by admin | Jan 21, 2017 | Headlines, Local News / Bohol Balita, PAGASA and NDRRMC Updates, Weather Coverage
Tagbilaran City–Bane or boon, the heavy downpour which caused massive hassle in Bohol in the past days have filled Bohol’s major dams.
When the excessive amount of water swelled rivers and creeks and submerged crops and recefields, it also managed to fill all four major irrigation reservoirs in Bohol.
Already in their spilling levels, the water in Malinao Dam in Pilar, Bayongan Dam in San Miguel, Capayas Dam in Ubay and Zamora Dam in Talibon indicate a good start for a cropping year, according to National Irrigation Administration (NIA) 7 Regional Manager Engr. Modesto Membreve.
In fact, Bayongan Dam in San Miguel, Bohol which has not seen so much water, spilled at about 3:00PM, January 16, and Engr Membreve was there on site to personally observe the situation, shared NIA-7 Information Officer Tony Alonzo.
“I am observing the current situation closely to able to decide whatever action is necessary to make on this rainy condition, and use it to our advantage.” RM Membreve was quoted saying.
Although Bayongan Dam rarely reaches its spilling level, NIA Management is confident that it has held up well to its purpose and design since the start of its operation.
Project critics have doubted the feasibility of the mega dam, but situation like this is one of the many justifications for this project, Alonzo pointed out.
Since the completion of the Bohol Irrigation Project Phase II in 2009, which was highlighted by the construction of the 35.50 meters high Bayongan Dam, it was only after three years, or in 2012, that the dam’s reservoir reached a spilling level.
At that time, it was also when RM Membreve still headed the management of NIA Region 7.
Since then, there never was any time that the Bayongan Dam was able to stock up water close to a spilling level despite several typhoons and LPAs experienced by the province during that span, NIA sources said.
Five years later, and just six months after he reassumed the helm of the Irrigation Management of the region, the spilling occurred again.
“Although we rely mostly on rain to flood our reservoirs to full capacity, monitoring and management is still a critical aspect to maximize the water we may able store. Considering the complexity of the Bohol Integrated Irrigation System (BIIS) where Malinao, Bayongan and Capayas Dams are connected, anticipation and wise decision making is crucial,” Manager Membreve explained.
“I am grateful on the response of our field personnel who have been on the watch since the onset of this rainy condition we experienced. Otherwise, those heavy rains could have gone back to the rivers useless.” he added.
The fact that Bayongan Dam is full this early, this is an indicative that there will be a sufficient irrigation water supply for the rest of the year.
The water can serve the 3720 hectares of operational area within Bayongan and Capayas Irrigation Systems, this could benefit approximately 5070 farmers, NIA said.
Malinao and Talibon Irrigation Systems on the other hand have a constant inflow from the rivers above their reservoirs adequate for their operation. (NIA)
by admin | Jan 21, 2017 | Headlines, Kita ug ang Gobernador, Local News / Bohol Balita, Photo Story
OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR
Effective Development Communications Unit
Bohol declares UN-WTO International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development
During 17th Bohol Ubi Festival
Bohol is first in the country to declare 2017 as United Nations World Tourism Organization (UN-WTO) International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development.
Gov. Edgar Chatto pledged commitment and symbolically sliced an ube open to officially launch in Bohol 2017 as the UN-WTO International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development during the Opening Program of the 17th Ube Festival on Friday, January 20.
The declaration highlights as key Economic, Environment, and Socio cultural aspects of tourism.
Gov. Chatto said agriculture and tourism remain major development pillars for Bohol and the Ube Festival features both agriculture and tourism that is not only distinctive of Bohol but also contributing to economic growth of the province.
Guest speaker Department of Tourism (DOT) Region 7 Director Catalino Chan III, who came on behalf of DOT Sec. Wanda Teo, committed to include the Ube Festival as one of major events in the national tourism calendar.
According to Chan, Bohol is the limelight of the Philippine tourism industry, citing recorded 4.3 million tourists in January for the entire Central Visayas.
The International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development 2017 was officially launched last January 19 at the International Tourism Fair of Spain, FITUR.
Chan also joined Chatto and the rest of provincial and municipal officials as well as agriculture and tourism stakeholders at the ribbon cutting ceremony to open the exhibit at Plaza Rizal.
Apo Hiking Society member Jim Paredes, joined by Chuckie Dreyfus also graced the ribbon cutting rites. They were with a host of bloggers sponsored by Air Asia to experience the Ube Festival as one of stops in their tourism package. This was part of year-round tourism promotions activities planned by the Provincial Tourism Council.
Twenty one booths are displaying varieties of the revered ube at the fair that will run until tomorrow, Monday, January 23, 2017.
The Ube festival kicked off with a motorcade followed by the opening program and exhibit opening simultaneous with Pinaka contests: Pinaka (best quality harvest, best booth and ube exhibit, ube postermaking contest.
The annual festival also featured an ube cook off as well as a literary musical contest that included ube balak, ube kuradang, ube rap and jungle, and bugno sa rondalya.
An investment forum, ube technology updates, agri-tourism forum, and saemul undong lectures were also held.
The festival will close Monday with awarding of winners of the Ube Festival and a recognition of Gulayan sa Paaralan winners for 2016. (Leah/EDCOM)
by admin | Jan 21, 2017 | Headlines, Kita ug ang Gobernador, Local News / Bohol Balita
The Telephone and Radio Systems Integrated Emergency Response or TaRSIER117 expands its services with the launch of the TaRSIER117 mobile application.
Gov. Edgar Chatto and Provincial Administrator Alfonso R. Damalerio II led the launching of the TaRSIER117 quick response application during a meeting of the Management Executive Board.
The app can be downloaded on the App Store for iOS smart phones or via Playstore for Android users.
The TaRSIER117 quick response application is a quick dialler app and it has a directory for numbers to call during emergency situations. When a call is made using the application, TaRSIER117 can locate the caller.
It will be modified later on to include quick guides on how to respond to emergency situations.
The mobile app launching was held after the blessing of new TaRSIER117 emergency response vehicles and equipment.
New ambulances and utility trucks for effective disaster response
Blessed were new vehicles including four ambulances, three utility vehicles (relief truck, boom truck, and evacuation truck), two rescue boats, as well as 6 sets of fire fighting protective equipment.
The day after, Gov Chatto turned over the two ambulances for district hospitals of Loon and Inabanga to Dr. Celestina Ma. dela Serna and Dr. Victor Allan Torrefranca, respective hospital chiefs in the presence of Provincial Administrator Ae Damalerio and Health Cluster Coordinator Dr. Cesar Tomas Lopez.
He also turned over a disaster relief truck to the Office of the Provincial Social Welfare and Development Office headed by Carmelita Tecson.
The mobile app launch and the provision of new TaRSIER117 vehicles and equipment are part of up scaling and strengthening of services for disaster preparedness and response.
Chatto inspects areas affected by heavy rains
Just this week, Gov. Chatto had to declare suspension of classes to ensure safety with the rise of flood waters in many areas of the province due to heavy rains brought about by a Low Pressure Area and the Tail End of a Cold Front.
Arriving from Davao City for the ASEAN 2017 HOSTING LAUNCH, the governor immediately inspected areas in Tubigon, Catigbian (Baang), Balilihan ( Hanopol ) and Cortes (Rosario and Loreto) where landslides & floodwaters were reported. He continued inspection of affected areas in Sikatuna, Loboc, Bilar, Carmen and Sagbayan the next day.
PDRRMO Head Anthony Damalerio immediately convened disaster relief teams of DSWD, PSWD & Red Cross upon the governor’s instructions. Search and rescue teams of TARSIER 117, PNP, AFP, COAST GUARD and other concerned agencies were on high alert level.
The Provincial Agriculture Office Chief Larry Pamugas was also instructed to immediately submit agriculture sector damage reports due to flooding.
Engineering teams were likewise dispatched to landslide affected areas.
TaRSIER117 constantly released PAGASA weather updates to the disaster teams at the provincial, city, municipal and barangay levels.
by admin | Jan 21, 2017 | Headlines, Kita ug ang Gobernador, Local News / Bohol Balita, Photo Story
Gov. Edgar Chatto thanked the Alturas Group of Companies, Asia Pacific Projects, Incorporated and Tourism Infrastructure Economic Zone Authority (TIEZA) for starting with the right foot forward in the presentation of the Panglao Bay Premier Flagship Tourism Enterprise Zone Development Plan at South Palms Resort in Panglao on Wednesday.
This is what government expects from big time developers, the governor said.
“All investors should do this: present plans to the stakeholders so that all other players in government and private sectors can support and align prioritization of their own plans consistent with the investors’ directions,” he said.
The Alturas Group gathered local officials, national government agencies, non government organizations, civil society groups in a forum to present the draft plan for the flagship tourism enterprise zone in Panglao, which will be among 5 listed potential flagship tourism enterprise zones.
The priority area for the Panglao Bay Premier Flagship TEZ covers over 50 hectares in Panglao and is about 3 kilometers by road away from the New Bohol Airport.
The development envisions luxury hotels, hotel residences, spa and wellness centers, bed and breakfast places, a village market, shops, among others.
The project is expected to make Bohol a major tourism player than it already is and create additional jobs. The flagship TEZ is seen to create employment of up to 8,000 and generate economic activities for the local communities.
The governor also commended consultants for presenting a plan that was built on sustainable development, that is close to the heart of the Boholanos, making sure to integrate social, economic, and environment impacts into the master plan.
The establishment of flagship tourism zones is part of aim for Philippine tourism to be at par with global players.
The TIEZA program sought out sites with viable tourism potential, have them master planned, and develop them into sustainable tourism destinations, as per the Philippine National Tourism Development Plan, to improve marketing competitiveness of the Philippine tourism product.
The flagship TEZ breathes life to the Tourism Act of 2009 as it is the legal basis of the Panglao Bay Premier Flagship Tourism Enterprize Zone (TEZ) under the support and supervision of the Tourism Infrastructure & Enterprize Zone Authority (TIEZA).
Republic Act 9593 s. 2009 is the bible of Philippine Tourism principally authored by Gov. Chatto and Sen. Gordon in the House and Senate respectively. (Leah/EDCOM)
by admin | Jan 21, 2017 | Headlines, Local News / Bohol Balita, Tech Talk
GOV. EDGAR M. CHATTO sat with the Bohol Information and Communication Technology Council (BICTC) for a situationer briefing of Bohol’s digital landscape and to brainstorm on the immediate need for an ICT Education Summit for the province at the Governor’s Mansion Tuesday.
Lai Biliran updated the governor about Digital Bohol and presented the data on Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) ranking in the Visayas across varied disciplines as it correlates to the long-haul development agenda of the province and the need for jobs by big industries.
Gov. Chatto and the BICTC members were made to understand how the HEI rankings reflect Boholano institutions’ status as regards to world-class quality education, as compared to that of other learning establishments in other areas in the country.
Ms. Biliran emphasized and explained about the importance of the terms “Center of Excellence” and “Center of Development” as reflected on the HEI rankings and how they reflect a learning institution’s capability and capacity in passing on world-class quality education to its students.
As defined under CHED Memorandum Order (CMO) No. 16 Series of 2015, a Center of Excellence (COE) refers to a teacher education program under a college or department within a HEI, which continually demonstrates excellent performance in the areas of instruction, research and publication, extension and Linkages, institutional qualifications, and exhibit an excellent ability to produce quality pre-service teacher education to meet the needs of progressive teachers for elementary, secondary and special education programs in the Philippines.
To qualify for the selection of COE, the teacher education programs should have passed the initial screening, which includes Level II accreditation/international standing.
To be considered a COE, the total score for the different parameters in the criteria should at least be 75 points.
As to Center of Development (COD), it refers to a teacher education program under a college or department within a higher education institution which demonstrates the potential to become a COE in the future.
To qualify for this, an institution’s teacher education program should have also passed the initial screening, which includes the same level as that of the COD.
But in this case, to be considered a COD, the total score of the different parameters in the criteria should at least be 65 points.
Gov. Chatto studied the data presented to him by Ms. Biliran, where he became a bit concerned for in Region 7, only six from Cebu, one from Dumaguete, and one from Tacloban got the COE and COD designations.
Ms. Biliran then exhaustibly explained that despite the brilliance of students and the excellent education that Boholanos are getting from our very own learning institutions, the degrees that our graduates get from their college education either do not complement, are not related to, or not in parallel with, the job openings of the establishments here.
This is also the reason why our very own graduates look for job vacancies in other areas for Bohol lacks the job opportunities that job seekers could relate to, or in consonance with, what they have learned in school.
This is why Bohol needs to have an ICT Education Summit, Ms. Biliran said, “so we can guide our schools’ individual roadmaps to support industries.”
On February 23-24, a discussion of the Visayas ICT Organizations (VICTor) conference will be held here in Bohol, with a gathering of notable resource persons which, they hope she added, could be redesigned as the ICT Education Summit for the province.
Wrapping up the meeting, the next steps for Digital Bohol were thereafter also discussed.
Prior to the briefing, Gov. Chatto swore in the new set of officers for the BICTC. (JLV/PGBh/EDCom)
by admin | Jan 20, 2017 | DTI Updates, Headlines, Local News / Bohol Balita
TAGBILARAN CITY, January 19 (PIA)–Gibuksan na karong adlawa ang ika-17 nga Ube Festival nga gipasiugdahan sa Kagamhanang Probinsiyal sa Bohol pinaagi sa Office of the Provincial Agriculturist.
Nagdala sa tema nga “Ubing Bol-anon Dugang Palambo-on; Mga Batan-on Ang Pagpananom Buhaton,” modagan gikan karong adlawa, Enero 20 hangtud sa Enero 23, 2017 sa Plaza Rizal ning dakbayan sa Tagbilaran.
Gibuksan kini pinaagi sa motorcade nga nagsugod sa alas 12 sa udto nga naggikan sa Camp Bernido, atubangan sa Provincial Health Office (PHO) sa distrito sa Dao paingon sa Bohol Cultural Center diin gipahigayon ang opening program.
Sulod sa maong programa, gilusad usab ang International Sustainable Tourism Year 2017 sa pakig-alayon sa Bohol Tourism Office, Bohol Provincial Tourism Council Inc. ug Bohol Association of Hotels, Resorts and Restaurants.
Atol sa maong programa, simbolikanhong gihiwa ni Gob. Edgar Chatto ang usa ka ube ug gi- abrihan kini isip paglusad ning tuig 2017 isip United Nations World Tourism Organization International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development.
Si Department of Tourism (DOT) Region 7 Director Catalino Chan III, ang pinasidunggang dinapit isip representante ni Kalihim Wanda Corazon Teo, nisaad usab nga iapil na ang Ube Festival isip usa sa mga major events sa ilang national tourism calendar.
Human sa programa nga gipahigayon sa Bohol Cultural Center, gisunod dayon ang ribbon cutting ug opening of exhibits sa Plaza Rizal.
Ang Ubifest, usa ka tinuig nga kapistahan agig pagsaulog sa lagutmon aron pagsugat sa tinuig usab nga ubi harvest.
Ang product display nagpakita sa nagkalain-laing ani sa ubi sa mga mag-uuma gikan sa mga nisalmot nga mga lungsod sa Bohol. (ecb/PIA7-Bohol)
