SurSur-BJMP seeks transfer of court hearing to
Tandag for NPA inmates
By Greg Tataro Jr.
TANDAG CITY, Surigao del Sur, May 7 (PIA) – The
Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) Tandag District Jail in Surigao
del Sur headed by warden J/Sr. Insp. Nelson Sumando bared recently a request
for transfer of court hearings of New People’s Army (NPA) detainees to the city
to avert a repeat of future incidents to happen.
Sumando was referring to the unfortunate event
that victimized a five-man team on board a BJMP vehicle who was escorting two
rebel-detainees—Jojean Alameda and Robert Rivas—set for court hearing on April
27, 2015 in Lianga town, 90 kilometers south, this city.
The group being led by Jail Officer 3 (JO3)
Alfredo Galindo together with JO1 Roger Sarvida and JO1 Mardenver Balan and
also backed up by Senior Officers 2 (SO2) Feliciano Polan and Juan Salazar was
waylaid by an estimated hundred heavily armed NPA rebels at 7:45 a.m. in
Barangay Amontay, Marihatag town, still 39.5 kilometers away from their
supposed destination.
Luckily, during the ambush, Polan and Salazar as
well as Alameda did not sustain any injury but as the latter was rescued, the
two were also taken captives. They are still with their NPA captors.
On the other hand, Galindo, Sarvida, and Balan got
hurt including Rivas, so they were left on their own at the crime scene.
Sumando said Judge Edwin Malazarte of the Regional
Trial Court (RTC) Branch 28 in Lianga has been receptive of his letter-request
written later on that day.
However, it was learned that said request still
needs approval from the Supreme Court.
The warden also admitted hearing of such court
cases involving rebel-detainees is expected to be deferred.
“Presently, 13 inmates from Lianga District Jail
are detained in our facility for security reasons. All are considered high-risk
inmates being alleged members of NPA and organized crime group,” Sumando
pointed out in his letter to Judge Malazarte. (NGBT/Radyo ng
Bayan-Tandag/PIA-Surigao del Sur)
BPS issues circular on flat glass PS marks, ICC
stickers
By Rodrigo R. Matabaran
SURIGAO CITY,
Surigao del Norte, May 7 PIA) - The Bureau of the Philippine Standards
(BPS), an attached agency under the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI),
recently issued Memorandum Circular No. 15-01 that reiterates the agency's
policy on Philippine Standards (PS) mark or Import Commodity Clearance (ICC)
stickers for flat glass products.
In the circular, all manufacturers, importers,
traders, wholesalers, distributors, retailers, sales agents, consumers and
other concerns need to be aware of the following guidelines: 1. Importers are
required to use crates as the unit of measurement in filling ICC applications;
2. The issuance of ICC stickers shall be on a per crate basis; 3. The importer
shall ensure that the stickers are permanently affixed to the crates covered by
the Import Commodity Clearance; 4. The importer shall ensure that copy of the
ICC certificate is available at the traders, wholesalers, distributors or
retailers for verification by the DTI monitoring and/or enforcement officers;
and 5. For PS license holders, the PS Mark shall be permanently affixed to the
products packaging.
Consumers and the buying public are encouraged to
familiarize themselves and make it a habit to look for Philippine Standards
(PS) mark and ICC stickers to ensure that the products they are buying passed
certain quality standards.
For more information on product standards, please
feel free to visit the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) at the 2nd Floor,
Simtoco Building, Burgos Street, this city or contact telephone number 826-6129
and look for Josephine D. Gabutin, Trade and Industry Development Specialist.
(SDR/DTI-Surigao del Norte/PIA-Surigao del Norte)
New PNP building set for blessing, turn-over in
SurSur
By Greg Tataro Jr.
TANDAG CITY, Surigao del Sur, May 7 (PIA) – The
newly built Philippine National Police (PNP) building at the Provincial Police
Office (PPO) headquarters in Surigao del Sur is set for blessing and turn-over
on Friday, May 8, 2015.
Costing a total amount of P11,807,161.49, six
million pesos of which came from the provincial coffers through Governor Johnny
Pimentel due to a cost-sharing arrangement, the standard edifice for PPO
started construction in the early part of 2013 during the incumbency of acting
provincial director P/SSupt. Antonio Taylan, Jr.
However, P/SSupt. Narciso Verdadero was happy to
note that everything is finally over and that peak of construction phase took
place during his stint.
Meanwhile, PNP top brasses from Police Regional
Office 13 (PRO-13) headed by P/CSupt. David Yalong-Ombao are expected to grace
the occasion.
Based on the official invitation, kick off program
is set to start at 9:00 a.m. which highlights include welcome address by
P/SSupt. Verdadero, signing of certificate of turn-over and completion by
P/CSupt. Ombao, messages by Governor Pimentel as well as Ombao to be followed
immediately with the ribbon-cutting, again by the latter together with the
governor.
Also, part of the occasion is the unveiling of
marker by the two-ranking officials—Ombao and Pimentel.
The historic event will culminate with a blessing
by P/Supt. Joselito Duarte Borja, regional chaplain. (NGBT/Radyo ng
Bayan-Tandag/PIA-Surigao del Sur)
Search is on for 2015 Disaster-Resilient LGU
By Aimee B. Sienes
BUTUAN CITY, May 7 (PIA) - The provincial
government of Agusan del Norte is currently undergoing evaluation and
assessment of the local government units (LGUs) in the province vying for the
Search for 2015 Disaster-Resilient LGU, also known as Gawad Kalasag 2015.
The Provincial Selection Committee (PSC), headed
by the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), and members:
Sangguniang Panlalawigan Office (SPO), Provincial Social Welfare Population and
Nutrition Services Office (PSWPNSO), Provincial Health Office (PHO), Philippine
Information Agency (PIA), Department of Education (DEPED), Department of
Science and Technology (DOST), and Red Cross, have started reviewing all the
documents submitted by the local government units.
This is the second year for the Gawad Kalasag to
be awarded in October in time for the ANGELL (Accelerating New Dimensions on
Good Governance and Excellence in Local Leadership) Awarding.
The prizes at stake are P100,00.00 for the first
prize, P75,000.00 for the second prize and P50,000.00 for the third prize. Such
prizes will be utilized for disaster related projects, plans, programs and activities.
(LGU-Agusan del Norte/PIA-Agusan del Norte)
Power supplier shuts down 8 gensets; AgSur to
experience rotating blackouts
PROSPERIDAD, Agusan del Sur, May 7 (PIA) - The
Mapalad Power Corporation (MPC), a diesel-fired power plant located in Iligan
City announced on Monday that eight of its generator units are shut down due to
different defects.
MPC has a full generation capacity of 100MW. Each
generator unit produces 5MW. Hence, a total of 40MW is lost in the Mindanao
grid due to this shutdown.
This incident equates to an additional loss of
5-6MW of Agusan del Sur Electric Cooperative’s (ASELCO’s) power supply and
possible imposition of 1.5 to 3 hours of rotational load curtailment schedule.
ASELCO’s power demand is at 30MW during off-peak hours and reaches to 32MW
during peak hours. With the current power supply situation, ASELCO has an
estimated available supply of 20MW per hour on the average.
The Peakpower San Francisco Inc. (PSFI) 5MW
bunker-fired power plant has been augmenting the coop’s supply since the month
of February 2015.
In 2014, the coop had already signed a 10MW energy
supply agreement (ESA) with the Therma South Inc. (TSI). Unfortunately, the
grid-wide blackout on April 5, 2015 resulted in component overheating and did
significant damages to the power plant’s air preheaters and electrostatic
precipitators. The damaged equipment is crucial to the safe and efficient
operation of TSI’s Unit 2 generating engine. Testing and commissioning of the
power plant’s Unit 1 is on-going and is expected to be completed by either June
or July of 2015.
No date is released as to when the eight generator
units of MPC will be back in operation. (ASELCO/PIA-Agusan del Sur)
Feature: A leader’s response to the new normal
By Eunice G. Montaos
John C. Maxwell once said, “A leader is one who
knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way.”
Being situated in a place vulnerable to disasters
caused by natural calamities, Mayor Cristina Hemady R. Arcillas of Tubod in
Surigao del Norte, understands her crucial responsibility in leading her people
and increasing their resiliency amidst inevitable challenges posed by climate
change.
With this, she has expressed full support to the
Kalahi-CIDSS program of the Department of Social Welfare and Development
(DSWD).
Kalahi-CIDSS or the Kapit-Bisig Laban sa
Kahirapan-Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services is one of
the national government’s programs which primarily operates to empower
communities, improve local governance, and reduce poverty.
The program uses the Community-Driven Development
(CDD) approach to which community consultations and participation are done for
sub-project prioritization and implementation. In the course of choosing
sub-projects to be implemented, criteria are set by the communities which
include factors on the Disaster Risk Reduction and Management (DRRM).
On DRRM
As the leader of her municipality, Mayor Arcillas
has shown initiative and discretion in DRRM during a Municipal Inter-Barangay
Forum for Participatory Resource Allocation (MIBF-PRA) conducted last October
2012.
In the said forum, she has noticed that the project
site for Brgy. Del Rosario, which ranked 4th in the prioritization, was
situated in a hazard/flood-prone area based on the hazard map provided by the
Project NOAH/MGB. This was after the required documents (social, technical,
environmental compliance, etc.) were sorted.
As the municipal DRRM head, Mayor Arcillas has
advised the Municipal Building Official not to issue the building permit if the
proponents will not relocate the said site.
“Outright avoidance should be taken as a
mitigating measure to avoid foreseen and sudden occurrences of dangers and
accidents especially to the direct beneficiaries of the Program,” she says.
The community volunteers in Brgy. Del Rosario
failed to provide an alternative site, so, the grant assistance was provided to
the next in prioritization rank.
In Tubod, most identified sub-projects of the
communities are DRRM-considering ones. For instance, the flood resilient
hanging footbridge in Barangay Marga which considered a 50-year maximum flood
level, thus, the hanging footbridge is about 2-3 meters above the original
existing wooden footbridge used by the community.
Among the sub-projects for DRMM initiative include
the construction and installation of rainwater harvesting systems primarily for
water conservation to minimize, if not totally prevent, over extraction of
ground water source for water preservation purposes.
Resilience, preparedness
Mayor Arcillas believes that resiliency is a
character which should be developed in response to the challenges of the new
normal.
“Kalahi-CIDSS and its CDD really work, and they
work best in developing my peoples’ resiliency,” she shares.
“How I wish all the projects will be done this
way; this would lessen the problems of the Mayors,” Mayor Arcillas adds.
In an interview, she opens about preparing a ready
local counterpart contribution for the upcoming Kalahi-CIDSS projects in the
town.
“I knew that we will have a Kalahi-CIDSS project
the following year. So, even if the MOA was not yet signed and no letter was
sent about the project, I banked on the reputation of DSWD to follow through on
their promised project and budgeted the LGU's counterpart.” she shares.
“This has enabled our LGU to go forward with the
project on schedule, give assistance to barangays for a part of their
counterpart without the need to call the Governor or the Congressman. This is
what we call readiness in mind and pocket.” quips Mayor Arcillas.
Sharing CDD
Because she is convinced about the efficiency of
the CDD technology, she has presented Kalahi-CIDSS to the Silangan Mindanao
Mining Company, Incorporated (SMMCI) which operates in the municipality.
With the convincing charm of Mayor Arcillas and
her confidence with the Program, the said company has adopted the approach used
by Kalahi-CIDSS in performing its corporate social responsibility (CSR) through
their implementation of SMMCI’s community development program (CDP).
A Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) has been signed on
December 9, 2013 signifying the forged partnership of the two parties-DSWD and
SMMCI.
The regional management of Kalahi-CIDSS and the
MLGU has actively partnered in providing inputs and discussions on environmental
management and DRRM during the training-orientation and skills enhancement on
CDD approach to the SMMCI staff/personnel.
As a public-private partnership initiative, the
technical staff has talked about the importance of designing environmentally-responsive,
disaster-resilient, and cost-effective sub-projects that will respond to DRRM
issues and impacts.
Mayor Arcillas appreciates the inclusion of the
Thematic and Environmental Management System (TEMS) and DRRM in the training
modules and session plans in the conduct of Project Development Workshop (PDW)
and infrastructure training even during accountability reporting.
Inclusive, felt development
“The Kalahi way is different from the usual
implementation of projects because in the Program, the decision comes from the
grassroots sector, therefore, the results are realistic and practical,” bares
Mayor Arcillas.
Furthermore she shares her appreciation on how the
CDD approach and the process of Kalahi-CIDSS have strengthened the Filipino
values such as the bayanihan.
“The CDD approach has shown our constituents how
the Government processes work, including the strengths and weaknesses,” she
adds.
She also voices her strong willingness to
recommend the Kalahi-CIDSS program to anyone because she believes that it
teaches the people about sustainable development.
The communities in Tubod haven’t felt that they
are alone in their plight for inclusive development because of the overwhelming
support of the local chief executive.
As an adage says, though values are taught, but
most of the time they are caught. (DSWD-13/PIA-Caraga)
