RDC-GADCC Caraga spearheads 18-Day Campaign to End
VAW, highlights men in high-heeled shoes
By Jennifer P. Gaitano
BUTUAN CITY, Nov. 25 (PIA) – In line with this
year’s kick-off celebration of the 18-Day Campaign to End Violence Against
Women (VAW), the Regional Development Council – Gender and Development Coordinating
Committee (RDC-GADCC) Caraga conducted the Fun-Walk activity with employees
from the government and partner stakeholders and highlighted the men wearing
high-heeled shoes from the Guingona Park going to provincial capitol’s covered
court, this city.
Sangguniang Panglungsod (SP) board member
Elizabeth Calo of Agusan del Norte congratulated and warmly welcomed all the
government agencies and other stakeholders who participated and attended the
said kick-off program. She also encouraged the government workers to
continuously advocate against VAW and extend help (in their own little ways) to
those women whom they know are undergoing struggles in life.
On behalf of RDC-GADCC chairperson Atty. Marylin
Pintor, Commission on Human Rights (CHR) Caraga regional director, co-chair
Edna Hontiveros of Forward Filipina Inc., shared the overview/rationale of this
year's celebration of the 18-Day Campaign to End Violence Against Women (VAW).
"I salute all the participating men of
today's kick-off ceremony thru a fun-walk activity who walked wearing
high-heeled shoes from the city's Guingona Park going here at the capitol. One
of the objectives of the 18-Day Campaign to end VAW is to raise awareness among
all stakeholders that VAW is a public issue of national interest," she
added.
Hontiveros further revealed that these men who
wore high-heeled shoes during the fun-walk have shown support to all the women
of all walks of life. “It is by walking in a woman’s shoes that one can tell
how it is like to be a woman,” she said.
Also, representing Department of Health (DOH)
Caraga regional director Jose Llacuna, assistant regional director Ernesto
Pareja stressed that one way to help in reduction if not elimination of the
violence against women is to avoid in engaging in any form of violence. “Men
should be protectors of women but everyone must help in making this world a
better place, free from any fear and any form of violence,” he remarked.
The participating men from the Department of
Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Caraga won and received a cash prize from
RDC-GADCC for being the most number of men wearing high-heeled shoes.
Meanwhile, all the participants also enjoyed the
last part of the program which was the Zumba activity.
This year's 18-Day Campaign to End VAW is anchored
on the theme: "End VAW Now! It's Our Duty!: Gains and Ways Forward,"
from Wednesday, November 25, 2015 to Saturday, December 12, 2015.
It is an annual event that supports the Philippine
Government’s goal to protect the human rights of women and its commitment to
address all forms of VAW. The following issuances provide the national legal
mandates for the annual campaign: Proclamation 1172 s. 2006 – Declaring 25
November to 12 December as the 18-Day Campaign to End Violence Against Women
(VAW); and Republic Act 10398 (2013) – Declaring November 25 of Every Year as
National Consciousness Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women and
Children.
The 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence is
an international campaign originating from the first Women's Global Leadership
Institute sponsored by the Center for Women's Global Leadership (CWGL) at
Rutgers University in 1991. Participants chose the dates, November 25,
International Day Against Violence Against Women, and December 10, International
Human Rights Day, in order to symbolically link violence against women and
human rights and to emphasize that such violence is a human rights violation.
In the Philippines, the government has expanded it in 2006 by virtue of
Presidential Proclamation 1172 to include up to December 12, which marks the
adoption of the United Nation Convention Against Transnational Crime, thus
making it an 18-Day Campaign. (JPG/DJMA/PIA-Caraga)
75 displaced Caraganon OFWs undergo financial
literacy, entrepreneurship dev training
By Jean Pearl I. Millones
BUTUAN CITY, Nov. 25 (PIA) - A total of 75
displaced member-Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) availed of the
Entrepreneurship Development Training (EDT) and Financial Literacy (FinLit) for
Balik Pinas!, Balik Hanapbuhay! Program of the Overseas Workers Welfare
Administration (OWWA) Caraga on November 16 and 23, at the OWWA Training Hall
here.
Two batches of Balik Pinas!, Balik Hanapbuhay!
Program applicants were provided with the basic concepts of efficient
budgeting, financial management and saving approaches. They were likewise
introduced to the Potential Entrepreneurial Competency Test (PECT).
Jean Mary G. Ronquillo, OWWO II, facilitated the
activity and cited that the PECT contains self-rating questionnaires which
involves ten characteristics that are most likely possessed by an entrepreneur.
The said training is extended by OWWA as part of
its reintegration services to encourage its member-OFWs, especially those who
were faced with adversities during their stint overseas, to venture into
livelihood and entrepreneurship for them eventually become self-sustaining
individuals.
Moreover, OWWA Caraga Programs and Services
DIvision officer-in-charge Ma. Irene C. Cambaling assisted the OFWs in
identifying their prospect business venture which adheres to priority projects
including, but not limited to, health and wellness, house repairs, food
processing, handicraft, goods under the One Town, One Product (OTOP) scheme and
agriculture-related projects.
Cambaling also emphasized the need to select
livelihood opportunities that will generate a sustainable source of income.
The EDT is the primary requirement in availing the
Balik Pinas!, Balik Hanapbuhay program of OWWA which grants a non-cash
livelihood assistance of P10,000.00-worth starter kits and other incidental
services that will aid the beneficiary towards self or wage employment.
Michael S. Pates, an engineer from Ghana, Africa,
extended his gratitude to OWWA for the assistance that he greatly needs
especially after his contract’s pre-termination. “I am very thankful, that
after I have lost a job, I am still provided with programs to help me generate
income for my family,” bared Pates.
The Balik Pinas! Balik Hanapbuhay! Program is
available for OWWA members whose contracts were pre-terminated and were
displaced by hostilities, wars/political conflict in the host country, victims of
illegal recruitment or human trafficking who have returned to the Philippines
for not more than one year. (OWWA-Caraga/PIA-Caraga)
P7.3M road rehab in Cabadbaran City OK’d
By Aimee B. Sienes
BUTUAN CITY, Nov. 25 (PIA) - The rehabilitation
and improvement of the Comagascas-Del Pilar-Pirada Provincial Road in the city
of Cabadbaran, Agusan del Norte has already a funding in the amount of
P7,349,456.00.
This was declared by the provincial government of
Agusan del Norte through the Provincial Engineer’s Office that it is one of the
priority projects under the Social Local Road Fund-Motor Vehicle User’s Charge
(SLRF-MVUC), calendar year 2015 budget of the DPWH.
Pursuant to Republic Act 8794 or the Motor Vehicle
User’s Charge (MVUC) Law, it mandates to provide for and ensure the adequate
maintenance of national and provincial roads through sufficient funding for the
purpose. The law also mandates that “all monies collected under this Act shall
be earmarked solely and used exclusively a) for road maintenance and
improvement of road drainage; b) for the installation of adequate and efficient
traffic lights and road safety devices and c) for air pollution control.”
To fast track the release of the funds to the
province, the Sangguniang Panlalawigan of Agusan del Norte recently authorized
Provincial Governor Ma. Angelica Rosedell M. Amante-Matba to sign the
Tripartite Memorandum of Agreement with the Department of Public Works and
Highways (DPWH) and the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) for
the implementation of the said project.
The DPWH and DILG are signatories to the MOA
considering that the DPWH is tasked to handle the Special Road Support Fund,
Special Local Roads Fund and Special Road Safety Fund, which shall be
apportioned to provincial and city governments in accordance with the vehicle
population and size of the road network under their respective jurisdictions
and shall be used exclusively for maintenance of local roads, traffic
management and road safety devices. And the DILG is an agency mandated to
exercise general supervision over the local government units (LGUs) and is
tasked to strengthen the capability of the LGUs in the delivery of services
including the maintenance and construction of local roads.
Sanggunian Resolution No. 318-2015 authorizing
Gov. Amante-Matba to sign the said MOA was pushed for approval by the SP
through the Committee on Public Works and Provincial Properties chaired by
Provincial Board Member Danny M. Moran. (LGU-Agusan del Norte/PIA-Agusan del
Norte)
