Albay News September 2013

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

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

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

Mayon volcano albay province.jpg

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

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

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

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

WHY??

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

Bicolanos get health edge in fiery cuisine (Feature)

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

LEGAZPI CITY, Sept. 30 (PNA) – Eating a lot of 'siling labuyo' (Capsicum frutescens l) requires the gut that makes Bicolanos lucky enough with their favorite fiery cuisine of hot pepper, which, besides being good source of nutrients, offers numerous therapeutic actions.

And since several food studies have listed vitamins and mineral as nutrients that can be found in sili (as simply called), never mind the common joke about the Bicolanos that describes their passion for it: “In the face of an oncoming typhoon, they will prop up their sili bush before the nipa hut.”

These are nutrients value per 100-gram (g) sili serving are water, 86.0 g; protein, 1.9 g; fat, 1.9 g; carbohydrates, 9.2 g; iron, 1.2 milligram (mg); calcium, 14.4 mg; vitamin A, 700-21600 IU; and vitamin C, 242.0 mg.

The same studies found medicinal properties of hot pepper such as excellent promoter of ligaments -- given that ingestion of fresh sili is believed to be wholesome for persons of phlegmatic temperament, being considered stimulating.

It is a powerful rube facient, a medicine for external application that produces redness of the skin; relieves pain by counter-irritant effect; an effective gargle when mixed with vinegar; warm fomentation of both leaves and fruit applied for rheumatic pains; leaves can be used as dressing for wounds and sores; strong infusion of the fruit is applied as a lotion for ringworm of the scalp; and cures stomach pain, gout, dyspepsia and cholera.

Laboratory studies say siling labuyo contains capsaicin, a chemical compound that causes the burning sensation in the mouth.

With that hot and burning feeling, capsaicin triggers the brain to kick out flood of endorphins, a natural pain killer of the body that promotes sense of well being and stimulation.

Siling labuyo gives an amazing relief to arthritis and rheumatism. It brings down blood sugar levels, lowers cholesterol, prevents blood clots, halts bleeding quickly, knocks out cold and flu miseries.

It also reduces risk of heart diseases and tuberculosis apart from being an ulcer healer.

Currently, there are numerous studies going on for the medicinal applications of siling labuyo since it is associated with therapeutic actions such as: aphrodisiac, diaphoretic, expectorant, neural stimulant, rubefacient, synergist vasomotor stimulant and topical vasodilator, among others.

Abroad, siling labuyo (called jalapeno chili pepper) has been found to possess the ability to drive prostate cancer cells to kill themselves.

A study by a research team from the University of California and Cedars-Sinai Medical Center recently published by Washington Times found that the hot stuff in peppers, capsaicin, causes 80 percent of active prostate cancer cells growing in mice to "follow the molecular pathways leading to apoptosis" or cell death.

Capsaicin has a profound anti-proliferative effect on human prostate cancer cells in culture, the study shows.

The same publication also cited other researches which have shown peppers to have antioxidant properties and their anti-inflammatory properties have been tapped for treatment of migraines, arthritis and muscle pain.

Hot peppers have also been found to suppress appetites and clear a stuffy head and are a good source of vitamins A, C and E, folic acid and potassium, it added.

Now, wonder why some Bicolanos have been known to pluck a branch of the bush afire with ripe-red sili and eat the peppers as if they were salted peanuts.

For them, food without sili is tasteless and colorless, just as the French would say that a meal without wine is like a day without sunshine.

According to Bicolano writer Honesto General in his “The Burning Passion for Sili,” hot pepper bush is as much a part of the Bicol landscape.

“There are no wide commercial plantings. But you will find the bush in backyards and front lawns and flowerpots in many a rural or urban home. In Bicol there is not a single vegetable stall in the public market or sari-sari store by a roadside that does not carry sili in its inventory,” General said.

The coconut cookery served in any public eating place in Bicol, especially in Albay, is almost certain to be liberally spiced with sili.

“The cast-iron kawali (wok) that has been used for years for cooking gulay (vegetables) becomes so impregnated with sili that if you use it to fry rice, your final product will automatically be richly spiced,” he added.

And so, Bicolano cuisine is famous for its rich and spicy dishes which are mostly cooked using coconut milk and spiced with the super hot siling labuyo.

Among the well known Bicolano specialties are: Bicol Express, a very hot dish made of small bits of meat, balaw (fermented shrimps), coconut milk, garlic, onion, ginger, and of course, red and green chilies; and pinangat, a concoction of ground shrimp or fish paste wrapped in gabi (taro) leaves and cooked into a stew with ginger, chili and coconut milk.

Legazpi City to host national tourism convention

By Bernard L. Supetran (Contributor)

ALL roads lead to Legazpi City in Albay province, home to the world-renowned Mayon Volcano, as it is set to host the 14th National Convention of the Association of Tourism Officers in the Philippines (ATOP) from October 2 to 5.

The convention will gather some 600 tourism officers; provincial, city and municipal officials; mayors; barangay officials; and local legislators to discuss the country’s booming domestic-tourism industry.

ATOP President Miguel Sison said the gathering will tackle the role of tourism as a major engine of inclusive economic growth in the countryside. He added that the event will also discuss salient points in the Tourism Act of 2009; inputs on best tourism practices by local government units (LGUs); the use of social media in marketing tourist destinations; and multi-stakeholder partnership in local governance.

To be held during the convention are the Pearl Awards, which will formally recognize the Best Tourism Events, the Best LGU Tourism Program, the Best Tourism-Week Celebration (provincial, city and municipal levels) and the Most Outstanding Tourism Officer.

Sison expressed optimism that with governors, mayors and legislators expected to attend the event, tourism will be a priority thrust of local governments with potential tourist attractions.

ATOP is the national association of tourism officers that was formed in 2000 to help professionalize frontline visitor service in local governments and create a forum for collaboration and advocacy.

Mayor Noel Rosal of Legazpi City said his city’s hosting of the convention attests to its emergence as a vital convention hub.

“Legazpi has all the ingredients of being a vital center for regional and national MICE [meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions] events because of the unique mix of natural allure and urban comforts it offers,” he said.

Nestled near the foot of cone-shaped Mayon and named after Spanish conquistador Miguel Lopez de Legazpi, the city has hosted more than a dozen national conventions of government, professional and social clubs in the last 12 months.

The city has some 1,500 hotel rooms that range from luxurious to economical, and that suit all budgets. Among the notable accommodation facilities in the city is the Oriental Hotel, the only five-star hotel in the Bicol region, which will host the delegates and the closing event.

Dubbed the “City of Fun and Adventure,” Legazpi has urban amenities, such as shopping malls, star-rated boutique hotels, cozy bars, recreation centers and theme restaurants. Despite these, the city never loses its countryside charm.

Rosal said delegates to the convention can enjoy the various adventure activities that Legazpi offers, such as the Ligñon Hill zipline and hanging bridge; the all-terrain vehicle rides at the Mayon lava trail; the Embarcadero zipline; and lighthouse-tower rappelling.

A new adventure spot is the Legazpi Boulevard, the country’s longest bay boulevard outside of Manila, which is a hub for watersports, such as kayaking, jet-skiing and diving, in Bicol.

Just outside the city are Albay’s natural wonders and cultural spots that ATOP delegates will explore. Among these are the postcard-pretty Cagsawa Ruins Park in Daraga town; Mayon Planetarium in Tabaco City; pinangat-cooking and centenary houses in Camalig town; clay pottery-making in Tiwi town; and Spanish-era baroque churches and native delicacies in almost every town.

Legazpi is also the jump-off point to the posh Misibis Bay Resort in Bacacay town.

Spicing up the sessions are hot Bicolano dishes, such as Bicol Express, laing, tinotongan and pinangat, which are sought after because of their extraordinary flavors.

Mentors to get ‘anti-poverty’ perk

By Maricel Cruz

A measure was filed at the House of Representatives proposing a P5,000 monthly “Anti-Poverty Allowance” for public school teachers to help them cope with the rising costs of living and for the government to attract more professionals.

House Bill 2356, said Albay Rep. Al Francis Bichara, aims to combat poverty among public school teachers and uplift their dignity and the importance of the teaching.

“With the skyrocketing costs of gasoline, electricity and other basic commodities, there is an imperative need to improve the economic plight of our public school teachers,” said Bichara, chairman of the House committee on foreign affairs.

“Undeniably, our teachers can barely cope with the daily standard of living with such meager sum. Reliable surveys reveal the typical family of a public school teacher lives below the Philippine poverty line,” he said.

Bichara said this is the reality despite a constitutionally mandated principle of the State to assign the highest budgetary priority to ensure that teaching will attract and retain its rightful share of the best available talents through adequate remuneration and other means of job satisfaction and fulfillment.

He Republic Act 4670 otherwise known as the Magna Carta for Public School Teachers provides it is State’s duty to promote and improve the social and economic status of public school teachers.

HB 2356 provides that all public elementary and high school teachers shall be granted P5,000 “Anti-Poverty Allowance”, added to present salary and benefits.

Covered also are Nationally Funded Public School Teachers and Locally Funded Teachers.

The bill refers to Nationally-Funded Public School Teachers as those persons engaged in: actual classroom teaching in public basic education; teaching in alternative learning system; and actual classroom teaching in the Philippine Science High School System. Meanwhile, Locally Funded Teachers are those hired and paid for, fully or partially, by an LGU or any other local entity based on the rules and regulations issued by the Department of Education.

The bill provides that locally-funded teachers shall be included in the proposed Act only if the local government unit has available funds.

DTI holds training of Albay farmers on coco coir technology in 3 towns, 1 city

(PNA), LAP/FGS/DOC/UTB

LEGAZPI CITY, Sept. 27 (PNA) -- The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has intensified in Albay its training program on technologies for the industry that makes use of coconut farm wastes in the manufacture of excellent industrial materials that have already captured both the domestic and international markets.

So far, the DTI Albay provincial office has already conducted training sessions with participants from the City of Ligao and the municipalities of Camalig, Oas and Polangui -- all in partnership with their respective local government units and private entities.

DTI Albay provincial director Rodrigo Aguilar on Friday said here that the Ligao City training for 41 members of the Barangay Tastas Multi-Purpose Cooperative was completed last week and was supported by the city government under Mayor Patricia Gonzales-Alsua.Alsua provided 20 units of twining machines and starter kits distributed to selected participants.

The Agencia Espanol Cooperacion International pare el Desarollo also provided assistance through the grant of a decorticating machine, cargo truck and other equipment for the coco-coir plant the cooperative will be operating, Aguilar said.

The training is under the DTI’s Rural Micro Enterprise Promotion Program that is now focused on technologies in coco fiber twining and weaving, leading to the manufacture of coconut husk-derived baled decorticated fibers, twines and geonets.

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 training in the municipality of Oas conducted in Barangay Cagmanaba involved 36 leaders of farmer’s groups in five neighboring barangays.

It was conducted by the DTI provincial office in partnership with the Oas municipal government under Mayor Gregorio Ricarte and the US Dignity Products and Services, Inc., a new US-based company that invested on a multi-million integrated coconut processing plant in the area.

The company will primarily engage in processing virgin coconut oil, coco flour, chips from coco shell and eventually in coco-coir processing for export 100 percent to the US.

The training, according to Aguilar, was held at the newly constructed manufacturing plant of Dignity Products in Barangay Cagmanaba, which is due to start full-blast operation within this year.

The plant targets to utilize 16,000 pieces of coconut daily and plans to employ 150 direct workers.

The DTI is also currently assisting the company in registering with the Board of Investments or with the Philippine Economic Zone Authority.

The same training has been conducted in Barangay Caguiba and St. Francis Resettlement Site in Camalig for a total of 61 participants; Barangays San Vicente, Oas, 40 members of its Agrarian Reform Community; Barangay Balinad, Polangui, with 54 participants; Barangay Batang, Ligao City, 37 participants; and Barangay Balogo, Oas, 36 participants, Aguilar said.

All these participants will form a pool of manpower for the expansion of the coco coir manufacturing industry in the province.

Each training course, which 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 Camalig, Albay.

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

What Arboleda has been showing farmers in each training, Aguilar said, is that the country’s coconut farms produce about eight billion husks yearly that 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.

Products of manufactured coco coir are used as effective water filter, absorbent, good insulation material, as possible replacement for asbestos, non-carcinogenic; good for soundproofing, no disposal fee for coco fiber; good for soil conditioning and aeration, biodegradable but does not easily decompose.

Among the coconut by products initially developed by COCOTECH are fiber net for erosion control and peat block, brick and tiles for plant nurseries.

Fiber net is made from 100-percent coir fiber woven into high-strength nets for extreme slope stabilization, protection of high-velocity intermittent flow channel.COCOTECH exports these products to Germany, Japan, United States, Malaysia, China, Sri Lanka and Dubai.

Mayon top global tourism advantage of Albay

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

LEGAZPI CITY, Sept. 26 (PNA) -– Mayon Volcano is the number one global tourism advantage of Albay and the entire Bicol region, Gov. Joey Salceda said Thursday.

He was speaking at the opening of the two-day First Bicol Regional Tourism Summit at the Oriental Hotel here.

Speaking before some 500 participants, Salceda claimed that Albayanos were born and live in the shadow of Mayon, the global identity of the province.

He took pride in the character, culture and respectfulness of an Albayano as well as the spicy warmth of the Albayanos, in particular, and the Bicolanos, in general.

He said he is not afraid to gamble on Albay -- like joining in the international travel exhibit in Berlin, Germany, last year, where he spent millions of pesos as investment.

The province was the only local government unit that joined the world tourism event and the province, he said, is now preparing for the London global tourism event.

This bold step yielded more than a thousand returns to the province and the region.

Salceda also said Albay was the third largest cosmopolitan center of the Philippines during the Spanish time.

He announced that the Cagsawa Ruins will soon be declared as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The tourism industry, he said, has horizontal and inclusive benefits to the community and the national economy in general.

For one, tourism does not need or has a little need for power, thus, power saving and incurs lower bills, he said.

Paje calls for massive plantation to preserve water sources

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

LEGAZPI CITY, Sept. 25 (PNA) -– To preserve the sources of water, there is need for massive plantation, application of correct science, comprehensive plan to address climate change and good governance, Department of Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Ramon Paje said this morning.

Paje addressed some 300 participants of the International Conference on Sustain-Agility of Watersheds now going on at the Oriental Hotel in this city.

The conference, which started this morning and will end tomorrow, is attended by participants from Korea, Malaysia, Sri-Lanka and the Philippines.

The activity is being coordinated by the Bicol University College of Agriculture and Fishery (BUCAF) and has for its theme “Mainstreaming mindset and efforts in ensuring sustainable water for all.”

Dr. Marissa Estrella, BUCAF dean, explained that the meeting aims to formulate a comprehensive program on best practices in DRR and CCA for use by researchers, students and agencies of the government.

Other speakers aside from Paje are Dr. Rex Victor O. Cruz, chancellor of the University of the Philippines-Los Banos and Dr. Patricio S. Faylon of the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Development who will touch on climate change and the impending water crisis that the world will face in the next decade.

Paje also discussed important points on the three elements of nature – earth, water and air.

“To have agility, we need talent and to be sustainable, we need endurance,” he said.

He cited the National Greening Program as a comprehensive program of the Aquino Administration not only on environment but also in addressing the problem of poverty and food security based on Executive Order No. 26 of the President.

The DENR secretary sounded the need to fight graft and corruption and asked every participant to the conference to contribute his share in this problem.

“Do not worry too much. Just do your job and we will be better off because our lifespan is just a blink of an eye of our mother earth,” Paje said.

He commended the BUCAF and the local government of Albay as a model province in disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation not only in the country but also in the entire world.

P600-M mall project in Legazpi City breaks ground

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

LEGAZPI CITY, Sept. 24 (PNA) -– City officials, the business sector and church representatives led the groundbreaking Tuesday for the construction of the P600-million four-storey Liberty Commercial Center Mall at the burnt old public market here.

Councilor Rolly Rosal said the Legazpi City government and the management of LCC Mall agreed to implement the project in the two-hectare commercial area at the heart of the city.

Rosdal said construction will start as soon as possible and will last for 20 months.

Edgar Alejo of the LCC Mall information office said the P600-million mall project is part of their company’s expansion in the six provinces of the Bicol region.

With the project, LCC, the oldest commercial center in the city, will create thousands of jobs not only in Albay but also in the entire Bicol, Alejo said.

“It is part of the multibillion-peso investments that entered the city this year alone,” Rosal said.

Rosal disclosed that LCC Mall will pay more than P5.7 million in the form of taxes yearly in 10 years once it starts operation.

After 10 years, he said there will be an increase in tax payment.

Bicol celebrates nat'l maritime week

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

LEGAZPI CITY, Sept. 23 (PNA) -- It is but fitting that the country commend and honor the heroism of Filipino seafarers in national and international waters, a top regional official of the Philippine Ports Authority said.

PPA Bicol Regional Manager Rosenda G. Sumagaysay said the celebration, the 18th year commemoration of the Maritime Week in the country, started Sunday and will end on Sept. 29.

“We have almost one-half million seafarers in the Philippines – 400,000 navigating all around the world and more than 60,000 based in our country,” Sumagaysay said during the opening ceremonies for the Maritime Week celebration here.

The Maritime official cited the great sacrifice that the Filipino seafarers do for their family and their contribution to the economic growth of the country.

The occasion also centered on the commitment of the Philippines to the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development or more known as “Rio 2012, Rio+20.”

The conference agreed to form a Green Economy Roadmap for the 192 countries that are members of United Nations, including the Philippines.

Sumagaysay said PPA is spearheading the celebration in the region with sub-theme "Going Green in PPA Ports."

Assisting PPA are other agencies under the Dept. of Transportation and Communications like the Maritime Industry Authority, Philippine Coast Guard, Philippine Navy, PNP Maritime Group as well as the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Regal Arrastre and Stevedoring, Inc., and Mariners’ Polytechnic Colleges Foundation.

Featured activities in the celebration of the Maritime Week are: Eucharistic celebration, launching of the first-ever port park in Bicol ports, opening of the mural painting contest, motorcade in major streets of Legazpi City, port greening seminar program and educational field trip aboard vessel, seminar on marine pollution and environmental laws, search and rescue drill, boodle fight, mangrove planting, coastal clean-up and cultural night.

Sumagaysay said similar activities are being done in the ports of Tabaco and Pioduran in Albay, Matnog and Bulan in Sorsogon, Pasacao in Camarines Sur, Virac in Catanduanes at Masbate City.

US Marine Corps humanitarian mission now in Albay

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

LEGAZPI CITY, Sept. 22 (PNA) -- Thirty-six United States Marine Corps personnel arrived at the Legazpi City Airport with medical and engineering supplies at 11:00 a.m. Sunday on board two USMC C-130 transport aircraft for the PHL-US Amphibious Landing Humanitarian Exercises here.

Commodore Natalio Abinuman, commanding officer of the Philippine Navy’s (PN) Naval Forces in Southern Luzon (Navforsol), other officers of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, Office of Civil Defense and representatives from the Provincial Government of Albay welcome the USMC humanitarian and engineering team.

The two cargo planes came from Okinawa, Japan where the 3rd Marine Expeditionary Brigade and the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit are stationed, US Marine Major Grace Janosek, USMC team leader, said.

Janosek said in a briefing that the PHL-US Amphibious Landing Humanitarian Mission will start on Wednesday until Oct. 10 this year and conduct engineering works and health services in the villages of Taysan, Victory Village and Bigaa in this city.

She said the PHL-US Amphibious Landing Exercises currently being undertaken in the country involve three phases: the Table Top PHL-US military planning exercise in Subic, Zambales and Clark in Pampanga; Amphibious Military combat exercise in Subic and Clark and in Ternate, Cavite; and humanitarian (med-cap, engineering) services in this city.

It is the fourth mission to be held in Albay, citing that similar humanitarian mission was held by the US Pacific Angel in 2010, USS Peleliu in 2007, RP-US Balikatan in 2009.

Janosek said the event is not a combat exercise, but purely humanitarian, civic assistance and capacity-building efforts.

She said the humanitarian assistance is expected to provide free medical and other health-related services to more than a thousand indigent beneficiaries and repair school buildings.

The mission leader said the USMC brought along two doctors, a dentist and medicines and other medical supplies for two-day medical and dental services in the elementary schools of barangays (villages) Bigaa and Victory Village here.

The engineering units will construct a 60-meter perimeter fence and repair three classrooms destroyed by typhoons at the Taysan Elementary School, in Barangay Taysan an upland village some five kilometers south of the city proper.

Abinuman said a similar number of personnel from the Navforsol, Army and the Provincial Health Office will be assigned as the PHL counterpart to the humanitarian mission here.

He said the AFP will also provide the necessary security assistance to the visiting USMC personnel to ensure no harm will happen to them during the exercise.

The navy officer said the humanitarian mission in Albay, specifically in this city, was considered since the province is known in pursuing effective disaster risk reduction and management and climate change adaptation initiatives.

He said it is aimed at improving bilateral cooperation between the Philippines and the United States wherein the two countries will exchange experiences on matters concerning defense agreements and humanitarian services.

Albay is one of the most disaster-prone areas in the country and has many success stories to share on DRRM and CCA.

It also has institutionalized civil-military cooperation in disaster preparedness and response.

Bill seeks to protect children born out of wedlock

(KDM, GMA News)

Children born out of wedlock may soon be free from the discrimination that comes with being labeled as illegitimate, once a bill pending in the House of Representatives is passed into law.

House Bill 2355 seeks to correct what its author, Albay Rep. Al Francis Bichara, described as an injustice to children who were born to unmarried parents "by no fault of their own."

"Indeed from the day a child is born out of wedlock, he or she automatically becomes a marginalized citizen, socially and economically. More often than not, children born out of wedlock grew up under the care of a single parent, relatives, foster families or adoption homes," Bichara said.

He said the term "illegitimate" is "unsavory and odious" and threatens to make the children "continue to suffer for the rest of their lives."

Worse, he said children born out of marriage have limited rights and privileges, especially in successional rights.

The bill seeks to amend the Family Code by removing the distinctions on legitimate and illegitimate children. A news release of the House of Representatives said the present Family Code's Article 164 defines an illegitimate child as one conceived and born outside of a valid marriage or outside lawful wedlock.

In contrast, a legitimate child is "one who [was] originally illegitimate but later considered legitimate by legal fiction because of the subsequent marriage of parents."

Bichara said a child labeled illegitimate may be prone to ridicule by peers and ostracized by an "unforgiving society."

"Putok sa buho, anak sa labas, bastardo, bastarda – are the common painful terms which our society usually attribute to children born out of wedlock," he said.

DOT recognizes Region V tourism champions in Gayon Bicol Awards

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

LEGAZPI CITY, Sept. 20 (PNA)—Seeking to stimulate knowledge creation, dissemination and innovative applications in tourism, the Department of Tourism (DOT) is honoring this year travel industry champions in Bicol with prestigious awards.

It will be under the first Gayon (Beautiful) Bicol Awards to highlight the holding in late this month of the two-day regional summit at The Oriental Hotel here.

The summit aims to bring to light the latest tourism industry developments in the region.

Topping the list of awardees are Albay Gov. Joey Salceda who championed the formation of the Albay-Masbate-Sorsogon Tourism Alliance (AlMaSorTA) and Mayor Noel Rosal who is behind the recognition of this city as the country’s new “convention capital.”

AlMaSorTA is a package that enhances the structural attractiveness of all three provinces in the southernmost part of Bicol in synergistic positioning branch franchising.

As convention capital, this city has been receiving thousands of visitors who are delegates or participants in various national and international gatherings organized by both government and non-government groups owing to its attractiveness as ideal venue for such occasions.

Among the other awardees are former Camarines Sur governor Luis Raymund Villafuerte for steering his province into a leading travel destination with his establishment of the Camarines Sur Watersports Complex and Mayor Tito Sarion of Daet, Camarines Norte, who is credited for making Bagasbas Beach known as international site for surfing and kite-boarding competitions.

A posthumous award will also be given to the late former mayor of Donsol, Sorsogon, Jerome Alcantara, for his contributions in making Butanding interactions a regular year-round tourism activity in his municipality known as the Whale Shark Capital of the World.

Under the “enterprise service excellence” category of the Gayon Bicol Awards, Misibis Bay Resort in Sto. Domingo, Albay and Avenue Plaza Hotel in Naga City were chosen as awardees for projects, products and services that are innovative in the tourism field demonstrated through new technologies, environmentally-friendly applications and corporate social responsibility engagement.

DOT-Bicol consultant Danilo Intong, of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and Cecilia Duran, former president of the Sorsogon Provincial Tourism Council, will also receive awards under the “tourism development partners” category for their pioneering concepts in Donsol’s whale shark interaction.

This category recognizes initiatives by non-government organizations with a clear non-profit scope using grassroots, partnership, governance, and civil society actions as key factors for their achievements.

“Medals of Valor” will also be conferred as special awards to Philippine Eco-Guides Association national president and Bulusan, Sorsogon Municipal Tourism Officer Philip Bartilet, Mt. Mayon tour guide Aguinaldo Cariño, Butanding interaction officer and dive master Bobby Adrao, councilor Ryan Nuyda of Barangay Dapdap here and George Cordova of the Mayon Accredited Naturalist Eco-Guide Association.

This award represents a merit distinction for the significant contributions in the industry which are highly inspirational and made a significant impact on the tourism sector which can be replicated.

The initiatives of all these awardees are original and inspiring in their nature, objectives, resource management and results, highlighting tourism as a strategic tool for balanced and sustainable development in economic, social and environmental aspects, DOT regional director Maria Ong-Ravanilla on Friday said.

The awarding ceremony that is expected to be graced by DOT undersecretary Maria Victoria Jasmin, undersecretary Daniel Corpuz and assistant secretary Rolando Canizal will be held on Sept. 26.

Bicol to hold Regional Tourism Summit 2013

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

LEGAZPI CITY, Sept. 19 (PNA) -– The Department of Tourism (DOT) Bicol regional office will gather all tourism industry stakeholders for the Regional Tourism Summit 2013 on Sept. 26-27 at the Oriental Hotel here.

With the theme, “Bridging Boundaries and Building Connections,” the tourism summit aims to provide a venue for key players and practitioners, as partners in the tourism industry development, to have a clear understanding of Republic Act 9593, otherwise known as the Tourism Act of 2009, its applicability at the grassroots and the role of the local government units and private tourism stakeholders in its implementation.

“We encourage active participation in this tourism summit which will guide the LGUs in aligning their local tourism development plans with that of the National Tourism Development Plan to ensure proper coordination, integration, prioritization and implementation of the same,” Maria O. Ravanilla, DOT regional director, said.

Ravanilla saw the timeliness and necessity of the tourism summit in the light of recent positive developments that are seen to boost regional tourism.

Just this week, a 30-man delegation of the Philippine Travel Agencies Association (PTAA) led by its president, John Paul Cabalza, completed Wednesday a familiarization tour of the Albay's tourism products and committed to bring hundreds of thousands domestic and foreign tourists to Albay.

The PTAA delegation’s visit was for the 8th Pasyaran 2013, a familiarization tour program of the Albay provincial government that ushers key travel marketing players to local destinations for them to have first-hand experiences of tourism products available and be able to develop appropriate selling strategies.

PTAA is a 500-strong union of the national associations of the outbound travel agencies and inbound tour operators in the Philippine which represents the country’s travel sector in various international and national associations.

The visit was also an offshoot of the recently concluded Philippine Travel Mart at the SMX Convention Center in Mall of Asia wherein the Albay-Masbate-Sorsogon (AlMaSor) Tourism Alliance was presented in a booth that notched the People’s Choice Award for provincial category.

AlMaSor is the clustering of the three southernmost provinces of Bicol that was initiated by the Regional Development Council (RDC) chaired by Albay Governor Joey Sarte Salceda.

Bicol University launches FM station to better serve public

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

LEGAZPI CITY, Sept. 18 (PMA) – The Bicol University College of Arts and Letters on Wednesday afternoon launched its FM radio station located at the BU Amphitheater, Multi-Purpose Building here.

Called the DWBU-FM 106.3, the new radio station is intended to serve not only the school community but also the public in general, according to Dr. Fay Lea Patria M. Lauraya, BU president.

“Let this BU laboratory station serve not only the BU community but also the public -- particularly the farmers, farm workers, fishermen, vendors and other sectors of society,” Lauraya said, adding that “This launching is yet another dream come true for BU and those whom it is serving.”

The Albay-Legazpi Press Association, Inc., an organization of Albay-based correspondents and stringers of national print, broadcast and TV organizations, welcomed the dwBU-FM station as an important addition to the tri-media family.

“Any addition to the tri-media family is indeed a welcome development, especially in its duty to give the public important factual information towards the betterment of the community and its people,” the ALPA said in a statement.

“Most of the problems today are a result of lack of communication, wrong communication or miscommunication; with the dwBu radio station, we hope that this gap will be partly filled,” the ALPA added.

Lauraya ceremonially signed on the dwBU-FM 106.3 at about 2 p.m. today, after whicn, the heads of the various student media groups gave welcome responses.

Stay away from loan sharks, DSWD advises 4Ps beneficiaries in Bicol

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

LEGAZPI CITY, Sept. 17 (PNA) -– The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Bicol regional office here has warned beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) in the region against dealing with loans sharks.

There are about 357,000 Bicolano families identified as poorest of the poor that regularly receive financial subsidy under the Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) scheme of the program and most of them, reports said, have been turning to unscrupulous money lenders every time they need fast cash, using their receivables from the CCT as guarantee of payment.

These money lenders impose 20 percent in interest, most of the time collected in advance or deducted from the loan proceeds of the borrowers who need to surrender their automated teller machine (ATM) cards to ensure future payment.

On agreement that her full name would not be published, a certain Mrs. Lomerio, a CCT grantee from the nearby Daraga, Albay, admitted that she and most in the neighborhood who are 4Ps grantees deal with a money lender in the community that collects 20 percent interest.

“It is the easiest and fastest way of having cash every time we need some for urgent family needs like medicine for the sick, food, school expenses or to pay electricity bills. Except for this loan shark, there is no one here to whom we can run to when we need instant cash” she told the PNA in local dialect.

Every CCT recipient is provided by the Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) with an ATM card to facilitate convenient withdrawals of their cash subsidy that amounts to as much as P1,900 monthly when the family has three children in school.

The 4Ps’ maximum grant package per household amounts to P1,400 a month, where P300 is paid for every child who complies with the 85 percent required school attendance for the month and can be given to a maximum of three children per household.

Additionally, the household is entitled to P500 per month for complying with health and nutrition conditions.

The amount of the grant is based on the number of children per household and compliance to program conditions.

In most cases in Bicol, payments are made by the LBP in quarterly basis that could entitle a beneficiary nearly P6,000 per lump sum payout.

It is in their mode of payment, however, that drives cash-hungry beneficiaries to loan sharks.

According to Lito Tuanqui, a former banker here, the practice puts the 4Ps program in a very awkward position, which defeats its purpose of giving the poorest of the poor a respite from the whips of poverty.

This year alone, the government will spend about P6 billion to subsidize the cash needs of the 357,000 4Ps beneficiaries through CCT in Bicol and granting that half of them patronize the services of loan sharks, 20 percent of the P3 billion, which is a whopping P600 million, is falling into the hands of these loan sharks, he said.

Arnel Garcia, the DSWD regional director, on Tuesday here said his agency knows that the grant is a big help in augmenting Bicol’s poor families’ daily needs that is why it is making sure the beneficiaries receive their grants in the easiest, fastest and most economical way.

LBP is the only authorized agency to disburse cash grants and to ensure that beneficiaries receive their grants promptly and not spend so much for their transportation in going to the bank, it has authorized money-transfer agents such as G-Cash Remit, Philippine Postal Corporation and other conduits like rural banks and cooperatives to deliver the grants to the beneficiaries, Garcia said.

On dealing with loan sharks, he said, his office has been repeatedly dissuading beneficiaries from it, warning them that it could lead to their disqualification from 4Ps once proven that the cash grants they are receiving are not wholly used according to the conditions set by the program.

Travel operators visit Albay for familiarization tour

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

LEGAZPI CITY, Sept. 16 (PNA) -- A throng of travel industry operators arrived here over the weekend to take a closer look at the local tourism products that they intend to sell in the domestic and international markets. Albay Governor Joey Salceda on Monday said the group, which involves 30 inbound travel operators and tour agency executives who are members of the 500-strong Philippine Travel Agencies Association (PTAA), will stay for about a week to be able to go around old and new tourist destinations in the city, other areas of Albay as well as Masbate and Sorsogon.

They came as the 8th batch of visitors for the Pasyaran 2013, a familiarization tour offering of the Albay provincial government that ushers key travel marketing players to local destinations for them to have first-hand experiences of tourism products available and be able to develop appropriate selling strategies.

The governor said he personally welcomed the group members during their arrival at the Legazpi Domestic Airport where they were briefed on the same aviation facility’s improvement plan into an international gateway for chartered flights.

These chartered flights currently being worked out by several travel agencies will be regularly flying in tourist from major travel markets like Russia, Korea and China who are making the province a new destination. Sorsogon and Masbate have been included in the itinerary of Albay’s Pasyaran 2013, being part of the AlMaSor Tourism Alliance of the Regional Development Council (RDC) chaired by Salceda, which forms a package that enhances the structural attractiveness of all three provinces in synergistic positioning and branch franchising.

Salceda himself has initiated and pursued the branding AlMaSor for the “Soul of the South” as a new marketing strategy and packaging of the tourism industry and prospects for these southernmost provinces of the region.

On their familiarization tour, these travel operators will experience not only the wonders of AlMaSor as a place but also its warm people caressed by the rays of the tropical sun, fired by their lust for gaiety, and heated up by the spicy food they feast on, Salceda said.

AlMaSor, he said, gives an ecological foretaste far exceeding what any grouping of provinces in the Philippines and at par with the best the rest of the world has to offer starting from Mayon Volcano, which shows both its majestic beauty and devastating wrath—resulting in the destruction of the towns of Cagsawa and Budiao.

Included in the famtour is Misibis Bay Resort that boasts of blue waters and white sands—and the villa that was occupied by Hollywood actor, Zac Ephron.

The same resort will host the first conference of the APEC Economic Summit in December and the Green Climate Fund in April, wherein Philippines will be the first 3rd World Country to host.

Both international events will take place next year.

The “Pasyaran” visitors will also experience the adventurers on ATV (all-terrain vehicle) that brave the slopes and ravines leading to a lava wall created by the past eruptions of Mt. Mayon.

From the airport, the group members were taken atop the Ligñon Hill Nature Park where they took a view of the surrounding lush forest which gives contrast to the tremendous development taking place on the entire urban landscape of this city, the blue beauty of Albay Gulf and the whole edifice of majestic Mayon.

They were later taken to the picturesque Legazpi City Boulevard, a new four-kilometer seaside concrete roadway elegantly developed by the city government to offer a pristine milieu for promenades and physical fitness exercises.

Down in Masbate, they will be given a live watch of the pristine ten kilometers pinkish-white and crystal-clear waters of the San Isidro Beach and marvel at the marine treasures off the islands of Ticao and Burias, where dolphins sometimes sing to weary seafarers, Salceda said.

They will explore the Buntod Sandbar and Reef Marine Sanctuary while marveling at the unique marine life forms and beautiful coral gardens or go diving or snorkeling in the surrounding waters of Masbate City.

“Pasyaran 2013” will also take these visitors to the twin stretches of the Subic Beach Resort in Matnog, Sorsogon, that allow wallowing in the soothing smoothness of the immaculate grains of sand or simply drift on the caressing waves of its shallow waters.

Finally, they will feel the peaceful and deep waters of Dancalan Beach in Donsol, Sorsogon, where the whale sharks -- the gentle giants of the sea and the largest fish that ever swam the deepest oceans of the world -- are homing, Salceda added.

Private-sector-participation scheme of management wins in Aleco referendum

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

LEGAZPI CITY, Sept. 15 (PNA) – With total votes of 5,506, the private- sector-participation (PSP) option won over the coop-to-coop (C2C) scheme, which garnered 3,491 votes, in Saturday’s referendum among member-consumers of the debt-ridden Albay Electric Cooperative (Aleco).

Some 100,000 Aleco consumers were expected to show up at the 23 voting precincts in public elementary and high schools put up by the referendum coordinators, said Alvie Boral, Aleco spokesperson.

However, only 8,997 or about nine percent showed up and qualified to vote at the precincts which opened as early as 8:00 a.m. to accommodate the voters from 15 towns and three cities of the province up to 3 p. m.

Some of those who came were not allowed to vote due to lack of identification cards and a copy of an Aleco bill.

Only a minimum of five percent of the 100,000 voters could already validate the referendum, according to Legazpi City Mayor Noel E. Rosal, spokesperson for the PSP scheme.

Saturday’s referendum was supervised by the Philippine Rural Electricity Cooperative Association.

The three districts of Albay voted as follows: First District had PSP – 941, C2C – 1,554; Second District voted with PSP – 2,139; C2C – 1,222; and Third District recorded 2,426 for PSP and 715 for C2C, for a total of 5,506 for PSP and 3,491 for C2C.

The two options were offered by the Department of Energy as schemes to rehabilitate the ailing electric cooperative.

With the winning of the PSP option, the San Miguel Power Corp., through its SMC Global Power Holding Corp., will run the cooperative as a private corporation guided by its technical bid accepted by the interim board.

“This will be a welcome development for Albay, considering that SMC is an A-1 corporation and very successful and Aleco will surely be given a new kind of management that we need for the future of our cooperative,” Rosal said.

The SMCGPHC technical bid provides, among others, that as sole and exclusive agent or concessionaire of Aleco, it will act on matters such as “applications for increase in tariff with the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC), provided the Concessionaire shall only collect such tariffs that ERC may approve.”

On the fate of the existing operations and maintenance personnel of the cooperative, the bid says that Aleco shall indemnify, defend and hold the concessionaire, its directors, officers and employees free and harmless from any claim or action brought by the employees by reason of their separation from employment.

A the same time, the bid presumes the transmission assets and facilities necessary to connect the Aleco distribution system to the grid and assets used for conveyance of electric power from the transmission facilities or embedded generators to end-users are functioning and in good working order, and free from all liens and encumbrances.

This provision means, as required by the technical bid, that all equipment of Aleco for transmission and distribution be in good condition and considering that the technical systems loss the cooperative has been suffering are due to equipment that are in need of repair, Aleco must first restore them before SMC comes in.

“In its effort to improve the cooperative’s operations and profitability, SMC Global Power will make an initial investment of P1.2 billion. This amount will be released over a three to four-year period and constitutes a capital expenditure and working capital earmarked to rehabilitate Aleco,” SMC President Ramon S. Ang said in a letter earlier.

In terms of Aleco's debt, SMC Global Power will implement a viable settlement plan for the payment of the P4-billion debt of Aleco.

“The paying of debt will be subject to the positive performance of the business and none of the debt will be passed on to consumers,” Ang assured, adding their immediate priorities are to rehabilitate Aleco, improve operational efficiencies and minimize systems losses.

“Over the next three years, SMC Global Power will work out a series of programs that include the upgrading and construction of new sub-stations, the correction of metering installations and the improvement of distribution lines,” the SMC boss explained.

Aleco’s debt has mounted to P3.7 billion, largely due to continuous losses for the past 18 years.

Based on DOE estimates, according to Albay Gov. Salceda, financial losses due to systems losses or power bought but not billed or sold amounted to P1.959 billion.

In 2012 alone, this amounted to P240 million.

Basic education indicators show Bicol performs better than national record

By Floreño G. Solmirano [(PNA), LAM/FGS/CBD/JSD]

LEGAZPI CITY, Sept. 14 (PNA) -– At least three basic indicators showed that education in the Bicol region has improved over its previous record, a report of the Department of Education (DepEd) Bicol regional office to the Regional Development Council (RDC) for Bicol showed.

Albay Governor and RDC Chairperson Joey Salceda said this improved performance is attributable to the “no collection” policy, conditional cash transfer program, alternative learning system and the learner information system.

For instance, Salceda said the performance of the region in the National Achievement Test reflected higher scores in Mathematics among Grade 3 pupils, improved scores in English and Science among Grade 6 pupils, and high results in Mathematics and Filipino among the fourth year high school students.

In Schoolyear (SY) 2011-2012, the percentage of Grade 1 enrolees with early child development was 83.2 percent (84.6 for females and 81.9 for males) -- an improvement over the previous schoolyear's record of 76.4 percent and better than the national level’s 76.9 percent.

In terms of participation rate, the record of Bicol was 92.3 percent (92.6 for females and 91.1 for males) while the national record was 83 percent.

The percentages of completion rate in the elementary and secondary in the region, however, were almost the same as the national level's scores.

Salceda said the DepEd hired more teachers and constructed more classrooms in the last schoolyear to reduce the teacher and classroom shortage.

The elementary teacher-pupil ratio was similar to the national’s at 1:36, but better than the standard of 1:45.

The region posted a secondary teacher-student ratio of 1:36, a manageable one but with shortage of teachers.

The elementary classroom-pupil was 1:38, just enough to meet the classroom requirements as provided in RA 7880 or the Fair and Equitable Access to Education Act.

The secondary classroom-student ratio of 1:49, however, still indicates classroom shortage.

The Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) has provided quality technical-vocational education services through regular trainings and skills development in partnership with local government units, industries and private organizations and the provision of scholarships such as the Private Education Student Financial Assistance Program and the Training for Work Scholarship Program.

According to Conrad Bares, TESDA Bicol regional director, the agency produced 44,725 graduates in 2011 and 47,211 in 2012 from technical-vocational education and training programs, covering all delivery modes – school-based, center-based, community-based, enterprise-based and private and public tech-voc institutions.

Local community colleges have shown increased enrollment from 9,771 in 2011 to 12,314 in 2012 while enrollment in state universities and colleges moved a little up from 62,355 in 2011 to 63,720 in 2012.

More students, however, are enrolled in private higher institutions of learning than in LCCs and SUCs.

Several state universities in the region have produced topnotchers in national professional exams like the Bicol University, Sorsogon State University, and the Catanduanes State University.

Salceda said the National Commission for Indigenous People (NCIP) has educational assistance for indigenous people that has produced 383 elementary, 299 high school and 117 college grantees.

The educational sector provided scholarships and financial assistance to 1,411 higher education students in SY2011, 12, 862 students more than the previous school year’s number.

"This resulted in an increased enrollment in tertiary education of 137,090 in SY2011-12 from 128,645 in the previous year," Salceda said.

The provincial government of Albay has implemented the Albay Higher Education Contribution Scheme, a scholarship program patterned after that of Australia’s.

“This program aims to produce at least one college graduate per family in the province to contribute to poverty-reduction efforts of the government,” the RDC chairperson said.

DA eyes Bicol as top cacao producer; trains farmers on latest technology

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

PILI, Camarines Sur, Sept. 13 (PNA) -– The Department of Agriculture (DA) in Bicol is providing local farmers with the latest technology on the growing of cacao (Theobroma cacao) as a step towards making the region a major producer of this high-value crop.

DA Regional Executive Director Abelardo Bragas said the agency, through its Agricultural Training Institute (ATI) based at the Bicol University College of Agriculture and Forestry complex in Guinobatan, Albay, is focusing on commercial cacao production in its conduct of technology transfer training for Bicolano farmers and extension workers.

So far, Bragas said, dozens of agricultural extension workers (AEWs) and farmers from all over the region are already equipped with the latest technology on cacao growing and processing through the ATI training program.

This training program is mandated under Republic Act 7900 or the High-Value Crops Development Act of 1995 that provides assistance for production, marketing and processing of cacao and other high-value crops, he said.

DA's High-Value Commercial Crops Program (HVCDP) also gives assistance to producers of this crop concerning crop insurance, credit, post-harvest facilities, good seeds and planting materials and fiscal incentives, according to Bragas.

The training addresses DA's goal to steer farmers towards generating high income.

It also equips AEWs with the latest package of technologies for cacao production, post-harvest knowledge and proper equipment in crop cultivation.

These AEWs, mostly employed by local government units, and the trained farmers are now spreading in Bicol farming communities the technologies and good words about cacao whose seeds are traditionally being processed to produce chocolate bars and drinks.

With this so far, Bragas said, Bicol has already “a good number” of farmers intercropping cacao with other traditional crops such as pili and coconut, a good farming practice that is projected to give a farmer additional income estimated at P60,000 per hectare by producing quality-grade Fermented Dry Cacao Beans at about 500 trees per hectare.

“We are continuously initiating activities to develop warm acceptance of the smallholder cacao production approach among farmers and renew their interest and willingness to collaborate for the promotion of sustainable cacao production,” he said.

Apart from these, he said, the DA is identifying more suitable areas in Bicol for cacao production and maximizing the presence of markets that could be organized into workable production-market system.

The region has 242,644 hectares of coconut land and at least 10 percent of it or 24,264 hectares can be inter-cropped with cacao, Bragas explained.

If 500 cacao trees will be planted under these coconut trees, a farmer will get 1.5-kilo cacao yield per tree that if sold at P65.00 per kilo will earn for the farmer an income of P48,750 per cropping season.

In 2010, world grindings of cocoa beans was at 3.6 metric tons (MT), reflecting an average annual increase of 2.1 percent from previous years.

Consumption is concentrated in developed counties, which account for 64 percent of world cocoa consumption and projected to increase at an annual rate of 2.2 percent.

In Japan, imports have increased from an annual average at 48,000 MT in 1998-2000 to 56,000 MT in 2010.

Market estimates have it that premium chocolate sales will continue to expand, commanding 25 percent of the market and generating US$ 4.5 billion in sales yearly.

Although cacao grows readily in the Philippines, the country has a hard time joining the international market.

In fact, Philippines imports about 30,000 tons cocoa products in the form of beans, powder, butter, and liquor annually because Filipino farmers can only produce about 6,000 tons of cocoa every year.

The country, however, according to Bragas, could be one of the biggest producers of the crop in Asia -- along with Malaysia and Indonesia.

This can be achieved only if some 500 million more cacao trees would be made growing in about 150,000 to 200,000 hectares of land in the next eight years.

By 2020, the country can produce 100,000 tons of cacao beans.

Bragas said Bicol’s climatic conditions and soil characteristics support cocoa growing and “we are taking advantage of these in increasing interest in production among local farmers by way of training them on latest technology and informing them on the local and international demand for cocoa products whose world prices have been constantly favorable.

Widely called as the “foods for the gods,” cocoa bean is a major agricultural commodity traded worldwide, he added.

Almasor bags Philtoa’s Peoples Choice Award

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

LEGAZPI CITY, Sept. 12 (PNA) -- For being the largest crowd drawer, the Almasor (Albay-Masbate-Sorsogon) Tourism Alliance booth at the Philippine Travel Mart (PTM) 2013 held September 6-8, at the Mall of Asia SMX Convention Center, in Pasay City, bagged the People’s Choice Award for Provincial Category of the fair.

Bannered as the “Soul of the South”, Almasor is a new marketing strategy organized last year by Albay Gov. Joey Salceda as chair of the Bicol Regional Development Council packaging the tourism potentials of the three southernmost provinces of the region.

The Almasor booth at MOA SMX Convention Center - Pavilion C was generally acclaimed “the most visited, most voted and most photographed” booth of the fair.

Organized and Sponsored by the Philippine Tour Operators’ Association (Philtoa), the largest organization of tour operators in the country, PTM 2013 was participated by airlines, hotels, travel agencies and local government units.

Philtoa officials said Almasor’s performance was decidedly impressive and its booth which depicted Bicol’s ethnic wealth and drew more crowds than other booths. Last year, Almasor was internationally acclaimed as a fresh concept in marketing strategy at the ITB Berlin Trade and Tourism Fair.

Countless guests dropped by the Almasor booth and sampled the ethnic foods, bought native products and souvenir items, and took pictures. Beauty titlists from the Albay Pageant Academy – led by 2011 Miss International Dianne Necio - graced the occasion.

On the last day of the fair, Salceda launched the ‘Soul of the South’ Coffee Table Book, a glossy 102-page 11 x 8 publication showing colorful photographs of Almasor’s attractive and inviting tourism destinations.

Salceda said the alliance could not have been more timely and appropriate. “Indeed Albay, Masbate and Sorsogon are sister provinces as they once constituted together the original province of Albay during the Spanish colonial period,” he added.

“Tourist traveling within these provinces wuld not notice their boundaries. The lands are seamlessly woven by contiguous roads and rivers. Common mountains and forests straddle towns and communities of these provinces. The same sea and ocean waves rush and caress their shores and beaches. The people are of the same etnic origin and are bound by similar culture, traditions and similar beliefs,” Salceda raphsodized during the book launching.

He said the book is “a compendium of the esthetics found in the wilds and environs of Almasor; gives an ecological foretaste far exceeding what any grouping of provinces in the Philippines and at par with the best the rest of the world has to offer; ang offers a unique experience that promotes culture attached to the environs and its beauty.”

Among Almasor’s foremost tourism wealth are Albay’s iconic Mayon Volcano and the Cagsawa Ruins; and Donsol, Sorsogon’s Butanding Interaction experience and the “virgin” beaches of Masbate.

Its other attractions include the ATV adventure along the lava walls of Mayon and the Lingyon Hill Nature’s Park; the country’s first monument to Andres Bonifacio in Santo Domingo; the boiling lakes in Manito town; the ten kilometers pinkish-white and crystal-clear waters of the San Isidro Beach in Masbate; the blue lagoon of Paguriran Island, and the Balading Beach in Magdalena, both in the province of Sorsogon.

The coffee table book, Salceda said, gives the reader a virtual tour of the vast tourism wealth of the three provinces, presenting their historical and cultural backgrounds and past alliances from way back to their pre-colonial times. It also spotlights the luxury island hideaway Misibis Bay Resort in Bacacay, Albay.

60 cops in second batch of vegetable production training

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

CAMP GEN. SIMEON OLA, Legazpi City, Sept. 11 (PNA) --Sixty policemen and women from the different units of the Philippine National Police in Bicol are undergoing a three-day training on vegetable production at this camp on September 10-12.

The police officers are from the Regional Public Safety Battalion, city/municipal police offices, women and children’s protection desk, Regional Police Community Relations Division, and provincial police offices of Albay, Camarines Norte, Catanduanes, Sorsogon and Masbate.

Topics of the training proper include: Opportunities in Vegetable Production by Dr. Gloria Salazar, vegetable program contact person; Cultural Management of Vegetables by Susan Joven, Agriculturist II; Weed Management by Vincent Paz, Baao Municipal High Value Crop Development Program coordinator; Vegetable Seed Production by Joven; and Organic Fertilizer Production and Application by Paz.

Salazar said the topics may be new to the police officers but they will surely love it because growing and eating vegetables do not only make people fit and healthy but also give an added income.

She added that “in gardening, there is greener life and glittering gold.”

Salazar stressed that the Gulayan sa Kampo is one way of supporting the Agrikulturang Pilipino or Agri-Pinoy, which is the over-all strategic framework of the Department of Agriculture that guides the various services and programs of the DA from 2011-2016 and beyond.

Aside from the seedlings, the DA also provided garden tools and production guides to the participants.

During the training, the police officers were able to establish their gardens planted with eggplant, tomatoes and pepper.

Salazar said these crops are good as starter crops since they require very little inputs and very easy to grow and will bear fruits in less than three months.

These 60 police officers composed the second batch of training in the region under the DA-Department of National Defense Agricultural Livelihood Program, which was launched at Fort Magsaysay in Nueva Ecija on May 2 by DA Secretary Proceso J. Alcala and Defense Secretary Voltaire T. Gazmin.

The first was held at the Camarines Sur Provincial Police Office in Naga City on August 28-30.

This five-year nationwide project of the DA and DND aims to turn idle lands in military camps into productive vegetable farms and a viable source of food.


Legazpi mayor hails KBP-Albay for its ‘Oplan Broadcastreeing’ project

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

LEGAZPI CITY, Sept. 10 (PNA) -- Legazpi City Mayor Noel E. Rosal has commended the Kapisanan ng mga Broadcaster ng Pilipinas (KBP) - Albay Chapter whose officers called on him Tuesday morning and reported to him the result of the recent KBP tree-planting activity dubbed as “Oplan Broadcastreeing.”

KBP-Albay president and dwZR station manager Hermogenes Alegre Jr., who spearheaded the activity, reported that almost 1,500 acacia seedlings from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) were planted at Barangay Bonot here.

Alegre said he had chosen this urban village as the beneficiary of their project because this place was one of the areas of this city that were denuded by Typhoon “Reming.”

He asked the barangay officials to inform the people to take care always and protect all the seedlings planted at their own locality because these will serve as the protection of the dike near the Yawa River.

Alegre stressed that this “Oplan Broadcastreeing” activity of the KBP was part of their support to the National Greening Program of President Noynoy Aquino that targets 10 billion trees to be planted before the end of his term by 2016.

Hundreds of participants coming from different sectors of society participated in the KBP tree-planting activity on Saturday near the Yawa River at Barangay Bonot in connection with the nationwide simultaneous environmental program of the KBP.

Rosal said the greening activity conducted by the KBP was a big contribution to the city’s target of 20,000 seedlings to be planted at different villages of this city to help restore some denuded forests hit by strong calamities during the past years,

“Our project intends to protect the environment and preserve our natural resources for the future generations,” he added.

He stressed that the entire reforestation efforts and other environmental programs being conducted by his administration were part of the mitigation measures being done by the government to cushion the impact of climate change.

The city chief executive also encouraged other organizations to join and promote the environmental and reforestation program of the city government “to keep our city a landslide-free community.”

Rosal urged the people of Legazpi, particularly those residing in the upland areas of this city, to always plant trees at their own backyard to save them from any disastrous calamity.

ALMASOR snags People’s Choice Award in the provincial category at PTM ’13

By Azer N. Parrocha (PNA)

MANILA, (PNA) — The booth belonging to the Bicol cluster primary tourism area created between the provinces of Albay, Masbate and Sorsogon obtained the People’s Choice Award (provincial category) during the last day of the Philippine Travel Mart 2013 on Sunday.

Before the awarding ceremony held at the closing of the travel mart, the Regional Development Council (RDC) of Region V also launched “Soul of the South”, a coffee table book featuring the best places in the alliance of ALMASOR.

RDC Chairman and Albay Governor, Joey Salceda, now on his third term, said that the coffee table book is a “virtual tour” as it is aimed to guide the visitors into the natural resources, the heritage areas and the best trade centers.

“It is our fervent hope that our words and images may entice the reader to come to Almasor and have real fun in the best that our people and places and cultural heritage could offer,” Salceda said in his speech.

“The people are warm and beautiful. The land and the seas and the landscapes tell their own thrilling stories. May this book serve as a portal into our magical world, which we now call Almasor,” he further said.

“Let your eyes feast on the beautiful photographs in the pages of this book. And if eyes were not enough, then may the text bring to your imagination images that are beyond the sight of lenses,” he added.

The title of the book, Soul of the South, Salcedo said, is derived from the sister provinces as they once belonged to the territorial boundaries of Albay before and during the Spanish colonization period.

Salceda is RDC head for 3rd time

(Manila Standard Today), HBC/FGS/DOC/CBD/PJN

LEGAZPI CITY—In a show of full confidence and regional unity, the members of the Bicol Regional Development Council unanimously reelected Albay Gov. Joey Salceda for a third consecutive term as chairman.

Salceda’s reelection, now the longest on record in the Bicol RDC history, provides continuity to the development programs he had started in Bicol over the past six years, designed to transform the region from a poverty stricken backwater region to a growing global destination in trade and tourism.

He thanked his colleagues and “coworkers in government, the Governors, League of Municipalities of the Philippines, and members of the Regional Directors’ Association, private sector representatives; co-advocates in development” for giving him a fresh mandate.

The governor said his reelection provides continuity to the programs he had started and more opportunities for other endeavors within the next three years; and, onwards to “Bicol Century 2100”, Bicol’s latest development banner theme.

Salceda, an economist and former adviser to several Philippine presidents, also sits as national president of the chairs of all 17 RDCs in the country, since January last year.

The RDC is the highest policy-making body in the regions, serving as the counterpart of the NEDA Board at the sub-national level. It coordinates and sets the direction of all economic and social development efforts in the regions.

Among Salceda’s leading projects as Bicol RDC chair is the P3.4 billion Southern Luzon International Airport in Daraga, Albay scheduled to be completed in 2015; the Guicadale (Guinobatan-Camalig-Daraga-Legazpi) economic platform which supports the SLIA; the P2 billion all weather flood control project of Legazpi City, and the P665-million Albay West Coast Road.

Albay gets ready to become international gateway

(PNA), HBC/FGS/DOC/CBD/PJN

LEGAZPI CITY, Sept 7 (PNA) -- Thrilled by its remarkable gains in tourism it is trying to sustain, Albay is now priming itself as a new gateway of foreign travel via chartered flights directly coming from major markets like China, South Korea and Russia.

“Ahead of the opening of the Southern Luzon International Airport now (under) 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,” Albay Gov. Joey Salceda on Saturday 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 Salceda, 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.

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 Sunday and leave Thursday, he said.

With this, he said, the province will 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 guests nights per year.

Based on reports of international tourism organizations, Chinese tourists spend US$ 300 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 will 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.

These are all in line with his policy to achieve inclusive growth for the province that will have direct impact on the community.

According to Dept. of Tourism Bicol Regional Director Maria Ong-Ravanilla, local tour operators are working closely with this chartered-flight tourism program.

Arrangements, she said, have reached an 80-percent positive outcome insofar as the Chinese market is concerned.

Chinese travelers, however, are impulsive on the visa process, that is why their biggest drawers are Jeju Island and Bali, Indonesia that do not require entry visas, she said.

If the province’s initiative can find ways to provide ease and convenience so that entry requirements for this market are arranged to become as smooth as possible, then attracting Chinese tourists to Albay as an alternative “complete” destination has a very good chance, according to Ravanilla.

In this case, Salceda said, “we will be using the Laoag model as a guide in the processing of Tourist Group Visa (TGV) wherein tour operators will request for a recommendation letter from the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) or its foreign post that a group of tourists will be visiting the province and this will serve as TGV for Chinese visitors.”

Besides, he said, there is already an agreement among countries regarding the laxity of issuing visas and on the problem with the Chinese market, with AJAX Rule, they are given 59 days upon landing in the Philippines.

A Multiple Entry Visa Upon Arrival or Note Verbale for Chinese and Indian visitors can be requested from the DFA foreign post at least one week prior to travel to the Philippines and they can stay for 59 days.

Japanese and Russian visitors can stay for 30 days and are not required to apply for entry visa.

For the Korean market, which is more on honeymooners and golfing travelers, on the other hand, tour operators are now working on the actual details such as visa needs and obtaining positive responses from the market, Ravanilla said.

On the Russian market, Vladivostok, the Far East city of Russia, has direct flights to Cebu and Kalibo but Russians are getting tired of these places, reason why they are seeking new destinations, she added.

Salceda said a Russian guest spends US$ 1,000 per night on incidental expenses, exclusive of accommodation costs.

Under this new tourism project, Salceda said, there will be chartered flights for the Russian market from November to March and Misibis Bay Resort will be allocating a minimum of 20 rooms for them every nine days, which means 180 room nights per cycle.

Misibis is a private tropical hideaway built on a pristine stretch of beach along the southern tip of Cagraray island in Bacacay, Albay, which is considered as the luxury island playground in the Philippines.

From these three travel markets alone, Albay’s estimated arrivals are 10,000 in the first year, probably 2014, when all requirements are satisfied, Salceda said.

These developments and surrounding issues were discussed in a recent conference of the Albay International Gateway Committee chaired by Salceda, and all told, he said, the province is now ready as a gateway for chartered international flights -- making use for the meantime of the Legazpi Domestic Airport.

The completion of the construction of the SLIA in Daraga is expected by 2016.

Ravanilla agreed as, she said, her office has received a memorandum from the Secretary of DOT identifying eight priority international airports -- and considering that the SLIA is already in the pipeline, it was suggested that concentration be focused on the Legazpi Domestic Airport for transient flights.

Salceda reelected Bicol RDC chair for third term

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

LEGAZPI CITY, Sept. 6 (PNA) -– Albay Governor Joey Sarte Salceda was reelected chairperson of the Regional Development Council (RDC) of Bicol for a third term during the full council meeting Friday morning at the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) conference room in Barangay Rawis, this city.

Salceda represents the government sector.

Jose Medina Jr. and Benigno Elevado, civil society sector representatives, were elected co-chairs.

The Albay governor and the other RDC officials will serve for a period of three years.

As RDC chair, Salceda has 11 duties, among which are: to preside over the meetings of the RDC and its executive and advisory committees; to supervise the monitoring of the implementation of major inter-provincial and region-wide development programs, projects and activities; when called upon, to represent the region in Cabinet meetings and other activities at the national level; to direct the formulation of a comprehensive regional development plan and preparation of a system of investment programming priorities for the region; and perform other functions and duties as may be directed by the President.

The RDC is the highest policy-making body in the region and serves as the counterpart of the NEDA Board at the sub-national level.

It is the primary institution that coordinates and sets the direction of all economic and social development efforts in the region.

It also serves as the forum where local efforts can be related and integrated with national development activities.

The RDC was established to provide a regional body to oversee the overall socio-economic development of the region, whose primary task is to coordinate development planning and policy making in the region.

The members of the RDC in Bicol are the six governors, seven city mayors, two capital town mayors, six presidents of the provincial leagues of mayors and 23 regional directors of national government agencies.

RDC has also private sector representatives that comprise a total of 15 PSRs: 12 geographical representatives (two per province), two to represent the basic sector an one to represent the labor sector.

DOH-Bicol seeks flu vaccines for 680 senior citizens in Albay

(PNA), FFC/FGS/DOC/CBD

DARAGA, Albay, Sept. 5 (PNA) –- The Department of Health (DOH) Bicol regional office here has asked the Albay provincial government, through Gov. Joey Salceda, for the provision of anti-influenza vaccines for at least 680 senior citizens in the province.

The assistance was sought by the DOH through Regional Director Gloria Balboa in response to the concern raised by the Christian Foundation for Children and Aging (CFCA) over the vulnerability of these elderly citizens of the province to influenza at the height of the prevailing erratic weather condition.

CFCA is an international sponsorship program serving thousands of children, youth and aging members through five project locations in the Philippines that include Albay, being faced with challenges such as natural disasters and high incidence of poverty.

In a letter to Salceda over the week, the DOH regional chief provided the governor the number of targeted recipients of the vaccines distributed among two of the province’s three cities and seven of its 15 municipalities.

In the list, the towns of Libon and Polangui have the biggest number of prospected beneficiaries with 172 and 143 senior citizens, respectively. Others are Ligao City, 103; Tabaco City, 71; Malinao, 59; Jovellar, 47; Daraga, 37; Bacacay, 27; and Guinobatan, 21.

“Please be advised to allocate additional influenza vaccines intended for the indigent senior citizens to the municipal health offices (MHOs) listed for the vaccination of the elderly beneficiaries as per request of the Christian Foundation for Children and Aging,” Balboa said in the letter.

Acting on the request, Salceda promptly directed Provincial Health Officer Luis Domingo Mendoza to immediately make the vaccines available and delivered to the MHOs.

Albay’s 2 tourism practices finalists in ATOP-DOT awards

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

LEGAZPI CITY, Sept. 4 (PNA) -– Two of Albay province’s recent tourism activities have been chosen as finalists in this year’s Pearl Award: ATOP-DOT Best Tourism Practices of the Philippines.

The good news is contained in a letter received here by Gov. Joey Salceda from ATOP’s Committee on Awards and Citations head Kenneth Benignos.

The letter informed him that Albay’s Daragang Magayon Festival and Coral Rosary Beads Genesis have been chosen as finalists in local governments’ festival and eco-environment categories, respectively.

Jointly sponsored by the Association of Tourism Officers of the Philippines and the Dept. of Tourism, the award, now on its eighth year, recognizes exceptional tourism practices, projects and innovations.

Daragang Magayon is a yearly festival that Albay celebrates with its iconic endowment of Mayon Volcano, whose name originated from "Daragang Magayon" and whose story is "The Epic of Daragang Magayon sa Sayaw kan Tolong Bulod (Lovely Lady in the Dance of Three Mountains)."

It adopted a new sales pitch: “Indulge yourself in warm Albay!” that further consolidated the province’s recent tourism gains.

The gains means a 49 percent hike in tourist arrivals in 2012, with a 23 percent growth in the foreign tourists sector.

Salceda explained that “Indulge yourself in warm Albay! Warm people, hot and spicy food and tropical ambience” is Albay’s latest tourism come-on.

Daragang Magayon has been its new cultural epiphany as the new tourism giant of Luzon.

The Coral Genesis is the country’s first underwater solar-powered and coral-beaded rosary installed in Albay Gulf early last August.

It is a 60-coral-bead chain with attached solar panels, bulbs and a concrete crucifix forming a 65-meter rosary installed 25 feet deep in the coastal waters of Sto. Domingo town in Albay by the Legazpi City Chapter of the Junior Chamber International.

It automatically lights up at night and has the capacity to emit low-voltage electricity that helps corals grow five times faster than the normal rate of at least one centimeter a year.

These solar panel-aided, coral-growing beads are exclusively assembled by the JCI-Legazpi based on the researches it conducted to regenerate corals and fish sanctuaries in Albay and other parts of Bicol.

The Coral Genesis is a project that uses faith-based devotion, technology and environmental protection to boost tourism and improve the locality’s natural coastal defenses from storms and tsunamis, and most importantly alleviate coastal poverty, according to Salceda.

“Along this vein, I would like to request the presence of your men and women behind these entries for personal appearance with the second set of the panel of judges for validation and final judging on Sept. 10, 2013 at the Diliman Preparatory School, Quezon City,” Benignos said in the letter.

NIA to apply bottom-up approach in putting up priority water supply projects in 42 towns

(PNA), FFC/FGS/CBD/PJN

LEGAZPI CITY, Sept. 3 (PNA) -- The National Irrigation Administration (NAI) will be implementing priority water supply projects in 42 municipalities this year under the bottom-up planning and budgeting policy of the government to ensure that these projects will conform to what the beneficiaries really want and need.

In a report to the Bicol Regional Development Council, the NIA said it will continue the construction of the Sibagat Small Reservoir Project in Minalabac, Camarines Sur, and the Ibingan Small Reservoir Project in Prieto Diaz, Sorsogon.

RDC Chair and Albay Gov. Joey Sarte Salceda said these projects have been incorporated in the Regional Development Plan formulated by the RDC based on the reports and proposals of the national agencies and local government units in the region.

"The construction of various water supply projects last year provided potable water to unserved households in rural areas," Salceda said.

Under the Salintubig project of the Department of Health (DOH), it identified 12 towns as beneficiaries.

The projects, with a total cost of P52 million, include five level II systems for waterless towns, five level II systems for waterless barangays and two level II systems for rural health units.

The NIA has also already implemented two major flood control and drainage projects and they are now ongoing, Salceda said,

These are the Bicol River Basin and Watershed Management Project (Flood Mitigation Component) and the Legazpi City Urban Drainage Improvement Project with a total funding of P850 million.

Three other flood control projects (FCP) have been implemented: the Donsol River FCP, Cabilogan River FCP and Yawa River FCP.

Also to be put up are river control facilities in Irosin, Sorsogon; Bacacay town and Tabaco City in Albay; Panganiban, Viga, Virac, Bato and Pandan in Catanduanes; and first and second legislative districts of Camarines Sur.

Salceda cited the NIA for also implementing projects in line with the target of increasing the number of hectares of irrigated areas.

In 2012, an additional 2,439 hectares were irrigated in 47 communal irrigation systems while a total of 1,562 hectares were rehabilitated and 756 hectares were restored within 16 national irrigation systems (NIS).

On communal irrigation systems, the NIA assisted 83 CIS–generating 2,241 hectares of rehabilitated and 2,717 hectares of restored areas.

It also rehabilitated a pump irrigation project in Libmanan-Cabusao area, irrigating a total of 69 hectares.

Under the NIS/CIS extension program, the agency developed 451 hectares of new irrigated areas, rehabilitated 618 hectares and restored 94 hectares.

Overall, Salceda said, the NIA irrigated 2,890 hectares of new lands, rehabilitated 4,401 hectares and restored 3,567 hectares of irrigation systems.

“With these projects under the regional development plan, the RDC aims to ensure the availability of adequate supply of clean and safe water at a reasonable price, effectively safeguard the biodiversity and health of the environment, contribute to increased cropping intensity and yield, and reduce the loss of lives and damage to crops and properties,” Salceda said.

Bicol RDC lauds role of communications sector in times of disaster

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

LEGAZPI CITY, Sept. 2 (PNA) – The Regional Development Council has lauded the role of the communications sector during times of disaster and other calamities by assisting and supporting the Bicol Regional Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council and the DRRMCs of local government units in the region.

RDC Chair and Albay Governor Joey Sarte Salceda said that during critical times, the communications sector has always activated its “Task Force Bayanihan” and coordinates with civic action and amateur radio groups in the region.

The sector hopes to establish additional district offices, particularly in Masbate City and Virac, Catanduanes, Salceda added.

“The Regional Development Plan aims to provide effective and efficient communication facilities and services that are universally accessible, interconnected and affordable,” he said.

The RDC chair noted that there were 63,055 telephone subscribers in 2012, increasing the telephone density from 1.03 in 2011 to 1.16 in 2012.

At present, there are 10 local exchange carriers serving the communications need of the region.

These are the Southern Telecommunications Co., Inc., BTTI, Inc., Bayan Telecommunication, Inc., Digital Telecommunication, LM United, Iriga Telephone Co., Piltel, North Camarines Telephone Co., Labo Telephone System and Santos Telephone System.

Beside these companies, there are six Internet service providers with a combined number of 8,552 subscribers, and these are the DCTV Broadband Services, Inc., Smart Broadband, Inc., Caceres CATV, ICC-Bayantel, Digitel and Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co.

Further, a total of 503 cellular sites are installed in the region to provide cellular mobile telephone service.Not to be left behind, the government-owned and operated Information and Communications Technology Office, formerly the Telecommunications Office, offers telegram, telephone, fax and Internet services while the Philpost Corp. offers upgraded premium postal services and e-pouch which results in fast, safe and prompt mail delivery services.

These two government companies offer services that are focused on rural areas that are not covered by private communication providers.

“We hope to further develop the communications sector to service the needs of a growing number of its clientele, especially in times of calamities – natural or man-made,” Salceda said.

Albay disaster agency feted

(Manila Standard Today)

Legazpi City — The Civil Service Commission will confer the 2013 Pagasa Award on the Albay Public Safety and Emergency Management Office (APSEMO) for its impressive and outstanding feats in disaster risk reduction management.

The CSC Pagasa Award is conferred on an individual, organization or entity in recognition of the honoree’s outstanding contributions resulting from an idea or performance that directly benefits society. The awards conferment will be held in September.

APSEMO is a regular division of the Albay Provincial Government, created via an ordinance enacted by the Albay Sangguniang Panlalawigan. It is specifically tasked to handle and manage programs on DRRM, from training to emergency operations. It serves as a backup office for the Albay Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council.

Since it was organized by Albay Gov. Joey Salceda five years ago, APSEMO has since then become a byword in disaster risk reduction management. It formulates and operationalizes DRRM programs that have made Albay a disaster resilient province.

Salceda said APSEMO is the driving force behind Albay’s best practices in DRRM. It was the key to the province’s present status as the Global Model of the United Nations International Strategy for Risk Reduction.

Team Albay, the widely known and multi-awarded inter-agency emergency response group which has already carried out many disaster response operations around the country, is managed by APSEMO.

The division is headed by Dr. Cedric Daep who is backed up by a regular staff of eleven people: Ma. Crhsitina S. Ador, Abundio Nunez, Jr., Rey M. Anonuevo, John Eugene Vincent N. Escobar, Roderick Mendoza, Francis G. Banua, Johanne D. Silerio, Romeo R. Belgica, Roslyn M. Dineros, Ma. Joan M. Villanueva, and Gerry Ludovice.

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