DTI BICOL SLATES FIRST REGIONAL OTOP CONVERGENCE

LEGAZPI CITY – The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Bicol Regional Office here has slated the First Bicol One-Town-One-Product (OTOP) Convergence on May 14, this year at the Concourse Convention Center here.

The Regional OTOP Convergence will evolve on the theme: “OTOP ko, Orgullo ko”.

DTI Bicol Regional Director Jocelyn L.B. Blanco said that with the convergence efforts of OTOP partners, stakeholders have significantly improved the competitiveness of our local entrepreneurs and made notable dent on entrepreneurship development in the region.

She noted that local government units (LGUs) have taken the lead in identifying, developing and promoting their specific products or services drawing competitive advantage while other partners have provided relevant assistance within their mandates.

“With OTOP, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) or producers were provided assistance by DTI and other development partner-organizations in areas of production, marketing, capability-building and provision of common service facilities,’ she added.

This year’s OTOP Convergence will highlight important updates and the gains so far achieved by the program in the region; convergence endeavours of all partner stakeholders in the program; and, new insights or prospects for OTOP

During the OTOP Convergence, DTI and MSME Development Council will also confer awards and recognitions to outstanding OTOP entrepreneurs and MSMEs in the six provinces of Bicol.

Among the awards up for grabs include the following:

1) Most Supportive OTOP Municipal/City LGU in the region who has shown enthusiastic support for the OTOP program in their localities and committed resources and taken concrete action towards the attainment of the program objectives;
2) Outstanding OTOP MSME partner who has cooperated with the LGU and partner agencies and invested their resources in the program thereby effectively and efficiently running their operations and contributing to the local economy in terms of employment, sales and investment generation; and
3) Most Supportive OTOP Partner Organization who has provided crucial assistance in terms of resources, support programs the linkages and other means which influenced positively in the progress of the program.

Some 250 participants are expected to take part in the First Bicol OTOP Convergence coming from the six provinces of Bicol and the different line agencies of the government both local and national.

Blanco bared that she has invited the Undersecretary Merly Cruz of the Regional Operations Development Group (RODG) of DTI Head Office, and Intellectual Property Office (IPO) Director General Adrian Cristobal to delve on “OTOP and IPO”.

Also invited are Legazpi City Mayor Noel Rosal and Regional Development Council (RDC) Bicol chair and Albay governor Joey Sarte-Salceda. (ACBelleza, DTI V/PIA)


DPWH BICOL OPENS TYPHOON-DAMAGED VITAL HIGHWAY IN SORSOGON

LEGAZPI CITY – Work crews of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) worked overtime since early Sunday up to 5 p.m. yesterday to make the 70 meters washed out concrete portion of the Maharlika Highway at Sitio Madarag in barangay Guinlajon, Sorsogon City opened to traffic.

The national highway was closed to traffic last Saturday afternoon after floodwaters spawned by tropical storm Dante washed out the 70-meter stretch of the road stranding thousands of passengers on board almost hundreds of buses going to and from the Visayas and MIndanao.

Engr. Orlando Roces, DPWH Bicol regional director, said that after the floodwaters subsided on Sunday work crews with heavy equipment from the Sorsogon I District Engineering Office started to work on the damaged portion to make it passable to light vehicles and buses so that stranded buses could continue with their journey.

He said that the damaged portion of the highways costs some P7 million.

Roces said that the washed out portion used to have a box culvert that could not handle the flow of the volume of floodwaters that passed its way.

He said that they will recommend the construction of a bridge over the damaged portion as a permanent solution to the problem.

He said the proposed bridge will cost about P70 million. (EAdeLeon, PIA V)


‘GUNLESS’ MASBATE SOUGHT FOR 2010 POLLS

MASBATE CITY—The Philippine National Police should craft a strategy for gun control that a Catholic leader here said could help ensure peaceful elections next year.

Thus says Bishop Joel Z. Baylon of the Diocese of Masbate, stressing that the proliferation of loose firearms increases the possibility of violence that has characterized the elections in this province.

“How do we collect all these, I don’t know,” he told a forum with a local media group.

Reiterating what he had said in the pulpits, the bishop said: “I think that I’m not wrong when I say that every single house in Masbate has a gun and most of these guns are unlicensed.”

Baylon mentioned other approaches in preventing bloodshed during the upcoming political season, including a scenario in which all incumbent representatives to Congress and Governor Elisa “Olga” Kho will just run for re-election.

Just the same, he said that even if the officials refrain from contesting the elections of another or if the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) reins over the province, “habang merong mga baril dito tuloy pa rin ang kaguluhan.”

The prelate said recovery of both licensed and unlicensed firearms would avert the spectre of violent elections in the province, which has a long history of political vendetta. (EADelgado, PIA Masbate)

PLCPD TO RECOGNIZE BLOGGERS IN THIS YEAR’s POPDEV MEDIA AWARDS

The Philippine Legislators’ Committee on Population and Development (PLCPD) announces the inclusion of Special Categories in the 5th PopDev Media Awards.

In keeping with the changing times, this year’s Awards will include Citations for Blog (text) and Photo Blogs (Single Photo and Photo Essay) in recognition of the significant contribution of bloggers, or citizen journalists, in enriching the public discussion of population and human development concerns vis-à-vis socio-economic issues.

A nomination scheme has been set up to encourage more bloggers or citizen journalists to join. Parties interested in nominating someone they know should fill up a nomination form and send it along with at least three (3) representative articles that were posted between August 16, 2008 and August 15, 2009. Upon confirmation of nomination, nominees should then fill up an application form and send it along with his/her choice of at least three (3) representative entries.

Entries to the Citations for Blog (text) and Photo Blogs (Single Photo and Photo Essay) should have been posted between August 16, 2008 and August 15, 2009. At least three (3) representative articles are required for the Citation for Blog (text) while for the Citation for Photo Blog-Photo Essay, at least five (5) to 10 photos are required.

Only entries from Filipinos and from sites originating from the Philippines will be accepted. The blog site should have also been in existence since at least January 1, 2008. Entries from professional journalists may also be considered as long as these were posted in their personal blogs.

The 5th PopDev Media Awards is open to all print, broadcast, online, photo, and citizen journalists nationwide. For this year, in the context of the approaching Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) deadline on 2015, the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) 15th year celebration, and the upcoming 2010 elections, entries must be able to stress the importance of the MDGs and the ICPD as electoral issues that must be put in the public agenda.

Interested parties may send as many entries in a chosen category. Winners of the major categories will receive a cash prize, trophy, certificate, and a chance to participate in a study trip to a PLCPD project area in the Philippines.

For more information, interested journalists may visit the PopDev Media Awards webpage at http:www.plcpd.org.ph. or contact the PLCPD secretariat at 925-1800 or 9266619. (MTOjeda, PLCPD/PIA)


TRAVEL ADVISORY ON CONDITIONS OF NATIONAL ROAD DAMAGED BY TYPHOON

LEGAZPI CITY — Due to damages wrought by Typhoon Dante on May 1 to 3, 2009, The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) regional office here has advised the public that the following road sections of the national road of Bicol region are rendered not passable/hardly passable to all kinds of vehicles, as of 11:00 a.m. today:

1. Rawis Bridge (Rangas Bridge), Bacon District, Sorsogon City
Km. 589+679 (Bacon-Manito Road)
Bridge approaches totally collapsed. District Engineering Office of Sorsogon will install coco bridge to make the road passable to motorists. Expected to be opened to traffic on Saturday, May 9, 2009.

2. Andaya Highway, Taysan, Lupi (Km. 337+200)
Half lane closed to traffic due to eroded embankment.

3. Brgy. Plaridel, Sta. Elena section, Camarines Norte (Km. 255+820 to Km. 255+870)
Half lane closed to traffic due to eroded embankment/slip road

4. Brgy. Bagong Silang II, Labo Section, Cams. Norte (Km. 302+300)
Half lane road due to slippery embankment/heavily shuttered pavement. If heavy rains continue to hit the province, the exiting one lane PCCP might collapse and there will be closure of traffic. If this occurs, the municipality of Capalonga will be isolated.

5. Caramoran-Pandan Road Section (Catanduanes Circumferential Road)
Hardly passable due to landslides. All municipalities in Catanduanes are now accessible.


DPWH Bicol Regional Director Orlando Roces said maintenance crews are on standby in areas that have recurring landslides for emergency rehabilitation.

As of this writing, clearing operations are ongoing on affected road sections.

Roces, meanwhile, announced that road sections that were previously reported impassable are now open to all types of vehicles including Madarag Box Culvert at Barangay Guinlajon, Sorsogon City as of 1:00 p.m. of May 5, 2009 and Sta. Elena-Daet Section, Camarines Norte as of May 4, 2009, afternoon. (LVCastañeda, DPWH V/PIA)


RELIEF ASSISTANCE TO TYPHOON VICTIMS IN MAGALLANES, SORSOGON

LEGAZPI CITY — Secretary Esperanza Cabral of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) travelled Tuesday (May 5) to barangay Hubo in Magallanes, Sorsogon and personally assessed the damage wrought by tropical storm Dante over the weekend.

The DSWD Secretary was with Sec. Gilbert Teodoro of the Department of National Defense, Office of the Civil Defense (OCD) Deputy Director Antonio Golez and DSWD Asst. Secretary Vilma Cabrera in visiting barangay Hubo, the hardest hit area by tropical storm Dante in the province of Sorsogon.

Cabral said DSWD has provided 200 family food packs and used clothing amounting to P43, 931.00 as initial relief assistance to the municipal government of Magallanes.

“Likewise, financial assistance will be extended to families with dead victims in the amount of P5,000 each,’ she added.

Some 44,835 families or 246,117 persons from the five provinces of Bicol were affected of which 34 families were rendered homeless and 32 families has partially damaged houses.

As of press time, Office of Civil Defense regional director Raffy Alejandro disclosed that there are 26 reported dead, two injured and one missing.

Meanwhile, DSWD Bicol Regional Director Remia Tapispisan said that the Field Office team is closely monitoring the situation of those heavily affected areas for updates and request for augmentation whenever necessary.

She added that the Bicol Field Office has sufficient stockpile of relief supplies ready for augmentation and assistance if needed.

She also said that social workers are now deployed in heavily stricken areas to assist LGU staff in the on-going relief operation and conduct stress debriefing sessions.

DSWD Bicol has already extended augmentation support to the different affected municipalities amounting to P1.2 million and P162,265.00 from the LGUs. (EEJerusalem, DSWD/PIA)


PGMA CONGRATULATES 1,500 NEW TOWN SCHOLARS

MANILA — Looking fresh from her successful journey to Egypt and Syria, a vibrant President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo awarded scholarship certificates to 1,500 incoming college freshmen under the One Town, One Scholar (OTOS) program at Malacanang’s Heroes Hall.

The President wearing matching light blue skirt and blouse, gamely posed for photos with the scholars and even stopped by each cocktail table congratulating the lucky students.

On her way to picking up a small plate of food for herself, the President stopped by the table of Joy Macapagal, a 3rd honor graduate from the Rosales Municipal High School of Rosales, Pangasinan. Her mother could not contain her tears of joy as she thanked the President for the “great opportunity that Mrs. Arroyo gave to my daughter -- mahirap talaga kami (We really are very poor),” she said.

The young student will take up mass communications, one of the courses approved by the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) for the OTOS program. She will take up her course at UP Baguio, after which she plans to serve her municipality in whatever job will be given her.

Her father, Cipriano Macapagal, a rubber slippers vendor at the Rosales Public Market and had just come from an endoscopy treatment in Tarlac for his severe ulcers.

The OTOS fulfills the Arroyo government’s objective of providing education for all. Initiated two years ago, it ensures that a deserving high school graduate in every municipality will have a college education.

The OTOS program involves the awarding of four-to-five year scholarships to incoming freshmen who had been selected by the municipality as the “town scholar.”

Under the program, applicants belonging to the Top 10 of every graduating class submit letters of application to their respective schools, subject to the program’s minimum requirements and to the screening and selection process agreed upon by the municipality/town head and the Department of Education (DepEd).

The mayor then endorses the selected town scholar which evaluates the qualifications of the town’s nominee prior to the final issuance of scholarship certificates.

The town scholar, as committed by the Philippine Association of State Universities and Colleges (PASUC), shall be entitled to free tuition in a state university or college provided the scholar passes the SUC’s entrance exam and requirements.

Stipends of P15,000 per semester will be provided by CHED for SY 2009-2010 and every year thereafter for four to five years, subject to availability of funds in the general appropriations act.

The scholar must enroll only in CHED-identified priority programs and preferably in an SUC in or near the sponsoring municipality. (PIA V Release)


RP, SYRIA SIGN THREEE ACCORDS

MANILA — Syria and the Philippines signed on Monday (May 4) three agreements that are expected to further strengthen and elevate to a higher level the bilateral relations between the two countries in various fronts.

The signing took place at the Syrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs building in Damascus, Syria Monday evening between Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo and his Syrian counterpart, Foreign Minister Walid Al-Muallem.

Press Secretary Cerge Remonde said the agreements were on the establishment of bilateral consultations, cultural cooperation, and visa exemption for nationals of the countries holding official and diplomatic passports.

Remonde said the agreements were mutually agreed upon by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad during their bilateral talks on Monday morning.

“This will be followed up immediately by a bilateral consultation that will be held in Manila,” he said.

Remonde said the two leaders also agreed to immediately organize a joint Syrian-Filipino Business Council.

“That will be the forum for moving forward Philippine-Syrian economic relations,” Remonde said. (PIA V Release)


ERMITA REPORTS ON RP'S SUBSTANTIVEE COMPLIANCE WITH CONVENTION AGAINST TORTURE

MANILA — Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita, who chairs the Presidential Human Rights Committee (PHRC), said the Philippines has shown substantive compliance with the Convention Against Torture (CAT) and other Cruel Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.

“We acknowledge that more work needs to be done and we are ready to take on the task with the cooperation of civil society and the Commission on Human Rights (CHR),” Ermita said in his closing statement before the recently-concluded international human rights convention in Geneva, Switzerland.

Ermita noted the recent passage of the Anti-Torture Law as a “crucial contributing factor to the effective implementation of the convention in the Philippines.”

The bill was authored by Rep. Erin Tanada, chairman of the House Committee on Human Rights who also attended the international HR convention in Switzerland

CHR Chair Leila de Lima and representatives from NGOs and civil society like the Philippine Alliance of Human Rights (HR) Advocates, Balay Rehabilitation Center and the Medical Action Group, also attended the review of the Philippine report as observers.

Ermita said that as party to eight core international HR treaties, “the Philippine government has always been conscious of its obligations to respect, protect, promote and fulfill the rights of its citizens.”

The Philippine government, he said, does not engage in nor encourage any acts of torture. Ermita also reported on the progress of the Option Protocol to the Convention Against Torture (OPCAT) signed by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo last year.

“While OPCAT is awaiting ratification by the Senate, the Philippine HRC has already initiated consultations and discussions with NGOs and civil society to facilitate the eventual implementation of said Protocol,” Ermita said.

The consultations resulted in an OPCAT Working Group composed of government agencies and partners in civil society that was formed last April to determine measures and mechanisms to be established in preparation for the ratification of OPCAT, Ermita reported.

From the working group, a national preventive mechanism will be crafted with the CHR taking the lead in its operations along with members of NGOs and civil society.

Ermita updated the human rights body of other milestones in the Philippine government’s efforts to comply with other conventions.

Last April 23-24, the first periodic report of the Philippines on the Convention on the Protection of Migrant Workers and their Families was considered, during which the Philippines was cited as an international model for its policies and programs for migrant workers, Ermita said.

In August this year, the country’s 3rd and 4th consolidated reports will be considered before the Committee on Rights of the Child. The Philippines is ready with its report before the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination sometime in the latter part of 2009, Ermita added.

Ermita also reported to the body that President Arroyo issued Administrative Order 249 last December, “directing concerned executive branches of government to institute policies, programs and projects that will further enhance human rights in the Philippines in line with the tenets of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR).”
Palace welcomes suits from lawyers against govt agencies violating environmental laws

MANILA — Malacanang said Tuesday (May 5) it welcomes the plan of a group of lawyers to file suits against government agencies throughout the country for violating environmental laws, or non-implementation of such laws.

In a press briefing, Cabinet Secretary Silvestre Bello III said “in my statements several briefings ago, I said I always considered the word of a lawyer as gospel.”

“If they (lawyers) have any reason or legal basis to go against these government officials, then we welcome their moves,” he said.

Bello said that President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, who devotes all her Fridays to environmental concerns, is by now known as an environmentalist.

“I am sure that she would react the same way and welcome any act of lawyers who feel that the law has been transgressed,” Bello said. (PIA V Release)


INFLUENZA A-FREE PHILIPPINES TO LEAD ASEAN BANGKOK MEET

MANILA — Health Ministers from the Association of South-East Asian Nations will be holding a meeting in Thailand to discuss responses and prevention of H1N1 locally known as Mexican Swine Flu.

Health Secretary Francisco Duque III will head the meeting in Bangkok from May 7 – 8 to asses and review the local and global threats of H1N1.

Aside from comparing notes, ASEAN members are expected to explore strategies, measures and actions to address the H1N1 problem.

The Bangkok meeting is expected to generate consensus and political commitment among ASEAN Health Ministers on policies to address H1N1 threats.

One expected outcome of the Bangkok meeting is a policy statement on enhancing collaboration among ASEAN Health Ministers in dealing with the H1N1 threat as well as reinforcing efforts to contain the spread of the new virus.

Joining the meeting are representatives from the World Health Organization, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Meanwhile, the Philippines remains free from H1N1.

National Epidemiology Center Chief Eric Tayag clarified that the two cases detected were not H1N1 infections.

The first patient, a 15-year old girl from Switzerland, was diagnosed with a regular human influenza virus while the second patient was an adult man from California, USA who has community-acquired pneumonia.

Both patients were tested at the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) in accordance with the protocol set up by the Department of Heath.

DOH activated the surveillance systems in major airports and seaports right after World Health Organization raised the alarm.

Every passenger coming in will be thermal screened for fever and other symptoms of H1N1 infections.

Apart from RITM, the Lung Center of the Philippines and San Lazaro Hospital will be doing the H1N1 virus typing on patients who would demonstrate possible signs of infections.

As for Filipinos abroad who might have the Influenza A virus, Malacanang assured that they will not be barred from coming home.

Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Lorelei Fajardo expressed confidence that government is prepared and has resources to deal the persons with H1N1 virus. (PIA V Release)


GOVT. STEPPING UP MEASURES TO KEEP RP FREE FROM H1N1 FLU -- PALACE

MANILA –- The government is exerting all-out efforts to keep the Philippines free from the influenza A/H1N1 virus, according to Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Lorelei Fajardo.

She said all concerned government agencies are intensifying measures to prevent the entry of the deadly virus into the country.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has confirmed some 1,085 cases of A/H1N1 flu infection worldwide, with 26 deaths.

Fajardo said that although there are no reported cases of H1N1 virus in the country, the government is continuously implementing preventive measures not only in the national but as well as in the local levels.

“We want to remain that way, kaya pursigido ang pamahalaan at tuloy-tuloy pa rin ang ginagawa nating preventive measures (We want to remain that way. That is why the government is continuously doing preventive measures),” she stressed.

She said these measures include the strict monitoring in the country’s point of entries through the setting up of thermal scanning at six international airports and the tight screening of all passengers, especially those coming from countries with H1N1 confirmed cases.

She said the authorities are prepared to handle the situation just like what the government had done successfully during the health hazard outbreaks in previous years such as the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), avian flu, and the ebola virus.

Earlier, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo had called for the holding of a comprehensive forum on the A/H1N1 flu to map out a comprehensive strategy against the virus.

Press Secretary Cerge M. Remonde said the forum would serve as a venue to “share information and best practices from the experts and map out appropriate defensive strategies for public health.”

To prevent the spread of misinformation about the H1N1 that could spark panic, Remonde said the government, led by the Department of Health, would carry out a comprehensive information campaign about the virus and how to avoid it.

Likewise, he said call centers would also be tapped to disseminate information about the H1N1 virus. (PIA V Release)


PGMA ALLOTS P25M INITIAL FUND FOR REWARD SYSTEM TO END POLITICAL KILLINGS

MANILA — President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on Tuesday (May 5) allotted P25 million as initial fund for the government's reward system to put an end to political killings in the country.

President Arroyo also asked the lawmakers to contribute P250,000 each from their Countrywide Development Fund (CDF) to build this fund.

“Political violence has been a scourge in Philippine politics long before our administration. We want to erase the legacy of political violence that haunted our nation for generations. We want to achieve a violence-free
political culture in the Philippines once and for all,” the President said.

“Hence, I am allotting an initial 25 million for rewards to informants who provide information that foils political assassination attempts or leads to their solution especially identification of their masterminds. I invite
lawmakers to contribute 250 thousand each from their CDF to build this fund,” President Arroyo also said. (PIA V Release)