400 STUDES TO BENEFIT FROM PESFA, 70 OTHERS FROM LEP

SORSOGON Province — Some 400 students studying in the private tekbok (technological-vocational) schools across this province will benefit form the Private Education Student Fund Assistance (PESFA) being implemented by the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) provincial office here

Rodolfo Benemerito, TESDA Sorsogon provincial director, stated the program seeks out indigent and deserving students who want to pursue technological-vocational courses after finishing high school to hone their skills to become more productive and competitive not only in the local labor fronts but also overseas.

Benemerito said TESDA, with the assistance of the local government units (LGUs) through the Community Training and Employment Coordinators (CTECs), has already commenced the selection process for qualified applicants.

He added the scholars under the PESFA program may choose from 13 strategic packages offered in some 19 private tekbok schools in the province.

“Since our programs in TESDA are multi-entry programs, training classes may start anytime of the year as long as the minimum number of scholars required is met,” he noted.

Benemerito further calls on and encourages qualified students grab this opportunity offered by the government to help the poor communities allotting some P3.6 million to finance the scholarship of deserving locals.

TESDA Sorsogon, meanwhile, has announced the Ladderized Education Program (LEP) Scholarship will soon be implemented in the province targeting some 70 students who are already enrolled in the ladderized courses at the Sorsogon State College (SSC) and Aemilianum College, Inc. (ACI), both located in Sorsogon City

Meanwhile, TESDA Sorsogon was given a total of 2,652 scholarship slots with P24M budget for this year’s Pangulong Gloria Scholarship Program (PGSP).

Mariglo M. Makabuhay, TESDA-PGSP provincial coordinator, said scholars may opt from the 50 technical-vocational courses or special packages offered in various accredited private and public schools in the province.

She averred that since the PGSP’s implemented this year, TESDA has already recorded a total of 1,454 graduates, including the five overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who now have jobs overseas.

“We are presently gathering data from TESDA accredited schools and Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) to find out the extent of success among our graduates, furthermore, as bases for the PGSP second phase of implementation in the province,” she said. (BARecebido, PIA Sorsogon)


AS MASBATEñOS SLEEP, ONE ‘PUROK’ IS BORN

MASBATE CITY—Every time Masbateños rise to a new day, there are 23 more of them, the equivalent of a new purok.

Each time a month ends, there are 713 more Masbateños, the equivalent of a new barangay.

And each time a new budget of the provincial government of Masbate is approved every year, 8,556 more people are counting on getting something from it.

By the time Governor Elisa Kho finishes his three-year term next year, another 7,843 Masbateños will have been added to around 780,000 constituents today, the equivalent of more than half of the population of the municipality of Batuan.

This is the speed by which the province’s population—768,939 as counted in the 2007 census—is growing, posing a heavy burden on government.

With more than one baby being born every hour, the local governments—including one city, 20 towns and 550 barangays—should be racing against time to be able to provide the social services required by its growing constituency.

Surveys have shown that most of the province’s residents rely on the government for health, education and security because they cannot afford private services.

The province’s dependency ratio shows that one Masbateño is providing for four others, a burden that many poor people are unable to take up and eventually pass on to local governments.

Cash subsidies

There was no available data on how much the provincial government and its counterparts in the lower government units are spending for the social service requirements of every Masbateño.

The national government, through the Department of Social Welfare and Development, has been providing monthly cash subsidies to at least 33,000 households in Masbate.

Missing LGU support

A recent United Nations-sponsored study reported that Masbate has conditions already approximating those in impoverished, often famine-stricken African countries.

In view of the UN report, two questions beg for answers: Will Masbateño families have enough means to feed their children and provide for their development as productive adults? Will the LGUs’ social system for delivering health, nutrition and education become more efficient and faster than the additional children they will need to serve?

LGUs that have been failing low-income families by not helping them to plan their size, which drives them into poverty, ought to answer the questions. (EADelgado, PIA Masbate)


MILITARY ON TRACK TO CRUSH INSURGNCY IN BICOL BY 2010

PILI, Camarines Sur -- Military authorities here said they are determined to crush the communist movement in Bicol following the additional deployment of a company of the elite Army Scout Rangers (SR) here.

The Philippine Army (PA) has vowed to intensify military offensive to end the four decades war against insurgency in Bicol by June 2010.

Maj. General Roperto Pabustan, commanding general of the Army's 9th infantry Division, said the arrival of the elite strike force will beef up the existing battalion of SR deployed in critical areas in Bicol.

“I would like to meet the deadline that by June of 2010 the war against insurgency that have been pestering Bicol for almost four decades would end,” Pabustan said.

There are now only about 600 armed members of the New People’s Army (NPA) in Bicol with the deployment of the SR “we are on the track toward the 2010 target, he said.

“Our strike forces will hunt them down even in the remotest mountainous terrain in Bicol, actually they (NPA) are now on the run,” he said.

Pabustan said that the 600 armed rebels are spread in various parts of of Bicol, mostly in the mountain ranges where the elite SR would flushed out them out easily as these strike force were trained in jungle warfare.

Pabustan, the newly installed commanding officer of the Army’s 9th Infantry Division based in Pili, Camarines Sur, said that aside from the SR, the Army are set to recruit, train and assign thousand of militiamen to make up the 18 companies of Civilian Armed Forces for Geographical Unit (CAFGU) to be deployed in areas considered as guerilla zones or in every villages in the region where the presence of the communist NPA rebels are believed operating.

Pabustan cited that with the current fire power the Army has by 2010 “we will put the communist movement in an insignificant level.”

He said said among the six provinces of the region, hundreds of villages the provinces of Camarines Sur, Masbate, Albay and Sorsogon were considered as insurgency hot spots after the presence of heavily armed NPA guerrillas were noted in these areas.

Military reports said there are 10 Guerrilla Fronts operating in Bicol with close to a thousand reported armed guerrillas and around 58,000 mass base supporters across the region.

The deployment of Scout Rangers was a move intended to neutralize if not to totally wipe out the communist movement within the next two years, Pabustan said.

Government forces here have pursued military offensive against the communist movement for the past 40 years resulting to the death of thousands of its guerrilla fighters as well as government soldiers and civilians.

Billions of pesos in private and public vital infrastructures were destroyed that led to the slow down of the region's economy, he said.

Pabustan said” we are going to finish them off by giving them the might of the AFP.”
He however pointed out that for those rebels who wanted to return to the folds of the law and live a normal life, the government would be willing to accept them through the amnesty being offered with condition they lay down their arms and leave the communist movement. (MSArguelles, PNA/PIA)


CAMSUR EMERGES TOP TOURIST DESTINATION IN THE COUNTRY
…for the first semester of 2009

PILI, Camarines Sur — At least 902,202 tourists visited this province in the first six months of this year to emerge at the top of the list among the most preferred tourist destinations in the Philippines.

This is according to a report of the Department of Tourism (DoT) stating tourist arrivals in the leading 16 tourism destinations in the country rose by an average of 16.5 percent reaching up to close to 4 million this first semester despite the global economic crunch, the threat of A(H1N1) and the reduction of some 6% in volume of inbound travel to the Pacific area.

The province has accounted for some 25 percent of the total arrivals in the key destinations with a robust growth in both foreign and domestic visitors by 52 percent and 260 percent, respectively, largely credited to Governor Luis Ray Villafuerte’s judicious and timely investments in tourism development.

At the forefront of Villafuerte’s tourism initiatives are the Camarines Sur Watersports Complex (CWC), now a wakeboarding mecca and a center of various water-based sports, and the Gota Village Resort which has been adjudged the best eco-tourism destination in the world.

The success of these initiatives serves as a model for other local government units (LGUs) to harness their tourism potentials and optimize local resources to create more economic activity, the report said.

Even the governor Villafuerte himself was a bit amazed with the virtual instant success of his tourism projects.

“CamSur ranked third most visited destination last year, but we were not expecting to rise to the very top in such a short time,” he said.

The other fabulous traditional destinations in the country that also showed arrivals growth but CamSur eclipsed in the past six months of 2009 are former top ranker Cebu, Puerto Princesa, Bohol, Boracay, and Puerto Galera.

Villafuerte remains optimistic CamSur can easily hold on to its top tourism destination position with promotion of more international activities like the Cobra Iron Man 70.3 Philippines scheduled at the CWC this coming August 23 where no less than 500 participants from all over the world are expected to join. (GBClaveria, MMEC/PIA)


CSC RANKS NO. 1 IN BICOL, NO. 8 NATIONWIDE IN NDLE

VIRAC, Catanduanes — For producing 26 new licensed Nutritionist-Dietitians (ND), the Catanduanes State Colleges (CSC) here ranked first in Region V and ranked eighth nationwide in the July 2009 licensure examination given by the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC).

In the Performance of Schools in the ND licensure examination, the PRC report indicated that the CSC garnered the highest passing percentage in Bicol region and ranked eighth nationwide with 10 or more examinees category.

Thirty-nine (39) schools all over the country were evaluated in the said licensure examination.

While PRC only listed the top five schools with exemplary performance, it also reported the performance of all schools nationwide in the ND licensure examination where CSC placed eighth overall.

According to Prof. Elena G. Tasarra, chairperson of the Nutrition and Dietetics Department, the passers from CSC are: Abichuela, Michele G., Alcantara, Lady-Ann T., Alcantara, Margaret R., Aliño, Lorraine A., Bernal, Giselle Rose A., Besa, Noemi Xoyen M., Carranza, Ana Gazel T., Chavez, Julie Mae T., Co, Wilson S., Condeno, Mariel Gay R., De Belen, Ye Jin Rosella Q., Ermino, Dyan Karen O., Francisco, April Arianne C., Lumbao, Marilie B., Molina, Rona S., Obogne, Johna Marie L., Omadto, Catherine V.,
Pantino, Nean G., Ramos, Ruby Jane P., Sarmiento, Miann S., Sedillo, Grese Joy E., Sedillo, Julie Mae Athena E., Taopo, Diana B., Tejada, Joyce B., Tenerife, April I., Vargas, Lovelyn S.
CSC posted a 68 percent passing rate which is above the national passing rate.

Dr. Asuncion V. Asetre, CSC president, congratulated the achievement of the CSC College of Health Sciences Department of Nutrition and Dietetics Department, adding that CSC is one of the few schools in the country, along with other leading colleges and universities in the country, that has sustained the offering of Nutrition and Dietetics program.

This professional course, the CSC president added, is one of the integral disciplines in health care industry and allied profession which prepares its students to become experts in dealing with the breadth and scope of nutritional biochemistry, nutrition therapy, hospital dietetics, food technology and scientific meal management.

Asetre further emphasized that aside from implementing its mandate in instruction, the Nutrition and Dietetics program teaching staff and students are consistently producing ground-breaking researches in food and nutrition technology that garner recognitions in national and regional research and development fora.

The Bachelor of Science in Nutrition and Dietetics (BSND) program, which was under the College of Arts and Sciences since its inception in 1985, was transferred to the College of Health Sciences (formerly the College of Nursing and School of Midwifery) effective this 1st semester of school year 2009-2010.

The transfer is in accordance with Board Resolution No. 52, series of 2007 and consequently by Office Order No. 36, series of 2009 dated March 23, 2009.

Accordingly, the core faculty members of said program were likewise transferred to CHS.

Board Resolution No. 3-B series of 1985 approved the offering of the course Bachelor of Science in Nutrition and Dietetics. The BSND is currently enjoying Level II re-Accredited status by the AACCUP. (GSRubio,CSC/PIA)

CAMARINES NORTE POLICE OFFICE NAMED BEST PCR UNIT IN BICOL

DAET, Camarines Norte – The Camarines Norte Police Provincial Office (CNPPO) was awarded as Best Police Community Relation Unit 2009 for Region V during the 14th the Police Community Relation Month culminating activity at Camp Simeon Ola, Legaspi City held August 4, 2009.

PS/Supt. Emmanuel Talento, PNP Camarines Norte provincial director, said that the said plaque of recognition for the CNPPO was received by P/Supt. Enrique Cervantes Ramos Sr., PCR officer here.

Talento said that an individual award was awarded to PO3 Cecile Tagala as Best Junior Police Community Relation for the Police Non-Commissioned Officer.

He said that they have received the said award because of the participation and cooperation of the community in their peace and order efforts.

In other development, the 3 day Annual General Inspection of local police office in every municipality here was conducted from August 3-5, 2009 by PSupt. Job Russel Balaquid of the PNP Headquarters in Camp Crame.

The activities included inspection of records, personnel, readiness, 16 scenarios and the general knowledge of the policemen.

Balaquid said that this is in connection with their command activities wherein he was chosen to conduct the said inspection in the province.

Meanwhile, PC/Insp. Henry Serdon was promoted as team leader of the Highway Patrol Group (HPG) in the province. (RBManlangit, PIA Cam. Norte)


CONSUMER PRICE INDEX FOR ALL INCOME HOUSEHOLDS IN ALBAY: MAY 2009

LEGAZPI CITY — The provincial inflation rate of the province Albay exhibited a decrease of 0.42 percentage point from the 4.29 per cent in April 2009 to 3.49 per cent in May 2009, according to the National Statistics Office (NSO) provincial office here.

Cecile Brondial-Gozales, NSO Albay OIC provincial statistics officer, said that the present level of the province’s inflation rate was due to the decrement in the rates of the heavily-weighted food, beverage and tobacco (FBT) index (4.23 per cent from 6.13 per cent) which was counteracted by the slight increase registered in the rates of the non-food commodity/service index (2.64 per cent from 2.33 per cent).

Gonzales noted that compared to the 7.58 per cent inflation rate in May last year, this month’s rate is 4.09 percentage points lower.

She added that contributory to the decrement in the FBT were the decreases registered in the following indices – cereals & cereal preparation (7.44 per cent from 12.05 per cent), eggs (3.00 per cent from 3.51 per cent), mat (4.63 per cent from 6.10 per cent), miscellaneous (4.19 per cent from 7.63 per cent), and beverages (1.17 per cent from 1.54 per cent).

She said that in the non-food group, a significant increase was noted in the index of fuel, light and water although still in its negative value (-3.00 per cent from -6.81 per cent), while miscellaneous maintained its value at 1.90 per cent between the two-month period.

On a month-on-month basis, the Consumer’s Price Index (CPI) for all income households in Albay was registered at 163.1 per cent in May, slightly higher by 0.4 index point over the April 2009 level of 162.7.

Gonzales explained that this indicates a 0.25 per cent change in the all-item index, higher by 0.12 percentage point than the previous month’s rate of 0.07 per cent.

She said that across commodities under the heavily-weighted FBT index, most of the indices recorded decelerating rate – cereals & cereal preparation (zero per cent from 0.40 per cent), fish (0.25 per cent from 1.48 per cent), meat – (-0.38 per cent from 0.13 per cent), miscellaneous (-0-06 per cent from 0.42 per cent) and tobacco (0.17 per cent from 0.43 per cent).

She added that the same rate was noted in the index of dairy products (zero per cent), while indices in eggs, fruits and vegetables and beverages registered an accelerating movements (-0.24 per cent from -1.04 per cent), (1.11 per cent from -1.23 per cent) and (0.14 per cent from zero per cent) respectively.

Gonzales noted that in effect, the over-all rate posted in the FBT index declined to 0.06 per cent from 0.31 per cent from last month.

In the non-food commodity/service group, housing and repairs its rate of -0.07 per cent in both months of April and May 2009.

Indices of clothing and services registered a decrease in its rates (0.07 per cent from 0.20 per cent) and (0.15 per cent from 0.51 per cent) respectively.

This was however, according to her, counteracted by an increase in the index of fuel, light and water (3.31 per cent from -1.39 per cent) and miscellaneous (0.07 per cent from zero per cent). This resulted to an increase in the over-all rate posted in the non-food index (o.43 per cent from 0.06 per cent).

With such price changes reflected in the CPI above, the purchasing power of the peso (PPP) in Albay maintained its value at P0.61. (NSO Albay/PIA)


PGMA inaugurates CHED's Higher Education Development Center

MANILA — President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo inaugurated Thursday, August 6, the Commission on Higher Education’s (CHED) Higher Education Development Center (HDEC) at the University of the Philippines Complex in Diliman, Quezon City.

Joining the President for the event which included the blessing of the new CHED building were CHED chairman Emmanuel Angeles and commissioners Hadja Luningning Misuarez-Umar, William Medrano, Nenalyn Defensor and Nona Ricafort.

Upon her arrival, the President, assisted by Angeles, cut the ceremonial ribbon and unveiled the marker to signal the formal opening of the HDEC to the public.

The President then administered the oaths of office to Angeles, who assumed the chairmanship of CHED as officer-in-charge, and to Defensor and Ricafort, whose appointments as commissioners were recently renewed.

The HEDC is one of the sub-components of the seven investment strategies under the Higher Education Development Project (HEDP) eyed to exert broad impact in improving higher education as serving as the physical nerve center for higher education development in the country.

The HEDP is a package of reform-oriented investment measures aimed at implementing the key recommendations of the 1998 Philippine Education Sector Study (PESS) and the 2000 Presidential Commission on Education Reform Agenda which identified issues and problems afflicting the higher education system and recommended policy and reform measures to address these in order to enable the system to fulfill its vital roles in national development.

Aside from housing CHED’s central offices, the HEDC will also be home to a higher education virtual library, higher education management information system, media room, accreditation rooms, technical panel offices, multi-agency projects management units, training rooms and accommodation facilities.

The construction of the HDEC was accomplished in two phases: Phase 1 consists of the partial completion of a four-storey building with an approximate floor area of 6,752 square meters and costs P141-million while Phase II is the complete construction .of the building peripherals including the fourth floor, roof deck and the multi-purpose area from the ground to the third floor and its roofing.

Phase II covers an approximate floor area of 4,390 sq.m. and its contract price is P115-million. (PIA V Release)

PGMA signs Carper Bill today

MANILA — President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has signed today, August 7, the consolidated version of the bill extending the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) by another five years.

The CARP Extension with Reforms (CARPER) Bill is the government’s reply to the pleas of farmers and workers in the agricultural sector for more time to fully implement the CARP, which expired June last year.

The signing, held around 10 a.m. at the Don Ceasario San Diego Gym in Plaridel, Bulacan saw proponents from both the Senate and the House of Representatives joining the President and Department of Agrarian Reform Secretary Nasser Pangandaman, enacting the bill into law.

CARP, the land redistribution scheme mandated by Republic Act No. 6657, otherwise known as the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law of 1988, expired in December 2008 at which time, Congress adopted a joint resolution extending the CARP for six more months, or until June 2009, to allow the Department of Agrarian Reform to continue its mandated tasks pending the enactment of a new law to extend the operation of the program.

Under the CARPER Bill, P100-billion has been allocated as outlay for land acquisition and distribution, support services, agrarian justice delivery, and other funding requirements during the extension period.

The bill likewise covers all public and private agricultural lands as provided in Proclamation 131 and Executive Order No. 229, including other lands of the public domain suitable for agriculture.

The measure stipulates that prioritization of coverage “is not necessary” and that after June 30, 2009, the modes of acquisition will be limited to voluntary offer to sell and compulsory acquisition.

The bill further provides for the creation of a joint congressional oversight committee to be composed of three members each from the Senate and the House. (PIA V Release)

Economy to grow 4% this year, 6% next year – Villegas

MANILA — An economist of the University of Asia and the Pacific (UA&P) on Thursday said he sees the economy growing at four percent this year , higher than government’s 0.8-1.8 percent target.

Dr. Bernardo Villegas, who is also a UA&P professor, also said the economy, as measured by gross domestic product (GDP), might even grow by six percent in 2010.

He said remittances of Filipino migrant workers and infrastructure and consumer spending continued to remain robust amid the global downturn.

“These three alone are enough reason for a four percent GDP growth,” he said during a CEO forum jointly hosted by Insular Life and Mapfre Insular Insurance Corp. at Hotel Intercontinental in Makati City.

Villegas sees inflation rate to average at 3.3 percent this year and four percent in 2010.

Inflation went down to 0.2 percent last month due to base effects of year-ago’s record-high prices of oil products, bringing the year-to-date figure at 4.3 percent.

The government projects inflation to range between 2.5 and this year and 3.5 to 5.5 percent for 2010.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) foresees a continued drop of inflation rate in the country with the latest average forecast for this year at 3.2 percent while next year’s figure was pegged at 3.4
percent.

Villegas projects the peso to average at 49.50 to a dollar this year and 51.50 for 2010.

The peso is now trading around 47 to a dollar, and is improving on account of the prospects of global economic recovery.

It closed Friday at 47.75 from Wednesday’s 47.84.

Villegas sees the country’s foreign reserves to hover to around 6.8-month worth of imports. He declined to give any amount.

The country's gross international reserves reached US$ 39.3 billion last May, or about 6.3-month worth of imports of goods and payments of services and income.

Monetary officials project a US$ 38-billion foreign reserves for the country this year. (PIA V Release)

Economic forum highlights PGMA's Cebu visit

MANILA — Poised to drive new economic initiatives in the country, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo keynoted this year's Philippine-Russian Business Forum held at the Cebu International Convention Center (CICC) today, August 7.

The economic forum is hosted by the Philippine-Russian Business Assembly, Incorporated (PRBAI), an organization that aims to better the economic relations between the two countries.

PRBAI represents the dynamic business ties between the Philippines and Russia and aims to further strengthen regional economic cooperation, build strong networks of key businesspeople, policymakers and innovators and visionaries, align new ideas with policies, and work towards the formation of vital linkages that streamline the investment protocols in both countries.

President Arroyo addressed the assembly considered as one of several organizations that will help the country’s economic initiatives especially in Cebu.

Aside from the business forum, President Arroyo has a string of other activities here over the weekend.

She is set to lead the oath-taking of the new set of officers of the National Executive Council of hte Barangay Councilors League of the Philippines (BCLP).

She will also attend the wedding of Liloan, Cebu Mayor Vincent Franco Frasco and Atty. Ma. Esperanza Christina Garcia at the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral together with Vice President Noli De Castro. The President and the Vice President will be the principal sponsors of the special event.

President Arroyo will leave Cebu Sunday to inspect her projects and programs in Leyte. (PIA V Release)