PCOO Sec. Coloma urges communicators to bridge
information on climate change
By Venus L. Garcia
DAVAO CITY, Apr. 26 (PIA) – “From the standpoint
of communicators, it is important that information officers and all media
sectors to perform the function of bridging information to create community
understanding and awareness regarding the facets of climate change,” encouraged
Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) Sec. Sonny Coloma during
the 1st day of 9th Mindanao Media Summit held in this city.
Sec. Coloma discussed the topic, “Communicating
the Impact of Climate Change in Mindanao” in order that the people will have
common understanding on climate change to have unified preparation and common
objective – to have less if not zero casualty and damages in times of disaster.
He recalled the devastating effects of typhoon
Sendong, Pablo, Ondoy and Yolanda calamities. He pointed out some contribution
of human beings and other natural causes of these destructive catastrophes.
He challenged everyone to overcome the culture
of complacency, to counter the resistance to change, and to strengthen capacity
building.
“The vulnerability to climate change impacts are
attributed to geographical location, poverty, health and other contributing
factors. These have something to do with the morbidity and mortality rates,”
said Coloma.
According to Sec. Coloma, one of the mitigating
measures to lessen the impacts of disaster is to correct or change the practice
and facilities that are not useful into effective and modern so that the bad
experiences will not return again.
He said that because of scientific mechanism and
use of social media, information is acquired conveniently and has raised public
awareness such as employing workable solutions on mitigating effects of climate
change.
“At the grassgroots level we will be seeing
significant knowledge-based improvement on disaster risk reduction management
and resiliency and a very proactive local government as well,” Coloma added.
The Media Summit is a two-day event that
gathered some hundred participating information officers from Philippine
Information Agency-Mindanao cluster, academe and private media practitioners.
(VLG/PIA-Caraga)
MinDA pushes for ‘renewable energy rush’ to
crack power shortage
By Venus L. Garcia
DAVAO CITY, Apr. 26 (PIA) – Mindanao Development
Authority (MinDA) Asst. Sec. Romeo Montenegro III underscored to coin for
renewable energy (RE) to address the power shortage in Mindanao in his lecture
during the 2nd day of the 9th Mindanao Media Summit here on Communicating the
Impact of Climate Change in Mindanao.
“Way forward, we have to create the ‘RE rush’ by
pursuing Mindanao 2020 framework on diversification of energy mix with RE high
on agenda (target 50-50 RE-fossil mix); aggressively promote deployment of RE
projects; encourage utilization of small hydro, biomass and solar power
sources; and accelerate approval of RE projects via One-Stop-Shop Processing
and Facilitation Center being set-up by Department of Energy (DOE) and MinDA,”
encouraged Montenegro.
He added that the power deficit in Mindanao can
be addressed in the immediate term with additional capacities through quick
rehabilitation/upgrading of Angus-Pulangi Power Plant (50/100MW), tapping of
embedded generators or enhance the interruptible load program, reopening of
Iligan Diesel Power Plant (98MW), Interim Mindanao Electricity Market (80MW),
and modular gensets (48MW).
“So, that’s 300-400MW of power to bail us out of
trouble; but it ain’t easy fix,” stated Monenegro.
Considering the power supply structure, the
supply is lower than the demand, which prods several investors to come in
despite the peace and order situation in some parts of Mindanao.
Mindanao will be requiring at least 500MW of new
capacity by 2016, another 500MW by 2020 and 1,600MW by 2030, a 4.7 percent
annual growth as per DOE Phil. Energy Plan, reiterated Montenegro.
Meanwhile, Montenegro presented the Mindanao
Grid Outlook from May to December 2014. He said that there is an expected
reduction in the power supply deficit with the onset of the rainy season which
is projected to start between the 3rd and 4th week of May 2014 and by then the
hydro power plants are expected to run a full capacity, STEAG units 1 and 2 are
expected to come online by May to June this year, and 300MW Therma South Inc.
Coal-fired power plant is projected to be on the test run by 4th quarter of
2014 and its first unit on commercial operation by 1st quarter of 2015.
Accordingly, the average brownout in Mindanao is
two to three hours per day and maximum brownout of 13 to 14 hours per day.
(VLG/PIA-Caraga)
AFP cites plan on Labor Day in Caraga
By Greg Tataro, Jr.
TANDAG CITY, April 26 (PIA) – Army 401st Brigade
Commander Col. Gregory Cayetano admitted that monitoring the movement of the
New People’s Army (NPA) this coming Labor Day celebration on May 1 is a “usual
procedure.”
Cayetano, whose area of responsibility (AOR)
covers the two provinces of Caraga region—Agusan del Sur and Surigao del Sur—stressed
that, hopefully, the armed rebels will
do away with violence, instead, will exercise their rights to peaceful
assembly.
However, the army officer expressed concern
about the series of atrocities that the armed rebels had instigated while the
Labor Day celebration is drawing near, confirming the two separate burning
incidents of construction equipment in Barobo and Tago towns in Surigao del Sur
during the observance of the Holy Week.
Col. Cayetano said that these acts which
directly affect the “cauldron” of these investors really scare and drive them
away, adding that such atrocities do not secure the interest of workers, but
rendering these members of the working class useless.
Also, the brigade commander has this piece of
advice to all workers who are planning to stage a peaceful assembly and protest
action on Labor Day: “Police your own
ranks!" (NGBT/Radyo ng Bayan/PIA-Surigao del Sur)
Davao City gov’t gears up for international
trade fair and business gab
DAVAO CITY, April 26 (PIA) - The city government
of Davao has declared October 20-26, 2014 a celebration week for BIMP-EAGA and
IMT-GT as it plays host to an international trade fair and business leaders’
conference to be held at SM Lanang Premier’s SMX Convention Center.
Dubbed as the 2nd BIMP-EAGA and IMT-GT Trade
Fair and Business Leaders’ Conference, the event expects to draw around 800
business leaders, government officials, traders, and potential investors from
across five countries within ASEAN. More than 200 international exhibitors are
also expected to participate in the trade fair.
BIMP-EAGA stands for Brunei Darussalam Indonesia
Malaysia the Philippines East ASEAN Growth Area, while the IMT-GT stands for
Indonesia Malaysia Thailand Growth Triangle. Both sub-regional groupings are
among the most dynamic economic cooperation in ASEAN.
“The City of Davao welcomes this event as an
opportunity, not only for DavaoeΓ±os, but also for residents and entrepreneurs
in other cities and municipalities in Mindanao, to effectively promote
investments and generate trade in their respective jurisdiction,” Mayor Rodrigo
Duterte said in Proclamation No. 3, signed on April 8, 2014.
The city government also issued an executive
order creating the BIMP-EAGA and IMT-GT Committee to serve as the main
collaborating arm of the city with the other local and national agencies
involved in the preparation for the event.
Overall preparations are spearheaded by the
Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA), the Philippine Coordinating Office for
BIMP-EAGA.
At the city-led committee meeting held this
week, MinDA Executive Director Janet Lopoz encouraged Davao City and
Mindanao-based entrepreneurs to participate in the said international event,
which provides strategic opportunities for trade and investments.
“Beyond mere showcase of unique products and
investment opportunities from across the five countries, this international
trade fair and conference will also benchmark on the our preparedness for the
ASEAN economic integration by 2015,” she said.
The weeklong event is also a commemorative
celebration of BIMP-EAGA’s 20th this year. BIMP-EAGA was launched in 1994 in
Davao City as a key strategy to accelerate social and economic development of
less developed areas in participating countries.
Other activities featured during the weeklong
celebration also include East ASEAN Film Festival, ASEAN Street Food Festival,
Information Communication and Technology (ICT) Summit and Innovation Expo,
Importers/Exporters Forum and a Golf Tournament. (MinDa/PIA-Caraga)
