Population board recognizes significance of
‘International Men’s Day’ celeb
By Venus L. Garcia
BUTUAN CITY, Sept. 11 (PIA) – Acknowledging
considerable significance of celebrating the International Men’s Day (IMD), the
Regional Population Executive Board (RPEB) approved and adopted RPEB resolution
requesting the Regional Development Council (RDC) – Social Development
Committee (SDC) to endorse the observance of IMD in Caraga region.
Commission on Population (PopCom) Caraga
regional director Alexander Makinano explained in his presentation during the
3rd Quarter RDC-SDC Meeting held here on Wednesday that the objectives include
focusing on men's and boys' health, improving gender relations, promoting
gender equality and highlighting the positive male role models. It is also an
occasion to celebrate their achievements and contributions to community,
family, marriage and child care.
Makinano also enumerated the various activities
in a row such as orientation/symposium on Men's Participation in Family Health,
Men's Role in GAD, Kalalakihang Tapat sa Responsibilidad at Obligasyon sa
Pamilya (KATROPA), Usapang Maginoo, and other men -related topics/sessions
shall be conducted during the celebration.
By substantiating more its importance, Makinano
received positive reactions from the committee members. He then relayed that
“according to Men’s Activism News Netwok, the IMD interfaces with the popular
‘Movember,' a worldwide moustache growing charity event during November each
year that raises fund and awareness for men’s health, one of the key themes
promoted on IMD. It also interfaces with Universal Children’s Day on November
20 with which IMD forms a 48-hour celebration of men and children and of the
special relationships the share.”
"PopCom Caraga shall be the lead agency of
the IMD celebration," added Makinano.
The IMD celebration is an annual international
event celebrated every 19th of November supported by 60 countries and various
organizations worldwide. It was inaugurated in 1999 in Trinidad and Tobago
where the day and its events find support from a variety of groups and
individuals in Australia, the Caribbean, North America, Asia, Europe and the
United Nations. (VLG/PIA-Caraga)
Population officers push for establishment of
PopDev office in LGUs
By Jennifer P. Gaitano
BUTUAN CITY, Sept. 11 (PIA) - "The League
of Population Officers and Workers of the Philippines (LEPOWPHIL) has been
aggressively campaigning to strengthen the population program at the grassroots
level. As a result, they have drafted and pushed for the bill creating the
Population and Development (PopDev) office at the local government unit level.
Said move of the LEPOWPHIL got positive response from the Commission on
Population (PopCom) Board of Commissioners."
This was the statement of PopCom Caraga regional
director Alexander Makinano during the Regional Development Council-Development
Administration Committee (RDC-DAC) Meeting held on Tuesday in one of the local
convention centers here.
Makinano bared that the provision on the
appointment of a local Population Officer in Section 488 of the 1991 Local
Government Code is rationalized within the impact of population factors to
development.
“The same statutory law provides for the
appointment of a Population Officer as merely an option for the LGUs. With this
provision, many LGUs opted not to maintain their population offices despite the
presence of population development issues and the changing needs of the population
in their areas,” revealed Makinano.
Recognizing the important role of population in
national and local development, Makinano stressed that there is a need to
strengthen the local population offices to achieve its mandated functions under
the local government code.
"As a way of strengthening the PopDev
Offices in the LGUs, the PopCom and LEPOWPHIL pushes to make the establishment
and operation of population offices mandatory to ensure effective population
management strategies and measures at the local level. Such office shall be
primarily responsible in addressing development issues in the locality, to
include: a) increasing teenage pregnancy; b) high unintended pregnancies; c)
rapid urbanization in cities and declining quantity of human resource in
out-migration areas; and d) unmanaged human settlements especially in
environmentally hazardous areas," cited Makinano.
Also, as chair of the RDC-DAC, Cabadbaran City
Mayor Dale Corvera saw the need to discuss this Bill to the congressmen in the
region for sponsorship and full support.
"It is much better that the Population
Officers would really lobby the proposed Bill on the creation of a PopDev
Office in each LGUs to the lawmakers or the congressmen for sponsorship and
that this will really be pushed into a law, instead of endorsing this to the
Regional Development Council. This should also include presentation of
budgetary requirements so lawmakers will have concrete basis on how it will be
undertaken," suggested Corvera.
Makinano then assured the committee that
comments and suggestions on the said Bill will be incorporated in the content
so as to be more detailed and comprehensive. (JPG/PIA-Caraga)
Dinagat Islands' scholar passes physician
licensure exam
By Ma. Jane. Mayola
SAN JOSE, Dinagat Islands, Sept. 11 (PIA) - The
first medical scholar of the provincial government of Dinagat Islands winded up
triumphantly after Azalea T. Pajo, 26, from Barangay Poblacion here passed in
the August 2014 Physician licensure exam conducted on August 23-24, this year.
Pajo was granted a provincial medical
scholarship in 2009 at Mindanao State University in Iligan City, it was
learned.
She also ranked eight among 53 graduates in
Doctor of Medicine in the said school where she also graduated as Magna Cum
Laude during her pre-med course, Bachelor of Science in Biology.
According to Provincial Human Resource and
Development Office representative Joyce Tio, Dr. Pajo will soon serve the
Dinagatnons as Medical Officer-IV at Albor District Hospital, Libjo, Dinagat
Islands.
The provincial medical scholarship is funded by
the provincial government of Dinagat Islands. (SDR/PIO-Dinagat
Islands/PIA-Dinagat Islands)
News Feature: ‘Reform SK before elections’ - NYC
After Commission on Elections (COMELEC)
announced on Friday the date of the Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections, the
National Youth Commission (NYC) urged PNoy to certify the consolidated SK
Reform bill as “urgent” in time for prescribed the period of registration.
By COMELEC Resolution No. 9899, the registration
period for 15-17 year-old voters for SK will be from September 20 to 29, barely
two weeks after the announcement.
“We are recommending that the president affirms
the urgency of this much needed reform for our youth,” urged NYC Chairperson
Gio Tingson.
#FixSK
Also known as the “Youth Development and
Empowerment Act of 2014,” the SK reform bill was finally consolidated by a
senate committee last August, 10 months after the SK elections was postponed.
For its part, the NYC has been active in
building and engaging with constituencies for SK reform across the archipelago
through events such as the National Day of Action for SK Reform held last
August 12.
“We have the full support of the reform-minded
young Filipinos. Our lawmakers should realize how much young people want and
need the bill passed,” explained Usec. Tingson.
After COMELEC set the SK elections on February
21, 2015, failure to pass the bill into law by then would mean going back to
the existing structure of the Sangguniang Kabataan.
“The essence of reform is precisely to do away
with the status quo,” the chairperson added.
Anti-dynasty, fiscal autonomy and more
The consolidated bill features a number of
provisions regarding eligibility, powers and key functions of the Sangguniang
Kabataan.
Section 10 states that elective SK officials
should be 18-24 years old and must not be related to “any incumbent elected
national, local or barangay official within 4th civil degree of consanguinity
or affinity.”
To empower even more young people, the local
youth development council (LYDC) is composed of at most 2 representatives from
accredited youth organizations to identify the needs and priorities of the
local youth through the SK’s projects and programs.
Ten percent of the general barangay fund will
serve as the youth’s funds, over which the SK will have autonomy, ultimately
manifested in their budget proposal for the three-year Comprehensive Youth
Development Plan.
Start from the youth
NYC believes that good politics starts with the
younger generations, given that they will inevitably take the helms of
leadership in the future.
“We simply cannot waste the youth‘s opportunity
to finally make a change for the better,” said Usec. Tingson. (NYC/PIA-Caraga)
Feature: ‘A competitive youth means a
competitive PH’ – NYC
MANILA, Sept. 11 – In a thriving environment of
robust economic growth and institutional reforms, the National Youth Commission
(NYC) called on all stakeholders to remember and recognize the role of the
Filipino youth in sustaining the country’s competitiveness.
“Training young people’s skills and competencies
in their early years can be helpful in improving our country’s level of competitiveness,”
said NYC Chairperson Gio Tingson.
Leapfrogging 50 places since 2010, the
Philippines has journeyed upward to 52nd place out of 148 in the rankings of
the World Economic Forum (WEF) Global Competitiveness Report.
This was credited to the “reforms of the past
four years [which] have bolstered the country’s economic fundamentals,” as the
report says.
‘Truly remarkable’
According to the perception-based report,
efforts made against corruption have borne fruits, which paved the way for
stronger institutions, higher government efficiency and better protection of
property rights.
The Philippines has been able to adopt digital
technologies at an accelerated rate, closely behind its neighbors such as
Malaysia and Thailand.
“Such improvements create conditions that are
conducive for young people to develop and innovate,” remarked the chairperson.
Focus on health, education and employment
targets
However, the chairperson also underscored areas
that still require some work, like education and health, in which the country
ranks 92nd.
NYC, for its part, aims to increase gross
enrollment rate in secondary education from 92.62% to 115.79%. The commission
also targets lower incidence in teen pregnancy, tobacco and alcohol
consumption, drug abuse and HIV/AIDS infection.
“We have the Philippine Youth Development Plan
(PYDP) to facilitate the youth’s development founded on four pillars namely
education, health, employment and participation,” said Tingson.
He also explained that these are the four major
areas of concern that affect 28 million young people today and that there is a
need for strategic direction in addressing them.
“We have also always worked towards realizing
responsive education, training and methods of career-coaching that are
tailor-fitted to the needs of young people,” the chairperson remarked, in
response to the perceived rigidity of the Philippine labor market that puts the
country in 91st place.
“For more efficient labor market, the NYC
promotes employment-rich opportunities and offers policies that improve our
labor market information systems in order to reach a 90% youth employment rate
in 2016,” he added.
Rankings aside
With many other pillars still requiring some
attention, the National Youth Commission urged the government and its partners
to sustain their engagements in order to reach the agencies’ targets for the
upcoming year.
“While we appreciate this kind of affirmation
that the government is doing well, our ultimate measure of competitiveness
should be based on our policies’ targets that we have set for the future,” the
chairperson said. (NYC/PIA-Caraga)
