A groundbreaking ceremony was held recently at Barangay Goin, Liloy
town by the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) for the construction of a
peanut processing center.
This will be implemented through the Village Level Farm-focused
Enterprise Development (VLFED) Project which will benefit some 85
members of Goin Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries Multi-Purpose Cooperative
(GARBEMCO).
The groundbreaking ceremony was led by Regional Director Julita A.
Ragandang, Assistant Regional Directors lawyer Ramon Madronal, Jr. and
Engr Agnes Maata with Mayor Roberto L. Uy, Jr. of Liloy town.
The total project cost is about P439,200 with a counterpart from the
local government unit of Liloy. 68% of the total amount will be
shouldered by DAR while the remaining 32% will come from the LGU-Liloy.
The VLFED Project aims to produce peanut products compliant with the
Food and Drug Administration-Licensed to Operate (FDA-LTO) and create
additional livelihood opportunities for the farmer beneficiaries who
have limited capital and don’t have sufficient income.
As a manifestation of their total commitment of support for the
implementation of the project, a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) signing
also took place during the ground-breaking.
Among the signatories of the MOA are DAR-9 Regional Director Julita
Ragandang, Zamboanga del Norte Provincial Agrarian Reform Program
Officer II Arturo Soria, DTI-Zamboanga del Norte Provincial Director
Maridel Dengal, DOST-Zamboanga del Norte head Merilyn Cadag, VLFED
Point Person Eva Soropia, GARBEMCO Chairman Roberto Callao, Liloy Mayor
Roberto L. Uy Jr., and Goin Barangay Chairman Hilario Años.
The MOA signing was witnessed by other DAR regional and provincial
employees, DTI and DOST employees, municipal and barangay officials,
employees and GARBEMCO members. (Alfonso T. Ruda)
Source of news and photo: Philippine Information Agency
A brawl and reports of vote-buying marred the barangay
and Sangguniang Kabataan elections here on Saturday, as the polls
finally pushed through after a postponement in May.
In a polling center in Barangay Lumbac Madaya, police had to fire
warning shots to break up a fight among supporters of competing
candidates.
Voting was momentarily suspended as authorities addressed the
situation and was resumed immediately after those involved were
arrested.
A group of election observers called Citizens Coalition for ARMM
Electoral Reforms said the incident was nothing compared to past
election violence in the area.
"Now, at least we are sure the shots were all coming from the authorities and none from the civilians," an observer said.
A civilian was also, meanwhile, held for questioning after he was
found with campaign flyers with P20 bills attached to them. The civilian
denied buying votes but has yet to explain to Commission on Elections
(COMELEC) officials.
The Board of Election Inspectors (BEIs) and authorities hope to
finish the voting before nightfall as there are no lights inside the
polling place.
Elections for areas most affected by last year's siege were held in
the Sagonsongan Elementary School, a temporary learning center inside
the shelter for internally displaced persons (IDP).
Police and military personnel were deployed at the entrance and exit points of the school, and near the voting centers.
Marawi is currently under rehabilitation after the five-month siege
between state forces and Islamic State-linked terrorists in the area
left the city in shambles and thousands of residents displaced.
Source of news: abs-cbn news. Photo credit: Philippine Information Agency
The orientation of newly-elected barangay officials is now completed
in five municipalities of Antique, the Department of the Interior and
Local Government (DILG) reported.
Cherryl P. Tacda, DILG-Antique
director, said in an interview on Friday, that the three-day program
began in different venues in the province last Sept. 15. These are the
towns of Barbaza, Laua-an, Sibalom, Culasi, and Tobias Fornier.
She
said the participants were organized in batches and composed of 100 to
120 barangay officials, including their secretaries and treasurers.
The DILG targets to finish the orientation by October or November in the province’s 18 municipalities.
She
said the activity is very important for barangay officials as it
orients them how to come up with their own internal rules and
procedures, to reorganize and make functional the different councils and
committees, such as the Barangay Anti-Drug Abuse Council, how to
appropriate their budget, and to activate their advocacies and
information gathering.
The output, she said, is also the plans and programs for the first 100 days of the barangay captain and other officials.
The
barangay officials, who assumed their posts last June 30, are expected
to report their accomplishments for the first 100 days during the
synchronized barangay assembly on October 14.
She said she is expecting a 100-percent participation of the province’s 590 barangays in the assembly.
Tacda
said they have already informed the newly elected barangay officials to
prepare for the assembly after receiving Memorandum Circular (MC)
2018-151 for the conduct of the assembly this second semester of 2018.
“We
hope all the barangays in the province would participate in this
synchronized activity nationwide,” Tacda said, adding that barangay
assembly is held twice a year.
“We also encourage the constituents
to take time to participate because it would be an opportunity for them
to hear the plans, ongoing projects, and even the financial statement
of the barangay,” she added.
Meanwhile, if it is not really
feasible for the barangays to join the synchronized assembly, they can
have it after a day or two.
Source of news: Philippine News Agency. Photo Credit: Annabele Petinglay
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Voters in war-torn Marawi City will finally get to elect their village and youth leaders tomorrow, September 22.
The Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan polls will be held in Marawi
City nearly five months after the holding of the nationwide village and
youth polls in May.
The
Commission on Elections earlier deferred the village and youth polls in
Marawi City owing to prevailing conditions there following the conduct
of three public consultations in Mindanao whether or not to postpone
said polls in the entirety of the region.
Despite the poll postponement and the destruction caused by the
hostilities last year, Comelec spokesman James Jimenez believes this
will not discourage voters from voting.
“I don’t think it will dampen their enthusiasm… our belief is that we will have a healthy voter turnout,” he said.
“In the south, it has always been a high voter turnout. They are politically active and very motivated to vote,” added Jimenez.
The Comelec said casting of votes in the different voting centers is from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.
But if at 3 pm, there are still voters within 30 meters in front of
the polling place, who have not yet cast their votes, voting shall
continue but only to allow said voters to cast their votes as long their
names have been listed by the Poll Clerk.
Voters will vote for one barangay chairman, seven barangay kagawad, one SK chairman, and seven SK kagawad.
According to Comelec, there were a total of 234, who filed their
certificates of candidacy (COC) for barangay chairman; while another 862
filed COC for barangay kagawad.
There were also 162 COC filed for SK chairman, and 193 COC filed for SK Kagawad.
Counting and canvassing of votes, as well as the proclamation of
winning candidates, shall immediately be done after the closing of
polls.
Prohibited acts on Election Day include campaigning, selling, buying,
offering, or taking intoxicating liquor; and opening of booths or
stalls for the sale of merchandise or refreshments within 30 meters of
the polling places.
Also prohibited are giving or accepting free transportation, food, or
anything of value; and holding of fairs, cockfights, boxing, or horse
races.
Violators of the prohibited acts could be held liable for committing
an election offense, which is punishable by one to six years
imprisonment, removal of right to vote, and disqualification from public
office.
There are a total of 50,893 registered voters for the barangay elections.
On the other hand, a total of 25,491 SK voters are eligible to cast their votes.
Source of news: Manila Bulletin. Photo credit: Philippine Star
The Inayawan barangay captain is warning the Cebu City Police Office
of possible legal actions if the police would insist on erecting a
police station on a disputed lot in the barangay.
Barangay Captain Kirk Bryan Repollo, who is affiliated with the Bando
Osmena Pundok Kauswagan (BO-PK), said on Wednesday that they were
exploring possible legal actions if the CCPO would build a police
station on the disputed lot.
In a Facebook message sent to Cebu Daily News, Repollo said they did
not block CCPO’s plans to have a new police station there, but they
merely offered them to look for another area.
Aside from the legal consequences that the police might face in
constructing the police station there, Repollo claimed that the previous
administration allegedly failed to ask authorization from the barangay
council in the donation of the lot.
“There is no barangay resolution authorizing the barangay captain to
sign a deed of donation. They only have a barangay resolution donating a
property. They don’t even state where specifically is the lot to be
donated is located,” Repollo said.
Senior Supt. Royina Garma, CCPO director, criticized the barangay
officials' refusal to let the CCPO construct a police station in the
area.
“This is my first time to see a barangay captain who refused to have
the police station beside or near the barangay hall while other
barangays here would even want police presence at the barangay hall,”
Garma said in Filipino.
She said that they would have started constructing the new Police
Station 7 in Inayawan but the officials allegedly blocked the project
citing irregularities in the deed of donation.
A 10,000 square meter lot was donated by the barangay during the
administration of then Inayawan Barangay Captain Lotlot Ignacio-Soon,
who was also a Barug Rama ally, to the CCPO where the new Police Station
7 will be constructed.
Garma claimed that the barangay officials would not allow the
construction of the police station there because they were allegedly
involved in illegal activities.
Repollo, however, denied these allegations and cited traffic and
irregularities of the deed of donation as the reasons for their refusal
to have the police station constructed in the donated lot.
He said in an earlier interview that he had met with Barangay
Poblacion Pardo officials and they agreed to have the police station in a
lot near the tennis court near the barangay hall in Pardo instead. ( Nestle L. Semilla and Morexette Marie B. Erram)
Source of news: Cebu Daily News. Photo credit: Cebu City Police Office Facebook Page.
Watersheds must be
protected “for the present and future generations,” according to
Environment regional director Jim O Sampulna.
“Watersheds
should be protected against human or natural exploitation. Protecting
our watersheds means protecting the health and well-being of everyone,”
he stressed.
More than 60 percent of the country’s
land area is classified as watersheds. This means that there are about
21-million hectares of catchment areas in the Philippines.
These include 142 critical watersheds – 11 of which are found in Western Visayas.
In
connection to this, the DENR Region 6 through the Provincial
Environment and Natural Resources Office (PENRO) recently held a
symposium on watershed conservation in Barangay Buluagan, Jordan town.
The symposium targeted the youth sector.
A
watershed is a land area drained by a stream or fixed body of water
whose tributaries have a common outlet for surface run-off.
It
serves to capture, store and recharge groundwater, filter out water
pollutants, and safely release precipitation or rainwater as to prevent
floods during episodes of heavy downpour.
If watersheds are not protected
against free grazing, forest fire, timber poaching, unregulated
extraction of raw materials and minor forest products, inappropriate
upland farming practices, severe erosion that resulted to sedimentation
and siltation of rivers, and wildlife poaching, they become “critical.”
A
critical watershed is a drainage area of a river system supporting
existing and proposed hydroelectric power, irrigation works or existing
water facilities that needs immediate protection and rehabilitation to
minimize erosion and improve water yield.
Forester Leonora Magno, chief of PENRO’s Conservation and Development Section, was the resource speaker during the symposium.
Magno
discussed the programs and thrusts of the DENR, the state of watersheds
in the country, and the characteristics of watersheds and their
importance.
Barangay
Buluangan was a fitting venue because it is the main source of domestic
water supplied to consumers in Barangay San Miguel, Jordan. (With DENR Region 6/PN)
Source of news and photo credit: DENR 6/Panay News
40 Barangay Health Workers, Nutrition Scholars
and representatives from the Sipalay City Nutrition Office gathered at
the Brgy. Mambaroto Gym in Sipalay City for their first team building
and final orientation under TraNSCEnd Hunger, a program focused on the
training of barangay nutrition scholars and health workers to end
hunger.
Communities First Executive Director Kath Maguad discussed the goals
of the program, as well as the calendar of upcoming activities to the
participants. She also announced that though the pilot program had
originally been planned for only 20 participants, that number was
doubled because the organizers saw the need to train more health workers
to support more barangays. Ms. Maguad then did a Q&A session with
the participants so they could clarify any questions they had with the
organizers.
Afterwards, Yols Hortillosa, Co-Founder of BMBC – Bacolod Mom &
Baby Club, gave a primer on the breastfeeding peer counselor training
that the participants would be undergoing on October 1-2, 2018. She also
discussed what the roles of a breastfeeding peer counselor were and how
their skills would be needed especially in times of disaster to support
the most vulnerable members of their community – the babies and the
children.
To cap off the event, Community Facilitator Valirie Haguisan
conducted an activity for the health workers to get to know each other
better. Through the activity, the participants were reminded that no
matter what their backgrounds were, each of them could make a positive
impact on the lives that they touched on a daily basis.
Snacks for the event were prepared by the Sipalay BLT Central Kitchen.
TraNSCEnd Hunger is supported by the LGU of Sipalay City, Communities
First – Creative Initiatives for Development, BMBC – Bacolod Mom &
Baby Club and VGIF – Virginia Gildersleeve International Fund.
Source of news and photo credit: The Daily Guardian.
