by magnolia_eic | Jan 18, 2011 | Headlines, Local News / Bohol Balita
MIHANGYO ang Bohol Provincial Police Office ug pagsabot sa publiko sa padayon nilang gihimong check points sa mga kadalanan sa probinsya.
Si PSupt. Antonieto Cuyos nipadayag sa maong hangyo atol sa usa ka information sharing sa unang tigum alang sa tuig 2011 sa Association of United Development Information Officers sa Bohol (AUDIO).
Gihangyo usab ni Cuyos ang tabang sa mga information officers sa mga kalungsuran ug mga ahensya sa kagamhanan nga tabangan usab sila sa pagpasabot ngadto sa katawhan ilabi na gayod niining panahuna nga adunay hulga sa kalinaw sa gikataho’ng paghidangnat sa mga sakop sa Abu Sayyaf dinhi sa probinsiya sa Bohol.
Ang buhatan sa BPPO-PNP gi-ulan og daghang reklamo ning mga milabay’ng adlaw sa mga motorista tungod sa gihimo niining mga check point sa mga kadalanan.
Gipasabot ni Cuyos nga ang gihimong mga check points sa kapilisan usa ka pamaagi nga ma-proteksyunan ang mga katawhan batok sa mga dautang elemento sa katilingban ug malikayan ang mga dili angayan nga mga panghitabo. (ecbPIABohol)
by magnolia_eic | Jan 18, 2011 | Headlines, Local News / Bohol Balita
“THE deadline has passed but we are not letting our guards down,” Col. Romeo Brawner told the Provincial Peace and Order Council during a meeting at the Bohol Tropics Thursday January 13.
“We are fortunate that we have surpassed the deadline set by Abu to kidnap foreigners,” Brawner said during the recent assessment of the peace and security situation in Bohol.
“We will not let our guards down, we will maintain security not only in Panglao but the whole of Bohol as well, our boats will remain in the area and our focus will remain in place,” he added.
Governor Edgar Chatto also echoed Brawner pronouncements saying “The most critical moments are when we believe the danger has passed.”
Brawner, who leads the army Special Forces Battalion cited the intelligence report that said a band of Abu Sayaff bandits were heading to Bohol on a double-engine speedboat Monday January 10 to kidnap two foreign tourists.
Brawner also confirmed that the same intelligence report which said that the deadline for the operation was within January 10-11.
“Bohol was indeed a target for kidnapping by Abusayyaf, our Manila intelligence has confirmed,” Brawner shared.
Immediately after receiving the intelligence report, which was validated and was said to have come from a reliable agent in Zamboanga, police and military authorities in Bohol rolled into motion security operations and crisis management planning to get the most immediate deterrent assets in the general area where the hit was supposed to happen.
PSSupt Constantino Barot also immediately placed Bohol under a heightened security alert even as he directed the deployment of additional police troops, augmented police stations located within Panglao island and neighboring tourist islands of Balicasag and Pamilacan.
The Philippine Navy also sent a patrol boat while the Army Special Forces also deployed their sea asset to beef up security operations in the seas.
Barot also bared that the Philippine Air Force has committed an attack and a utility chopper for the operations of the area south of Bohol.
On this, Governor Edgar Chatto stressed that “Our preparedness would never be substituted by anything else.”
We should always have the capability to respond not only to the present, but future dangers and threats, Chatto told PPOC members. (racPIABohol)
by magnolia_eic | Jan 8, 2011 | Headlines, Local News / Bohol Balita
BOHOL peace advocates see an overwhelming need to enhance its human rights monitoring capacity
inbed in its peace and order council’s Local Peace Forum (LPF).
At least the multi-sector representatives gathered at the Bohol Tropics January 4, to be oriented at
the Ateneo Law School Human Rights Center’s project to establish Multi-sectoral Quick Reaction
Team (MSQRTS) here to help monitor human rights and document possible allegations of violations.
At the gathering, church representatives led by Bishop Leonardo Medrosos, ecumenical groups, local
government unit representatives, lawyers from Bohol law schools, non government workers, security
forces, government agencies, representatives of the court and the media listened to the nuances of
the MSQRT established to monitor extra judicial killings and enforced disappearances.
MSQRT program coordinator Atty Ma. Krishna Gomez said that aide from the monitoring and
documentation, the project also includes training packages for human rights mainstreaming, and
psychosocial counseling to beneficiary provinces.
She shared that since the project started in 2008, the MSQRT has shared Information and shown
greater transparency and accountability amongst member institutions as well as enhanced trust
amongst members.
The establishment of the body in some provinces has brought in constructive involvement of the
media and opened up tables for discussion on the surfacing of issues and joint efforts in finding
solutions to EJK and ED.
On this, Governor Edgar Chatto hailed the efforts of Ateneo vene as he pointed out that the victim
centered mechanism brought about by the MSQRT concept is an apt move.
He however stressed that while the confluence of interests is shown in the faces of the attendees
and that the multisectoral effort is the right approach, he insists that a dialog would be done in
proceeding with the project that deems to be reactive and proactive at the same time.
Asked if the MSQRT would not be a duplication of the already set LMB, Atty Gomez said most of the
decisions would come from local stakeholders.
“It may be something new, taking the form of the old and perhaps a hybrid of the old and the new”,
Atty. Gomez said.
On the other hand, DILG Rustica Mascarinas said “I think that what we have LPF but the scope does
not include ELK and ED, so this could be an added feature of the LPF. (racPIABohol)
by magnolia_eic | Jan 8, 2011 | Headlines, Local News / Bohol Balita
BOHOL would establish at least five mariculture parks within the first quarter of 2011, said the
Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) head here.
Another mariculture park would be due in the succeeding quarter, according to BFAR Cresencio
Pahamutang.
The parks would be a venue for new hatcheries of abalone, lapu-lapu, sea bass, snappers, groupers,
pompano and kitong, fish that are in high demand for tourists and locals who have not been so used
to feasting on fresh water fish.
This way, we could help stabilize the supply of fish especially during the colder months when pelagic
Fishes would be migrating to warmer and thus deeper seas, he said as he explained the noted lower
fish catch during the monsoon (habagat) season and the succeeding colder months of the year.
Sharing the seasonal tendency of fisheries, he said that off season would mean lower catch, doubly
complicated by the fact that the season also coincides with the heightened buying capacity of people
with the holiday season’s fat bonuses.
These factors help build up and push the prices up as the demand is high and the supply is miserably
low.
To help stabilize local supplies during the colder months, the government through the Department
of Agriculture-BFAR has pushed for the establishment of the mariculture parks where first class fish
could be bred and harvested as easily.
He revealed that the beginning month would also witness the launching of high-value fingerlings for
lapu-lapu, sea-bass, snappers, grouper and kitong at Sinandigan Island in Ubay town.
Eyed as locations for the mariculture parts are Panggangan Island, in Calape, islets in Ubay, Talibon
and Candijay, separate sources said. This has yet to be confirmed by BFAR however.
Capitol’s Liza Quirog also said that apart from the establishment of mari-culture parks, the
government is also into urging people to start backyard fisheries at fresh water impounding systems,
farms and ponds to increase the production and fill in the gap left by reduced commercial fishers.
(racPIABOhol)
by magnolia_eic | Jan 8, 2011 | Headlines, Local News / Bohol Balita
WE have built a digital communication infrastructure that could boost local jobs, but will investors
take the bait?
Taking the cue from the country’s overtaking India as the business process outsourcing (BPO) capital
of the world, Bohol officials eye offering Bohol to investors as a future BPO center in 2011, reveals
Governor Edgar Chatto during his weekly radio program.
Recently completing a fiber optic link that connects Bohol to a major information communications
hub, local efforts have also succeeded in opening up slots to accommodate at least 10,500 seats for
call center and BPO agents, Chatto said.
Recent records tell that Bohol has only a single call center operating in Tagbilaran despite an
infrastructure that could accommodate practically a thousand times more, a graduate from a
computer learning center shared.
With at least five Bohol schools offering ICT and call center operations courses, even the manpower
support has proven to be a formidable force for now, he added.
A year after putting up the infrastructure support for the miracle industry that has netted billions of
revenues for the government, government leaders here are taking a serious look at the prospects of
a bullish BPO here.
The newly organized Bohol Information Communication Technology Council (BICT) supervised by the
Department of trade and Industry and the Provincial Government has been in a series of meetings to
usher in the golden age of ICT in Bohol, the latest of which was this week, Capitol sources said.
Governor Edgar Chatto, at the recent Kita ug ang Gobernador Friday was ecstatic about the present
Bohol capability to accommodate seats for call center and outsourcing industries.
Now with the digital infrastructure and manpower support, Bohol is in a threshold of opening the
gates for investors to bring in job opportunities for communication technology workers here and
nearby provinces.
More on this, the governor said he is inviting the Commission on Information Communication
Technology (CICT) through Commissioner Monchitio Ibrahim to meet with the local council and
leaders to iron out the details of the plan.
The moment ICT starts in Bohol, there would be more to come as the government could build more
and more infrastructure to enhance the industry, Chatto said. (racPIABohol)
by magnolia_eic | Jan 8, 2011 | Headlines, Local News / Bohol Balita
STRONGER private sector presence in partnership with the public sector can be very good for the
tourism industry in Bohol, take it from a tested businessman member of the Bohol Chamber of
Commerce and Industry.
According to Fortunato Lim of the Fortune Enterprises fame, there is still a good room for
development in tourism infrastructure facilities in Bohol to make us globally competitive.
Speaking for the BCCI, Lim said the private sector can do a lot about the things we need to get right
to make Bohol a memorable tourism destination.
Himself having been sent to Phuket for a tourism benchmarking trip, Lim said Thais have a very
competitive tourism development with the help of the private sector.
At the Kapihan sa PIA aired live over DyTR, Lim said that Boholanos can still be very hopeful of the
tourism boom which is still expected to reach greater heights this year.
In fact, he said the BCCI is actively engaged in public and private sector partnerships to press on the
philosophy of cooperation.
He said the Chamber has been actively meeting with local government units and agencies to help
craft development plans to ensure sustainability.
Lim said that the Chamber sits to local planners and an urban master planner for the creation of a
zoning ordinance in Panglao, Bohol’s most profitable growth area in the next few years.
One of the problems of the tourist island is that it has not legislated its zoning ordinance yet that land
owners have a fairly free hand in their development without considering the integral development of
the place.
A good road network in the plan would help spur economic activity, an ace that could make the
island more investor friendly.
With Tagbilaran as a tourist gateway, Lim said suggestions to rid the main thoroughfares of ugly
tangles of sagging power and phone lines have been put up and could possibly be a priority to
enhance the islands tourism value. (racPIABohol)
