by admin | Jan 27, 2019 | Local News / Bohol Balita
By JUNE S. BLANCO
REP. Erico Aristotle Aumentado (Bohol, 2nd district) favors the use of nuclear energy – but only after a thorough study.
Aumentado aired this position during a recent meeting with House Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
The solon expressed his support for the bill proposing to use nuclear energy provided that all safety measures are put in place.
He said a thorough study must be made by the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) and the Department of Energy (DOE) on the nuclear power models of the United States and Japan, among others, before attempting to repair, retrofit and use the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant.
On the local scene, he observed, power in Bohol is getting expensive. He said this is because of the strides in infrastructure development brought on by President Rodrigo Duterte’s thrust of “build, build, build”.
Bohol still depends to a large extent on power from Cebu. But, Aumentado said, this may not be for long because Cebu’s power demand is also increasing – at a rate bigger than Bohol – the former being already industrialized.
The price of power will inevitably become more and more expensive, he said. The Philippines’ chance of finding sustainable and stable energy comes in nuclear power, he continued.
However, Aumentado warned, while DOST may be supportive of nuclear power, it should not push to the back burner the concerns on the environment. Development of nuclear power must be consistent, especially with the province’s goal of protecting the environment and the lives of the people.
When operational, Bataan can easily provide from 500 to 1,000 megawatts of power. This can give more elbow room – sufficient and sustainable energy – for even more infrastructure development.
Aumentado said his support for nuclear energy comes from the realization that continued coal mining and fossil fuel use will only deplete resources and destroy the environment, he concluded.
by admin | Jan 21, 2019 | Local News / Bohol Balita
By JUNE S. BLANCO
REP. Erico Aristotle Aumentado (Bohol, 2nd District) will stage anew an anti-drug concert in Ubay town as one of its nightly entertainment in the rundown to the town fiesta.
“Let’s eat, drink, have fun, enjoy music and be merry – all without drugs – this fiesta,” Aumentado exhorts the youth, the not-so-young and the young once as The Dawn, the rock band featuring singer-guitarist Jett Pangan and company, performs in the evening of Thursday, January 24, at the Magsaysay Gymnasium in Poblacion, Ubay.
This is Aumentado’s 3rd concert as part of his campaign against drugs, and the 10th for the youth in his district.
Listening to good music, the solon said, soothes the nerves, and relieves one of the day to day pressures of studies, work or other occupation. This can be enjoyed without drugs, as the latter can only destroy one’s health and brain, and can overhaul one’s personality to change the bright, courteous and humble into uncouth, foul-mouthed monsters.
Rather than venturing into the unknown without knowing what kind of dragon one turns into when stoned, Aumentado pushes for a drug-free life, motivated to serve one’s fellowmen.
He urges especially the Ubay youth and their peers and visitors, to come and enjoy the concert.
Ubay has a soft spot in the solon’s heart as this is the hometown of his immediate congressional predecessor and namesake father, former Bohol governor Erico Boyles Aumentado who was born and raised in barangay Fatima.
by admin | Jan 14, 2019 | Local News / Bohol Balita, Sports
Alicia opens trail
Until January 25
TAGBILARAN CITY, Bohol January 12 (PIA)–The gorgeous trails leading to the best panoramic views in eastern Bohol open again this year for the annual The Alicia Panoramic Park (TAPP) Trail Run 2019 in time for the foundation days celebration of the town, 100 kilometers from this capital city.
Said to be most brutally beautiful race that allows trail masters to get a glimpse, or a selfie at the scenery, the TAPP trail run gets a trail runner from The Farm in Barangay Cambaol, Alicia to dizzying elevations by following the pasture trails that make their way to Mount Labawan, the trail’s highest peak at over 350 meters towering over the largely rolling landscape.
Now fast becoming the town’s most popular sports tourism product, the trail run this year, set February 24, Sunday, is open for 5 kilometer kiddie, the 10 kilometers and the 30 kilometers trail for the hardcore runners who have found the real challenge off-road and away from the pavements.
With registration opening since December, the TAPP trail run attempts to limit the number of runners considering the trails’ carrying capacity, according to town tourism officer Godelia Lumugdang.
When there were over 350 runners who registered in last year’s TAPP Trail series for the 21 kilometers, organizers this year opened limited 150 slots for the 30 kilometers, another 150 slots for the 10 kilometers and 50 slots for the kiddie 3 kilometer race, she added.
Registration for the 30 kilometer race is P1,200, for the 10 kilometer race, P700 and for the 5 kilometer kiddie, P500.
Registration which includes an event shirt, racer’s bib, finishers medals and post-race meal, closes on January 25, without extension.
While the registration can be processed personally at the Alicia Tourism Office, organizers have opened online registration system, to help race participants who are too far out to register.
Registration fees can be deposited to any of the following accounts: BPI Checking Account, Account Name: Venus Dy, Account Number: 1685-0020-23 (BPI Alfaro, Makati), or BDO Checking Account, under account Name: Venus Dy, Account Number: 00168-802-4303 (BDO PhilAm-Valero, Makati) or through Pera Padala (Palawan Express / MLhuiller), send to Eva Dy, 09171688571 or 09198102647.
Race participants only need to fill-out the following: First Name, Last Name, Race Category, Age, Gender, Email address, Shirt size, Phone Number and Address and email these together with an attached scanned copy / photo / screenshot of the deposit slip / receipt to tapptrailrun@gmail.com, putting “TAPP Trail Run 2019-(Race Category) as subject.
A confirmation would be sent as soon as the payment has been verified, organizers said.
Organizers also accept group registrations detailing the individual participants and kids 5-8 yrs old joining the Run must be accompanied by an adult, whose name would also be included in the registration.
As the race starts at 5:00 AM on February 24, athletes who are up to test their core strengths, endurance and muscles have over a month of rigorous training left to compete and survive the beautiful but muscle cramping climbs.
Gear up
Trail races are always about right training in core body strength, endurance while endlessly discovering a good body balance throughout the course to last to the finish, TAPP trail veterans have suggested 6 TAPP trail essentials.
1. Clothing. Find a proper trail clothing that fits well, dri-fit rashguards are well recommend as the trail goes through tall sharp grasses that could be itchy or scratch. Choose that flat lightweight trail shoes with enough thread, this helps you find a better balance in the uneven trails. And good quality socks and a cap can be a huge help in sun-bathed trails. Spandex are a great idea and tights over sports shorts can really be a game changer when the tall grasses would start punishing a runners aching legs with the itch.
2. Hydration packs. While some trail runners are good to go with hand held water bottles or the ubiquitous hydration belts for marathoners, TAPP trails wind up to elevations without any refilling stations, so consider this as forewarning. As the instagrammable gently sloping trails can really be a perfect come on, the ascents are unexpectedly nasty, you would have both hands pumping, or scrambling that at least a two liter hydration backback would be a good tradeoff.
3. Calories. You won’t be able to finish TAPP trails skipping food because after 5 kilometers of hill climb, you would be cursing yourself for not packing enough chocolate energy bars, energy gels, salt tablets and the good old potassium from a ripe banana. TAPP’s 30 kilometers would be a good 6++ hours run, so a ready 600 calorie pack in your tote might just help. Organizers are also putting up water refilling stations with fruits, which are great calories sources.
4. Sunshades and sunscreens. While the race breaks off at early morning, runners are better off with a good photo chromatic lens glasses or the good old sports sunglasses, you will find would be a huge relief. And sunscreens too, a good squeeze of sunblock slapped on the nape and exposed skin would be a relief, especially as one would be reliving the glory of the race in some reclining chair.
5. Survival pack. As the TAPP trails wind up to where you could be alone navigating the trail, in an accident, getting rescues may have to be prepared. A good whistle, fully charged mobile phone with enough calling capacity, a headlamp and some cash may be of help, in any case of emergency. And lube too. When navigating the trail for hours on end, a good dab of Vaseline or skin lube in areas where there is skin chaffing when the friction is high, is a decision you would not regret.
6. Trekking Pole. Just as participants who have gone through the TAPP trails in the past know that a trekking pole is an extra weight to one’s personal tote gear, many have admitted that the gear saves one a lot of embarrassment in the steep downhill sections of the race. And, a pole easily distributes one’s body weight, that the added weight would certainly be one that keeps your but, mud-free from just sliding down the trails. (rahc/PIA-7/Bohol)
The TAPP Trails bring runners over the hills’ ridges and allows them to catch fleeting glances of the gorgeous views, though not to long enough to relish the sight, especially because they have to realize a race has no place for sightseeing. (rahc/PIABohol)
by admin | Jan 13, 2019 | Local News / Bohol Balita
By JUNE S. BLANCO
REP. Erico Aristotle Aumentado (Bohol, 2nd District) expressed gratitude to the Japanese parliamentarians at a recent dinner hosted by House Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
Aumentado acknowledged the “very significant” assistance from Japan that the province now enjoys – given during his namesake father and immediate congressional predecessor Erico B. Aumentado’s watch – the Bohol Circumferential Road.
The solon is now trying to rekindle the ties his father once had with Japan, and exploring if it still has official development assistance (ODA) available, and what specific projects can qualify.
After all, he said, Japanese ODA has the most reasonable cost of money – more affordable than China’s interest rate – lower than by as much as 50%.
It is high time, he said, that Bohol further builds its network, with no intention of letting up, in order to make it a top notch province, of international standards, especially where roads, ports, airport and other infrastructure are concerned.
by admin | Dec 9, 2018 | Local News / Bohol Balita
By JUNE S. BLANCO
THE Philippines has taken another giant step towards the realization of creating its own space agency.
This after the Lower House this week passed on third and final reading House Bill No. 8541 – the Philippine Space Development Act.
Science and Technology Committee Chair and main author Rep. Erico Aristotle Aumentado (Bohol 2nd District) and co-authors led by Rep. Seth Frederick Jalosjos (Zamboanga del Norte, 1st District) had pushed for the creation of the Philippine Space Agency (Philsa) – to be under the Department of Science and Technology (DoST).
Aumentado said it is high time that the Philippines upgrades its technology, to better communicate information to the people, and to better predict the weather, among others.
The solon said the agency would be under the Department of Science and Technology (DOST).
He said on top of information gathering, satellites can also be a peace and order tool. He said they can best be maximized in surveillance activities as they can easily track the movements of people with suspicious moves.
Satellites can locate suspects with surgical accuracy, he said.
Applying the satellite to the Marawi City scenario, the solon said it can trace “with pinpoint accuracy” the location of the Maute terrorists agitating a rising rebellion in Muslim Mindanao.
The 297-strong Lower House had voted unanimously in favor of the bill. When created, Philsa will have its offices in the Clark Special Economic Zone, in Pampanga and Tarlac – tasked primarily with safeguarding the country/s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
It will also conduct space research and development, space industry and capacity building, space education and awareness, and international cooperation.
The Senate counterpart is authored by Senator Paolo Benigno Aquino IV, and still has to go through third and final reading, consolidation by a bicameral committee composed of members of both Houses, for approval by the President.
by admin | Dec 5, 2018 | DOH Updates, Local News / Bohol Balita
If only to personally jumpstart the World AIDS Day and its succeeding activities, a nurse and sitting legislator in Bohol, volunteers to have a Human Immune deficiency Virus (HIV) testing December 1, at the Panda Tea Garden and Suites.
Waiving her right provided by the Philippine AIDS Control and Prevention Act, Third District Board Member Jade Acapulco Bautista, formerly US based nurse by and now a legislator at the Sangguniang Panlalawigan in Bohol subjected herself to an HIV testing and in fact, performed for herself the capillary pricking necessary to extract sufficient blood samples for the test to determine reactivity.
Intending to help but still constrained to a task she is demanded to do as a legislator, BM Bautista said she is still open to suggestions in legislating measures to reverse the spread of HIV, a deadly virus, especially in Bohol.
Herself the SP Committee chair on Health and Public Sanitation, BM Dano who sits as a model for HIV testing as a medical professional, allowed herself to the test, if only to show there is nothing to fear, in fact, get a reassurance that one can keep an HIV-free status from then on.
“It is more reassuring that one can get an additional sense of responsibility especially in advocating for more protection and in maintaining the already attained HIV status,” another Department of Health nurse Nickson Felix Epe said.
Dano, who said Bohol’s [anti-HIV] campaign is doing very well, also admitted further that sustainability of the campaign can only be attained with everybody’s cooperation.
“The Provincial Health Office is doing very well [as regards the campaign], but they can not do it without everybody’s cooperation,” she said.
Dano’s act is also in line with the local efforts to curb the HIV epidemic which has become “alarming.”
A United Nation’s study bared that the Philippines has the fastest growing HIV epidemic in Asia and the Pacific.
Data in the study showed that in 2010, there were an estimated 16,000 HIV cases in the Philippines. By 2017, the cases have been estimated threefold to 67,000 and by the same estimates, by 2022, authorities fear the cases can reach 142,000, “if we remain to have the same level of response,” nurse Epe stressed.
In the Philippines too, 94% of those who are newly diagnosed for HIV are male, and more than half of these males are aged between 25-34 while some 28% are of the 14-24 age bracket at the time of testing.
But this does not exclude females too. From January to September in 2018 alone, there were 467 newly diagnosed cases and of the country’s female cases reported in the 15-24 age group skyrockets from 13% in 199 to 29% in 2018.
Of these, sexual contact remains to be the predominant mode of transmission at 98%, DOH data shows.
While the National Capital Region still keeps the most number of newly diagnosed as to residents they shared during the testing, Region 7 or Central Visayas ranks fourth owning 10% of the newly diagnosed cases.
The problem with HIV is that the only cure is prevention, unlike other diseases where prevention is better than cure, stresses Epe.
Over the staggering data and disheartening exponential increase in affected cases, health authorities have called for HIV testing.
The more the virus has taken control of the body, the bigger is the chance that one can fall into the opportunistic infections that could hasten the development of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS), explains Bohol HIV coordinator Mila Israel.
Over this, health authorities have batted on Information Education and Communication as something any anti HIV advocate can easily contribute.
This Monday, December 3, Bohol is holding an HIV and AIDS Summit at the Reynas The Haven and Gardens.
The summit aims to expound on HIV in the context of the Community, Health Care, the Government and the School.
After 8 parallel sessions, organizers would be engaging participants to join in the signature drive for HIV Awareness in the hope of establishing a new awareness and consciousness demand, and this finally, health authorities can inject the necessary information that can guide young teens to un-informed or ill-informed adults about the risks of HIV and to the community. (rahc/PIA-7/Bohol)
WAIVING HER RIGHTS. If only to assure people that there is nothing to fear about HIV testing, BM Jade Bautista presents herself as a model to jumpstart Bohol’s HIV testing drive even as health authorities said early detection can also mean early introduction of anti-retro-viral treatment to dampen the spread of the disease. (rahc/PIA-7/Bohol)
