Palawan barangay, home of the indigenous Tau't batu cave people, records 800 malaria cases

Barangay Ransang, an area in Rizal municipality with a high population of Pala’wan indigenous peoples (IP), has recorded an estimated 800 malaria cases since January this year.

Rutchel Laborera, acting health officer of the town, said Thursday that among Rizal’s 11 barangays, Ransang has remained consistent in recording the highest incidents of the mosquito-borne disease.

“Ransang pa rin ang may mataas na kaso ng malaria sa bayan natin. Last year, sila din, kaya ang health office natin ay talagang consistent din ang monitoring natin dyan sa area na yan at talagang nagbabantay ang mga Barangay Health Workers (BHW) natin sa Ransang,” she said.

“Ilang beses din tayo noon dyan nakapag-deklara ng malaria cases outbreak sa Ransang, pero ngayon under close monitoring talaga ang barangay na yan pagdating sa malaria sa buong probinsya natin sa Palawan,” Laborera added.

Most of the cases, she said, involve adults, and dispatched health workers are focusing to ensure that they get help

She said they are cooperating on this with the Provincial Health Office (PHO) and the Kilusan Ligtas Malaria (KLM).

“Lagi silang may mga anti-malaria awareness dissemination sa mga communities to prevent more cases,” she said.

Among the other interventions is also the distribution almost every month of long-lasting insecticide nets or LLINs to the residents with the Pilipinas Shell Foundation, Inc. (PSFI).

Based on recent data by the KLM, Palawan has already recorded 4,830 positive malaria cases this year.

Aside from Rizal, the towns with high cases are Brooke’s Point, Bataraza, and Quezon in southern Palawan. (Content reposted from Palawan News Online)

PHOTO CREDIT: Frontier Ventures

 

Zero Covid barangay in Cebu City to receive P500,000

Aiming to have zero coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) case by yearend, Mayor Edgardo Labella on Friday announced that he is giving a PHP500,000 reward to every barangay (village) that would be Covid-free from Nov. 1 to Dec. 31.

During the turnover of the new Cebu City Quarantine Center (CCQC) by the Department of Public Works and Highways to the city government here, Labella said the city government conceptualized the reward system in order to operationalize the challenge given by Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu, the Cebu Covid-19 response overseer, to have a zero-Covid capital city.

In a press briefing on Thursday, Cimatu said this city that used to be tagged as a coronavirus epicenter has now flattened the curve and already known as the "epicenter of recoveries".

This development prompted Cimatu to challenge the city to aim for zero Covid-19 cases.

“Mr. Mayor, I am confident that you can have zero Covid here in Cebu,” Labella quoted Cimatu as saying.

“We will try our best to achieve that ideal, because we are inspired” by how the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) has addressed the coronavirus crisis in the city, the mayor answered Cimatu.

Due to a spike of Covid-19 cases here last June, President Rodrigo Duterte instructed Cimatu to oversee the government response to the health crisis, mainly the open defiance of the residents of the minimum health standards such as mask wearing and physical distancing, among others.

But Cimatu said it is now possible to aim for zero Covid-19 cases in Cebu City.

“I don’t really foresee a problem in our tasks especially in your organization here because you are already exposed to the day to day works since the start of the crisis,” he told the Cebu media.

Cimatu recalled that when they arrived last June, the number of patients and deaths here was alarming.

“If you look at the data, more than 600 deaths all from Cebu City since June and bigla na lang naging (suddenly becomes) zero. This is an indication of success, that effort of the (Emergency Operation Center) team paid off,” he said, adding that for seven days now, the city has zero fatalities due to Covid-19. (Content reposted from Philippine News Agency)

IN PHOTO:. As the Covid-19 curve is flattened, Environment Secretary and Cebu overseer Roy Cimatu (inset, left) on Thursday (Oct. 22, 2020) challenged Mayor Edgardo Labella to make Cebu City Covid-free. Labella on Friday (Oct. 23, 2020) announced that he is giving a P500,000 incentive to every barangay with zero Covid-19 case from Nov. 1 to December 31. (Photos courtesy of IATF and Jun Nagac)

 

Baguio City barangays to process business registration onsite

Mayor Benjamin Magalong has approved a city council resolution bringing business registration to the Summer Capital’s barangays.

The resolution called for the barangay registration to avoid crowding and queueing at City Hall as a means to prevent the spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19). It especially targeted services and trades, which proliferated in response to closure of regular trades during implementation of quarantine measures. 

Among others, the resolution sought to provide easier registration for online sellers, home-based micro enterprises, producers of ready-to-eat food, farmers in direct selling, rolling store operators, delivery service owners and overseas Filipino workers engaging in alternative livelihood. 

 The registration, assisted by the city council’s committee on market, trade, commerce and agriculture, is free of charge. 

Meanwhile, to also aid in making registration easier, the Association of Barangay Councils office is providing simplified registration forms. The forms shall be collected by the Special Services Division of the City Mayor’s Office for recording and classification.(Content reposted from The Manila Times)

Dumaguete barangay residents clamor for solution to flooding woes

Residents in Barangay Banilad here are urging village and city officials to address the perennial flooding problem that has not been solved over the past years and which continually pose a threat to lives and properties.

Retired Brig. Gen. Rey Lyndon Lawas, in an interview Friday, said he talked to Banilad village chief Pacencio Maquiling, Jr. regarding the problem that has spanned several administrations already.

Lawas disclosed that in a meeting with the barangay council early this week attended by some complainant-residents, “we found out nga wala pa na brief ang mga barangay officials of any plans (the barangay officials have not been briefed yet on any plans) to address the problem.”

He said he was told the city has allocated a budget of PHP8 million for the flooding problem but there are no specifics yet.

It was agreed that the barangay shall invite concerned heads of government offices like the city planning, city engineer’s, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), and others to present and brief the affected barangay residents of the plan at the soonest time possible.

“Just today, I requested to propose a barangay resolution requesting these concerned offices to present the plan before the affected residents to make it more official,” he said.

The move comes as residents in the areas of Barangays Banilad-Mangnao experienced heavy flooding on Sunday night caused by rainwater that gushed down from the mountains.

Some residents complained that their houses were flooded for hours up until after midnight.

The following day, the affected residents were cleaning up mud and debris from the flooding which took more than a day or two to finish.

DPWH personnel were also seen cleaning out drainage systems.

Veronica Paras Gascon, the next-door neighbor of Lawas, said she watched as the floodwaters poured out onto the road in front of her house, turning it into a mini-river.

Gascon said it has always been like this for more than a decade, with several officials making promises that were never fulfilled.

Connie Gregore, a person with disability, shared the same sentiments, saying that she is worried because there are two other PWDs in her home.

Gregore said she will attend the next meeting with barangay officials and will rally behind whatever has to be done to get the attention of concerned officials.

Lawas said that he will initiate a campaign to identify the number of households affected by the flooding that takes place more frequently these days than in the past years as well as a signature campaign to petition a faster and concrete response to the problem.

He said the barangay chairperson told him that the mayor has assured to deal with it once the pandemic is over.

However, residents are becoming restless and fearful that if not given immediate attention, the next huge flooding might just claim a life. (Content reposted from Philippine News Agency)

 

DOH, DILG strengthens barangay health emergency teams to boost healthcare

The Department of Health (DOH) together with Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) will strengthen the role of Barangay Health Response Teams (BHERTs) to help boost the country's healthcare system up to the grassroots level.

"Napakalaki pong tungkulin ang ginagawa ng barangay health emergency response teams," DILG Undersecretary Jonathan Malaya said during the DOH Media forum on Monday, Oct. 5.

Malaya said they it is important  that these teams  be sustained to ensure they regularly function and able to render the necessary service to the public especially during time of emergencies.

The DOH also cited the importance of BHERTs in the communities. There are 39,347 BHERTS all over the country as of August 20.

"Ang mga BHERT friends po natin ang pangunahing health defense sa ating community ngayong pandemic," DOH Undersecretary Rosario Vergeire said.

The BHERTs are responsible for the home visits in search for COVID-19 active cases as well as the conduct contact tracing and monitoring for home-quarantine. They also refer patients to quarantine facility or treatment and monitory facility if they observed signs and symptoms of COVID-19.

"BHERTs are crucial in enhancing the Universal Health Care law which specifies that each home in the country must have one barangay health emergency response team assisting them," Vergeire said.

Vergeire added that BHERTs are tasked to provide immediate and proper emergency assistance and coordinate with the national government regarding the necessary health protocols.(PIA-NCR)

“Malaki po ang impact ng efforts ng DILG sa ating laban kontra COVID-19 lalong lalo na po alam po natin ang pinaka effective na measure sa COVID-19 is for us to bring down the response dito po sa pinaka-mababang antas o level ng ating gobyerno, and that is our barangays,” Vergeire said. (Photo and content reposted from PIA-NCR)

 

 

Life at Fuga Island, a far-flung barangay in Cagayan

 

Wide-spread poverty, lack of social services, and not having a land of their own these are some of the sad realities that residents of Fuga Island in Aparri, Cagayan face everyday.

So how do some 2,000 residents of the far-flung island survive? (News and video credits: CNN and YouTube)

 

Why should measurement of GDP or the national gross domestic product start at the barangay level?

OPINION

The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) accounting system has been used for many years now to measure the health and condition of the national economy.

I wonder, however, how the data is being collected to overall GDP computation, because I have always believed that all data collection should start from below, to be eventually integrated and analyzed at the top.

Perhaps there is no direct connection to this main subject matter, but I also believe that Bottom up Budgeting (BUB) should be the default standard in local government budgeting and accounting, in line with a Barangay Development Plan (BDP).

As a requirement that is based on the Local Government Code (LGC), BDPs should be prepared and approved by the Barangay Development Council (BDC).

As it is now, the performance of the President is already being measured by the health and condition of the national economy during and after his or her term of office. Of course, the measurement is always based on the national GDP since there is no other credible measure that could be used as an alternative.

 That being the case, my friend and fellow columnist Manny Valdehuesa suggested that we should also measure the GDP at the barangay level, and in connection with that, to also use the barangay GDP to measure the performance of the barangay based on the health and condition of the local economy. Valdehuesa has the credibility to suggest this idea, being the founder of the Gising Barangay Movement (GBM).

Aside from the BDC, there are also supposed to be Municipal Development Council (MDCs), Provincial Development Council (PDCs) and Regional Development Council (RDCs), also as required by the LDC.

What this means is that there is already an existing structure or organization to collect GDP data from below, so that these could be submitted upwards for eventual integration and analysis. That way, the BUB standard could be easily implemented without any additional implementation costs.

Although there is really no empirical basis that would correlate the local barangay budget to the local GDP, there could be lessons that could be derived from the comparison. Besides, it would be logical to say that the quality of the BDP should somehow result in a positive GDP.

As it is supposed to be, all cities and municipalities are supposed to submit their Comprehensive Land Use Plans (CLUPs) to the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board (HLURB). As it is now, the HLURB does not really require the Local Government Units (LGUs) to submit their CLUPs in Geographic Information System (GIS) format, but that would be a practical idea.

Also as it is supposed to be, all local government units (LGUs) are supposed to submit their Local Master Plans (LMPs) to the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG).

As it is now, the DILG also does not require the LGUs to base their LMPs on the Geographic Information System (GIS) format, but that would also be a practical idea. In other words, both the Comprehensive Land Use Plan (CLUP) and the LMP could be integrated into the GIS format.

Over the years, we have gotten used to presidential candidates promising to improve the economy. Although they are not really saying it directly, what they really mean is that they will make the national gross domestic product (GDP) increase or grow.

That being the case, why should we not demand that our local candidates should also promise to grow or increase the local economy, by way of the local GDP, starting with the barangay level?

Based on the LGC, the Governors have authority over the Mayors and down the line; the Mayors also have authority over the Barangay Chairmen. That being the case, why don’t we interpret the law so that all these officials in all levels would be responsible for computing and reporting their respective GDPs?

Given the fact that the barangay and municipal governments may not have the resources to compute and report their respective GDPs, we should perhaps make it a rule that the Governors should fund the whole process out of their own funds.

As I have observed, however, there is hardly any Non-Government Organization (NGO) that vets the GDP data that is reported by the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA).

What is happening now, whatever GDP data that is being issued by the NEDA is generally accepted as gospel truth, because nobody really challenges it.

Surely something should be done about that in the national level, but right now we have the opportunity of starting fresh at the local level, by putting in a vetting process down below.

Many of our citizens are already saying that the politics of patronage should already be replaced with the politics of performance. I agree with that, but I would be quick to add that the performance should not only be measured in the delivery of local public services, but also in the improvement of the local economy as it is reported in the local GDP.

By comparison, any candidate of average intelligence would be capable of improving the delivery of local public services, but it would take more talent to really improve the economy.

That said, it is now time to vote only for the candidates who have a track record in improving the economy. It is not enough for them to be honest; the candidates now should also be savvy in economics. (Content reposted from PANAY NEWS under its original title: Localizing the gross domestic product accounting system by Ike Señeres)