Butuan City govt to launch ICARUS 288
By Jennifer P. Gaitano
BUTUAN CITY, July 1 (PIA) – In time with the second
quarter of the Regional Peace and Order Council (RPOC) Caraga chaired by Mayor
Ferdinand Amante Jr., he announced that the city government will be having a
soft launching of its Information Center for Assistance Rescue and Unified
Services (ICARUS) on July 2, 2015 at their command center inside the city hall.
According to Amante, the ICARUS will serve as the
command center for any report during disasters and emergencies.
“The general public can call or dial 288 using
their landlines to report any incident during disaster and emergency. We have
assigned personnel to man the center and they are tasked to serve you right and
to immediately respond to any report as verified. The people can also download
the mobile application of ICARUS free of charge using their android phones once
process will be completed soon,” Amante disclosed.
The mayor also asked the full support and
cooperation of the public on this initiative and to be vigilant on their
surroundings. (JPG/PIA-Caraga)
Caraga RDRRMC observes 2015 NDCM, sets various
activities
By Jennifer P. Gaitano
BUTUAN CITY, July 1 (PIA) – The Regional Disaster
Risk Reduction and Management Council (RDRRMC) chaired by Office of Civil
Defense (OCD) Caraga regional director Liza Mazo will be holding different
lined-up activities for this year’s observance of the National Disaster
Consciousness Month (NDCM).
Government agencies, partner stakeholders and
academe will be joining together as said observance will kick-off on July 2
with a Thanksgiving Mass at the Philippine National Police (PNP) Regional
Office-13 at Camp Rodriguez, this city and a motorcade going to the Provincial
Capitol Covered Court, where a short program will be held and followed by a
press conference.
According to director Mazo, from July 2-4, the
Caraga RDRRMC will be conducting rescue exercises among local emergency
responders in the region to be held at the Capitol Covered Court here.
The PNP-Caraga will also lead the Search and
Rescue (SAR) Training on July 1-4, 2015 at Santiago Training Center in the
municipality of Santiago, Agusan del Norte. On July 4, the OCD will spearhead
the Coastal Clean-up at Masao Beach, Butuan City, and the Basic Course on Incident
Command System (ICS) for the Department of Health (DOH) personnel on July 6-10,
2015.
“Among the lined-up activities for this year’s
observance of the NDCM, the member-agencies of the RDRRMC will also hold the
following: 1) Forum on the Modified Public Storm Warning Signal and Updated
Tropical Cyclone Classification; 2) Briefing on Hydromet Hazards on
Agriculture; 3) Orientation on Evaluation for Earthquake; 4) Refresher Course
on Damage Assessment and Reporting Systems (DARS); 5) 5-Day Basic Safe Hospital
Training; 6) National Simultaneous Earthquake Drill; 6) Post Disaster Needs
Assessment (PDNA) Training for Agriculture; 7) NDCM Culmination Ceremony and
Regional Gawad KALASAG Awarding; and 8) 2-Day Consultative Workshop on System
Development and Management Operation (an inter-local Health Zone Approach
during Health Emergencies and Disasters),” disclosed Mazo.
Mazo further called on the general public to stay
alert, vigilant, and active in DRR-related activities in their respective
community.
Pursuant to Executive No. 137 dated August 10,
1999, the month of July is declared as the month of National Disaster
Consciousness Month.
This year’s observance is anchored on the theme:
“Pamilya at Pamayanang Handa, Katuwang sa Pag-unlad ng Bansa.” (JPG/PIA-Caraga)
DENR cites local exec for NGP Bottom-up Budgeting
scheme
By Eric Gallego
BUTUAN CITY, July 1 (PIA) - Regional director
Nonito M. Tamayo of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR)
Caraga has commended the 33 mayors of the different municipalities and cities
in Caraga region for their active role in the National Greening Program (NGP)
through the Bottom-up Budgeting (BUB) scheme of the Department of Interior and
Local Government (DILG).
BUB is a program in which the community and the
LGU are engaged in the formulation of plans and budget to arrest the problem of
poverty in their area.
Through the BUB, the community is given the privilege
to participate in the planning, implementation and monitoring of the projects
that were identified based on their needs.
“This is a clear manifestation of the vision of
the President on the first day of his duty when he said that the people shall be
involved in the planning and implementation of needed projects in their
community,” Tamayo said.
Surigao del Sur and Agusan del Sur had the most
number of local executives participating in the 72 BUB projects regionwide. The
DILG has funded this environment projects in their respective localities with a
total of P 46,508,903.68 in 2013-2014.
“The NGP through the BUB program has generated
4,856 jobs benefiting 7,105 in the five provinces of the region,” Tamayo said
at the opening day of exhibits showcasing the gains of the BUB held at the
Robinsons Butuan Atrium on Monday.
Mayor Yulie Ruaya of Dapa, Siargao Island in
Surigao del Norte said “The BUB strategy has provided potable water systems for
the people in a community frequently visited by typhoons.”
"The development of mangrove and beach forest
along the shores through the NGP had served as seawall against storm surges,”
she added.
The Cabinet Cluster on Human Development and
Poverty Reduction Action team has identified at least 300 to 400 poorest
municipalities enrolled in the BUB which focus on rural development and the
conditional cash transfer programs. Aside from the DENR, the other agencies
involved are the Department of Agriculture, Department of Agrarian Reform,
DSWD, Department of Education, Department of Health, TESDA, and the Department
of Trade and Industry.
During the program, the DILG assistant secretary
for Policy and Planning Josefina Castillo Go assisted by director for Caraga
Region Lilibeth A. Famacion has released about P 245 million to three cities
and 50 municipalities to fund 101 potable water system, six local access
projects, 70 projects under the Disaster Risk Reduction which include flood
control, drainage and river canals, seawalls, evacuation center and rescue
equipment, and four infrastructure projects including the improvement of
terminals and markets. (DENR-13/PIA-Caraga)
FDA warns public against unregistered medicinal
products
By Rodrigo R. Matabaran
SURIGAO CITY, Surigao del Norte, July 1 (PIA) –
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warned the consuming public against
using the following medicinal products that are not registered with the agency.
Based on its advisory dated March 12, 2015, the
following medicinal product that are not registered with the agency are
Naphazoline HCI (Pi Yen Chin) 1:1000 per 10 ml solution/Marketing Authorization
Holder: Shanghai Pharmaceutical Industry Corporation, Shanghai China; Guilin
Watermelon Frost Powder/Marketing Authorization Holder: Guilin Sanjin
Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.; Ascorbic Acid (GNC Vitamin C with Rose Hips) 1000 mg
tablet/Distributed by General Nutrition Corporation-Pittsburg PA 15222; and La
Colina Vino De Quina Tiki-Tiki 350 ml/Manufactured by LAR Pharmaceutical
Laboratory-Marikina, Metro Manila, Philippines.
The FDA further informed that public that the
above listed products could endanger the health of the users, and the buying
public and selling of the said products is a violation of Republic Act No. 9711
or the Food and Drug Administration Act of 2009. (SDR/DTI-Surigao del
Norte/PIA-Surigao del Norte)
PopCom Caraga holds inter-active sessions with
teens
BUTUAN CITY, July 1 (PIA) - Series of inter-active
sessions with young people, known as U4U Teen Trail, has been conducted by the
Commission on Population (PopCom)-Caraga in the cities of Tandag and Surigao on
June 16 and 23, respectively.
About 200 teenagers from said cities were
interacting with enthusiasm in the exhibit and workshops during the trail
facilitated by the trained teens themselves. Day before the trail, a teen
facilitators’ workshop was done for them to learn particularly on how to manage
and facilitate the U4U teen trail.
PopCom designed U4U to equip the young people with
critical and accurate information on adolescent reproductive health and their
rights and sexuality; educate them about sexually transmitted infections,
HIV/AIDS and the risks of teenage pregnancy. Day before the trail, a teen
facilitators’ workshop was done for them to learn particularly on how to manage
and facilitate the U4U teen trail.
Amid issues on the increasing incidence of teenage
pregnancy in the region, PopCom Caraga regional director Alexander A. Makinano
stated that the agency through its Adolescent Health and Youth Development
Program continues to pursue the overall objective of contributing to the
improvement and promotion of the total well-being of Caraganon youth.
“For the first semester of this year, the Regional
Population Office has already conducted five U4U sessions with more than 400
young people were provided with appropriate information on Adolescent Sexual
and Reproductive Health,” Makinano added. (PopCom-Caraga/PIA-Caraga)
Convergence team visits Coco Coir Processing
Centers of Caraga
By Vanessa P. Sanchez
BUTUAN CITY, July 1 (PIA) - The National /Regional
Convergence Initiative (N/RCI) Technical Working Group (TWG) recently visited
the region for a learning expedition on Caraga’s coco coir industry.
The coco coir industry in the region took off in
2006 with the implementation of the Strengthening of the Agro-Industrial Sector
in Bicol and Caraga (SAIS-BC) Project, a bilateral project implemented by the
Philippine government through the Department of Agriculture (DA) and the
Spanish Government through the Agencia EspaΓ±ola Cooperacion Internacional para
el Desarollo (AECID). Presently, there are six coir processing plants in Caraga
with daily capacity ranging from 1-2.5 tons.
With the implementation of Memorandum Circular No.
25, series of 2002 issued by the Office of the President, prescribing the use
geo-textiles and bio-logs made from coir or coconut fiber in infrastructure and
public work projects, more particularly of the Department of Public Works and
Highways, for soil erosion control in sloping terrains and construction
embankments, there has been a rise in the demand for coco coir-based products.
Even big mining companies in Caraga like the Taganito Mining Corp. are now
using geonets as part of their rehabilitation activities in their mined out
areas.
Coco coir is a rope fiber fashioned from coconut
husks and woven into geonets or rolls of fiber mesh nets used in preventing
soil erosion and landslides. It is a growing industry in the region with products
including coco twines, coco nets, and biologs.
The Convergence Initiative (CI) TWG team visited
the Bitoon Nursery and the Tagasaka Coconut Farmers Association (TACOFA)
Coconut Farm in Hinatuan, Surigao del Sur, the San Isidro Kauswagan Producers Multi-Purpose
Cooperative processing center in Bislig City, Amparita’s Weavers Association
Souvenir Shop in Hinatuan, the KAAGAPMUCO Coco Coir processing center in San
Francisco, Agusan del Sur, the mining company Taganito HPAL in Claver, Surigao
del Norte, and the CLACOFARMCO processing center in Claver.
The activity aims to provide the CI TWG members
with a specific knowledge and better appreciation on the emerging requirements
for analysis and planning of agro-enterprises, agriculture and fishery projects
for model building and replication, and value chains development and management
in the convergence areas. (DA-13/PIA-Caraga)
225 youth, 83 fathers avail PopCom services in
AgSur town
BUTUAN CITY, July 1 (PIA) – A total of 225 youth
and 83 husbands from the remote barangays of Loreto, Agusan del Sur availed the
adolescent reproductive health and responsible parenthood-family planning
services/interventions through U4U Teen Trail and KATROPA (Kalalakihang
Tumutugon sa Responsibilidad at Obligasyon sa Pamilya) sessions, respectively
as catered by the Commission on Population (PopCom) – Caraga during the
inter-agency two-day Peace Caravan in said municipality very recently.
Young people from Barangay Kauswagan and Sitio
Manawe, Barangay Sto. Tomas actively participated in the U4U Teen Trail – an
educational, entertaining and interactive exhibit with fun workshops
facilitated by the trained teens themselves. Through this activity, teens were
able to know about reproductive health and their rights and sexuality. They
were also educated about the sexually transmitted infections, HIV-AIDS and the
risks of teenage pregnancy.
Prior to the trail, a teen facilitators’ workshop
was conducted to the 25 high school students from various schools in Loreto.
On the same event, men and husbands from the two
barangays attended the KATROPA sessions facilitated by the technical staff of
PopCom Caraga, respectively. The activity dealt mainly on the role of men in
family health. The discussion lingered on men’s duties and responsibilities as
parent, child’s rights, elements of a happy and successful marriage, harmonious
father and child relationship, responsible parenthood and family planning.
PopCom Caraga regional director Alexander A.
Makinano underlined the significance of the U4U and KATROPA sessions for these
interventions allow teens to learn about self-identity, friendship, life skills
and teen health advocacy and equip men and husbands with necessary knowledge
and skills on maternal and child health and responsible parenting.
(PopCom-Caraga/PIA-Caraga)
