by btpo | Oct 9, 2009 | Local News / Bohol Balita
Staunch environmentalist and climate change advocate Senator Loren B. Legarda proposed the creation of a volunteer group to be trained to alert communities during the first sign of natural calamities such as earthquakes, rising sea levels and heavy rainfall. In an interview conducted during the most listened Public Affairs Program “Pulso” over DYRD-AM with anchorman Kagawad Batchoy Alba, Senator Loren Legarda thru phone-patch on Wednesday was asked about what the senator calls “green army”. Senator Legarda explains the organization of “green army” as early warning brigade of manpower to become environment and community leaders. The so called “green army” according to the lady senator, are dedicated young men and women, passionate and dynamic volunteers to fight climate change and deal with it’s cruel consequences like extreme weather events. Legarda further said, green army shall compose of Kagawads, barangay officials and youth volunteers trained to lead evacuation efforts esp. in disaster prone areas. And that they will also conduct rescue and relief operations in affected localities, serving as the disaster response arm of local governments. Legarda also called for the creation of green jobs, beginning with providing daily wages for the quick clean up of affected areas and the de-clogging of waterways. “Many of the solutions to climate change are, surprisingly, nothing sophisticated. They are simple, doable and highly implementable. We only need to muster enough political will in bringing the issue to the fore,” said Loren who chairs the Senate Committee on Climate Change.
by btpo | Oct 9, 2009 | National News
Senator Loren B. Legarda on Wednesday led the opening of a job fair which provided a venue for about 100 employers and 6,000 job-seekers to meet and fill-up vacancies with qualified applicants, reducing unemployment incidence among the country’s workforce.
Tagged Local and Overseas Registration for Employment Now, the job fair also seeks to determine the extent of mismatch in labor supply and demand in Manila and the global labor market through training and educational re-direction. LOREN Job Fair was held at the Cuneta Astrodome in Pasay City .
“The job fair aimed to maximize the underutilized labor force we have in the country for both domestic and overseas employment. If we do not provide opportunities and facilitate the job search, we will lose our chances for overseas work to other Asian migrant workers and our domestic labor force will suffer incompatibility and exhaustion of skills against current demands,” warned Legarda, Chair of the Senate Committee on Health and Demography.
Of 92 million Filipinos, 57 M (64%) forms the country’s labor force but 2.9 M (7.6%) of them are jobless. Half of this is comprised by the young , aged 24 and below. Majority of these young people have taken the route to Manila , competing for high paying jobs in the service and industry sectors.
“Foremost among the causes of unemployment is the inability of the economy to create enough jobs, the barriers to entry in the labor market such as lack of appropriate qualifications, and the information gap on available supply and demand for workers,” explained Legarda. “We want to help solve that through this job fair initiative.”
Legarda is optimistic that the Philippine labor landscape is not as badly affected by the crisis as it has industrialized economies. Spain has a record-high of 17.4% unemployment, the United States has 9.5%, Germany 8.6%. This only illustrates how vulnerable market economies are, even the biggest not spared of the crisis. Legarda warned that while the Philippines has a relatively lower [unemployment rate] compared to these countries, the country’s leaders and policymakers cannot be complacent.
“Providing jobs for our people is, first of all, our moral, civil and political obligation. It is the best way to save Filipino families from poverty, and at the same time continuously pump badly-needed foreign remittance into our domestic economy,” said Legarda.
The Job Fair composed of 100 local and overseas employers and agencies, a showcase of the DOLE’s various livelihood and self-employment programs, pre-employment document services, career talks, and technology and skills demonstrations.
The job fair was conducted in partnership with the Department of Labor and Employment, the City government of Pasay , the PESO Association of Metro Manila. (plforsll)
by btpo | Oct 8, 2009 | Headlines
Newly qualified voters have 26 more days left to register so they can vote in the May 2010 polls. Commission on Elections (COMELEC) Supervisor Eliseo Labaria said that no extension of said deadline has been issued by central offices in Manila. Labaria expects more turnout of new voters considering that the level of awareness for the 2010 polls remains high since it is both a presidential and local election. He urged those who will turn 18 years of age to exercise their right of suffrage. Meanwhile, the filing of certificate of candidacies, for both local and national candidates will start on Nov. 20. The 10-day registration period ends on Nov.30. This will be the first time that the final list of voters will be known early, even five months before Election Day. This is due to the fact that the names will still be encoded in the official ballots which will be fed to the computers on Election Day. If the poll automation gets implemented, there will be shading of candidate slots, instead of writing the candidates’ names on the ballot. The campaign period for national candidates, presidential, vice presidential and senatorial bets will start on Feb 9. Local candidates can start campaigning on March 26. Election ban officially starts on January 10.
by btpo | Oct 8, 2009 | Headlines
Lawyers of the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) will file criminal charges against delinquent employers. With one of the major thrusts of the corporation for 2009, to intensify premium recovery efforts in all PhilHealth regional offices. Another reason is due to a number of complaints filed against employers for not remitting the premium contributions of their employees. In region 7 alone, there have been 35 companies as of August 2009 reported and monitored to have arrears with PhilHealth ranging from a thousand to as much as P400. Delinquent employers are identified through monitoring and comparing data from PhilHealth member accounts information system and treasury database, visitation of employer’s premises to determine its status of remittance, and complaints from employees.
Any employer who fails to remit its employees’ contribution will be issued a billing statement by the collection section of PhilHealth. The employer is expected to comply within a given period. If the employer fails to settle its arrears after due notices, the legal service sector will take legal action in accordance to the penal provisions of Article X of R.A. 7875 as amended and Sections 161 and 162 of the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of R.A. 7875.
by btpo | Oct 8, 2009 | Local News / Bohol Balita
P23 million for two major Bohol Tourism Road Improvement Projects (Bohol TRIPs), and the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) administrative order converting the Sagbayan-Danao Road into a national highway. A multi-million windfall for Bohol after two meetings of the province governor with Public Works Secretary Hermogenes Ebdane Jr. who ordered the immediate release of P15 million for the Sagbayan-Danao Road, and an initial P8 million for the Ubay New Access Road from the Bohol Circumferential Road Project to the Ubay Port – Bohol’s gateway to Metro Manila and northeastern Mindanao under President Arroyo’s Strong Republic Nautical Highway. Ebdane also released his Department Administrative Order converting the vital Sagbayan-Danao Road into a national highway. The secretary assured for the province that he will similarly issue in due time the administrative order converting the Balilihan-Janopol-Batuan Provincial Road , the Guindulman-Anda-Cogtong-Candijay-Mabini-Ubay Provincial Road as well as the Baclayon Bypass into national highways. The conversion of the afore-cited highways will relieve the provincial government of the road maintenance and improvement thereon since the responsibility will now be undertaken by the national government.
