Bato town celebrates 213th founding anniversary

By Edna A. Bagadiong

BATO, Catanduanes, March 7 (PIA) -- Bato town here in Catanduanes will be celebrating its 213th Founding Anniversary on April 11 to 15 with the theme, “Pagpayaman nin Agro-Eco Turismo para sa Kauswagan nin Bato.”

To celebrate its founding anniversary, the town will be launching its Abacaco Festival which is a cheerful rite of Batonhons to promote agro-eco tourism industry and feature products such as Abaca, Cacao and Coconut which is of a significant part of Bato’s livelihood industry.

Several activities were lined-up which are as follows: Thanksgiving mass, motorcade, One Town One Product (OTOP) Products Demo and Agro-Industrial Fair, Hackfight, wakeboarding and jetski exhibition at Bato River and Bininbing Bato Talent Showdown.

Local and foreign tourists are expected to witness the said event.

Bato is a fifth class municipality in the province of Catanduanes located at the southeastern portion of province and is eight kilometers from Virac, the capital town.

According to the 2007 census, it has a population of 18,738 people in 3,497 households. (MAL/EAB-PIA5 Catanduanes)


59,334 members continue to receive PhilHealth benefits under sponsored program

By Rosalita B. Manlangit

DAET, Camarines Norte, March 7 (PIA) -- Members of the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) will continue to receive benefits despite the expiration of their membership in December last year.

PhilHealth provincial chief Ireneo Dacillo said 59,334 members are under the sponsored program of PhilHealth.

Dacillo said that the benefits will be extended until the end of June this year if the local government units, provincial government and other sponsors will sign a letter of intent to continue the said sponsorship of their beneficiaries.

It will be recalled that the health cards were distributed last year and their validity ended in December 2011.

The sponsors will pay P600 for every beneficiary this year for the months of July to December and P1,200 for the year 2013.

He cited that if the budget for 2013 is not yet available, the sponsors just need to submit a letter of intent and will sign a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA).

Last year, the sponsors paid P300 while PhilHealth paid for the P300 half for every beneficiary.

He explained that this year, the PhilHealth has no counterpart because most of the beneficiaries under the sponsored program were transferred to the identified indigents of the National Household Targetting System (NHTS) of the Department of Social Welfare and Development which was funded by the national government.

The beneficiaries under the NHTS are some 40,229 who were registered last year and the validity of cards will end in 2013.

He said that the towns of Daet, Vinzons and Jose Panganiban have already sent a letter of intent to continue to sponsorship of their beneficiaries while they are still coordinating with the provincial government and other sponsors.

In the new guidelines of PhilHealth for individually paying members, self-employed and voluntary members the payment effective July 1, 2012 per quarter will be P600.00 but if the payment will be made within the months of January to June this year for the remaining quarters of 2012 and year 2013, the payment will only be P300.00 per quarter or a total of P1,200 per year.(MAL/RBM-PIA5 Camarines Norte)


Korean agency starts survey on Virac airport upgrade

By Edna A. Bagadiong

VIRAC, Catanduanes, March 7 (PIA) -- The Korean International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), in cooperation with the Department of Transportation and Communication (DOTC) and Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP), has started preliminary survey of the Virac Airport here recently.

According to Engr. Raul Glorioso of CAAP, the upgrading of the province's sole airport is a proposed project of DOTC to KOICA to upgrade and develop Virac airport at par with other airports in other countries.

The said offer also came up due to flight cancellations when the weather is cloudy due to landing inconvenience which caused flights to return to Manila. Aside from these, the current airport lacks strong lights that should serve as guide of pilots if the weather is cloudy due to heavy rains.

Cabana also said that if the project materializes, the cost of the upgrading will reach an estimate of $3 million that will be granted by KOICA which will cover obstruction removal, construction of new apron, passenger terminal building, taxiway, administration building, airport drainage system, vehicle parking area, perimeter fence, fire station building, procurement of air navigation and communications equipment, crash, fire and rescue (CFR) vehicle and maintenance vehicle.

At present, Virac airport already has an administration building and a fire station building which shall result in changes in funds and other concerns.

It is also expected to increase air traffic demand (passenger, aircraft and cargo), stimulate business trade and investment opportunities, speed up movement of passengers, goods and services and increase economic growth and activities.

Virac airport runway and apron stretches at 1,886 which needs to be rehabilitated due to some joints and cracks.

Moreover, according to CAAP, from the average annual passenger traffic of 19,845 Virac airport recorded a significant increase in the last three years reaching 43,279 passengers in 2011.

Meanwhile, the province is very optimistic that the plans of the airport upgrading will prosper since it shall benefit everyone especially in terms of the province's tourism. The survey will last for more or less one week. (MAL/EAB-PIA5 Catanduanes)


CSC grants 5-day calamity leave to gov’t employees

By Marlon A. Loterte

LEGAZPI CITY, March 7 (PIA) -- With the increasing risks brought about by climate change and global warming, the Civil Service Commission (CSC) saw the necessity to offer assistance to government workers in areas directly affected by natural calamities in the form of special leave.

Under CSC Resolution No. 1200289 issued on February 8, state workers in officially declared calamity areas may avail of the special emergency leave for five straight working days or on staggered basis.

The special leave is separate and will not be deducted from the employee’s leave credits, and may be availed of within 30 days from the first day of calamity declaration by proper government authorities.

Ma. Jocelyn G. Bejerano, CSC V chief personnel specialist, stressed that the grant can only be availed by government employees in areas declared under state of calamity.

The heads of offices shall likewise take full responsibility in granting special emergency leave and in verifying the employee’s eligibility to avail of such.

The leave may be used by employees stranded in affected areas, for urgent repair and clean-up of damaged house, recovery from disease or illness, or caring for immediate family members affected by natural calamity.

The policy, according to Bejerano, will be implemented retroactively from the onslaught of typhoon Ondoy in September 2009. As such affected employees, whose leave credits were previously deducted including those affected by typhoons Pedring, Quiel and Sendong in 2011 and other natural calamities, may request for its restoration.

As specified in the resolution, natural calamity or disaster may include earthquakes, flooding, volcanic eruption and landslide that have profound environment effect and/or human loss and frequently cause financial loss. (MAL/SAA-PIA5 Albay)