by anyajulia | Oct 9, 2008 | Headlines, Local News / Bohol Balita, National News
BRINGING in the campaign to the communities’ most vulnerable, the Bohol Rabies Prevention and Eradication Council (BRPEC) allowed school children to see the real danger of rabies in a variety of activities as a highlight for the World Rabies Day.
The Bohol activities include scouts simultaneously lighting candles and whispering prayers for rabies victims, pupils in classrooms learning about rabies topics in their curriculum and series of information education and communication activities to students did not escape international project funding agency monitor, Dr. Betsy Miranda.
Dr. Miranda, who monitors for Alliance for Rabies Control (ARC) admitted she was impressed of the activities and hopes with their partnership, Bohol can saturate the program province-wide next year.
The World Rabies Day activities form only a part of the Bohol rabies elimination program funded by ARC.
The funding agency is a registered Scottish International non-government organization teaming up with Bohol in crafting a template for vaccine-preventable disease control specifically in rabies elimination province-wide.
The project, the first in Asia provides other areas still hounded by the rabies problem a glimpse of how canine rabies can be eliminated in a region.
It also hopes to motivate people into finding area-adaptable solutions to leash the continuing problem of rabies, ARC, in a press statement said.
It is expected that the program will include the total involvement of all government levels and will mobilize community support to enable rapid scale up of program implementation to cover the entire province and eliminate rabies by 2011.
The P7M program funded by the Swiss UBS Optimus Foundation entails four years of Bohol piloting a province-wide rabies elimination campaign for the prevention, control and elimination of dog and human rabies, it said.
According to ARC, rabies is still recognized as a serious public health concern and persists in most parts of Asia, including the Philippines.
Because of this, ARC sees together with Bohol in putting up steps of enhancing control measures and demonstrating that a vaccine-preventable disease such as rabies is possible to eliminate.
Believing in this, Gov. Erico B. Aumentado and the Bohol Rabies Prevention and Eradication Council (BRPEC) has put up serious commitment to deal with the rabies problem and protect public health, despite very financial resources.
ARC just came at the right time when Bohol authorities have fairly been convinced it can be done.
The plan entails approaching the problem of canine and human rabies elimination in Bohol using strategies that are conceived to assure project sustainability.
First, the BRPEC prepares the project implementation by setting up structures for the community-based implementation of the rabies program.
Then to complement the initial step, BRPEC went through massive local dog population control and Elimination , which also include compulsory dog registration, mandatory leashing and humane elimination of stray, unregistered and unwanted dog coupled with a synchronized massive dog vaccination campaigns.
The program also comes with a public education campaign using tri-media. The campaign hopes to generate cooperation and commitment from the community.
Public education campaign includes fundamentals of responsible pet ownership, explanation of local ordinances and inclusion of rabies prevention into school curriculum.
Finally, another key strategy is dog bite management where authorities put up and upgrade animal bite centers in strategic locations, give out pre-exposure vaccination to children and personnel living or operating in high risk areas. Trainings are also programmed for local physicians on bite management and tissue sample preparations for laboratory examinations.
Ascertaining sustainability, the Bohol program also puts up monitoring and surveillance when it uses a strengthened reporting system for canine and human rabies to ensure immediate information transfer and rapid response. (PIA/rachiu)
by anyajulia | Oct 9, 2008 | Headlines, National News
WELL-MEANING citizens can now help the government in text reporting any perceived unauthorized use of red plated vehicles in unexpected places especially during non-office hours.
Your text messages you sent to 0919 898 4621 for Smart, or 0917 839 8462 for Globe users go directly to the Presidential Action Center.
Reports however should contain vehicle type, plate number, place and time where the government vehicle is found and if pictures are much appreciated if included.
Letters, telegrams and written reports can be forwarded to the Presidential Acton Center, Arlegui St. San Miguel, Manila.
By virtue of Malacanang’s Administrative Order 239, which President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo signed September 15, she has expressly strengthened the government’s effort against the use of government vehicles for purposes other than official business in line with energy saving and anti-graft and corruption campaign programs.
With AO 239, she stressed that it is inherent in government to promote judicious and responsible stewardship in the utilization of government resources.
In the order, the President said the use of government vehicles on Sundays, legal holidays, out of regular office hours or outside the route of officials or employees authorized to use them, by any person other than such authorized shall be prima facie evidence of preceding administrative case against them, section 1 of the AO stated.
Section 1 states that all government agencies and offices are prohibited from using any government vehicles for purposes other than official business.
Other than official business means private social functions, receptions, balls, theaters and other personal purposes, section 2 of the order declared.
The strict prohibition also includes use of such vehicles by spouses, children, relatives, friends even if they are accompanied by the said officials.
However, if the vehicle carries a legitimate trip ticket which should be displayed conspicuously in the car’s windshield or any conspicuous place in the vehicle, its use may be allowed.
The trip tickets issued to these vehicles on on-official hours or functions should be serially numbered and duly signed by the authorized official.
Such vehicles should be parked on designated garages to avoid unofficial use. The keys should be kept by the guard on duty and if the vehicles are spotted elsewhere, the guard along with the person caught using the vehicle should be made liable, AO’s section 3 said.
For vehicles used by intelligence operatives however, the order does not apply.
The order also enjoins the Land Transportation Office to closely coordinate and assist for the prompt implementation, particularly on the identification of reported government vehicles.
Other than the two textlines, complaints can also be sent to the PAC through 0919 898 4622, 0919 898 0623, 0917 898 2462 or 0917 898 5462. (PIA/rachiu)
by anyajulia | Oct 9, 2008 | Headlines, National News
SIMULTANEOUS with an urgent drive for consumers to take the switch for energy saving lamps, a local trade and industry divisions chief also issue consumer tips on picking the right products to maximize on benefits.
Go for products with the DTI Importation Commodity Clearance (ICC) for imported products of Product Standards (PS) label for locally produced commodities. Then, find the mandatory Department of Energy yellow energy label, DTI said.
The government drive for the big switch, punctuate the move to help consumer cut on power consumption amid rising power costs.
According to Department of Energy (DOE) sources, the program called “Palit Ilaw” is a government initiative under the National Energy Efficiency and Conservation Program and aims to goad consumers to switch to compact fluorescent lamps (CFL) as a strategy to cut on costs.
The program is also supported by the United nation’s development program-Global Environment Facility Philippine Efficient Lighting Market Transformation Project.
CFLs energy consumption is only 20 to 25% compared to an ordinary incandescent bulb with similar luminescence, said DTI’s Jose Hibaya during the recent Kapihan sa PIA, Thursday.
Using the same energy, an incandescent bulb produces only 20% light, and the 80% makes heat, he explained.
The switch to energy saving lamps however may not be as easy for the low priced incandescent lamps, Hibaya admitted as he pointed to the immediately visible price difference.
An 100 watts incandescent lamp is sold at P21, while a CFL giving off the same amount of light is sold at P150.
But the CFL burns out only after 5 to 6 incandescent bulb replacements.
The big difference however is on the savings, he stressed.
Using a table, Hibaya pointed out that a 60 watt light bulb, when changed to an 13 watt CFL heaps for the consumer P2,496 savings for every 6,000 hours of usage at the rate of P8.83 per kilowatt hour for residential use.
In the long run, it takes about five replacements of incandescent lamps over a single energy saver CFL, he bared.
At an average lifetime of 1000 hours, an incandescent lamp pales in comparison to the 6,000 hours of CFL service in its lifetime.
In the advent of sub-par products flooding the market, consumers however may fall prey to enterprising retailers who sell fakes, DTI warned.
Over this, Hibaya said scouting for the right products is still a consumer right, emphasizing the consumer welfare month the country celebrates in October.
He said consumers not wanting to be fooled into buying fakes should look for the DOE yellow energy label and the DTI ICC or the Products Standards mark which certifies that the commodity has passed the standards set by the DTI-Bureau of Product Standards (BPS) and the DOE Lighting and Appliance Testing Laboratory.
The ICC is issued to certify the product’s proper importation clearances before they are distributed in local markets, Hibaya said (PIA/rachiu)
by anyajulia | Oct 9, 2008 | Headlines, National News
Col. Benito T. De Leon, Commander of the 104th Infantry Brigade, 1st Infantry (Tabak) Division, Philippine Army, based in Iligan; appealed to the public to cooperate and support the peace initiatives of various stakeholders, not only for their own sake but for the sake of the future generations to come.
De Leon emphasized, “the mistakes that we do now will be paid by the generations to come.”
“The lawless MILF elements should realize that this [violence] is not the path to peace,” De Leon added.
De Leon assured that the military, with the help of the local chief executives and other stakeholders, is doing its best to end the current atrocities in Mindanao. (PIA/Bohol)
by anyajulia | Oct 9, 2008 | Headlines, National News
To prevent significant loss, members of disaster councils must truly coordinate, decisively act and take all necessary precautions whenever a storm, tropical depression or typhoon enters their respective areas of responsibility.
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo advises the Eastern Visayas Regional Disaster Coordinating Council (RDCC) when she presided the RDCC meeting last September 30.
The President said prompt reaction and proper coordination would surely minimize losses in life, agriculture, livestock and properties particularly during the onset of impending calamities.
She also ordered the RDCC to immediately conduct a rapid geological assessment of the region to pinpoint and assess barangays susceptible to disasters like typhoons, landslides, flooding and even tsunamis.
The President also advised RDCC-8 to conduct typhoon drills, locate evacuation centers, deputized barangay officials, among others. (PIA/Bohol)
