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==Caravans promoting regional tourism launched==
*Source: http://www.philstar.com/travel-and-tourism/2015/03/10/1432091/caravans-promoting-regional-tourism-launched
*Tuesday, March 10, 2015 4:33 pm
:By Mike Frialde (philstar.com)
MANILA, Philippines — Tour operators on Tuesday launched a program featuring five major and three minor caravans designed to promote, re-establish, and reinforce tourism activities across selected regions.
The "Islands Philippines Fun Caravans" project of the Philippines Tour Operators Association (PHILTOA) is in line with the "Visit the Philippines 2015" campaign of the Department of Tourism.
PHILTOA is the largest association of registered tour operators, with allied members from various tourism sectors such as airlines, hotels, resorts, tourist transportation, and more.
PHILTOA president Cesar Cruz said the five major caravans are as follows: the Cordillera Heritage Warrior Caravan, which will encompass San Jose, Santa Fe, Lagawe, Banaue, Bontoc, Sagada, and Baguio provinces; the Southern Luzon Kulinarya that will involve the historical province of Cavite, Alaminos, San Pablo, Nagcarlan, Liliw, Majayjay, in the province of Laguna,  Lucban, Tayabas, Sariaya, in Quezon province and San Juan in Batangas; the Visayas Charm Caravan that will underscore Bohol, Cebu, and Boracay; the Bicol Express for Naga, Legazpi, Sorsogon, and Misibis; and The Plains and Heights of Central Luzon Caravan, which will put the spotlight on Pinatubo, Tarlac, Baguio, Pangasinan, and Subic.
Meanwhile, the minor caravans are as follows: Rediscover Batanes for the grandness of Batanes’ plateaus; the Northern Palawan Eco Adventure Discovery for the lush islands, pristine coastlines, and cobalt waters of the Calamianes Group of Island; and Hola, Zamboanga for the vibrant culture and diverse landscape of the province.
Each caravan is calendared among different months throughout the year, lasting from three to seven days, depending on the number of municipalities included.
PHILTOA President Cesar Cruz added that the project is designed to provide flexibility in the choices of activities and accommodation in each destination based on the interest and affordability of the participants.
"The Island Philippines Fun Caravans will accommodate both foreign and local markets, where they can choose to bring their own vehicles or avail the caravan vehicle, of course, only if the destinations can be accessed via land transportation," Cruz said.
"The participants also have the option to avail of the accommodations that will be announced prior to the trip—campsite, lodging houses, hostels, or star-rated properties," he added.
Cruz said the caravans are meant to become interactive and participative, with programs that will encourage them to interact and immerse themselves in local communities.
Participants in the caravans will also be given dummy passports which will be stamped by the participating local government unit. There will also be mini-trade fairs, a festive welcome reception and other community-based activities showing off the best spots and emerging lifestyle and travel trends in municipalities included in the itinerary.
"As our tourism industry further shapes up through 'Visit the Philippines 2015', PHILTOA wanted to contribute through this caravan project, which aims to provide an effective platform for the promotion of different tourist destinations across the country," Cruz explained.
==DOH Bicol organizes RH Regional Information Team==
*Source: http://news.pia.gov.ph/article/view/2591425871585/doh-bicol-organizes-rh-regional-information-team
*Monday, March 9, 2015
:By Joseph John J. Perez (MAL/JJP-PIA5)
LEGAZPI CITY, March 9 (PIA) – The Department of Health (DoH) and the Commission on Population (POPCOM) Bicol regional offices has organized last week the Regional Implementation Team (RIT) to popularize and ensure implementation of the Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health (RPRH) Law in the region.
The creation of RIT complies with Administrative Order No. 2015-0002 issued by DoH Acting Secretary Janette Garin on January 26 this year.
Also last week, the duo agencies led the orientation on the RPRH law which is also known as Republic Act 10354 among RIT members and other partner agencies which are identified in the said directive.
The AO provides that the DoH regional director will act as chairperson while the POPCOM regional director as co-chair and head of the RIT secretariat, together with representatives from the Department of Education (DepEd), Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth), Local Government Unit from Regional Development Council and representatives from civil society organizations (CSOs).
In Bicol, the RIT will be headed by both DOH RD Dr. Gloria Balboa and POPCOM RD Magdalena Abellera and will include other government agencies such as the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), National Nutrition Council (NNC), and the Philippine Information Agency (PIA).
According to DoH Bicol Family Health cluster head Dr. Rita Mae Ang, the RIT shall manage the dissemination and implementation of all issuances pursuant to RPRH Law and its implementing rules and regulations (IRR) at the regional and field levels.
Garin’s directive also defined the following tasks and functions of the RIT, that are, to coordinate the actions of the regional agencies implementing the law and its IRR in the areas of policy development, capacity building, advocacy, education, information, health service delivery, field operations, monitoring and evaluation; monitor the implementation and evaluate the impact of RPRH law and its IRR at the regional and field levels; organize, supervise and provide technical, financial and logistical support for field operations and monitoring and evaluation activities regionwide;
Craft an annual unified regional work and financial plan for RPRH Law implementation integrating resources from all members of the RIT; provide reports and recommendations to the National Implementing Team (NIT) to improve the implementation and impact of the RPRH law and its IRR in the region, among others.
Ang said that the creation of the RIT and NIT is in response to the need to establish a structure which will manage the implementation of the RPRH law and its IRR.
Earlier, Garin issued Department Personnel Order No. 2015-0200 on January 2015 designating member of the NIT with former Secretary of Health Dr. Esperanza Cabral as chairperson, DoH Assistant Secretary  Dr. Paulyn Jean Ubial as co-chairperson and Executive Director Dr. Juan Antonio Perez III as vice-chairperson and head of secretariat.
Other members of the NIT are: Dr. Irma Concepcion of DOH’s Disease Prevention and Control Bureau, Director Ella Nalipoguit of DepEd, Director Margarita Sampang of DSWD, Senior Vice President Ruebn John Basa of PhilHealth, Undersecretary Florencia Casanova-Dorotan of National Anti-Poverty Commission, Executive Director Emmeline Versoza of Philippine Commission on Women, Deputy Executive Director mateo Lee, Jr. of the National Council on Disability Affairs, Governor Alfonso Umali, Jr. of the Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines, and Executive Director Junice Demeterio – Melgar, CSO representative of the secretariat.
The RPRH law and its IRR have been deemed effective with the lifting of the Status Quo Ante Order by the Supreme Court last April 8, 2014, Garin’s directive stated.
==Salceda credits Albay green economy to Albayanos’ social cohesion as resilient, committed human race==
*Source: http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?nid=8&rid=742513
*Sunday, March 8, 2015
:By Nancy Ibo Mediavillo [(PNA), CTB/FGS/NIM/CBD/SSC]
LEGAZPI CITY, March 8 (PNA) -– The world recognizes the green economy of Albay owing to the solid action of the Albayanos towards one objective and one direction -- like development.
Albay Gov. Joey Sarte Salceda gave the credit to his provincemates during the launch on Saturday of the Barangay Forest Program under the National Greening Program of President Benigno S. Aquino III as mandated in his Executive Order No. 26 issued in 2011.
The Barangay Forest Program is a joint undertaking by the Provincial Government of Albay and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources headed by Secretary Ramon Paje, who also attended the occasion.
The program targets the planting of 1.5 billion trees in 1.5 million hectares of land all over the country up to 2016.
“Albay's green economy is the product of the Albayanos’ social cohesion as resilient, committed and adoptive human race,” Salceda claimed.
He disclosed that even President Francois Hollande of France and his entourage expressed deep appreciation of the what the Albayanos have been doing.
"We invested in nature instead of contingency," the green economist said.
For the past 20 years since l994, he said, there have been 300 typhoons that hit the province but Albay stood solid and refused to yield, arising each time a typhoon comes to reach what they have have attained now.
Salceda said every member of the Albay community has a role and contribution in the protection of the environment like mangrove forest plantation and protection.
The mangroves could contribute a lot to lessen the carbon being emitted into the air and the impact of strong typhoons.
The Albay chief executive officer said that in the past seven years, Albay’s forest cover increased up to 88 percent while mangrove plantation spread from only 700 hectares to 2,400 hectares.
He added that palay production shot up from 147,900 metric tons (MT) in 2008 to 228,080 MT in 2014, resulting in Albay’s rice sufficiency level of 93.7 percent.
Salceda said that for seven months, 50 whale sharks, locally known as butanding, have not left the waters of Sto. Domingo and other parts of Albay Gulf owing to the presence of plankton and other food that they feed on.
Based on studies, he said, mangrove plantations increase production of food for fish or enhance the productivity of food fish breeding.
The immediate past co-chair of the Green climate Fund said the number of foreign tourists that came to Albay ballooned from 8,700 in 2006 to 339,000 in 2014.
The province posted a 49-percent growth rate in foreign tourist arrival in 2012 and 66 percent in 2013.
"These natural calamities like typhoon, Mayon volcano eruption and our own problems are all given but it’s what we do about them that essentially shapes the direction and complexion of human welfare in Albay. The trade secret of Albay is unity.
It means Albayanos are always ready to unite. We have that social cohesion that allows people not to surrender but to commit and unite behind good goals," Salceda stressed as he thanked everybody who has helped in achieving his mission for the province of Albay and the Albayanos.
==Officials elated by study result that excludes Legazpi from most hazardous cities==
*Source: http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?nid=2&rid=742308
*Saturday, March 7, 2015
:By Danny O. Calleja [(PNA), RMA/FGS/DOC/CBD/SSC]
LEGAZPI CITY, March 7 (PNA) -– A study whose result excluded this key Bicol metropolis near the foot of the active Mayon Volcano from among the 10 world cities most exposed to natural hazards — eight of them in the Philippines and one in the region - has drawn a deep sigh of relief from among its local officials.
“That proves that indeed, ours is among the three most livable cities in the country as officially recognized and has graduated from being highly prone to natural disasters like volcanic eruptions, storms, floods, earthquakes, tsunamis and landslides,” City Mayor Noel Rosal on Saturday told the Philippines News Agency here.
According to a recent report of Reuters, eight of 10 world cities most exposed to natural hazards are in the Philippines -- namely, Tuguegarao in Cagayan which ranked second in the 10; Lucena in Quezon Province, third; Manila, fourth; San Fernando in Pampanga, fifth; Cabanatuan in Nueva Ecija, sixth; Batangas, seventh; San Carlos (no province mentioned in the report), ninth; and Naga in Camarines Sur (Bicol), tenth.
Topping the 10 is Port Vila in Vanuatu while Taipei was ranked 8th in the study, published on Wednesday by risk analysis firm Verisk Maplecroft which assessed the threat posed by storms, floods, earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanoes, landslides and fires in more than 1,300 cities worldwide, the Reuters report said.
The Philippines, besides being hit by at least 20 typhoons every year, is exposed to these other natural hazards and the risk, according to the report, is compounded by poor institutional and societal capacity to manage, respond and recover from such disastrous events.
The Philippines is considered “high risk” in terms of the country’s ability to manage and mitigate the impacts of natural hazard and in part due to “entrenched corruption and high levels of poverty,” the report added.
“It is very pleasing to know that our city is spared from these negative descriptions labelled by the study on the country in terms of its capacity towards dealing with natural hazards and disasters as we have been able to institutionalize risk mitigation, resilience and good practices, including local government’s actions towards calamity preparedness and response,” Rosal said.
Wilfredo “Pecos’ Intia, the city administrator and Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (DRRMC) action officer, said that a proof to these achievements of the city government was its being named national champion in 2013 Gawad Kalasag Awards of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC).
One of its barangays, Oro Site, was also chosen national champion in the urbanized barangay category in the same award during the same year.
Gawad Kalasag is being given yearly in recognition of excellence in disaster risk reduction and management and humanitarian assistance.
Kalasag stands for Kalamidad at Sakuna, Labanan, Sariling Galing ang Kaligtasan.
Last year, the city and Barangay Oro Site were once again chosen Gawad Kalasag regional champions along with two other institutions based in the locality—the Barangay Buraguis Day Care Center (BDCC) and the Bicol Regional Training and Teaching Hospital (BRTTH)--in their respective categories and are now competing in the national search whose results are yet to be announced.
“We are expecting to surpass our previous year’s number of winners in this ongoing search with these four bets that we have,” Intia said.
This city was also named the second most livable, next to Iloilo, defeating Cebu which landed in the third place in last year’s search called the Liveable Cities Design Challenge.
The competition was organized by the National Competitiveness Council (NCC), Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) 2015 National Organizing Council NOC), World Wildlife Fund (WWF), Alliance for Safe and Sustainable Reconstruction (ASSURE) and Asia Society and Urban Land Institute (ULI).
It was organized in response to the urgency of dealing with climate change by way of getting city planners across the Philippines to be more aware and better prepared for disaster-risk reduction and by holding it, its organizers have been able to start a movement for better urban planning across the country to make cities fun, vibrant, and safe places to live, work, invest in and visit.
It can be recalled that the city suffered the catastrophic impact of two super typhoons — Milenyo and Reming -- that battered in late 2006 the place as severely as if it was the doomsday, killing over 1,000 residents.
In 1993, 75 persons mostly farmers of this city also perished when caught by the eruption of Mt. Mayon while farming at its lower slope.
But amid those devastating scenarios, Intia said, the badly shaken spirit of the city regained its composure promptly and the herculean character its administration has developed for the local government and instilled among the governed swiftly roused back to work.
“Life does not only continue to bloom now in this city after those disasters. It has also been getting livelier as we in the city administration continue to nourish its climate resilience, livable character and booming economy while exploring more opportunities to rise high. It is now known in the world as the City of Fun and Adventure, minus the risk of disasters” Rosal said.
Indeed, Legaspi has already transformed itself from the remains of natural calamities into a world-class city with an influx of investments and tourism-related developments and asserting these gains, among others, is the tremendous growth in the local tourism industry that placed the city among today’s leading travel destinations in the country, he added.
==DOST seeks more Bicol students in ‘Pisay’ scholarship==
*Source: http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?nid=2&rid=742067
*Friday, March 6, 2015
:By Danny O. Calleja [(PNA), FPV/FGS/DOC/CBD/]
LEGAZPI CITY, March 6 (PNA) – The Department of Science and Technology (DOST) regional office for Bicol here wants more Bicolano youth to be scholars of “Pisay”-- the nickname coined out of endearment by students, alumni, management and even parents of students for the Philippine Science High School System (PSHSS).
As a way of broadening the government’s prospects in building a pool of science and technology (S&T) experts who will someday become the country’s leaders, the DOST-Bicol is reaching out to the youth who may be less fortunate but can be competitive in the fields of science, mathematics and engineering, Regional Director Tomas Briñas on Friday said.
To qualify, graduating elementary pupils should apply for admission and take the qualifying examinations given nationwide before the end of the current school-year and passers in Bicol will be assured of slots in the next schoolyear at the PSHSS Bicol Regional Campus (BRC) in Goa, Camarines Sur, Briñas said.
Pisay’s National Competitive Exam (NCE), he explained, is a scholastic aptitude test designed to measure the scientific ability, quantitative ability, abstract reasoning and verbal aptitude of applicants.
PSHSS is a specialized public high school operating under the DOST and founded in 1964 to offer scholarship for high school students who will be trained towards careers in science and engineering.
It currently has 13 campuses all over the country, with three additional campuses to be opened by 2016.
The newest campus--PSHS-CALABARZON will open in June this year in Batangas City.
In Bicol and its regional campus established in 1998 within a six-hectare site in Barangay Tagontong, Goa, caters primarily to scientifically and mathematically gifted high school students of the region composed of the provinces of Albay, Camarines Norte, Camarines Sur, Catanduanes, Masbate and Sorsogon.
Its latest population is composed of 360 scholars, Brinas said.
“Pisay scholars are not just intelligent students. They should be excellent in science, math and engineering to help them cope with the school’s academic standard,” he said.
An explanation on how it is to qualify for Pisay scholarship makes one appreciate the school’s Php140,000 per student spending per year.
To qualify, an applicant should have an above average score in all of the four exam categories.
For example, in one category, if the average score of all 23,000 applicants is 60, then one has to get an above 60 score and even if he or she gets 100 percent in one category, but gets a below average score in another category, the applicant is automatically disqualified, Briñas explained.
Qualifiers get ranked -- the main campus in Diliman, Quezon City gets the top 240 qualifiers among its applicants and each regional Pisay campus admitting the top 90 qualifiers in their respective areas.
Such stringent qualification requirement is just the beginning as all throughout the schooling of Pisay students, they get immersed in science, mathematics and research without saying that they are all academics as they also get very good grounding in humanities, arts, social sciences and sports.
In his call for more applicants to the scholarship grant, the DOST regional chief said the PSHSS national management headed by executive director Larry Cabatic wants to accommodate more qualifiers from less fortunate families as a number of past qualifiers from well-off families prefer to enroll in more expensive schools, anyway.
It was reported that 10 years ago, 90 percent of Pisay qualifiers were from private schools and privileged families but it went down lately to 60, hence, the PSHSS management now intends to focus on students who really need and deserve to study in the country’s premier S&T secondary school, according to Briñas.
And how much does the government pay for these students called “Iskolar ng Bayan (public scholar)”?
According to Ma. Concepcion Sacay, finance chief of the PSHSS, its13 campuses as a whole have a budget of around Php1.5 billion in 2015—a big chunk of it goes to the students who receive monthly stipends worth Php500 to Php4,000, depending on their financial needs.
But rich or not, they are all given free books to be returned at the end of the school year, Sacay said, adding that other benefits include the annual Php1,800 uniform allowance and one-time round-trip transportation allowance to those eligible.
The DOST, according to Sacay, does not look at these spending as expenses but an investment since the government is investing for the future of these students—who are groomed as the future country leaders, though not in politics.
“I always tell our students that if you will be good, for example, in medicine, leaders will come to you for medical treatment. In that way, you become a leader yourself because you influence those who are on the top,” Cabatic said
Pisay scholars are the leaders of tomorrow and they can influence the future of the country, he explained.
==PNP-Bicol gets 49 new patrol motorcycles==
*Source: http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?nid=2&rid=741787
*Thursday, March 5, 2015
:(PNA), LAP/FGS/AMM/CBD/EDS
LEGAZPI CITY, March 5 (PNA) -- At least 49 patrol motorcycles were delivered at the Police Regional Office 5 (PRO5) at Camp Gen. Simeon A. Ola here, Thursday.
Police Senior Insp. Malu Calubaquib, PRO5 spokesperson, said the region is one of the beneficiaries out of the total of 806 units of motorcycle 125cc being distributed to Philippine National Police (PNP) offices in several regions.
Calubaquib said 14 of the motorcycles will be for the Albay Provincial Police Office, 6 for Camarines Norte PPO, 10 for Camarines Sur PPO, 3 for Catanduanes PPO, 9 for Masbate PPO, 3 for Sorsogon PPO and 4 for Naga City Police Office.
“This will augment the patrol vehicles to hasten police mobilization, especially for patrolling initiative,” she said.
Calubaquib said the move of the PNP has being done for the past years to assure peace and security in the community.
The PNP-Bicol spokesperson noted that some of their police officers are using their own vehicles, especially motorcycles, while on duty.
She admitted that in most cases, their personnel are spending their own money for the expenses of their transportation.
The schedule of the formal turnover to different police offices is yet to be scheduled.
==NIA says Bicol ready to meet dry season with efficient irrigation systems==
*Source: http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?nid=11&rid=741322
*Wednesday, March 4, 2015
:By Danny O. Calleja [(PNA), LAP/FGS/DOC/CBD/]
LEGAZPI CITY, March 4 (PNA) – The regional office for Bicol of the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) said most of the region’s rice farms are now ready to meet the coming dry season this year with the good number of working irrigation systems put in place over the past four years.
So far, around 318,000 hectares of rice fields in the region, which is a significant improvement from the 255,00 hectares in 2012 are already covered by irrigations, Eduardo Yu, the NIA regional spokesman based in Naga City, said in a statement reaching here Wednesday.
During the past two years alone, the administration of President Benigno Aquino III, through the Department of Agriculture (Da) and NIA, poured in to Bicol over Php2 billion in funds for the establishment of new irrigation structures and restoration/rehabilitation of the old ones covering this bigger area of rice land, according to Yu.
Among the new big irrigation projects the NIA has recently established in the region are the Ibingan in Prieto Diaz, Sorsogon, covering some 700 hectares of rice fields, and the Sibagat Reservoir in Minalabac, Camarines Sur, covering a total of 262 hectares within the Bicol River Basin, Yu said.
In Camarines Norte, he said, NIA is maintaining 10 irrigation systems and assisting 35 communal irrigation facilities being run by irrigators' associations—all covering over 7,000 hectares of paddies or 38 percent of the province’s total rice area.
All over Albay, especially its third congressional district which is considered as the province’s rice granary, Yu said, small and large irrigation facilities are in place and working well, owing to the efforts of Congressman Fernando Gonzalez who has been closely coordinating with NIA in the assignment of projects where they are needed most.
With the dry season expected weeks away, Yu said his agency is confident it has made the region more prepared insofar as rice production is concerned, given these irrigation facilities and the good farming practices that Bicol farmers have already embraced against the impacts of climate change.
“All the farmers should do is follow the planting calendar—sowing by the start of the year and aiming to harvest by March of April then start with the next cropping season during the exit of summer in June for them to harvest by September or October,” he said.
In case of a longer summer or a dry spell, these irrigation facilities would play the role of maintaining the water supply for paddies even as Bicol farmers already know how to be flexible with their cropping schedules like moving their May-June rice planting period to July-August, in time for the onset of the rainy season and harvest by November-December.
With this, the region is expected to sustain its rice self-sufficient (RSS) status first achieved in 2013 that saw a production growth rate of 5.96 percent over 2012 for a 102.19-percent RSS level based on the regional production of over one million metric tons (MT) as against the regional consumption of around 822,000 MT.
In 2014, almost the same level of RSS was achieved by the region notwithstanding the long summer and the coming of three typhoons successively between July and November, by harvesting about 1.3 million MT for an over 100-percent RSS, according to DA records.
Even with those irrigation systems already established, Yu said, putting up of more facilities in the region are in progress out of the Php535 million funds allocated to the NIA regional office by the DA this year.
This amount is for a total of 212 projects across the region’s six provinces like the construction of new systems, rehabilitation of existing but run-down facilities and restoration of non-operating ones, Yu said.
The total amount is divided among the region’s six provinces, with Camarines Sur getting the biggest share of Php166 million; followed by Albay, Php135 million; Sorsogon, Php110.7 million; Camarines Norte, Php57 million; Masbate, Php40.6 million; and Catanduanes, Php26 million.
Camarines Sur’s allocation is for the restoration and rehabilitation works to maximize the irrigation of a total of around 911 hectares and the construction of new structures to service an additional 62 hectares of irrigable rice fields.
The province has the biggest rice area with 158,348, hectares supplying 45 percent of the regional rice regional requirement, followed by Albay with 48,638 hectares; Masbate, 39,148; Sorsogon, 33,804; Camarines Norte, 20,671; and Catanduanes 12,993 hectares.
All in all, this new fund for Bicol, Yu said, covers the establishment of new irrigation structures for 378 hectares and restoration, repair and rehabilitation of paddy water services for 2,700 hectares.
He said the implementation of this year’s projects in Bicol are more focused on restoration and improvement of existing irrigation systems as they could be immediately done since they no longer need feasibility studies as required by the construction of new ones.
Although smaller than the previous years’ budget, he said, this new allocation for Bicol could already help maximize the region’s contribution to the vigorous pursuit of the Aquino administration of its Food Staples Sufficiency Program (FSSP) for the country.
==Hollande impressed by Albay Green Economy program==
*Source: http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?nid=1&rid=740869
*Tuesday, March 3, 2015
:By Johnny C. Nunez [(PNA), CTB/JCN/EDS]
LEGAZPI CITY, March 3 (PNA) -- French President Francois Hollande and his entourage have admitted being profoundly impressed by Albay’s Green Economy, a pioneering economic program on sustainable development and poverty alleviation hinged on environment protection.
Albay Gov. Joey Salceda presented the program, along with his province’s much acclaimed climate change adaptation (CCA) and disaster risk reduction (DRR) strategies during a state dinner tendered by President Aquino in Malacanang last February 26 for Hollande and his delegation.
The French President was in the Philippines February 26 and 27, to drum up support for action on climate change ahead of his country’s hosting of the 21st Conference of Parties of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change or COP 21 in Paris in December this year.
Salceda summed up the gains of the green economy for Albay as: Zero casualty during disasters in 18 to 20 years, increased forest cover by 88% in seven years, increase in mangrove areas from 700 hectares to 2,400 hectares, increase in rice production — despite weather disturbances — from 147,291 metric tons in 2008 to 200,088 metric tons in 2013 through proper use of water resources, contributed 250 MW of geothermal, with 650 MW potential, investments in environment, enhanced ecotourism which hiked foreign tourists inflow from 8,700 in 2006 to 339,000 in 2013.
As Bicol Regional Development Council (RDC) chair and applying the green economic principle, Salceda has transformed his region into a fastest growing region in 2013 at 9.4% growth rate as against the 7.4% national average growth.
Apart from Hollande’s compliments, Albay Green Economy has also earned praises from 2008 Oscar Best Actress Marion Cotillard, now a leading climate change adaptation campaigner, who was with the French President’s delegation.
The actress said she heard a moving speech delivered by Salceda during the state dinner, where the governor discussed his province’s economic program. “It was a very passionate, beautiful speech that inspired us to make a stand,” she said, adding the “green economy is a solution to climate change, that is not only possible but imperative.”
The governor was invited to the affair to “contribute to the ongoing discourse on the development of disaster preparedness measures among local and national governments,” since Albay is a “model for best practices in disaster risk management and prevention not only for local government units in the Philippines, but for the rest of the world,” the French Embassy invitation said. Hollande personally congratulated Salceda, primarily for his achievements as CCA and DRR champion, and for Albay’s outstanding ‘Zero Casualty’ records during disasters.
President Aquino introduced Salceda to Hollande, referring to Albay as “a highway for typhoons but which consistently achieves zero casualty.”
"President Hollande congratulated me,” Salceda said, and I told him I was elected Green Climate Fund (GCF) chair… in Paris in October 2013. And I thanked him for making climate change the focus of his state visit, and France for being the second largest contributor of USD 1 billion to the GCF, during my term”, Salceda said.
France had favorably supported the GCF since its inception and made the USD 1 billion contribution during Salceda’s one-year term, 2013 to 2014, as chairman for Southeast Asia and the Developing Countries.
Salceda was named by UN as its Global Champion for CCA and DRR, and Albay as the Global Model.
==Albay to establish barangay forests==
*Source: http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?nid=2&rid=740526
*Monday, March 2, 2015
:By Mike de la Rama [(PNA), FPV/FGS/MDR/CBD/]
LEGAZPI CITY, March 2 (PNA) – The Provincial Government of Albay will start this month the establishment of barangay forests province- wide in support to the National Greening Program towards the implementation and attainment of the national government target of planting 1.5 billion seedlings nationwide.
Arnold Embestro, Provincial Environment Natural Resources Officer (ENRO) said the program aimed to establish sustainable trees in every barangays maintained by local residents.
“The livelihood component in this program is to allow local residents through their barangay officials to maintain and grow their trees and they will be paid depending on the number of trees grown.”
In the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the Department of Interior and Local Government joint Memorandum Circular there are 1.5 million hectares of public domain that will be established as barangay forests and portion of which will be utilized as nurseries to produce planting materials.
Embestro explained that aside from sustaining the environment, this (program) will help unemployed individuals to earn a living. He added that the development of the plantation should be guided by the NGP guidelines and commodity roadmap for calendar year 2013 to 2016 .
“The participating municipalities and barangays shall be responsible for the protection and maintenance of the areas they have developed,” Embestro said.
An agreement with the recipients will be entered into by both parties with the general provision: funds provided by the DENR under this Agreement shall be used by the Recipient Barangay exclusively for the conduct of said activities consistent with the work and financial plan.
Maintenance and protection of the developed areas under this Agreement shall be the conducted by the participating Barangay and funds thereof shall be provided by the participating Municipal and Barangay governments to ensure high survival of the established plantation.
==Albayanos trek barefoot for Lenten atonement==
*Source: http://www.manilatimes.net/albayanos-trek-barefoot-for-lenten-atonement/166489/
*Sunday, March 1, 2015 9:03 pm
:By RHAYDZ B. BARCIA
LIGAO CITY: A month before the Lenten season, devout Filipino Catholics in Albay province made an atonement for their sins in various ways—some by flagellation, others by fasting and others by joining processions on foot as they trekked the “hill without a hilltop” over Kawa-Kawa hill. This Lenten season, the prelate, priests, nuns along with 6,000 youth and Rep. Fernando Gonzalez of Albay walked on barefoot under the heat of the sun for 6th Diocesan Way of the Cross held at 2:00 PM in Kawa-Kawa Hill this city. The trekking on foot was led by Bishop Joey “Bong” Baylon of the diocese of Legazpi.
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