Pequeño, Inascan, Mapaco, Lower Binogsacan, San Jose, and Mauraro -- all upland areas here dominated by coconut plantations.

While coco twine making serves only as their alternative source of livelihood since they primarily rely on copra and other major coconut-based products, this new industry will certainly provide them additional income to augment their household economy, Ongjoco said.

Prior to the DOLE grant, the group was provided with training by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) under its Rural Micro Enterprise Promotion Program (RUMEPP) focused on technologies in coco fiber twining and weaving leading to the manufacture of coconut husk-derived baled decorticated fibers, twines and geonets.

The training course that took four days to complete was technically supervised by engineer Justino Arboleda, the founder and owner of Juboken Enterprises and Coco Technologies Corp. (COCOTECH), now the country’s leading bioengineering company and coir manufacturer based in the nearby Camalig town.

Arboleda, who once served as an engineering professor of Bicol University, is a very enterprising Bicolano who has proven for himself and to the entire coconut world that husks are not waste but wealth to provide livelihood opportunities to marginalized rural communities and a long-term solution to environmental degradation.

The country’s coconut farms produce about eight billion husks yearly, which are burned or left to rot in farms with three billion of these used as fuel in copra cooking—a very deplorable low utilization rate of only 20 percent despite its wide potential for various uses when manufactured.

These manufactured products are now in demand as soil erosion control material, horticultural aid, industrial fiber pads and charcoal briquettes, among other important uses in both local and overseas applications.

Geonets are modern civil engineering construction materials that generally replace scarce raw material resources like steel and cement and are good alternatives to conventional designs in terms of eco-friendliness, cost-effectiveness in carrying out basic functions such as filtration, drainage, separation, reinforcement and protection.

The coco fiber roll or fascine, made from 100-percent decorticated coconut fiber compressed in tubular nylon netting, and the coco fiber mat made of coir fiber stitched into mats of different specifications are used as wall proof and roof insulation, furniture liners, mulching materials, grass mats and erosion control blankets.

These products are being exported to Germany, Japan, United States, Malaysia, China, Sri Lanka and Dubai. DOLE Regional Director Nathaniel Lacambra said the future for this industry is very promising and “we at DOLE foresee that in two to three years' time, this project will significantly improve the lives of the beneficiaries.”

He said the grant was taken from DOLE’s Bottom-Up Budgeting (BUB), a budgeting system adopted by the government in which the involved budget holders are given the opportunity to participate in the process of settling their own budgets, according to DOLE Bicol Regional Director Nathaniel Lacambra.

One of the advantages of BUB is its perceived accuracy since the elements are more detailed.

There is also the benefits pitched in with participative management, and the difference in opinions can be resolved since the people outside the officials are involved, Lacambra said.

In this particular project, he said, it was the GCTWO which decided on the livelihood venture they are going into and determined by themselves the amount of equipment and other supplies needed.

It was this year’s second release of over a million-peso worth of livelihood assistance made by DOLE-Bicol under the BUB.

Last Jan.10, according to Lacambra, his office released the first one amounting to P1.7 million to the municipality of Juban, Sorsogon, for the benefit of 170 recipients who are members of an organization granted livelihood assistance by the DOLE.

156 Chinese tourists coming to Albay aboard maiden direct flight from Xiamen on Jan. 30

(PNA), CTB/FGS/EMC/CBD/RSM

LEGAZPI CITY, Jan. 19 (PNA) -- About 156 Chinese tourists will visit Albay during the maiden direct plane flight from Xiamen, China, to Legazpi City on Jan. 30, as the province opens its international gateway (gateway to the world) for more foreign tourists and visitors.

Gov. Joey Salceda said the Chinese visitors will come to Albay for a five-day tour of the province.

Salceda said the province has been readying the Legazpi Airport to meet the requirements, with concerned agencies installing the needed facilities.

The domestic airport here has been upgraded to serve as the new gateway for international chartered flights under Albay’s enhanced tourism program that also targets other major markets like Russia and Korea.

The Legazpi airport will also be ready with its Customs, Immigration and Quarantine-Health (CIQ) and Quarantine Agriculture to meet the requirements involving international flights.

“Ahead of the opening of the Southern Luzon International Airport (SLIA) now ongoing construction in Daraga town, we are making use of the existing Legazpi Domestic Airport for chartered flights that will fly in foreign visitors who are making our province a new destination,” the governor said.

The province, he said, is taking advantage of the foreign market trend showing that international tourists do not tend to repeat a local destination as they follow a cycle leading them from one place to another.

"This trend, according to the governor, creates a demand for a new Philippine destination other than Cebu, Boracay, Bohol and Laoag where there are existing flights from and to various cities outside of the country, particularly China,” he said.

Having Albay as a new direct destination for the Chinese travel market, for example, means getting them to start a cycle from January to March of each year wherein they would arrive via chartered flights on Sunday and leave on Thursday, Salceda said.

With this, he said, the province would be expecting in terms of arrivals 200 persons per flight from China every five days for three months or 3,600 actual bodies who would be staying five nights -- meaning 18,000 guest nights per year.

The governor also said major international conventions and conferences will be held in Albay such as the World Trade Organization (WTO) Meeting, United Nations Conference, ASEAN Meeting and some ministerial meetings of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit which will be hosted by the province in December next year.

The Xiamen-Albay flights starting Jan. 30 will usher in the coming of about 18,000 tourists in 2014 -- growing to 50,000 in 2017, Salceda said.

Based on reports of international tourism organizations, Chinese tourists spend 0 per night.

“With this as an example, a conservative estimate of US$ 275 per Chinese guest per night would be equivalent to about P213 million in tourism receipts that Albay would get starting from the moment they arrive at the airport and as they go along with city tours, enter the gate of Cagsawa Ruins, rent ATVs (all-terrain vehicles), eat in restaurants, get services from local providers and occupy hotel rooms,” Salceda said.

He revealed that the province has established a foreign language learning facility that will accommodate would-be tour guides for thousands of tourists, mostly Chinese, coming in through the province’s international chartered flights tourism program.

32 PNP officers undergo LTO deputation training

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

MALINAO, Albay, Jan. 18, (PNA) -- Thirty-two uniformed personnel from the different Philippine National Police municipal police offices in the First District of Albay, except the Sto. Domingo Municipal Police Office, underwent Joint Land Transportation Office-PNP Land Transportation and Traffic Law Enforcement Deputation Training held at the Municipal Hall Building in Malinao, Albay, on Jan. 15-16.

One newly-appointed employee of LTO Regional Office 5 joined the training.

Malinao Mayor Alicia B. Morales underscored the importance of continuing and unrelenting acquisition of knowledge and skills, among others, of PNP personnel -- especially on subject matters related to their profession.

LTO Region 5 administrative division chief Jaime E. Masagca discussed the Legal Aspects of Land Transportation and Traffic Law Enforcement and Adjudication, the delineation of functions of LTO, PNP and local government unit on the enforcement of certain transportation and traffic rules and regulations, elements of law enforcement, related existing laws and other matters.

In addition, he also discussed relevant court decisions and issues for thorough comprehension.

Mar Jose A. Magistrado, officer-in-charge of the LTO Operations Division, touched on the Temporary Operator's Permit (TOP), its utilization and technicalities.

Magistrado stressed the distinction between a TOP and Citation Ticket of Local Government Units, saying LGU deputized agents have authority to issue citation tickets to erring motorists but they cannot, under existing law, confiscate driver's licenses and impound motor vehicles, actual or technical.

LTO Tabaco District Chief Felicidad S. Mendoza discussed licensing of drivers/conductors and registration of motor vehicles, two of the major functions of LTO.

The trainees' understanding of all the topics and case studies presented were duly evaluated in a 60-item written examination, the result of which was remarkably very satisfying, Magistrado said.

The last part of the day's training is the practical field law enforcement planning and briefing which he facilitated.

Five teams mutually agreed were composed of participants, according to their stations: Team Malinao, Team Tiwi, Team Tabaco, Team Malilipot, and Team Bacacay.

Each team is assigned three law enforcement officers from the Operations Division of LTO RO5.

At exactly, 6:30 a.m., Jan. 16, the five teams were joined by the LTO RO5 Law Enforcement Officers and were further given pre-field operations tactical briefing.

At 7:00 a.m., the teams were deployed to their respective places of operation.

Two teams in Tabaco City and one team each were assigned at the municipalities of Tiwi, Malinao and Malilipot.

One and a half hours later, the team from Malilipot relocated to San Lorenzo, Tabaco City, while the team in Malinao moved to Pawa, also in Tabaco City, because of the volume of motorists there.

At about 10:00 a.m., the teams returned to the training venue.

The outcome of the operations disclosed that there were 171 TOPs issued, with several impounded motor vehicles.

"Assessment of the trainees' practical field law enforcement operations showed up no significant error or lapses committed, making them exceptionally considered outstanding performance," Magistrado noted.

The training was made possible through the efforts of Senior Insp. Arthur Ramirez, Malinao Municipal Police Office chief.

Cagsawa Festival ‘Dos Siglos’ to recall February 1914 Mayon eruption

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

DARAGA Albay, Jan. 17 (PNA) -- Cagsawa Festival, one of Albay’s major festivals set in this historic town for the whole month of February this year, takes on an added interesting historical dimension that is expected to attract more tourists and generate substantial tourism revenue for the province.

Dubbed as Cagsawa ‘Dos Siglos’ or 200 years, the festival commemorates the bicentennial anniversary of the cataclysmic Mayon Volcano eruption in February 1814, but this time on a positive light. The eruption which reportedly claimed more than 1,000 lives left what is now the world famous Cagsawa Ruins.

Albay Gov. Joey Salceda said Cagsawa Festival “celebrates the indomitable spirit and resilience of Albayanos, surviving this far, from some 200 years ago when Mayon erupted violently and buried an impressive baroque church and the whole settlement around it in lahar avalanche and flashfloods that followed.”

Today, the Cagsawa Ruins is marked only by a tumble of bricks and rocks over a layout of a Spanish era settlement, and the top of the church belfry that remains above ground and frames the picture perfect Mayon Volcano in the background. It is now a government protected park and is awaiting to be included in the World Heritage List of UNESCO.

The Cagsawa Festival is Albay’s newest festival organized by the province and the municipal government of Daraga two years ago. It has now been elevated to the level of two major festivals of the province -- Magayon and Karangahan.

Salceda said the ‘Dos Siglos’ theme is significant to Albay as a world acclaimed survivor of many disasters in the past, The United Nations has designed the province as its Global Model in climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction.

“So our visitors may come to appreciate the beauty of Cagsawa Ruins and Mayon Volcano, admire how nature had transformed a place of destruction into a premiere and world class tourism site, and see how Albay, the most disaster prone province in this part of the country had learned to survive 200 years since,” said Salceda, who is now co-chair of the UN Green Climate Fund.

The Cagsawa Festival will showcase an array of activities and entertainment for guests including sports events, outdoor adventures, cultural presentations of dances and stage plays, and culinary arts featuring Albay’s ethnic food specialties from the oldest to the most recent concoctions.

World class products crafted locally will also take center stage, along with talent searches and beauty pageants under the direction of experts in the Albay Pageant Academy, the only pageant school so far in the country which has recently produced a line up of world beauty titlists.

Legazpi eyes massive production of brown rice

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

LEGAZPI CITY, Jan. 16 (PNA) -– Following its impressive rice yield which earned for the city the National Rice Achiever Award of the Department of Agriculture (DA) for last year, Legazpi City Mayor Noel Rosal on Thursday said massive brown rice production comes as a target this year.

“We have tied up with the Department of Agriculture (DA) and the Food and Nutrition Research Institute (FNRI) of the Department of Science and Technology in this aspiration that we hope will provide a wider opportunity for our farmers to earn more,” Rosal said.

Under the tie-up, he said, the DA has committed to provide seeds and technical assistance while the FNRI, with the technology in brown rice production.

Brown rice is a high-end farm product supported with an institutional market where it is widely patronized for its health and wellness values at the cost of about P70 per kilo, according to Rosal.

The DA is promoting the production and consumption of brown rice as it points out that in rice, white is no longer superior as what the colonial mentality left among Filipinos by the long era of Philippine colonization generally dictates.

It is the brown rice that Filipinos should be consuming now, given its wide collection of nutritional significance that cannot be obtained from white varieties, according to the DA regional office for Bicol based in Pili, Camarines Sur.

The difference between the two is not just color as the food ranking system qualifies the darker colored as an excellent source of manganese, and a good source of the minerals selenium and magnesium, it added.

According to city agriculturist Jesus Kallos, the whole grain of rice has several layers and to produce brown grains, only the outermost layer -- the hull, is removed through a process that is least damaging to the nutritional value of the rice and avoids the unnecessary loss of nutrients that occurs with further processing.

If brown rice is further milled to remove the bran and most of the germ layer, the result is a whiter rice, but also a rice that has lost many more nutrients as polishing removes the aleurone layer of the grain--a layer filled with health-supportive, essential fats.

The complete milling and polishing that converts brown rice into white rice, Kallos said, destroys 67 percent of the rice’s vitamin B3, 80 percent of its vitamin B1, 90 percent of the vitamin B6, half of the manganese, half of the phosphorus, 60 percent of the iron and all of the dietary fiber.

Kallos explained that a cup of brown rice provides 88 percent of the daily value for manganese, a trace mineral that helps produce energy from protein and carbohydrates and is involved in the synthesis of fatty acids, which are important for a healthy nervous system, and in the production of cholesterol, which is used by the body to produce sex hormones.

For people worried about colon cancer risk, brown rice packs a double punch by being a concentrated source of the fiber needed to minimize the amount of time cancer-causing substances spend in contact with colon cells, and being a very good source of selenium, a trace mineral that has been shown to substantially reduce the risk of colon cancer.

Not only does selenium play a critical role in cancer prevention as a co-factor of glutathione peroxidase, but it also works with vitamin E in numerous other vital antioxidant systems throughout the body.

These powerful antioxidant actions make selenium helpful in the prevention not only of cancer, but also of heart disease, and for decreasing the symptoms of asthma and the pain and inflammation of rheumatoid arthritis.

The oil in brown rice also lowers cholesterol.

According to the SL Agritech Corporation, the country’s biggest hybrid rice seed producer, brown rice is anti-diabetic with its sugar slowly being released into the blood due to the grain’s color coatings.

In this case, Rosal said, all the local farmers’ need to be able to come up with substantial amount of brown rice is to sustain, if not increase, their production recorded last year that won for the city a top recognition in the DA’s National Agri-Pinoy Rice Achiever Awards.

Rosal, along with Kallos, will received the award—a trophy, plaque and P1 million cash incentive-- from Agriculture Sec. Proceso Alcala at Malacañang anytime this month.

The award was based on criteria set by the DA geared toward rice self sufficiency (RSS), increased farmers’ income and judicious use of Internal Revenue Allotment intended for local rice program.

DA records show that the city achieved last year a rice production of nearly 8,916 metric tons (MTs) posting a 10.61-percent increase over its 8,060 MTs in the previous year.

Kallos said the promotion of RSS initiated by his office resulted in greater participation among local farmers showed by the increased in rice farm cultivation from 980 hectares last year to 2,124 hectares this year.

Other factors that influenced this achievement, Kallos said in his report, are the farm mechanization program initiated by the city government as well as the strong support extended to farmers in farm inputs.

The city may have a smaller rice area compared to other localities in the region but it was able to contribute 4.35 percent to the total rice production of Albay province and .74 percent to the regional production of Bicol, thus the awards, the DA noted.

In support to the brown rice production target, Rosal said he had earmarked an amount of P15 million for the rehabilitation of irrigation systems in key rice-producing barangays of San Joaquin, Maslog and Bacacay to sustain water supply in its paddies.

After 20 years, Legazpi gets one fire truck from BFP

By Emmanuel P. Solis (Philippines News Agency)

LEGAZPI CITY -- After 20 years, the Legazpi City Fire Department has a new fire truck from the Bureau of Fire Protection national office.

Captain Anthony Figurasin, officer-in-charge of Supply Accountable and Property Division, turned over one unit of fully air-conditioned Rosenvauer Fire Truck to Legazpi City Mayor Noel E. Rosal and City Fire Marshall Chief Insp. Damian Rejano Jr. on Monday.

The fire truck was bought in from Austria by the Philippine government through the Department of Interior and Local Government on Rosal’s request for a fire truck to DILG Secretary Mar Roxas in 2013.

It cost P17.5 million.

The fire truck has a water tank capacity of 1,000 gallons with fifteen 50-foot long fire hoses, rescue tools, emergency medical kit, and other tools.

The earlier request for one fire truck of former mayor Geraldine Rosal during the term of the late DILG Secretary Jesse Robredo had already been approved and is expected to be turned over to Legazpi any time this year.

It will be donated by the Korean Government.

In an interview, Rejano said his office has only five fire trucks and 57 personnel.

He said he needs at least 30 more personnel to meet the minimum requirements of the city.

Aside from the central fire station, Rejano said, his office has also two sub-fire stations strategically located on Penaranda Street in front of the PNR site and the other in the motorpool compound on Washington Drive, Old Albay District.

Each sub-station has one fire truck each and manned by 10 BFP personnel.

Based on BFP records, 16 index and 10 non-index fires happened in this city in 2013 causing an estimated property damage of P2.5 million, mostly due to electrical short circuit.

CSC now accepts applications on career service exams, slates PO, FO and FSO eligibility tests

(MAL/LEN-CSC5/PIA5/Albay)

LEGAZPI CITY, Jan. 14 (PIA) -- The Civil Service Commission (CSC) Bicol regional office has invited anew prospective qualified applicants to take the Career Service Examination Paper and Pencil Test (CSE-PPT) set on April 6 and October 26 this year.

CSC Bicol information officer Lyn Niebla said the commission has since October last year accept application until only February 20 for April 6 examination while processing of which will be on first-come first-served basis.

“The commission encourages interested applicants to file their applications as they may no longer be accepted if the target number of examinees has already reached the maximum,” Niebla said.

She reiterated that requirements remain the same that they must be 18 years old on the date of filing of application; a Filipino citizen; of good moral character; have not been convicted of any crime nor discharged from military service or dismissed for cause from any civilian positions in the government and have not taken the same level of CS examination in less than three months or have not failed the same examination for four times.

Applicants, she reminded, are also required to submit an original and photocopy of any valid ID with picture, date of birth, his/her signature and the signature of the authorized head of the issuing agency and a examination fee of P500. Pictures must be taken within three months before the date of filing of the application. Scanned, photocopies or computer-enhanced pictures are not accepted.

CSE-PPT is conducted twice every year to establish a register of eligibles from which certification and appointment to the second and first level positions in the government will be made, provided that the eligibility meet the qualifications and other requirements for the desired position are complied.

CSC Bicol meanwhile also announced the examinations on Penology Officer and Fire Officer Eligibilities are both set on March 2, 2014.

Niebla said deadline of filing of applications for the two tests is on Thursday, January 16.

The Career Service Examination for Foreign Service Officer (CSE-FSO), a qualifying test for FSO Examination and eligibility, is also slated in August 10, this year.

For CSE-FSO, examinees or candidates must obtain a rating of at least 80 to pass and be conferred the Career Foreign Service Officer Eligibility by the CSC and to qualify to the next stage of the FSOE or the preliminary interview.

Green Climate Fund accepting applicants for key senior staff officers

(PNA), PDS/FGS/CBD/EBP

LEGAZPI CITY, Jan. 13 (PNA) --The Green Climate Fund of the United Nations has been accepting applicants for senior management and specialist appointments in various disciplines, Albay Gov. Joey Sarte Salceda, GCF board co-chair, said Monday.

Salceda reiterated his earlier announcement as the closing date for receipt of applications is 5:00 p.m. GMT, this Friday.

Available are positions for country programming and dialogue, mitigation and adaptation, private sector finance, external affairs and resource mobilization, chief finance officer, human resource specialist, ICT manager, financial management specialist and procurement specialist.

The CGF secretariat has commissioned the SRI Executive Search to assist in the recruitment of the start-up team for the Fund’s headquarters in Songdo, City of Incheon, Republic of Korea.

The team will support the new executive director of the secretariat, Héla Cheikhrouhou, to ensure the successful implementation of the objectives of the Fund, Salceda said.

“The ideal candidates to fill these inaugural positions must be passionate about climate change and the effects of global warming,” the green economist said.

The vacancies are for senior level roles that will, in most cases, require more than ten years of relevant experience.

The candidates must have previous experience in or working with developing countries and proven skills in a large organization with an international context.

Fluency in English is a must while fluency in one other international language is an advantage.

For further information, interested applicants are advised to refer to the www.gcfund.net and www.sri.executive.com.

The GCF is a new multilateral Fund that was created under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

Its main objective is to make significant and ambitious contributions to the global efforts of limiting the warming to two degrees Celsius by providing support to developing countries to limit or reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to the impacts of climate change.

The Fund will be innovative and promote a paradigm shift to help developing countries transform to a low-emission and climate-resilient development path.

It will consider the needs of those developing countries that are particularly vulnerable to climate change impacts and will also help sustainable development goals.

FPPCP to confer CCA advocacy special award on Salceda

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

LEGAZPI CITY, Jan. 12 (PNA) -- Albay Gov. Joey Salceda will receive a special award for Climate Change Adaptation Advocacy from the Federation of Provincial Press Clubs of the Philippines (FPPCP) during its Countryside Press Congress at the Aklan State University in Kalibo, Aklan, and Boracay Island on Jan. 15-18.

The first two days of the congress will be at the ASU while the last two days will be in Boracay Island which will culminate with recognition and awards program for old icons of the countryside media.

Many of the honorees who are no longer around will be represented by their children.

Juan P. Dayang, FPPCP press congress convenor, said Salceda’s award is in recognition of his “pioneering and sustained advocacy for Climate Change Adaptation which has now started to sink down in the consciousness of many Filipinos and other nationals, as well as his signature brand of sound public governance, which has made Albay a model for other local government units, national government agencies and the world community.“

Dayang said the award conferment on the Albay governor will be a special feature of the FPPCP’s congress, which will highlight its 50th Founding Anniversary celebration.

The FPPCP award is one of two recognitions to be conferred on Salceda by large media organizations in the country early this year.

The Publishers Association of the Philippines (PAPI) will honor Salceda with the 2013 Filipino of the Year Award during its annual conference in February, in Cauayan, Isabela.

PAPI will also confer the Most Outstanding Disaster Response Award on humanitarian Team Albay for its heroic role during the onslaught of super typhoon “Yolanda” in Eastern Vizayas in November last year.

The popular and multi-awarded Team Albay was organized by Salceda six years ago as a home front disaster response group, but has since then taken humanitarian missions in different disaster-stricken places in the country.

Salceda has pioneered climate change adaptation (CCA) and disaster risk reduction (DRR) advocacy in the Philippines with concrete doable programs, bannered by his “zero casualty” target, that have been proven effective in his own province.

Albay is regularly visited by strong typhoons several times a year.

In recognition of his initiatives and achievements, the United Nations has declared Salceda as its Senior Global Champion and spokesman on CCA and DRR, and Albay as its model.

The governor now also sits as co-chair of the UN Green Climate Fund board where he represents Southeast Asia and the developing countries.

Albay power cooperative faces disconnection anew for unpaid 2013 bills

By Mar S. Arguelles [(PNA), CTB/FGS/MSA/CBD/PJN]

LEGAZPI CITY, Jan. 11 (PNA) -- Already saddled with a four-month-old labor strike, the Albay Electric Cooperative (Aleco) is now facing another problem after it received on Wednesday a power disconnection notice for its failure to settle last year’s outstanding power bills amounting to P300 million, an Aleco official said.

According to lawyer John Fernandez, vice chairman of the Aleco interim board, the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) served on Wednesday a notice that it would be forced to cut off power in the entire Albay if the electric cooperative would fail to settle its accounts within five days upon receipt of the notice received Friday, Jan. 10.

Fernandez said the cooperative has to settle its P300-million cumulative unpaid power bills for the months of September, October and November with the Philippine Electricity Market Corp., the cooperative’s current power provider.

“Failure to settle this account would mean power blackout probably on Monday,” he disclosed.

Fernandez said the Aleco management could have settled the account had it not been for the on-going labor strike that had hindered the billing and collection operations of the cooperative.

Tension has gripped the cooperative since Monday here as striking workers supported by the Albay Multi-Sectoral Stakeholders Organization (AMSSO) set up a blockade at the gate of the compound, preventing employees to report for work and consumers from transacting business and paying their accounts with the cooperative.

Earlier on Monday, the strike went out of control when the strikers reportedly prevented and manhandled Aleco employees who wanted to report for work.

The Legazpi City Police Office riot squad was present during the heated confrontation that occurred but both camps reportedly expressed dismay over the inability of the law enforces to prevent and control it.

At least 70 members of the Aleco Employees Union (ALEU) went on strike in September last year, put up a strike holding area in front of the Aleco entrance gate and have held on to their grounds until now.

The striking workers are not in favor of the takeover of the San Miguel Energy Corp, (SMEC), the lone bidder of a concession contract agreement, which was awarded by the Aleco interim board chaired by Albay Bishop Joel Baylon to run the electric cooperative for 25 years.

The striking workers also accused the Aleco management of violating provisions of the Collective Bargaining Agreement signed by both parties.

Lawyer Nathaniel Lacambra, Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Bicol regional director, called for a closed-door mediation meeting on Wednesday with the officers of the ALEU.

Legazpi City Noel Rosal said the case is being heard for arbitration as the issue on public interest is at stake.

He said a return-to-work order will be issued by the DOLE secretary.

Rosal said the return-to-work order would bring back normalcy to Aleco transactions and would also fast track the billing and collection processes to meet the settlement of the P300-million outstanding power bills with PEMC.

Aleco has a total of 450 personnel; of this total, 213 were rehired and the rest given separation pay.

Some P280 million was earmarked by SMEC for separation pay but only P70 million (25 percent) has been used for this purpose.

The AMMSO, led by lawyers Bartolome Rayco and Rechie Regala, is supporting the strikers, aside from providing them legal assistance.

The group also opposes the takeover by SMEC.

The Rayco-led AMMSO allegedly accused the Aleco interim board of withholding to the public the concession agreement contract signed by SMEC and Aleco on Oct. 29, last year.

Rayco even demanded that the Aleco provide them with a copy of the signed contract.

He expressed doubt that the Aleco interim board has been hiding the contract because, according to him, some of the provisions run counter to what was stipulated in the terms of reference crafted by the Aleco Board.

Along this line, Rosal on Wednesday met with the strike leaders and handed a copy of the concession contract to lawyer Donna Escio of the National Union of People’s Lawyers.

He said he is hoping that with the copy of the contract they were demanding, the strikers will start to end the four-month-long strike.

Escio said the contract will be thoroughly reviewed as to whether it indeed conforms to the provisions in terms of reference crafted by the Aleco interim board.

She said the strike will continue while they are still reviewing the contract.

As this developed, Ellen Go, SMC Global Power general manager, said in a letter to the Aleco interim board through lawyer Veronica Briones, Aleco project supervisor, that the assumption of full operation of Aleco set on Tuesday will be deferred until such time that, according to her, “we receive sufficient guarantees which will ensure our peaceful, continuous and uninterrupted possession of the distribution system, which is one of the obligations of Aleco under the concession agreement.”

Go said she hopes that Aleco can reconcile the divergent factions that led to the present disturbance in the business, as the company is committed to assist Aleco in transforming it into an efficient and viable power distribution utility.


More GM products to be released in next few years, global firm says

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

LEGAZPI CITY, Jan. 10 (PNA) -- The International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications (ISAAA) is optimistic there will be more genetically modified (GM) or biotechnology products that will have beneficial effects to consumers in the next few years.

More of these with nutrition enhancement and medical uses, including vaccines and enzyme-rich corn that results in environment-friendly hog raising, are expected to be released in the market up to 2017, an ISAAA statement reaching here Friday said.

“There are (GM crops with) input and output traits in the pipeline,” according to Dr. Randy Hautea, ISAAA Global Coordinator in Crop Biotechnology: Impact and Future Prospects for Food Security and Sustainable Agriculture project.

“These will help ensure food security and alleviation of poverty and hunger,” he said.

GM crops that have the beneficial input traits will benefit farmers in terms of higher yield and profit and reduced exposure to health risks such as pesticide sprays, Hautea said, adding that these include those with resistance to pests and diseases and drought and tolerance to salt, cold, and herbicide.

Their input traits result in higher crop yield, he said.

There will also be crops that have high nitrogen-use efficiency, enabling plants to require less fertilizer and be produced cheaper.

These products have traits like increased shelf life, increased omega 3, improved nutrition, reduced lining, and improved quality.

These products may be biopharmaceuticals, according to Hautea.

For one, he said, there are GM soybeans that have several superior traits being high in oleic content with reduced transfat, low phytase that reduces phosphorus levels in animal manure, high omega-3 that enhances human health, and high stearic acid that reduces harmful fats.

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has noted that there are potential GM products that may succeed in the market up to 2017, Hautea said.

Some of these GM products are already “routinarily” used to enhance nutrition in food or to produce pharmaceutical products.

Ensuring food security will continue to be a primary role of GM products, he said.

“The challenge is to produce enough food over the next four decades to meet expected requirement of over nine billion people on less land area, water, and nutrients. The need for GM products will even become pressing amid climate disturbances,” Hautea said.

Climate change is worsening hunger threats as it may adversely affect health and productivity of crops, livestock, and fisheries, he explained.

For animal nutrition, he said, there are cases where amino acids and enzymes use GM microorganisms.

One GM product beneficial as feed additive is high lysine corn.

Lysine, methionine, and tryptophan are among amino acids that are added to diets of animals.

There are also bacteria that are used to enhance meat and milk production of animals.

A GM bacteria, according to Hautea, is used to produce recombinant bovine somatotropin (rBST) in order to more efficiently convert feed into higher yield milk and decrease milk fat in dairy cows.

In general, these GM bacteria are called metabolic modifiers or compounds that enable change in physiology and metabolism of animals.

GM has also been instrumental in enhancing animal health through vaccination that has advantages over conventional vaccines.

These are safe and cheaper and have more protective immunity.

There are already GM trees in the market.

Biotechnology (Bt) trees were approved in 2002 for commercialization in China and these are the European black poplar and the hybrid white poplar clone GM 741.

As there are ethical concerns on development of GM animals, Hautea said, there are yet no known commercial GM animals in the market.

However, for pharmaceutical purposes, the commercialization of a GM animal has been approved for production of pharmaceutical proteins.

These include the use of GM rabbits to produce conestat alfa, the active substance in Ruconest (a medicine used to treat attacks of hereditary angioedema in adults) and the use of GM goats to produce antithrombin alfa, the active substance in Atryn (used to treat patients who have congenital antithrombin deficiency), according to FAO.

PNP Bicol needs 490 new civilian personnel

By Sally Atento (MAL/SAA-PIA5/Albay/PNP5)

LEGAZPI CITY – The Bicol regional office of the Philippine National Police (PNP) here is now accepting applications for 490 additional non-uniformed personnel (NUP) positions.

PNP Bicol director Victor Deona said the new positions are intended to be utilized as crime registrars in different provincial and city police offices and municipal police stations in the region. 147 personnel will be hired in Camarines Sur, 50 in Camarines Norte, 46 in Catanduanes and 63 in Sorsogon. Masbate will have 87 personnel, Naga with 20 and Albay with 77.

Deona said all applicants are required to submit six folders with white tabbing, one containing original documents and five with authenticated photocopies with corresponding receipt of payments.

Required documents are letter of application, duly accomplished personal data sheet or 2005 revised Civil Service Commission (CSC) form 212 with recent 2x2 colored picture, transcript of record and diploma, certificates of eligibility, training and employment stating the positions assumed and corresponding actual duties and responsibilities, NBI clearance, NSO authenticated birth certificate and marriage certificate for married applicants.

PNP personnel or in-service applicants for promotions or change in item/plantilla position are required to submit affidavit of undertaking expressing their commitment to report to the office/unit of their appointment should they qualify to the position they are applying to.

They also need to submit the same requirements for new applicants together with their individual performance evaluation rating (IPER) for the last two semesters prior to the application. All applicants should submit these requirements on or before January 17, 2014. For more information, visit the regional office here or call 481-1449 and 820-0537 or text 09175964719.

DOH-Bicol set to conduct massive measles immunization

(PNA), FFC/FGS/RRB/CBD/UTB

LEGAZPI CITY, Jan. 8 (PNA) -- The Department of Health (DOH) in Bicol is set to conduct massive measles vaccination as it braces for increasing cases of measles in the region after the province of Albay posted 12 cases and Sorsogon had two during the first week of January.

Gloria Balboa, DOH regional director, told reporters in a press briefing held at the DOH regional office here on Wednesday morning that the victims are now confined at the Bicol Regional Training and Teaching Hospital (BRTTH) for treatment.

Two days ago, government physician Nathaniel “Nats” Rempillo, acting provincial health officer of Albay, reported eight suspected cases of measles currently confined at the BRTTH.

With this, Rempillo mobilized all health personnel across the province, including barangay health workers, to conduct massive immunization for children to curtail the spread of the contagious disease here.

Last year, a measles outbreak took place in Bicol region wherein out of 140 reported, 18 cases were confirmed through laboratory examinations,

Last year, Albay and Sorsogn had six confirmed cases each, followed by Camarines Sur with five and Masbate with a lone case.

The confirmed cases of measles were in the towns of Camalig and Daraga and Legazpi City in Albay province; Castilla and Pilar in Sorsogn province’ Caramoan, Magarao and Pili in Camarines Sur and Palanas town in Masbate.

Due to this, the DOH Bicol will launch a massive measles immunization to curtail the possible outbreak for children aged six months old and below five years old.

Balboa also called officials of all local government units from the provincial, city, municipal and barangay levels to help them mobilize all health workers to saturate massive immunization among children.

“All should do their responsibility to prevent the spread of measles through massive immunization. This is a concerted effort. Parents and local government units must meet halfway. Measles is a preventable disease if we only follow and do our job together,” Balboa said.

The success of measles elimination depends on the support of local government units, media and other concerned groups because the DOH cannot do it alone, She added.

Measles is a viral disease and highly communicable as it transmits through droplets, spread from person to person through sneezing, coughing and close personal contact.

Dr. Aurora Teresa M. Daluro, DOH medical specialist III, said measles is a treatable disease but deadly due to complications such as diarrhea, pneumonia, malnutrition, blindness, otitis media and encephalitis, if not treated immediately.

She said the disease is treatable and could be prevented through immunization with measles vaccine at nine months old.

Daluro said a nine-month-old child vaccinated with first-dose measles vaccine is 85-percent protected and a 12-month-old child with a second-dose mumps-measles-ruvilla vaccine is protected at least 95 percent from the contagious disease.

In 2011, the DOH Bicol infused P14 million for medicines for door-to-door measles-rubella immunization, targeting children aged nine months to below eight years old to curtail the spread of the virus.

The health department mobilized more than 1,000 health workers across the region in an effort to combat and eliminate the spread of measles virus here.

The door-to-door measles immunization resulted in only few cases.

The campaign was part of the so-called “Iligtas sa Tigdas ang Pinas” (Save the country from measles), aimed at eliminating measles as a public health problem in the Philippines by 2012 but the resurgence of measles this year across the country is completely alarming.

Rosal bares more major infra projects to be constructed in Legazpi City

By Emmanuel P. Solis [(PNA), LAP/FGS/EPS/CBD/SSC]

LEGAZPI CITY, Jan. 7 (PNA) -- To sustain the development and progress of Legazpi, the city administration will construct more infrastructure projects this year, Mayor Noel E. Rosal said in an interview Tuesday.

Rosal said the projects include the construction of the Legazpi City Hospital, widening of the Yawa Bridge that connects the city proper to its northern villages and Tabaco City, the new boulevard in southern part of the city and other tourism-related infrastructure projects to maintain Legazpi as the best haven for conventions and make it a center for business in Bicol.

He said the construction of the city hospital will start anytime this year and is expected to be finished before 2015 with a total funding of P60 million from the Department of Health and a counterpart of P20 million from the city government.

Upon completion, the city chief executive said, the City Health Office will manage the operation of the hospital, which will have modern facilities and equipment.

The hospital will cater to the medical needs of the patients with lesser expenses.

The operation of the said hospital will cost about P40 million annually to be used for the payment of salaries of doctors, nurses and other personnel and staff.

Rosal pointed out that the city administration has already established the “Botika sa Barangay” in different villages of this city.

“Our constituents are now enjoying the low cost of good quality medicines. We have already three lying-in clinics operating 24 hours daily and manned by professional doctors and midwives,” he added.

Another priority project included in the drawing board of the City Planning Office is the construction of a tourism-related infrastructure -- the new boulevard in the southern part of this city, which is also expected to start this year.

The original plan of the boulevard is from Barangay Sabang up to the periphery of Legazpi and the Municipality of Sto. Domingo but the city chief executive disclosed that the construction of the project will start first along the coastal villages of Sabang, Pigcale, Centro, Baybay, San Roque up to the Regional Government Center in Barangay Rawis.

The boulevard project has an estimated road length of 2.7 kilometers, however, the right of way will utilize 24,000 linear meters.

Rosal said this new boulevard will open windows for opportunities to the people of Legazpi who want to engage in any form of entrepreneurial activity that will contribute in generating jobs and employment to the constituents residing in the covered villages.

This boulevard will also make Legazpi one of the best, if not the best, havens for investment, which will help in sustaining the growing economy of this city, he added.

The National Government has already released the initial funding of P50 million out of the P150 million total project cost through the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Bicol Regional Office.

The amount is for the widening of Yawa Bridge, which is expected to start construction this year.

The said project was proposed by the city government but the DPWH is in charge of its construction, Rosal pointed out.

Legazpi airport runway blocked after plane stalls on landing

(PNA), JBP/FGS/MSA/CBD/JSD

LEGAZPI CITY, Jan. 6 (PNA) -- The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) here on Monday suspended for an hour the operations in the Legazpi City domestic airport after a Cebu Pacific plane that had just landed and was negotiating the runway suddenly stopped due to a mechanical trouble.

Antonio Alfonso, CAAP Area 5 manager, said in a phone interview that the incident forced the 101 passengers to disembark at the middle of the airport runway.

Alfonso said the Cebu Pacific plane A320, with registry number RP3265, landed at the Legazpi Airport runway from the Ninoy Aquino International Airport terminal at about 6:15 a.m., Monday.

He said that while the plane was negotiating the airport runway, its nose wheel got stuck-up -- totally immobilizing the aircraft.

Alfonso said no one of the 101 passengers was reported hurt but because of a disabled nose wheel, they were eventually allowed to disembark at the middle of the runway, fetched by a passenger bus and brought to the airport arrival area.

He said that after the passengers alighted, the plane pilots noticed that the nose wheel was again functioning.

The pilots brought the plane at the designated taxiway and immediately conducted the necessary inspection and repair work.

The airport operation resumed after an hour.

Smoke-free Albay advocates intensify fight vs smoking

By Floreño G. Solmirano [(PNA), CTB/FGS/CBD/RSM]

LEGAZPI CITY, Jan. 5 (PNA) –- Local government units, various organizations and individuals in Albay who strongly advocate for a smoke-free environment in the province last year further intensified their campaign to push their advocacy.

On March 14 last year, for instance, New Vois Association headed by its president, engineer Emer Rojas, and the Team ADD+VANTAGE presented the dangers of smoking and one of the most effective ways to prevent tubercolosis by choosing a smoke-free lifestyle before a crowd of students, village officials and residents of Tabaco City.

The ADD+VANTAGE Community Team Services acted as the secretariat of the Smoke-Free Albay Network (SFAN), a group of civil society organizations, corporate entities, government agencies, church groups and the academe in Albay province advocating for a no-smoking environment in the province.

Last March 15, 2013, selected media practitioners in Legazpi City from the broadcast, print, television and national news organizations attended a day-long seminar organized by the Institute of journalism for Nation Building Foundation and comprehensively discussed issues on tobacco control.

Festivals, like the Daragang Magayon Festival 2013, observed the Smoke-Free Policy of the province by displaying 50 signages on booths participating in the event.

During the year, the province, through the SFAN, attempted to land in the Guinness World Records by forming the World’s Largest Human No-Smoking international sign.

The move sought to show to the world how everyone in Albay supports the province's anti-smoking advocacy.

The planning and preparations took six whole months, stirring the public’s attention and gathering almost 15,000 registrants.

On June 28, 2013, a crowd of 13,892 people in red, white and black hooded shirts assembled at the Bicol University football field.

Although the attempt failed, no-smoking advocates hailed the formal signing in public on that day by Gov. Joey Salceda of the implementing rules and regulations of the province-wide ordinance.

Further, although the attempt failed to put the event in the Guinness book, the World Records Academy has informed the SFAN, the group tasked to assist in the implementation of the Albay Smoke-Free Ordinance, that the event was already accepted as a world record.

In the month of August, young scouts from all over the Philippines and some Asean countries gather at Kawa-Kawa Hills in Ligao City during an international jamboree and painted the month with much creativity to show how much they wanted a healthy, happy, and livable environment.

SFAN members went all the way to the camping site to assist the different teams from the various delegations who joined the Innovative and Effective No-Smoking Signage Making Contest — a mixed mural, poster and slogan artwork to illustrate, emphasize and demonstrate an effective smoke-free advocacy.

The finished creations were turned over to the teams respective LGUs for display and support to the smoke-free advocacy.

On Oct. 30, the SFAN recognized LGU Daraga’s 15 compliant establishments, each of which received a unique smoke-free plaque and a framed certification as non-monetary award for being 100-percent Smoke-Free Venue/Place.

Taking advantage of the big crowd which gatherred in the cemeteries during the All Saints Day and All Souls Day on Nov. 1 and 2, respectively, each LGU devised advocacy calls on the public to remind its members of the ordinance.

Legazpi continued its existing strict implementation, apprehending a few; while Daraga, Tabaco, Ligao and Guinobatan put up posters and information and education campaign materials around their areas.

On Nov. 7, police personnel, councilors, health officers from Albay LGUs with existing smoke-free ordinances and ADD+VANTAGE staff went south for the Smoke-Free Davao City Study Visit to learn of the practices and implementation of the 10-year-old smoke-free campaign of the city.

Davao City Mayor Rodrigo R. Duterte encouraged the group to “make the world very small for anti-smoking ordinance violators…” and let the police lead the strict enforcement.

The last month of the year gathered many developments of each LGU’s Anti-Smoking Advocacy Campaign.

Legazpi City maintained strict implementation of its Smoke-Free Ordinance while conducting information drive in offices and schools.

Tabaco City intensified its campaign, too, with symposia and enforcers’ capability-building program.

The Daraga task force started to make visible enforcement moves spearheaded by the Philippine National Police while the Daraga Rural Health Unit continued its public information campaign.

Guinobatan had just finished its third and final reading of its Smoke-Free Ordinance, which was adopted from the existing provincial ordinance.

Ligao City produced 150 signages to be scattered around the city, especially in establishments during its city fiesta last Dec. 24 and is now evaluating nominees for the non-monetary awards.

On Dec. 18, the Smoke-Free Albay Network was awarded by the Department of Health as the Pioneer Bicol Province Implementing a Smoke-Free Environment, which Board Member and SFAN chairman Herbert S. Borja received in behalf of the Provincial Government of Albay and the SFAN members.

Green Climate Fund staffing in full swing as it goes operational this year, Salceda says

By Floreño G. Solmirano (PNA),CTB/FGS/CBD/RSM

LEGAZPI CITY, Dec. 4 (PNA) -- The Green Climate Fund (GCF), with headquarters in Incheon, South Korea, will be operational this January with the start-up secretariat assuming duties within a few days.

This was learned Saturday from Albay Governor Joey Sarte Salceda, GCF board co-chair, who said the first wave of 20 management and expert positions has been published.

With an executive search firm’s support, Salceda said, the GCF is hiring the best and brightest professionals and encouraging them to apply through: www.sri-executive.com/jobs/climate-change.

Established by the conference of the parties (COP) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in December 2011, the GCF is intended to help developing countries adapt to the impacts of climate change.

“The COP’s 19 delegates in Warsaw welcomed the GCF board’s steady progress in adopting the building blocks of the Fund’s business model and called for keeping that momentum in 2014,” Salceda said.

He was elected as co-chair of the GCF Board, the first Asian to chair such prestigious body, during the Fund’s fifth meeting held in Paris on Oct. 7-10 last year.

Salceda said the 24-member GCF board that he co-chairs oversees the operation of the Fund, which has pledges of US$ 100 billion by 2020, and approves the funding of projects in line with the Fund’s principles, criteria, modalities, policies and programs.

“We have been making continuing efforts in achieving an initial capitalization and starting to engage with the developing countries to support them in a successful shift towards low-emission and climate-resilient development pathways,” the climate change expert said.

Salceda, who is also the Regional Development Council chair for Bicol, said the Fund should prompt positive consequences in the lives of ordinary people.

The green economist and world-renowned investment consultant stressed that he aims to make the Fund work for developing countries, including small islands, developing states, least developed countries, Africa and highly vulnerable communities in countries like the Philippines, Indonesia and Bangladesh.

Salceda said the GCF’s sixth board meeting will be on Feb. 19-21 in Bali, Indonesia, the seventh on May 19-21 and the eighth on Oct. 22-24 – all this year.

Albay to pursue P385-M road projects in 2014 to boost Almasorta

(PNA), FGS/CBD/UTB

LEGAZPI CITY, Jan. 1 (PNA) -- The provincial government of Albay, in partnership with Sorsogon and Masbate, will pursue this year five road projects to boost the Almasor Tourism Development Area.

The road projects, whose feasibility studies have been conducted by Albay, are included in the 2014 General Appropriations Act of the provincial government.

These are the access road to South Luzon International Airport (SLIA), P100 million; Guinobatan–Jovellar-Donsol Road, P100 million; Pio Duran–Donsol Road, P100 million; Camalig-Airport Road (ongoing), P50 million; and Buenavista-Sta. Cruz Bridge, P35 million.

Earlier, Tourism Secretary Ramon Jimenez Jr. approved a P1.4-billion tourism support infrastructure package for Albay: the P440-million Cagraray Circumferential Road in Bacacay town, and the P870-million road that directly links Libon, Albay, with Donsol, Sorsogon -- home to the world- famous "butanding" or sperm whale.

Aside from the Cagraray Circumferential Road costing P440 million, Albay also has the Guinobatan-Jovellar-Donsol Road, P901 million, and Guicadale (Guinobatan, Camalig, Daraga, Legazpi City) roads, P217 million.

In March 2012, the Regional Development Council chaired by Albay Gov. Joey Sarte Salceda formed the Albay-Masbate-Sorsogon Tourism Alliance (Almasorta) to further promote tourism in the Bicol Region.

Almasorta is an integrated and comprehensive promotion strategy to market the potentials of the three Bicol provinces, eyeing some 650,000 foreign tourist arrivals annually within five years.

Salceda spearheaded the organization of the Almasorta and signed an agreement of group cooperation with Masbate Gov. Rizalina Seachon-Lanete and Sorsogon Gov. Raul Lee.

“The alliance is a pioneering concept in tourism promotion strategy,” he said.

It complements another Bicol regional tourism cluster already in place -- the Catanduanes-Camarines Sur-Camarines Norte Tourism Link (CCTL).

The Department of Tourism regional office led by Director Maria “Nini” Ravanilla and the provincial government of Albay early this year introduced Almasorta to Internationale Tourismus-Börse-Berlin, the world’s largest tourism trade fair, where it showcased the wonders of Albay, Sorsogon and Masbate provinces.

The Almasor cluster needs the completion of several priority projects for its external market access, including the P3.6-billion SLIA in Barangay Anobo, Daraga, Albay; the modernization of the south railways under the Department of Transportation and Communications with the south central station in Comun, Camalig, Albay, and the extension of lines to Legazpi City and to Matnog, Sorsogon; the proposed four-lane Naga-Legazpi freeway system, which will link CCTL with Almasor; the proposed P250-million Mayon International Convention Center; and the P278-million Albay Sports Center, in time for Albay’s hosting of the 2015 Palarong Pambansa.

“Without the Almasorta, these would have been more difficult to fund and we would have fallen into the same funding trap of other areas,” Salceda said.

He said many infra projects, which were difficult to fund before, became financially feasible under the Almasorta; first, the base is not just one province but all three, so there are economies of scale and critical mass; second, the infra projects are linked to tourism and under the Aquino administration, there is a significant annual budget in the Department of Public Works and Highways which is under the direction of the Department of Tourism.

With the creation of Almasorta, the Aquino government infused funds for the development of the Masbate City Road Project, with P400 million budget; the West Ticao Coastal Tourist Highway, with P250 million; and the Sto. Nino-Guinhadap-Monreal Road, P250 million.

These funds are for Masbate alone.

For Sorsogon province, the Donsol-Gimagaan Road has P200 million; Sta. Cruz-Donsol Road, P150 million; and Donsol-Guinobatan, P901 million.

The RDC chair said the alliance was initiated to ensure a stronger and more cohesive tourism campaign among the three provinces, which all have their inherent world-class tourism potentials that need better market positioning and promotion.

“For this year, we expect to sustain, if not surpass, the 2013 performance due to aggressive foreign reintroduction of Albay participation in the Berlin ITB, closer collaboration with key tourism stakeholders, like Misibis group and Oriental Hotel, in promotion of Almasor as a package which enhances the structural attractiveness of all three provinces in synergistic positioning and branch franchising,” Salceda said.

The provinces of Albay and Camarines Sur are the region's top tourist destinations in the countryside even before the completion of the SLIA wherein the tourist arrivals perked up by 50 percent in Albay and 62 percent in Camarines Sur, contributing essentially to the economic growth and development in the countryside.

The big influx of tourist arrivals in Bicol, Salceda said, will greatly help the economy of Bicol as more investments will thrive here.

“With our target of 500,000 foreign tourists by 2017, we need to double our room capacity in the next two years,” Salceda said.

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