MALACAÑANG MISUPORTA ALANG SA CEASEFIRE

Cebu City (July 18, 2007) – Ang palasyo sa Malacañang misuporta sa tinguha ni Heneral Hermogenes Esperon, hepe sa armadong kusog sa Pilipinas sa temporaryong paghunong una sa gubat tali sa kasundaluhan og sa CPP-NPA.

Kabahin niini, si Press Secretary og Tigpamaba sa Malacanang, Ignacio Bunye, niingon nga ang Communist Party of the Philippines og National Democratic Front og ang ilang armadong grupo, New People’s Army gipaabot sa kagamhanan nga mosanong sa maong lakang alang sa kalinaw pinaagi sa ilang pagpakita sa ilang kamatinud-anon sa duha ka partido.

Giklaro ni Bunye pag-ingon nga ang pamuno nasod gusto gyud nga ipadayon ang pagsabot-sabot alang sa kalinaw apil na ang pagkondenar sa di makatarunganong patay nga nahitabo karon sa nasod. (Roberto M. Cabardo/PIA AMO 7 Cebu)

OCD chief urges LGUs to form disaster management plans

With the onset of the southwest monsoon which normally brings heavy rains to all parts of the country, Office of the Civil Defense (OCD) Regional Director Angel Gaviola urged the local government officials to be serious by putting in place disaster management plans.

Director Gaviola, during the opening of the two-day regional conference on Relief and Rehabilitation Services Wednesday, said disasters could be effectively prevented and managed if LGUs are prepared to handle such incidents.

According to Gaviola, this is possible only if there exist in LGUs a strong disaster coordinating councils and a well-formulated disaster management plans which will outline the necessary interventions in case such incidents occur.

“Natural hazards cannot be prevented. It will surely occur. What we can do is to prevent them from becoming disasters”, Gaviola said.

The OCD chief likewise stressed the need to educate the public on disaster management issues and to establish an early warning system to ensure their safety.

He issued a call to the participants of the conference who represented the various LGUs, non-government organizations (NGOs), national government agencies (NGAs), church-based groups and the business sector in the region concerned with disaster relief to unite to foster harmony when disaster strikes.

Gaviola noted that the Philippines is located along the typhoon belt and it is but proper to make necessary preparations so that its effects to human life and property can be minimized.

Data from the country’s weather bureau shows that an average of 20 typhoons enter the Philippines every year, a number of which wrought considerable damage to property and, at times, caused deaths. PIA-Cebu/ECD

Dutch youth visits Cebu for cultural exchange

Cebu, Philippines (12 July)--Thirty-three 33 youth from Netherlands visit Cebu for the Pinoy-Dutch Xplore program that aims to facilitate multi-cultural understanding and educational exchange about Filipino and Dutch cultures.

The Pinoy-Dutch Xplore program, that started in 2006, is made possible through the Sister City relationship between Cebu City and Haarlemmermeer , Netherlands .

This year’s second run from July 8-29, is a joint undertaking between Meerlanden Youth Cebu, the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc. (RAFI) - the overall project coordinator, Cebu City Government, and other Cebu-based organizations.

Cebu City Mayor Tommy Osmeña, welcomed the participants during the opening program held at the Eduardo Aboitiz Development Studies Center on July 9.

To know more about the City, the participants had a guided tour at the various heritage and cultural sites such as the Magellan’s Cross and Port San Pedro. They also visited Mandaue City Hall where they meet with Mayor Jonas Cortes and tasted some Mandaue delicacies like the tagaktak and bibingka.

In the 3-week program, the Pinoy and Dutch youth will experience the adventure-based leadership training through RAFI’s Kool Adventure Camp (KAC).

They will also be immersed in the various institutions like the Batang Pinangga Center– an orphanage based in Carmen; Don Bosco Boys’ Town in Liloan; college farm of Cebu State College of Science and Technology (CSCST) in Barili; and the Justice Peace and Integrity in Creation (JPIC) fishing and dumpsite communities in Mactan.

“(We are here) looking for similarities. Differences don’t matter,” said one of the Dutch participants upon sharing his expectations in the program during the press briefing last July 9.

The delegates will also build 10 houses for the Gawad Kalinga site in Bogo; undergo environmental exposure in selected marine sanctuaries in Mactan and Olanggo islands; and plant trees at the watershed area in Pung-ol Sibugay, Cebu City on July 28.

All these activities aim to provide opportunities for the youth to enhance their knowledge, skills, and competence, as well as shape their character, attitudes, and values towards becoming pro-active citizens.

Joining the Dutch youth are counterparts from two RAFI programs, namely; the Young Minds Academy , a citizenship education and youth leadership development program, and Timawa Adventure Leadership Inc. – a post camp program for the KAC alumni.

Other organizations involved in the program are FORGE, Share-A-Child, KAPAI, St. Arnold Janssen Community Learning Center, SOS Childrens’ Village, SAPAK Foundation, Cebu Micro-Enterprise Development Foundation Inc. and Cebu City Medical Center .(PIA-Cebu/MBCN)

Council sees decline in hunger incidence in Central Visayas

Cebu City (11 July) -- National Nutrition Council (NNC-7) regional coordinator Parolita Mission expressed optimism that hunger incidence in Central Visayas has declined with the strong collaborative efforts of partner agencies in implementing the various hunger mitigation programs.

Mission during the Kapihan sa PIA this morning that tackled the problem of hunger incidence in observance of July as National Nutrition Month said they are awaiting the 2nd quarter results of the Social Weather Station (SWS) on the country's hunger incidence expected to come out at the end of the month.

The 1st quarter results of the SWS survey this year, showed that families who experienced voluntary hunger at least once for the past three months has reached a record high of 19 percent or about 3.4M households. The Visayas Region had the least incidence of hunger at15 percent.

Mission said there is a direct link between hunger and malnutrition although she admitted that hunger incidence is multi-factorial but that poverty is the root cause of the problem.

Other factors attributed to malnutrition aside from poverty is the lack of education on what nutritious foods to eat as nutrition is essentially eating a balanced diet with less on fats and more on high fiber foods such as green leafy vegetables and fruits, large family size and eating habits, this is learned.

In response to address the hunger incidence in the region, two major hunger mitigation programs of the Dept. of Agriculture (DA-7) are the Barangay Food Terminals (BFT) and the ‘Gulayan ng Masa.’

DA-7 regulatory division chief Marina Hermoso in the same forum, said the BFT is envisioned to increase farmers’ productivity level by providing them a specific market area where to directly sell their goods eliminating middlemen in the process which could earn more profits for the farmers.

Putting up BFTs on the other hand, needs the help of the local government units in identifying the specific area for the BFT, this is said.

The DA-7 is also distributing one pack of assorted vegetable seedlings for planting under its ‘Gulayan ng Masa’ program. Seedlings include ampalaya, squash, eggplant, okra and string beans as a measure to decrease hunger incidence with a steady supply of food in one’s own backyard.

Both DA-7 programs however, are more concentrated in Oriental Negros where hunger incidence is quite high compared with the rest of the provinces in the region, according to Hermoso.

In order to promote good nutrition, the Dept. of Health (DOH-7) launched two programs namely breastfeeding and complementary feeding under the infant and young child feeding program.

DOH-7 nutritionist Juliet Tutor said their infant and young child feeding program is divided into two phases --- the hospital-based and the community-based where they conduct advocacy training on the importance of breastfeeding to achieve good nutrition for the child.

Tutor said they have accomplished their breastfeeding advocacy to 11 hospitals in Cebu, two in Bohol and one in Oriental Negros while all the four provinces in the region down to the municipal level have been oriented.

Mission bared the activities for the month-long nutrition celebration which include a mural painting and vegetable cooking contest on the 19th at SM Entertainment Plaza while their culminating activity on the 27th of this month will award LGUs that are considered best implementers of nutrition-related programs during the National Nutrition Action Officers Congress. (PIA-Cebu/FCR)

Pre-schoolers in 10 Cebu City barangays found highly malnourished

Cebu City (11 July) -- About 10 barangays in Cebu City located in coastal areas have a high prevalence rate of malnutrition among pre-schoolers last year, according to National Nutrition Council (NNC-7) regional coordinator Parolita Mission.

Mission identified some of the barangays as Ermita, Sawang-Calero, Pasil and Alaska

High population, poor environmental sanitation and high incidence of upper respiratory tract infections among schoolchildren that led to a rapid loss of weight are the factors attributed to the high malnutrition prevalence rate, according to Mission.

Last year, Cebu City ranked fourth among cities regionwide in the high malnutrition prevalence rate among the pre-school age population with 7.87 percent, Mission declared.

Bais City in Oriental Negros topped in the number of pre-school children that are malnourished with 14.79 percent while Talisay City followed with 12.19 percent, and the fourth placer was Kanlaon City in Oriental Negros with 11.9 percent, this is learned.

The Cebu City Nutrition Council in response to the problem increased its micronutrient supplementation to targeted beneficiaries particularly children on iron, Vit. A and iodine. It also implemented a deworming program as parasitism among schoolchildren became a problem.

Mission bared hunger is the root cause of malnutrition while incidence of hunger is basically attributed to poverty. (PIA-Cebu/FCR)

PAF ON COMMUNITY OUTREACH

Cebu City (11 July) --- In celebration of their 60^th Foundation Anniversary, the Philippine Air Force Tactical Operations Command (PAF-TOC) conducted a series of community outreach activities within the months of June and July 2007 in Brgy. Bangbang, Cordova, Cebu.

The activity was cooperation with the Philippine Information Agency (PIA-7) and the Association of Government Information Officers in Region 7 (AGIO-7).

Hundreds of people benefited the medical-dental services rendered by the PAF medical-dental team at the Brgy. Bangbang Elementary School. Medicines were sponsored by the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office and financial assistance were given by some private companies of the Mactan Export Processing Zone (MEPZ).

Bangbang Brgy. Captain Jesus Pacaldo expressed his gratitude to the government agencies involved especially the Philippine Air Force led by MAJ CUPID ORTIZ in his initiative to have these activities in his poor barangay.

“Dako gyud ang among pasalamat sa tanang ahensya sa gobiyerno nga ania karon sa among barangay aron sa pagdulot ug mga serbisyo kanamo,” said the barangay captain.

Another good thing that happened during the outreach program was the restoration of the barangay deep well which was not functional for two (2) years due to lack of budget. The PAF sponsored all the materials needed and even provided manpower to repair it.

In the same development, 63 malnourished children ages 2 months to 7 years old benefited the one-month feeding conducted by the PAF and Cebu Microelectronics, Incorporated (CMI) on June 2-July 2, 2007.

In an interview, Toshihisa Kodama, Director of CMI truly expressed his willingness to support this kind of charity act to these children who are victims of poverty. Kodama added, the company is allotting money for this kind of activity.

Another activity in the barangay was an Information Caravan that was also conducted by PIA-7 led by OIC Minverva Newman and AGIO-7 President Dale Mark Antonio in respond to the need of the constituents in that barangay.

Some Information Officers joined the activity and shared their programs and projects and even offered services of their respective agency.

As their contribution to the environment, PAF personnel and some students from the Mactan Air Base School planted more than 600 hundred mangrove seedlings and propagules in the shores of Brgy. Bangbang on July 7, 2007. (PIA-7 Cebu/hfg)

PAF denied allegations they abandoned the crash victims

Cebu City (10 July)--- The Philippine Air Force denied allegations that it abandoned its obligations to the family members of those who died in the Huey helicopter crash in Lapu-Lapu City last April 28.

MAJ GEGENRAL PEDRO IKE INSERTO, of the PAF Tactical Operations Command, said that their office has been in constant coordination with the families of the nine fatalities and had offered whatever livelihood program that may be available for them.

During their special flag ceremony at the Mactan Benito Ebuen Air Base yesterday, the PAF had given two tricycles to Edwin Guinoo and Danilo Olimba who are relatives of the victims.

The PAF also installed four (4) newly enlisted personnel of the family members of the victims namely; Michelle and Cheryl Jumao-as, Erika Nagao and Danilo Olimbao.

In a media interview, the four said that they joined the military force on their free will because they believe in the Air Force and they want to move on with their lives.

Reportedly, some of the family members of the victims filed complaints at the military Ombudsman accusing the PAF of failing to give them the results of the investigation and to deliver the supposed assistance to them.

GEN INSERTO denounced the allegations of victims’ families and their filing of criminal and administrative complaints against some PAF officials. He said that they are ready to face any charges filed by these people. (PIA-7 Cebu/hfg)