EMB-POD ORGANIZES REGIONAL
OZONE NETWORK IN BICOL

LEGAZPI CITY — The Department of Environment and Natural Resources-Environmental Management Bureau (DENR-EMB) Philippine Ozone Desk (POD) organized the Regional Ozone Network (O-Net) in Bicol last February 6, 2009.

EMB Bicol regional director Gilbert C. Gonzales pointed out that this multi-stakeholders networking on information dissemination campaign on the preservation of the ozone layer would speed up the government’s efforts to meet the National Chlorofluorocarbon Phase-out Plan (NCPP).

He encouraged the members of the O-Net to formulate initiatives/advocacies on raising the public’s awareness on the protection of the ozone layer. He added that the re-echoing of such environmental information would compliment on the government’s NCPP program that targets to phase-out CFC by year 2010 and Methyl Bromide by 2015.

Topics like Ozone Science, the Montreal Protocol, present ODS Laws and Programs in the Philippines, ODS Communication Strategy & Regional Ozone-Network, National and Regional IEC Accomplishment of the POD and Planning of the Local Awareness Program for CY 2009 were discussed by Dr. Eva S. Ocfemia, chief, Pollution Control Division and technical staff from the POD.

Members of the O-Net were also required to draft their Local Awareness Plan (LAP) for the CY 2009 and implement preferred programs.

O-Net was formerly known as the Regional Information Center and Network (RICN).
(EMB/PIA)

GRANDOLFO REIGNS FIRST INTERNATIONAL KITE
BOARDING COMPETITION

DAET, CAMARINES NORTE — Italian kite boarder Andrea Grandolfo won the recently concluded First Daet International Kite Boarding Competition held in Bagasbas Beach, here on February 5-8, 2009।

Grandolfo bagged the grand prize of Fifty Thousand Pesos (P50,000) plus trophy of the Bordercross Competition. The race started in Vinzons, Camarines Norte and passed the border of Talisay and ended in Bagasbas Beach. Next to him are Ken Nacor of the Philippines and Frederick Soupast of Belgium.

The First Daet International Kite Boarding Competition also featured the Freestyle Competition. Winners under male category are: First - Ken Nacor of the Philippines, second - Taner Aykurt of Turkey and third - Duque delos Santos of the Philippines. Under female category are: First - Anna Simlund of Sweden, second - Kathrin Borgwardt of Germany and Lorena Neumann of Spain.

The event was attended by foreign and local tourists from Belgium, USA, Alaska, Italy, Turkey, Spain, Germany, Switzerland, France, Sweden, Astonia, and the Philippines. They commended the great support of the local government unit of Daet thru Mayor Tito S. Sarion to the event as well as Mr. Mike Gambriel for inviting and organizing the competition. They now consider Bagasbas Beach as the new kite boarding haven in the Philippines and show their willingness to come back by the end of the year for another competition.

Last quarter of 2007, an American and German national set up a kite boarding school in Bagasbas Beach after they have discovered the potential of the area as kite surfing destination. Because of the advanced technology, he featured Bagasbas Beach in his website as an alternative site for the extreme sports enthusiasts worldwide.

Bagasbas Beach is now considered as a good location for water sports adventure. Friendly waves that usually an all-year found is an ideal site for those who want to learn wave surfing. The beach has been listed as one of the ten best surfing destinations in the Philippines. It has long and wide expanse of fine gray sand and the break’s sandy bottom and generally uncrowded lineups combine to make a comfortable session for surfers of any level. During windy season from October-March, kite surfers can go island hopping on the nearby towns of Basud, Vinzons, Talisay and Mercedes using only kite boards।


Organizers of the event are: the Local Government Unit of Daet with the support of Bagasbas Beach Development Council, ABS-CBN Regional Network Group (Bicol), Mikes-Kites Kite Surfing School and Camarines Norte Pineapple Festival Development Foundation Incorporated.
(RCYu, MPA-MIO/PIA)

CAMARINES NORTE JOINS NAWACA OBSERVANCE

DAET, CAMARINES NORTE — A weeklong activity was lined-up in connection with the National Awareness Week against Child Abuse from February 8-14 here with the theme “Pang-aabusong Sekswal sa Kabataan, Sugpuin; Sama-samang Proteksiyon Palakasin.

The activity was sponsored by the Center for the Prevention and Treatment of Child Sexual Abuse (CPTCSA) supported by the Provincial Multi-Disciplinary Team, the Provincial Government and the Department of Education (DepEd).

Mr. Conrado A. Rempillo, Education Supervisor I of the DepEd-Division of Camarines Norte and Provincial Multi-Disciplinary Team coordinator said that the advocacy was started last February 8 focusing on the Personal Safety Advocacy for Child Protection Against Sexual Abuse.

Several activities were conducted last February 10 which included the extemporaneous speaking, essay writing contest, poster-making contest and slogan writing contest participated in by high school students from the different public and private schools.

A radio interview last February 11 was conducted at the DWCN-FM Radyo ng Bayan with Conrado Rempillo of DepEd and Provincial Government CAO Purita P. Briñas, also a member of the Provincial Multi-Disciplinary Team.

A motorcade and parade was conducted today also as one of the activities participated in by the students of the public secondary schools headed by teachers of the Personal Safety Lessons and the Philippine National Police (PNP). (RBManlangit, PIA Camarines Norte)

BFP HOLDS BLOOD DONATION DRIVE

SORSOGON CITY — The Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP), here sponsored a blood donation drive dubbed as “Dugo Ko, Buhay Mo” on Tuesday, February 17, 2009 at the Sorsogon City Fire Station grounds in Burgos St., Talisay. This is being spearheaded by the lady firefighters of Sorsogon City Fire Station through its Gender Awareness Development (GAD) program.

City Fire Marshal CInsp Renato Badong Marcial supports his worthwhile endeavor which aims to promote volunteerism and social responsibility amongst SCFS personnel.

“This is also one way of serving the community not only because it is our duty being in the fire services but also as individuals who have benevolence in helping our brothers and sisters who need blood. It is a wide known fact that every minute of every day, someone needs blood,” Marcial said.

Persons interested in participating in this noble undertaking may call the Sorsogon City Fire Station at tel. no. 421-6320. (SCFS/PIA)

CIVIL REGISTRATION MONTH OBSERVANCE ON

NAGA CITY — The National Statistics Office (NSO) in Camarines Sur is celebrating Civil Registration Month this February with the theme: “Civil Registration: Key to Global Opportunities”।

OIC Provincial Statistics Officer Clemente S. Manaog said that the month-long celebration opened last February 2, 2009 with a motorcade in the city participated in by selected NSO personnel and the local civil registrars (LCRs) and staff of the 35 municipalities and two cities of the province.

Clemente said it was the “First Camarines Sur Civil Registration Quiz” held at the Regent Hotel, here. The winners were: Emilie Dairao, LCR-Libmanan, as champion; Jesus Caceres, LCR-Tinambac, 1st runner-up; Jocelyn Bagasbas, LCR-Balatan, 2nd runner-up; Gemma Bongulto, LCR-Tigaon, 3rd runner-up; Fe Carisola, LCR-Sagñay, 4th runner-up.

He also said that last February 5-6, NSO in cooperation with the Camarines Sur Civil Registrars Association (CSCRA), headed by its president Muriel Abragan, LCR-San Jose conducted an Assessment and Planning on Barangay Civil Registration System (BCRS) implementation held in the same venue. About 300 barangay secretaries attended the activity.

A second round of this activity is scheduled on February 23-24, 2009 to accommodate the rest of the barangay secretaries and some barangay chairpersons as well. The NSO aims to implement the BCRS in at least 300 barangays in the province by June 2009.
Another activity that NSO Camarines Sur will pursue for the Civol Registration Month celebration is the revival of the use of Civil Registry Information System (CRIS) in 13 municipalities. The CRIS aims to facilitate data archiving of civil registry documents at the municipal level Data gathered through CRIS are especially useful for local development planning at the local government units. (DAbad, PIA Camarines Sur)

COMELEC ACCOUNTS NEW VOTING STATISTICS IN SORSOGON

SORSOGON PROVINCE — Some 2,571 voters has been added to the list of Sorsogon province’s new voters in preparation for the forthcoming May 2010 elections.

This figure was revealed by Provincial Election Supervisor Atty. Romeo Fortes following the latest formally recorded statistics of Commission on Elections (Comelec) here, dated January 19, 2009.
According to Fortes, they have opened anew the registration for 2010 elections December last year and they expect more registrants in the coming days.

Comelec’s 4th quarter Provincial Consolidated Progress Report for May 10, 2010 national and local elections bared that the province has now recorded about 375,308 total registered voters, however, 10 per cent of this total number are considered deactivated voters.

It could be noted that the province has recorded a remarkable decrease of about 20 per cent of its voting statistics in 2007 wherein only 282,208 from the total 352,629 voting population have actually voted. Of this voting figure, 80.2 per cent comes from the First District while 80.4 per cent comes from the Second District of Sorsogon.

Fortes, meanwhile, appeals to the public to register, the soonest possible time, adding also that, registered voters who have not yet submitted themselves to the data capturing machine for their biometric registration must also secure for a new registration. “The sooner to register, the better, so as to avoid cramming and overcrowding,” he said.

Furthermore, Fortes said that in order to facilitate easy transaction, he has also requested the national office to regionalize the production of voters I.D. The request, on the other hand, also asks for financial assistance so as to prepare and put into order the voting precincts for possible automated 2010 elections in Sorsogon.

Meanwhile, Comelec here conducts a continuous “cleansing operations” to prevent duplication of registrants which can be used as grounds to cheat this forthcoming elections। (BARecebido, PIA Sorsogon)

CONSUMER PRICE INDEX FOR ALL
INCOME HOUSEHOLDS IN MASBATE

Price Situation: Year-on-Year

The provincial inflation rate (IR) of Masbate went up slightly to 10.37% in January 2009. This is 2.63% points higher than posted in December 2008 with 7.74% IR. As compared to 6.05% inflation rate in January 2008, this month’s remarkably higher by 4.32% points.

The current level of the provincial inflation rate could be attributed to the results of the upward trend registered in both heavily –weighted food, beverages and tobacco (FBT) index (12.75% from 1.98%), miscellaneous (5.52% from 1.29%), housing and repairs (3.43% from 0.00%), and clothing (1.79% from 1.87%).

However, it was counteracted by the fuel, light water index (3.07 & from 4.15%).

Price Situation: Month-on-Month

On a month-on-month basis the Consumer’s Price Index (CPI) for all income household in Masbate exhibited at 158.6 in January 2009, slightly higher by 4.1 index points over the December 2008 level of 154.5. This represents a 2.65% change in all-item index.

Across commodity under the FBT index, high rates were noted in the indices of fish (12.42% from –1.86%), cereal and cereal preparations (4.76% from 0.80%), eggs (3.24% from 0.00%), tobacco (1.62% from –0.59%), meat (0.85% from –0.24%), fruits and vegetables (-0.69% from -90.95%) and dairy products (-0.58% from –0.79%).

On the other hand, decrements posted in the indices of beverages (-1.22% from 0.94%), and miscellaneous foods (_1.62% from –0.87), in effect, the over-all rate in the FBT went up to 4.20% in January 2009 from –0.92% registered in December 2008.

As regards the non-food commodity service group, increments were noted in the indices of fuel, light and water due to its continued price rollback (-1.62% from –3.30%), housing and repairs (1.69% from 0.06%), services (-0.24% from –1.28), and clothing (0.43% from 0.07%).

However, low rate was noted in miscellaneous (0.08% from 1.14%).

As a consequence, the over-all rate in this non-food commodity/service group went down to 0।00% in January 2009 from 0।97% in December 2008। This means that prices slightly went down। (NSO/PIA Masbate)


NSPC HONORS ADVISERS, SCRIBES

Province of CAMARINES SUR — The National Schools Press Conference (NSPC) management recognized the Outstanding School Paper Advisers and Campus Journalists of the secondary level in a grand ceremony at Camarines Sur National High School Pavilion Tuesday.

This year’s school paper adviser-awardees are Esther Laguidao, ARMM; Juliana Kelly Ignitan, CAR; Annabelle Tumulak, CARAGA; Elnora Raroque, Region I; Maria Luisa Agamod, Region II; Noel Bacani, Region III; Abner Pureza, Region IV-A; Florie Regencia, Region IV-B; Eddie Bausa, Jr., Region V; Darwin Haro, Region VI; Emily Cabusa, Region VII; Cesar Montano, Region VIII; Mary Jane Omandam, Region IX; Salome Violeta, Region X; Francisca Padlan, Region XI; Jonathan de la Peña, Region XII; and Ruben Belarde, Jr., NCR.

The Outstanding Campus Journalists are JC Earl Cariño, ARMM; Antonie Labasan, CAR; Kimberly Sinampaga, CARAGA; Arlene Joy Orencia, N CR; Joy Carmel Sahagun, Region I; Nikolai Thadeus Mappatao, Region II; Melissa Ann Buco, Region III; Hannah Chito, Region IV-A; Justin Jay Lope, Region IV-B; Lorenz Ray Payonga, Region V; Vincent Gregory Yu, Region VI; Elaine Dimayuga, Region VIII; Mark Anthony Cabilo, Region IX; Jocell Sedigo, Region X; Felis Alberca, Region XI; Kristoni Go, Region XX.

Awarding ceremonies for the elementary level, meanwhile, was held on the same day at Naga Central School I, are Shoraida Ampatua, ARMM; Drusilla Ladia, CAR; Amy Uy, CARAGA; Antonio Asuncion, Region I; Myra Z. Candaroma, Region II; Sonny de Guzman, Region III; Edna Soriano, Region IV-A; Adelardo Malaluan, Region IV-B; Vilma Arevalo, Region V; Ed Jalbuena, Region VI; Charlie Abalos, Region VII; Gretl Laura Cadiong, Region VIII; Edgardo Fernandez, Region IX; Noemi Pagayon, Region X; Christy Agudera, Region XI; Alma Segura, Region XII; Bedelia Alvez, NCR.

Outstanding Campus Journalists are Ken Philip Garpao, ARMM; Joanne Liz Ubando, CAR; Imi Liza Espina, CARAGA; Marie Christine Añano, NCR; Franz Naomi, Region I; Kevin John Aliba, Region II; Louisa Aya Trinidad, Region III; Sherald Agustin, Region IV-A; Dwight Angelo de Leon, Region IV-B; Mary Philline Descalzo, Region V; Krizia Marie Queque, Region VI; Christian Dominic Yap, Region VII; Ninna Joyce Delantor, Region VIII; Dreamer Jay Lamberte, Region IX; Rachel Tagolimot, Region X; Julienne Marie Batingal, Region XI; Christine Rendon, Region XII। (DepEd/PIA)

POLICE NETS ILLEGAL DRUG PUSHERS IN SORSOGON

SORSOGON CITY — Sorsogon operatives report a successful welcome of the 2009 in their campaign against illegal drugs in the province following the apprehension of suspected five illegal drug pushers from January 13 to February 5.

Arrested on January 13 at around 7:30 p.m. were Benedict Barredo y Carpio, Dax Detera Jetomo and Jake Ocampo y Flestado at Brgy. Bibincahan, Sorsogon City with 5.131 grams of Marijuana and P100 marked money.

On February 5 at about 4:30 p.m. two other suspected pushers identified at Zone 2, Bulan, Sorsogon identified as Albert Deri y Venus, 36 and Ruel Zuñiga, 34, residents of Zone 2 and Zone 4, Bulan town respectively.

Confiscated from them were 5 pieces of plastic heat sealed containing shabu, 2 pieces P500 and 4 pieces P1,000 bills marked money.

Deri and Zuñiga’s case of violating RA 9165 is now filed in court.

The success of the arrest can be attributed to the active role and cooperation of PDEA, PIS, Sorsogon City Police Station, Bulan MPS and 508th PPMG. (PIA Sorsogon Release)