Legazpi City's disaster council and agriculture office hold tree planting activity

By Marlon A. Loterte

LEGAZPI CITY, July 9 (PIA) -- Around 700 participants coming from different sectors of society participated in the tree planting activity of 500 pili seedlings in line with the observance of this year’s National Disaster Consciousness Month (NDCM).

The environment greening activity was spearheaded by the city’s Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council last July 6 at Brgy. Puro here with the theme “Plant a Tree for Resilient Community.”

City Administrator Noel E. Rosal said that the entire reforestation efforts and other environmental programs conducted by the city government were part of the mitigation measures to cushion the impact of climate change.

Rosal also said the city government is targeting 20,000 seedlings this year to be planted at different villages to improve the agricultural production and livelihood projects in the rural barangays and preserve our environment, restore some denuded forests hit by strong calamities during the past years.

Rosal urged the people of this city to join and promote the environmental and reforestation program of the city government to prevent similar disaster that had claimed lives and brought severe damages to properties and livelihood. (MAL/MPS-LGU Legazpi City/PIA)


Dengue cases in CamSur up

Health officials enjoin public to support campaign against dengue

By Analiza S. Macatangay

PILI, Camarines Sur, July 9 (PIA) -- From 296 dengue cases from January to June 2011, records collated from various provincial sentinel sites here show a total of 780 occurrences covering the same period this year.

This prompted local health authorities to step up their campaign, specifically focusing on the search and destruction of possible breeding sites of the dengue-carrying mosquitoes.

As of June 16 this year, the Provincial Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit located in Barangay Banasi, Bula Camarines Sur identified municipalities with the most number of dengue cases: Pasacao with 37 cases; Canaman and Magarao with 33 cases each; Calabanga, 30; Sipocot, 28; and Ocampo with one recorded fatality. Among the cities, Naga is still tops with 409 cases.

Crispy Aco, Mosquito-Borne Disease Coordinator, said that Governor Luis Raymond Villafuerte directed the local health units to intensify their clean up drives and put in place safety measures to combat the increasing number of dengue victims.

“There is an ongoing talk with a private entity, Renew Philippines, and the provincial government of Camarines Sur to purchase a larvaecide that would cut the normal phase of dengue mosquitoes. This chemical would cut the life cycle of this insect.This is the best way to stop them from increasing. Hopefully things will go as planned so that the province can immediately implement this in identified dengue-affected towns, “ Aco said in an interview.

Based on the record released by the PHO, dengue cases this year went up this May, with 172 from 54 cases last year covering the same month. The fluctuating trends started this January with a recorded case of 142, then went down to 91 cases in February. The cases picked up and have recorded 140 victims in March and slightly went down to 118 in April. It reached an all time high in May with 172 and has seemingly decreased to 117 this June.

Aco said that they don’t have a complete data yet this June since they are still in the process of collating and are still verifying the submitted reports coming from the sentinel sites.

PHO has intensified its information dissemination campaign by going down to the barangays and personally handing over leaflets and IEC materials to the communities.

“One of the economical way is still maintaining the cleanliness of our surroundings, and that would mean getting rid of breeding sites, such as old tires, coconut husks, roof gutters discarded bottles, flower vases and other container that can hold clean, stagnant water. It also pays to practice the other 3s – Self protection, seek early consultation and saying no to indiscriminate fogging, “ Aco added. (MAL/LSM- PIA 5, Camarines Sur)


Disaster Preparedness Workshop for Bicol River Basin held

By Sally A. Atento

LEGAZPI CITY, July 9 (PIA) -- The Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) in the Bicol region, in partnership with Agencia Española de Cooperación Internacional para el Desarrollo (AECID) and Senator Loren Legarda, chair of the Senate Committee on Climate Change, spearheaded the Regional Forum on Climate Change Adaptation and Disaster Risk Reduction on July 5 at the La Piazza Convention Center in this city.

The said forum highlighted the collaborative workshop for the Bicol River Basin which aims to build disaster-resilient communities along the area.

In a statement, Legarda said the Bicol River Basin may give rise to environmental hazards which may be aggravated by lack of coordinated and integrated planning and management at the local government level.

In response to this concern, participants of the workshop including all stakeholders within the river basin area were expected to craft their disaster preparedness and climate change adaptation action plan, the focus of which are management mechanism, governance structure, financing scheme, and performance evaluation.

The river basin approach, said DILG V Blandino M. Maceda, will also intensify the efforts of local government units (LGUs) to effectively manage the risk from floods, landslides, drought, and sea level rise including the establishment of forecasting and early warning system in every river basin.

Among the topics discussed during the workshop is the mainstreaming of disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation in local governance.

Similar workshops have been conducted in Metro Manila and Pampanga river basins. (MAL/SAA-PIA5, Albay)