Difference between revisions of "Bohol Province, Philippines"

→ → Go back HOME to Zamboanga: the Portal to the Philippines.
Line 221: Line 221:
==[[Bohol News]]==
==[[Bohol News]]==
<!--- Note: KEEP ONLY THE CURRENT NEWS HERE --->
<!--- Note: KEEP ONLY THE CURRENT NEWS HERE --->
'''DA-7 Issues New Pest Alert'''
'''Feature: LGU-run college provides cheap tertiary education in Bohol'''
*Source: http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/357909/da7-issues-new-pest-alert
*Source: http://www.pia.gov.ph/news/index.php?article=1101334923028
*By: PHOEBE JEN INDINO
*By: Rey Anthony H. Chiu
*''April 24, 2012''
*''April 25, 2012''


VALENCIA, Bohol — The Department of Agriculture (DA)’s office in Region 7 recently announced that a certain new pest – lygaeid - is threatening the rice granary of Central Visayas. However, Bert Barrion, a doctor of entomology with the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) points out that said pest which was initially called a "rice grain bug” is not really new at all.
Serving town's educational needs....


Barrion explained that lygaeid is an ordinary bug that feeds on legumes but has changed its host to rice damaging several rice fields in the provinces of Camarines Sur, Masbate, Southern Leyte, Zamboanga Sur, Surigao Norte and Agusan Norte and this province.
Trinidad town in Bohol operates its own local college school to shoulder the responsibility of making quality education affordable for its constituents.


The DA here has named it as the latest pest believed to have been transmitted through irrigation canals. Brown spots on rice grains are a sign of the bug’s infestation.
Sending a child to college is already expensive enough, getting him away from the farm and paying for a boarding house in the city may be too much for a poor family in Trinidad.


Lygaeid bugs are smaller than rice bugs, are elongated in shape, with a distinct odor, and with bigger front legs making it more of a crawler than a flyer.
Trinidad former mayor Judith Cajes saw the need to have an affordable school within the area to allow students to be near their families so they could double up working in support to their farms.


Said bug is also grain-sucking and panicle-eating, making it a potential threat to the vast rice areas of Bohol. It attacks the panicles at its reproductive stage.
The Trinidad Junior College was established in 1985 precisely to ease the burden of college education among its local college students.


The bug which sports a dirty-brown color has reportedly affected 16 hectares of farm lands in the municipalities of Dimiao, Garcia- Hernandez, Batuan and this town which altogether covers 33 percent of total irrigated and rain-fed rice areas in Bohol.
The school needed fresh management capabilities to keep tuition fees competitively low. In 2003, then mayor Judith Cajes’ administration took over the operations of the school and started streamlining systems organizational and financial management.


Bert Castillo, Chief of the Regional Crop Protection Center (RCPC), said the diversification of host could be caused by the environment and climate change. Since it is a new pest in rice, its biological and ecological management has yet to be observed, he said.
According to Cajes, absorbing the operation of Trinidad Junior College was easy even if it meant subsidizing operational costs.


Meanwhile, DA 7 Regional Director Leo Cañeda said the DA is coordinating with concerned local government units here in implementing a quick response scheme by developing a biological protocol aimed at preventing the spread of the pest.
Adopting the new name Trinidad Municipal College (TMC), the town struggled to keep the school operational until 2007 when local officials realized that running a school can even become an economic enterprise, shared Jojeline Ruiz-Buendia, Trinidad information officer.


Immediate remedy requires spraying plants with appropriate insecticides and continuous pest management in affected areas, said Castillo.
“At P125.00 per unit, TMC can proudly claim that it has the lowest tuition fee among the schools in the area,” Buendia said.
 
Under the stewardship of the Board of Trustees led by current Trinidad Mayor Roberto Cajes, the school rose to prominence and gained respectability when it topped the 1st Bohol ICT Summit held at the Bohol Cultural Center, Tagbilaran City last year, Buendia proudly said.
 
TMC-IT students flaunted their knowledge during the quiz bowl, web designs, Pinoy IT henyo and graphic design competitions. They secured top spots as they competed against other colleges in Bohol during the summit, according to Buendia.
 
“We do not just leave our graduates to find work, we train them so it has also become our responsibility to help them land jobs,” Judith Cajes said.
 
The town accordingly accepts on the job trainings of its school graduates and eventually hired its graduates to the government’s key positions.
 
Hired graduates who are now steering key positions in Trinidad town include Municipal Human Resource and Development Officer Quirino Nugal Jr., Municipal Budget officer Medina Macua, I.T Department Head Marlon Macua and TMC School Registrar Apolonia Balonga.
 
According to mayor Cajes, this year TMC offers Bachelor of Arts (AB) Major in English and Political Science and Bachelor of arts in Elementary and Secondary Education.
 
It also opens up additional courses for SY 2012-2013 like Bachelor of Science in Criminology, Bachelor of Science in Industrial Technology and other related courses.
 
With over 1069 students in 2011, the town has funded the construction of more buildings to accommodate the increasing enrollment, confirms Mayor Roberto Cajes.
 
Serving not only Trinidadnons but also students from distant towns, TMC has equipped itself well with facilities that help students in their physical and mental developments.
 
TMC has a gymnasium, a volleyball court, twin tennis courts, Library and also shares the Municipal Library, computer laboratories and its own Chemistry laboratory.
 
The school also maintains a 24-hour security service to ensure safety and protection of all students and personnel.
 
Mayor Cajes proudly said that the school still maintains the lowest tuition fee rate in the region. Interested students can enroll at TMC anytime as classes start June 13, according to Buendia.


==Bohol Zip Codes==
==Bohol Zip Codes==
43,102

edits