Bicol farmers join Natural Farming confab in Naga City

By Analiza S. Macatangay

NAGA City, Feb.8 (PIA) --- Agricultural advocates and practitioners from this city and other parts of the Bicol Region took part in the recently concluded Natural Farming Systems and Technology seminar held at the SM Activity Center-Naga in keeping with the ideals of promoting the best and natural source of man’s daily consumption.

The two-day seminar workshop was spearheaded by the Resource Enhancement and Cooperation by Habitat, Inc. ( REACH), a non government organization dedicated to uplift the welfare and development of small communities in the Bicol Region.

Co-sponsored by the city of Naga through Mayor John Bongat, the activity is also in consonance with the LGU’s program to help farmers improve their productivity and their local state of economy by equipping themselves with the basic technical know-how and actual hands-on practice.

REACH chairman Jun Lavadia Jr, concurrently the Barangay Captain of Tabuc, Naga City lauded and congratulated the participants who came all the way from Quezon province just to attend the lectures delivered by Andy Lim, a Natural Farming Technology specialist and a co-founder of the Tribal Mission Foundation, Intl, Inc.

REACH spearheads advocacies for the promotion of good health and wellness, environmental protection, and livelihood generation through eco-friendly agriculture.

One of the highlights of the discussion was the promotion of raising animals without using chemically enhanced growth hormones and synthetic materials basically found in the animal feeds. The participants were taught how to prepare organic materials for fertilizer, pesticides and other feeds.

More and more agricultural practitioners are turning into organic farming due to its various benefits and advantages, particularly to the health and wellness of its partakers.

For one, naturally grown vegetables and fruits, tastes better and since they are nourished naturally, they have longer shelf life and do not show susceptibility to rapid mold and rotting. Most of naturally grown foods are resistant to diseases and pests and doesn’t put much financial burden to the farmers by getting away from expensive and chemically-laden fertilizers to ensure the superior growth of their plants.

The promotion of the said program is also pursuant to the provisions of Section 27 of Republic Act No. 10068, otherwise known as the Organic Agriculture of 2010. (MAL/LSM-PIA Camarines Sur)

Big cash prizes await designers of electric tricycle

MASBATE CITY, Feb. 8 (PIA) — Masbateños can now participate and win big cash prizes in the “E-trike Design” contest.

Sponsored by the Department of Energy, the contest requires participants to submit 2D and 3D computer-aided drawings of design for Philippine’s electric tricycle. They must also be accompanied by official registration forms, which can be downloaded at www.doe.gov.ph (DOE website) or www.pia.gov.ph (PIA website)

The criteria: aesthetics/creativity, 50 percent; originality/innovation, 20 percent; safety and functionality, 20 percent; and ergonomics (ease of passenger entry, total passenger comfort), 10 percent.

The top three winners will receive P200,000 each, while seven others will be given a consolation prizes of P50,000 apiece.

The top three designs will be adopted by the DOE in the promotion of lithium ion battery-powered tricycles, which are energy efficient.

Send entries not later than Feb. 17, Friday, to Nationwide E-Trike Design Contest, c/o Energy Utilization Management Bureau, Department of Energy, Merritt Road, Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City 1631.

Details can be secured from the Philippine Information Agency administrative division chief Robert Baldago (tel. 920-4345 or 09399133055) and the DOE (tel. 8402214 or 4792900 local 209). (MAL/Ernie A. Delgado, PIA Masbate)

372 motorcyclists fined for driving sans helmets, license plates

MASBATE CITY, Feb. 8 (PIA) -- If you thought it was all talk, think again.

Violators of the “no plate/helmet, no travel” policy in Masbate City have been meted out fines, according to a report presented at last Thursday’s meeting of the Provincial Law Enforcement Coordinating Council (PLECC) by Supt. Rodolfo Abella, Masbate City police chief.

The report, which assessed the implementation of the Traffic Ordinance of Masbate City since Abella took over last Dec. 28, said the city police’s traffic division apprehended 322 erring motorcyclists.

This is on top of those apprehended outside the city, according to SPO3 Jose Vasquez, Highway Patrol Group chief.

In his separate report, which evaluated last year’s implementation of the traffic code, Vasquez said various police stations reported having apprehended 50 erring motorists.

All were meted out fines of P500.

Saying the results showed the government’s “seriousness” in instilling discipline on the road, Land Transportation Office district chief Maricar Butalid and Department of the Interior and Local Government provincial director Renato Alaurin commended Abella for his accomplishments.

Senior Supt. Heriberto O. Olitoquit, police provincial director and PLECC chair, said he would create a task force that would zero in on policemen who own or drive vehicles. (MAL/EAD- PIA Masbate)

Quake felt in Albay and Sorsogon

LEGAZPI CITY, Feb. 8 (PIA) -- An earthquake with intensity 3 jolted this city while an intensity 2 rocked Sorsogon City yesterday morning, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) said.

Phivolcs instruments recorded the earthquake at about 11:49 a.m. Monday with a magnitude of 6.9 at the Richter scale with epicenter in Tayasan, Negros Oriental.

Ed Laguerta, Phivolcs resident volcanologist here, said instruments located the earthquake at 9.97 degrees North, 123.14 degrees east or 5 km North, 41 degrees West of Tayasan, Negros Oriental, with depth of 10 km.

The agency said the earthquake was of Tectonic origin, meaning the quake was triggered by the deformation of earth crust.

Albay Gov. Joey Salceda has issued an advisory to local disaster council in towns and cities along western seaboards to be on heightened alert for possible tsunami occurrence in the wake of Phivolcs Tsunami alert following the earthquake.

The tsunami advisory warned residents living in shorelines, river banks, and low lying areas to be on alert.

The governor however lifted the tsunami alert advisory a couple of hours later after receiving a Phivolcs bulletin and National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) lowering tsunami alert status also Monday afternoon.

No evacuation was effected in the province, while no damage was reported. (MAL/MSA, ALbay)