Army facilitates livelihood training for coastal barangays of Castilla

By Benilda A. Recebido

CASTILLA, Sorsogon, Feb. 21 (PIA) -- The 903rd Infantry Brigade facilitated the seaweeds training and seminar to help residents in coastal barangays in the municipality put up an alternative livelihood.

Members of the Barangay Defense System (BDS) and residents residing along the coastal barangays of Castilla attended the training.

Brgy Chairwoman Domingga Miraflor welcomed the participants to the training. Messages of inspiration as well as sharing of experiences and expertise were given by Regional Seaweed Action Officer Mr. Ed Serrano; SEAGRASS President Mr. Red Lasay; Provincial Agriculture Office - Fisheries Division Chief Mr. Serafin N. Lacdang; Castilla Municipal Councilor Vicente Astano; and Cpt Arnel G. Sabas, the Civil Military Operations (CMO) Officer of the 903rd Brigade.

Sangguniang Bayan Secretary and Castilla Municipal Environment and Natural Resources Officer (MENRO) Mr. Reynaldo C Marchan, gave lecture-demonstration to the participants and likewise discussed the Fisheries Law (RA 8550).

Mr. Amelito M Golloso Sr., Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) Sorsogon technical staff, discussed the importance of seaweeds and its economic value, major aquaculture commodities, seaweeds farming including harvesting and drying, different culture methods, farm maintenance, and major seaweed diseases.

Before the culmination activity, the 903rd Brigade led by Cpt Arnel G. Sabas, conducted a gift-giving activity to the participants.

Meanwhile, 903rd Brigade Commander Colonel Joselito Kakilala said that the skills training and the seminar conducted for the fisher folks will surely add up as an alternative livelihood for the residents.

“The livelihood project will soon be replicated to other coastal areas of the province with the assistance and cooperation of other stakeholders in line with the AFP’s Internal Peace and Security Plan (IPSP)-Bayanihan,” he further said. (Cpt MPPanesa/MAL/BAR/PIA-5)

Bicolano senator seeks recognition for Pinay nurse heroine

LEGAZPI CITY, Feb 21 (PIA) -- Bicolano Senator Chiz Escudero said he will file a resolution in the Senate to commend Menchu Sanchez, an immigrant Filipino nurse in the United States who President Barack Obama honored during his State of the Union address last Feb. 13 for her heroism at the height of Hurricane Sandy which hit the US last year. 

Escudero said Sanchez should be accorded national recognition since she exemplifies the best qualities of Filipinos who are recognized throughout the world for their commitment to hard work and compassion. 

“All Filipinos should take pride in Sanchez who did not think twice in risking her life for the safety of infants under her care at the height of one of the most destructive typhoon that hit the US. Her dedication to work serves as an example and inspiration to all Filipinos, whether here in the country or abroad,” he said. 

In his State of the Union Address, Obama cited Sanchez, a nurse at New York University's Langone Medical Center for assuring the safety of hospital infants in the care of the hospital during Hurricane Sandy. 

"We should follow the example of a New York City nurse named Menchu Sanchez. When Hurricane Sandy plunged her hospital into darkness, she wasn't thinking about how her own home was faring," Obama said in his annual address to Congress. 

Sanchez was born and raised in the Philippines and immigrated to the U.S. in the 1980s and has worked as a nurse in New York for more than 25 years. 

Sanchez was among the honored guest during Obama's speech and was sitted in the viewing box with First Lady Michelle Obama. 

Sanchez recounted that she had to travel back and forth four times to the hospital to move babies on the night power was shut down as a result of Hurricane Sandy. She had to traverse eight flights of stairs carrying the infants with only the light of their mobile phones to use in guiding their way. 

Escudero said that while overseas Filipino workers are considered the country’s modern day heroes, Sanchez is rightly the country “heroine of heroes. (MAL-PIA5/Office of Sen. Escudero)

ADNU launches Radyo Banwaan, gathers communication enthusiasts

By Analiza S. Macatangay

NAGA CITY, Feb. 20 (PIA) -- The Ateneo de Naga University (ADNU) Department of Social Sciences, Media Studies Society and the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkasters sa Pilipinas (KBP) leads a three-day communication and media confab at the Arupe Convention Hall in the said university. 

Dubbed Radyo Banwaan, the 4th Bikol Conference on Communication and Media Studies took off Wednesday morning, February 20 and will wrap up on February 22, Friday. 

The first day’s highlights include the presentation of production thesis entitled Expressive Realism as a Film Style in Portraying Urban Myths as Memetics in a Society and was presented by Bernie Faustine Brijuega, Kristine Gonzales, Marc Andrew Serapio, all AB Communication 4 students. 

Veteran radio broadcasters in Camarines Sur Bert Delos Martirez of GMA 7-Naga, Ernie Verdadero of GNN TV48, and Jess Volante guested during the panel discussion dubbed as “Puon kadto Sagkod Ngunyan”, Revisiting the History of Broadcast in Bikol. 

Several station managers from radio stations in the city, led by Camarines Sur KBB Chairman Elmer Abad also took part in the discussion of the Bikol Broadcasting situationer. 

Local radio anchors and reporters, including seasoned writers were also featured in a mini talk show dubbed: “Bareta, Mainit Pa: Dissecting reportage in the Region. 

ADNU Media Studies Professor Victor Dennis T. Nierva, a cultural advocate, writer and poet said that the event, through lectures, panel discussions, talk shows and other activities, will try to seek light on what makes broadcast practices and developments in the region, unique. 

“This year, BiCCoMS attempts to quintessentially reflect and inquire on the existence of what we may call as ‘Bikol broadcasting’. It is, therefore, first, a celebration of tradition; second, a rekindling of a rich history; third, an understanding of the present; and fourth, an act of defining the future,” Nierva said in a statement. 

Nierva added that BiCCoMS has been trailblazing as an annual regional gathering of students, educators, practitioners, and enthusiasts to ruminate and discern on both communication and media studies, as academic disciplines and fields of practice, with special attention to Bikol milieus and contexts. 

Discussions for the next two days will include a thesis presentation on Batang Mangagawa, lecture on radio Radio and the Shaping and Reshaping of Bikol Language, Community Radio in the Philippines, Radio Production Competition and the exploration of the genre through radio/ drama. 

Other topics include Film as DevCom Method in Advocating People's Response in Health Care in Calabanga, Camarines Sur, Production Thesis Presentation (Photojournalism) and Reading Radio: Frameworks of Media CriticismBroadcasting Social Change. (MAL/LSM/PIA-5)