by magnolia_eic | Jan 6, 2011 | Headlines, National News
Department of Health officials advised the public to take precautions against respiratory
ailments stemming from the prevailing cold weather.
Dr. Lyndon Lee Suy, the Health Department’s program manager for emerging and re-
emerging infectious diseases, said sudden weather changes may particularly be a concern
for those with asthma.
“Sudden increase or decrease in temperature will have an effect on the lungs… Our bodies
have to adjust to the climate,” Lee Suy said in a radio interview on Wednesday.
National Epidemiology Center head Dr. Eric Tayag also said in a separate interview that
children, the elderly and pregnant women are particularly vulnerable. He said the cold
weather is likely to be a factor behind acute respiratory tract infections, colds, coughs, and
even flu.
Tayag urged the public to take vitamins, especially Vitamin C, wear extra layers of clothes
and eat nutritious food like fruits. (PIA/DOH)
by magnolia_eic | Jan 4, 2011 | Headlines, National News
Padayon gihapon ang pagsaka sa mga natala nga nasamdang biktima sa pabuto pila ka
adlaw human ang pagsaulog sa Bag-ong Tuig.
Nigawas sa datos sa Kampanya Kontra Paputok Surveillance Team sa Department of Health
(DOH) nga niabot na sa 890 ang gidaghanon sa mga natala nga firecrackers related injuries.
Matud pa sa mga opisyal sa DOH, mas taas pa kini og 17 porsiyento kon itandi sa milabay
nga lima ka tuig sugod niadtong tuig 2005 hangtud 2010.
Nasayran nga sa 844 nga kaso tungod sa mga pabuto, 36 tungod sa stray bullet, 11 tungod
sa fireworks ingestion ug usa usab ang natala nga namatay.
Sa 17 ka rehiyon sa nasud, ang National Capital Region (NCR) pa gihapon ang nitala sa
pinadaghan og biktima nga anaa sa 55%.
Samtang ang pabuto nga piccolo pa gihapon ang daghang nabiktima nga niabot sa 240, 125
tungod sa kwitis, 52 tungod sa 5-star, 47 tungod sa pla-pla ug 38 usab ang tungod sa lusis.
(PIA-Bohol/ecb)
by magnolia_eic | Jan 4, 2011 | Headlines, National News
The Department of Education (DepEd) is planning to hire more than 10,000 teachers this year to serve
almost 2.5 million preschool children in the country.
“This new year, we are renewing our commitment to reach all children of school age as part of our
intensified efforts towards achieving the Education For All (EFA) commitment,” Education Secretary
Armin Luistro said.
Luistro said that with the increase in DepEd’s budget this year, the department will implement the
universal public kindergarten program for five-year-olds.
In line with this, the department is set to undertake a ground mapping of all school-aged children by
way of pre-registration all over the country starting January 15.
“The pre-registration will not only allow us to determine the interventions needed to ensure that the
EFA commitment is within the department’s reach, but it will also enable us to have a wider reach of
children who are deprived of basic education,” Luistro said.
From the 1,914,137 who were reached in 2010 in both public and private schools, DepEd targets to
raise the number of preschool children it will serve to almost 2.5 million or a 21 percent increase in
2011.
Currently, there are 29,615 preschool teachers. Of these, only 2,299 hold permanent items and the rest
are on contract of service status.
This year, DepEd targets to open more than 700 permanent teaching positions and accommodate more
than 10,000 contractual teachers.
by magnolia_eic | Jan 4, 2011 | Headlines, Local News / Bohol Balita
CATIGBIAN Bohol. SPORTS and youth development has gone professional in this town, which has earlier
vowed a no-nonsense program after a humiliating sports performance few years back.
How can we produce the best athletes if we only give them a week of rigid athletic training, Mayor Roberto
Salinas blurted out upon seeing the futility of a haphazard training regimen for their athletes competing in
sports competitions.
On this, the retired navy captain mayor egged his council to back up a sports training program that would
generate the best athletes who shall bring the town’s name in sports competitions.
Recently, aside from bringing home the bacon in sports competitions they participated in, local athletes also
received cash incentives from the local government
Winning athletes who represented the town in this year’s different levels of sports competitions earned cash
awards during the monthly convocation held December 20.
According to Maria Nila Tapales, town information officer, the awarding came after Mayor Roberto Salinas
convinced the local legislators to put up a sports incentive fund through an ordinance.
After that, Catigbian
with another supplemental ordinance of P14,000 to account for the better medal harvest for the year, Tapales
continued.
The P54,00 appropriations this year is different from the appropriations as honoraria for coaches, trainors and
training instructors, appropriation for sports equipment acquisition and financial support to the competing
delegation, she added.
Athletes who competed and reaped awards during the Congressional meet for public schools, BACS meet for
catholic secondary schools, the provincial meet and the Central Visayas Regional Athletic Association (CVRAA
in Dumaguete) each received at least a hundred to a thousand pesos.
After the incentive program was institutionalized, we noticed a flurry of excitement among local athletes who
appear to be more determined to bring out their best and excel in their fields.
Tapales cited that the sports training regimen has also made it possible for Catigbian to send about 21 athletes
to the regional athletic competition.
While the delegation could probably be the biggest among towns here, Catigbian officials were sure that the
harvest of about 7 medals could eloquently tell the success stories.
Catigbianons came home bringing various medals in arnis, sepak takraw, badminton doubles, single lawn
tennis for high schools, javelin throw and swimming. (racPIABohol)
by magnolia_eic | Jan 3, 2011 | Headlines, National News
Philippine officials are working to help secure the release of seven Filipino seafarers who
have being held captive by Somali pirates since Monday, the Department of Foreign Affairs
said Wednesday.
The DFA said the seven were aboard the German-owned cargo vessel MV EMS River that
pirates hijacked last Monday.
“The Philippine Foreign Liaison Officer to the Combined Maritime Command in Bahrain,
Commander Gaudencio Collado, is now coordinating with naval authorities to resolve the
case,” the DFA said in an article posted on its website.
It said the MV EMS River was seized approximately 175 nautical miles northeast of the port
of Salalah in Oman. The ship was en route to San Nicolas, Greece, from Jebel Ali in the
United Arab Emirates at the time of the attack.
The cargo ship has a crew of seven Filipinos and one Romanian, an Associated Press report
said.
According to the DFA, its Office of the Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs (DFA-
OUMWA) had learned that the ship’s manning agency in Manila already informed the families
of the seafarers about the incident. (PIA/DFA)
