by anyajulia | Aug 17, 2009 | Headlines, National News
The National Food Authority (NFA) keeps its commitment to buy as much of the local produce as it is conducting intensive buying of corn in major producing regions.
NFA is targeting to buy 4.6 million bags of yellow corn grains equivalent to P2.8 billion and 1.3 million bags of white corn grains worth P892 million until December this year.
Farmers are enjoying a high ex-farm price averaging P15.11 and P10.62, respectively, for white and yellow corn varieties.
Meanwhile, the Department of Agriculture (DA) is also intensifying its support to the local corn industry from production up to post harvest stage to ensure farmers will attain higher yield, lower production and marketing costs and reduced post harvest losses. (PNA)
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by anyajulia | Aug 15, 2009 | Headlines, Local News / Bohol Balita
NEXT on the line of coordination for the local task force on the Panglao Bohol International Airport Project (PBIAP) is for the detention pond lot acquisition, reports Atty. Handel Lagunay Friday.
The detention pond, a necessary place to collect excess water run-off from the soon to rise facility is also a basic requirement in the complex to maintain sub-base integrity, says an engineer who is privy to international requirements in building airport infrastructure.
Allowing run-off water to seep just anywhere jeopardizes the structural integrity of runways and much more, the water collection pond also allows easy treatment so the water can be reused for several purposes, he explained.
As for the Presidential pilot project in Bohol, the talks about acquiring the water collection (detention) pond for the facility surfaced when the local task force came to Barangay Danao in Panglao last week, to meet land-owners for the additional acquisition program.
From the looks of it, Atty Handel Lagunay said, majority of the landowners are amenable to the plan while he admitted some needs more thorough explanation to convince them to give their lots up for sale.
Saying he doesn’t believe it would come to the touchy expropriation proceedings, Atty Lagunay also hinted that the unified support by the local government would facilitate the government acquisition.
Lagunay bared during the weekly Governor Reports that he was elated of the turn-out after informing land-owners of the plan, despite noting that some landowners did have reservations.
This as the PBIAP project costing has coasted through the NEDA Board as the President promised it would two weeks ago.
The NEDA board was the final validating government body to see to the project before the bidding documents could be released and the normal government implementaion procedures for infrstructure projects start, sources said.
By its timetable, the PBIAP would start its civil works with the runway construction by December this year.
It may not be thoroughly completed as President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo ends her term in June 2010 as promised, but it would have substantial developments already by that time, Lagunay summed. (PIA)
by anyajulia | Aug 14, 2009 | Headlines, Local News / Bohol Balita
BOHOL earns her third accolade in a row by grabbing the Consistent Regional Outstanding Winner in Nutrition (CROWN) this year, reports Governor Erico Aumentado Friday.
Bohol took the CROWN since 2006 and this year was a near sweep for Bohol, Gov. Aumenatdo commented over his weekly radio program aired live.
If not for Lapulapu City and its P28M nutrition program funds winning in the city category, Bohol could have swept it all, the governor who is enjoying his last term said.
Also winning in this year’s regional nutri-competition is Tubigon town for the second year in a row for municipal categories.
Winning too is Boholana Barangay Nutrition Scholar Pergentina Anod of Cagawasan Inabanga and Provincial Nutrition Coordinator Juliet Manliguez of the Bohol Provincial Health Office by besting other Central Visayan coordinators.
Elated to reveal how Bohol scored in this year’s regional fete, Aumentado, who personally received the award from the National Nutrition Council in a Cebu ceremony, said the council considered local efforts to blot out hunger to part with the award.
He said the council took the Rice Accelerated Emergency Response (Racer), the backyard gardening program advanced by the Provincial Legislative Council through Vice Governor Julius Caesar Herrera, the supplemental feeding program and the monthly feeding activities for poor children at CIVAC venues as indicative of the efforts to blot out hunger and pump in nutrition for the entire province.
As this came, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo also issued Executive Order No. 825 creating the Local Anti-Hunger Task Force.
Bohol local officials laos hope to create, by virtue of the Presidential directive, its own anti-hunger task force to advance its interests in immediate hunger mitigation.
Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said the President created the order with her commitment to eradicate all forms of deprivation, including that relates to hunger, by pursuing the objectives of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
The latest quarterly survey on hunger conducted by Social Weather Stations (SWS) showed that hunger incidence in the country declined dramatically from 23.7 percent (4.3 million families) in the fourth quarter of 2008 to 15.5 percent (2.9 million families out of 86 million Filipino population).
He said the Accelerated Hunger Mitigation Program (AHMP) implemented by the Arroyo government addresses hunger both on the aspect of supply, or the unavailability or insufficiency of food to eat, and on the aspect of demand, or the lack of money to buy food.
The AHMP is implemented by national government agencies based on the hunger-mitigation program framework, in cooperation with local government units. (PIA)
by anyajulia | Aug 14, 2009 | Headlines, Local News / Bohol Balita
SUSTAINING Bohol water sources earn a little bit of help from the ABS-CBN Foundation’s Bantay Kalikasan and the country’s environment department.
Bohol officials Friday signed a memorandum of agreement with ABS-CBN and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources for the conservation and rehabilitation program of at least 30,000 square hectares of watersheds.
By that, they also ascertained that the partnerships forged could be the onset of brighter things for environmental intervention in this island whose residents swear on the environment protection as a way of life.
The signing held at the Loboc Children’s Palace signals the putting up of environmental remedies to the 19,000 square hectares of catchment in the Loboc watershed and some 11,000 square hectares of watershed comprised by six towns sharing the Abatan River.
Keeping the watershed for future generations and assuring its judicious use as a resources, has been a dream of communities within the watershed areas, aired a community organizer who was well into resource rehabilitation in addition to the development.
At the MOA signing were no less than ABSCBN foundation’s Gina Lopez and DENR’s Lito Atienza, who also took his adoption as honorary son of Bohol that day. Governor Erico Aumentado signed the partnership MOA for Bohol.
Both Abatan and Loboc watersheds have been eyed as possible alternative water sources for Tagbilaran City and its nearby towns. Bohol’s partnering with Bantay Kalikasan and knowing its track record with the Luzon’s La Mesa Dam has already elated Boholanos.
Part of the development is establishing nature parks with in the watershed area, cutting out trails for trekking, camping and picnic grounds, bird watching sites and putting up reforestation programs to rehabilitate the general area, explains Atty. Tomas Abapo earlier.
We could be creating a new tourism destination in Loboc, to complement with the usual river cruises and tarsier inter-action, a tour operator admitted given the opportunity to project for the success of the programmed partnership.
But the biggest victory should be for the community within the watershed areas to be taught how to care for their owned resource and using the help of other cooperative agencies to make a pitch for the good life, the tourism stakeholder shared. (PIA)
by anyajulia | Aug 14, 2009 | Headlines, National News
THE countrys seemingly quixotic fight against illegal drugs gets a boost here in Bohol with Capitol lending a quarter of a million-revolving fund for buy bust operations in support of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA)
By virtue of an executive order he signed August 12, aside from putting up the seed money for the gvernment’s anti drug operations here, Governor Erico Aumentado also reaffirmed Bohols support to the President-led anti-drug operations moving all across the country along with other concerned law enforcement agencies.
President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has personally taken the monicker as the anti-drug czarina in the country’s decades old war aganst the proliferation of dangerours drugs, which has wasted too many young lives and muddled to many young futures.
In Bohol, through executive Order No. 16, series of 2009, the commitment to the drive also hopes to engage component local government units to take the example and come up wth their local commitments of support, says Provincial Legal Officer Handel Lagunay during last Friday’s The Governor’s Reports.
The quarter of a million, Governor Aumentado said was sourced out from the Capitol’s intelligence funds and would be primarilly used to set up buy-bust operations to aid the often cash-trapped government anti-narcotic agencies.
The fund however, the governor explained would be subjected to the usual government audit policies.
Earlier, PDEA’s intelligence Officer Steven Valles admitted that PDEA operates on a tight fund and the replenishment is not that fast, so set up operations are hampered.
PDEA, in a specail talk last week also admitted the lack of manpower to relentlessly pursue drug offenders so the need to deputize some members of the local police force became as imperative.
The PDEA put up a deputizaton seminar last Monday to Wednesday to formally expand their force and advance the anti-drug drive to Bohol, a logical drug spills over province.
According to the Dangerous drugs Board, Central Visayas, where Bohol is located ranks as the country’s second largest user of drugs. Observers however agree that the problem is basically concentrated in Cebu. (PIA)
