(PAGASA 24-HOUR PUBLIC WEATHER FORECAST as of Wednesday, 30 October 2024) At 3:00 AM today, the center of the eye of Typhoon "LEON" {KONG-REY} was estimated based on all available data at 380 km East of Aparri, Cagayan or 395 km East of Calayan, Cagayan (18.8 °N, 125.2°E) with maximum sustained winds of 165 km/h and gustiness of up to 205 km/h. It is moving West Northwestward at 15 km/h. 𝗙𝗒π—₯π—˜π—–π—”π—¦π—§ π—ͺπ—˜π—”π—§π—›π—˜π—₯ π—–π—’π—‘π——π—œπ—§π—œπ—’π—‘: Butuan City, Agusan del Norte, Agusan del Sur, Dinagat Islands, Surigao del Norte and Surigao del Sur will experience partly cloudy to cloudy skies with isolated rainshowers or thunderstorms due to Localized Thunderstorms. Possible flash floods or landslides during severe thunderstorms. 𝗙𝗒π—₯π—˜π—–π—”π—¦π—§ π—ͺπ—œπ—‘π—— 𝗔𝗑𝗗 π—–π—’π—”π—¦π—§π—”π—Ÿ π—ͺπ—”π—§π—˜π—₯ π—–π—’π—‘π——π—œπ—§π—œπ—’π—‘: Moderate to Strong winds coming from West to Southwest will prevail with moderate to rough seas / (2.1 to 3.5 meters).


PIA News Service - Saturday, June 2, 2012

Expect for “no perfect” attendance on opening of classes, DepEd official says

By Robert E. Roperos

BUTUAN CITY, June 2 (PIA) -- An official of the Department of Education (DepEd), Butuan City Division said it is expected that there will be no perfect attendance on opening of classes especially in far-flung areas.

Dr. Israel Reveche, DepEd Butuan City Division information officer said that based on the previous years, no perfect attendance of pupils and students were noted in far-flung barangays.

However, the official said because of the successful conduct of Brigada Eskwela, DepEd officials here hoped that there will be good turnout of attendance during Monday’s opening of classes, since they (pupils and students) will no longer use the first day of the class for cleaning and beautifying their classrooms as this was already made during the Brigada Eskwela.

Dr. Reveche further said that in as far as the availability of teachers is concerned, he said to date there is enough number of teachers to accommodate the number of enrollees in the elementary department of the region.

Furthermore, Reveche admitted that there is lack of high school teachers in the city as the number of enrollees has increased this school year.

He also said this happened because DepEd-Butuan City Division has opened Integrated Schools (IS) this year, adding to the 18 regular high schools in the city.

Dr. Reveche said the division office, as well as the local school board and the local government unit here have worked out to address this problem by urging the parents during the conduct of "Brigada Eskwela" to send their children even during the first week of class so that they can familiarize their classrooms, teachers, and new classmates.

He also said it is on this period that textbooks will be distributed to pupils and students. "Thus, there is a need for them (pupils and students) to be present during the first week of classes so that they can have the needed textbooks," Reveche said.

According to DepEd, Integrated Schools offer a complete basic education in one school site and has unified instructional programs. This is embodied in DepEd Order No. 91, series of 1999 entitled, Guidelines on the Establishment and Operation of Integrated Schools.

On August 6, 2011, DepEd issued Memorandum No. 196, series of 2011 creating the Task Force on the Operation of Integrated Schools. The order mandated the task force to review DepEd Order No. 91, series of 1999.

The task force is also mandated to conduct researches and gather feedbacks from existing integrated schools, as well as to craft, formulate and enhance guidelines to include the standards criteria and staffing patterns among others on the establishment of new IS or conversion of schools into IS considering or integrating the concepts and principles of the IS in the implementation of the K to 12 Basic Education Program.

Under the memorandum, task force is also tasked to coordinate with the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) for technical assistance and other pertinent concerns to facilitate the finalization of the enhanced guidelines.

Likewise, they will consult with the stakeholders on the effectiveness of the enhanced or reformulated guidelines. It will also finalize and disseminate the revised Guidelines on the Establishment and Operation of Integrate Schools milestone through a DepEd Order, and report regularly to DepEd Secretary regarding developmental activities and output of the task force.

In other developments, DepEd-Caraga said a total of 2,507 Grade 1 teachers for K to 12 from the different divisions in the region attended the series of trainings in preparation for the opening of classes on June 4, 2012. (RER/PIA-Caraga)


NFA, City Agriculturists Office brief farmers on organic farming

By Jennifer P. Gaitano

BUTUAN CITY, June 2 (PIA) -- The National Food Authority (NFA) with the City Agriculturists Office here briefed the farmers in the different barangays on the benefits of organic farming.

This was held during the distribution of “Nitro-fix” organic bio-fertilizers to rice farmer-beneficiaries spearheaded by the NFA through Administrator Lito Banayo.

According to Mr. Ernesto Abao of the City Agriculturists Office, organic farming will help improve the quality of rice that farmers produce and they will no longer have to spend much for the synthetic fertilizers.

“There is really a need for us to go for organic farming considering the fact that there is a continuous increased in the prices of synthetic fertilizers. With that, decreasing farm income and declining of soil fertility is also observed. Synthetic fertilizers also causes ground water contamination and affects the health of our consuming public,” stressed Abao.

Abao also bared that their office is continuously conducting bottom to top system of consultation, planning and implementation of Purok, Barangay Level Irrigation Projects.

“To create harmonious relationship with the farmers, we regularly take their issues and concerns so that whatever problem will immediately be addressed by the concerned agency. We also upgrade their skills with the new technologies they can apply in farming,” said Abao.

Abao further said that the city government led by Mayor Ferdinand Amante Jr. is also supporting the organic farming program of the agency.

With this development, NFA and the City Agriculturists Office are calling on the farmers in Caraga region to do organic farming. (RER/JPG/PIA-Caraga)


CCT beneficiaries help community avail gov't health services

By Leah T. Quintana

BUTUAN CITY, June 2 (PIA) -- Beneficiaries of Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program help their community avail of government health services right where they live. The group is led by a 36-year old woman named Evelyn M. Inocente in Sitio Bantolinao, Padiay, Sibagat, Agusan del Sur.

Right at the heart of Bantolinao, a structure stands where health services of the local government of Sibagat, Agusan del Sur are given to the community including the beneficiaries of Pantawid Pamilya. They called the said structure Bantolinao Health Center.

As what they have known from the orientation and meetings, Pantawid Pamilya recipients are aware that to avail of the cash grants, beneficiaries should comply with the following conditions: 1. Pregnant women must avail of pre- and post-natal care and be attended during childbirth by a trained health professional; 2. Parents must attend family development sessions; 3. O-5 year old children must receive regular preventive health check-ups and vaccines; 4. 3-5 year old children must attend day care or pre-school classes at least 85 percent of the time.5. 6-14 year old children must enroll in elementary or high school and must attend at least 85 percent of the time. 6. 6-14 years old children must receive deworming pills twice a year.

So, in one of their meetings presided by Evelyn during the early stage of Pantawid Pamilya implementation in their community in September 2008, the beneficiaries had a serious discussion on the conditions of the program that they have to comply with in order to avail of the cash grants.

The beneficiaries singled out the health conditionalities as hard to comply with because Bantolinao is 10 kilometers away from Barangay Padiay where the health center is located and 45 kilometers away from the municipal center. They have to walk 3-4 hours in going to Padiay and another 3-4 hours going back to Bantolinao.

The Sitio is part of the ancestral domain land of Barangay Padiay with major production on agro-forestry such as abaca and rattan. The 98% of community members belong of Manobo tribe.

After thorough deliberation on the matter, the group decided to build a structure that they would later call Bantolinao Health Center so they would no longer go to Padiay to avail of the government’s health services. Instead, it’s the midwife now who comes to Bantolinao to provide the residents health services they needed. Every time she goes to the community, she would also bring all the necessary stuff like medicines, vaccines for immunization and vitamins for pregnant women.

Since they didn’t have money to buy the materials for the health station they planned to construct, the group members decided to contribute a minimal amount of P5.00 for their monthly dues. As soon as they got their first cash grant, each beneficiary shelled out P5.00 but the amount collected was not enough to start building the facility they needed to have.

Focus on their goal, the diligent and industrious Pantawid Pamilya beneficiaries put up a vegetable garden. They planted string beans, okra and pechay. The first harvest from the vegetable garden yielded only P100. After the first harvest, the group did not pursue the vegetable garden but never stopped looking for ways to increase their capital.

With the P100 from the vegetable garden, they contributed P150 each when the next cash grant was released. The money was lent to a member who used it to buy abaca with 10% interest. The P 2,950 capital then became P4,600. During the 6th cash grant release that happened in 2009 they contributed anew with the amount of P500 each member – at that time only 18 were able to contribute because one member just died. The pooled resources amounted to P9,000 plus the P 4,600 from the amount they lent to one of their members, they had a total of P13,600 capital for a sari-sari store.

“Sa tulo ka bulan ni-boom na ang among tindahan (In three months’ time, our sari-sari store started earning),” said Evelyn Inocente. The group then started purchasing the materials for the health station using the store's profit.

The community members rendered “pahina” for the labor and donated locally-available materials such as lumber. Started in 2009, the health station, which costs P 70,000.00 was completed and inaugurated in November 2011. The local government assigned a midwife to regularly visit the station.

“As Pantawid Pamilya beneficiaries, this is our way of helping the community members of Sitio Bantolinao and their children avail of health services from the government. We need not travel far just to attend regular health consultations,” said Evelyn. (NCLM/DSWD-13/PIA-Caraga)


Tagalog news: PhilHealth-Caraga susuporta sa animal bite treatment package

Ni Danilo S. Makiling

BUTUAN CITY, Hunyo 2 (PIA) -– Buong lakas na sumusuporta ang Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) ng Caraga sa animal treatment package na inilunsad kamakailan ng ahensya sa sentral na tanggapan.

Sinabi ni Parly Buyan, PhilHealth-Caraga regional information officer, sa ilalim ng rabies prevention and control program, sila ay handang magbigay tulong medikal sa mga miyembro ng PhilHealth na nakagat ng hayop kagaya ng aso, pusa, unggoy, alupihan, at iba pang makamandag na hayop.

Maliban pa rito, sinabi ni Buyan na ang PhilHealth ay handang magbigay ng anti-rabies vaccine sa mga miyembro sa pakikipag-koordinasyon sa Department of Health (DOH).

Ito ay matapos na napag-alaman ng PhilHealth na marami silang miyembro na namatay dahil nakagat ng makamandag na hayop. Dahil dito, sinabi niya na mahalaga na ang PhilHealth ay magkabigay ng tulong sa kanilang mga miyembro.

Ang PhilHealth sa pamamagitan ng Board Resolution No. 1585, series of 2012, na magbibigay ng animal bite treatment package para sa lahat ng kwalipikadong benepisaryo. Ang benepisyong ito ay layuning sumuporta sa National Rabies Prevention and Control Program sa pamamagitan ng pagbabayad sa gastos ng post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) na gamot sa pasyente na nakagat ng hayop na benepisaryo naman ng PhilHealth.

Sa pagpapatuloy sa Section 38 ng Republic Act 7875 at binago ng Republic Act 9241, na naglalahad na ang korporasyon ay kailangang magpatuloy sa kanilang pagsisikap na mapaunlad ang benefit package upang matugunan ang pangangailangan ng mga miyembro nito.
Sa pamamagitan ng Republic Act 9482, o kilala bilang Anti-Rabies Act of 2007, ang DOH, sa pamamagitan ng Administrative Order Nos. 2007-0029 AT 2009-0027, ay magbibigay ng binago na patnubay sa management of animal bite patients and amendment. Para mabalansi ang inisyatibo ang PhilHealth ay magbibigay sa package.

Para sa layuning makakuha ng sa nasabing package, ang nananatiling management of animal bite patients ay rekomendado ng DOH at kailangan gamitin bilang batayan para sa klasipikasyon at probisyon ng serbesyo.

Ang package ay P3,000 kada kaso at bumubuo sa gastos na nagbibigay ng Post-Exposure Prophylaxis (PEP) na serbesyo. Ang sumusunod ay ang reimbursable PEP service items: 1) Rabies vaccine; 2) Rabies Immune Globulin (RIG); 3) Human Rabies Immune Globulin (HRIG) at; 4) Purified Equine Rabies Immune Globulin (pERIG).

Ang ibang PEP service items ay bumubuo sa local wound care, Tetanus toxoid at anti-tetanus serum (ATS), antibiotics, at supplies kagaya ng, but not limited to, syringes, cotton, alcohol at iba pang antiseptics.

Mabilan sa kagat ng aso, ang taong nakagat ng ibang domestikong hayop (Cats) at livestock (cow, pigs, horses, goats) pati na ang mga wild na hayop (bats, monkey) ay maaring kasali rin.

Nilinaw din ng PhilHealth na hindi kasama sa package ang 1) Pre-exposure Prophylaxis, 2) Inpatient cases of animal bites and rabies, which shall be reimbursed through inpatient benefit, 3) Category I rabies exposure and category II exposure not involving the head and neck, 4) Bites by rodents, guinea pigs and rabbits, 5) Management of adverse reactions,at iba pa na hindi na nabanggit sa taas.

Dahil dito, ang PhilHealth ay ipinapaalam na ang qualipikadong miyembro ay kailangan sumangguni sa pinaka malapit na regional, syudad o provincial na tanggapan para sa karagdagang detalye. Sa rehiyong Caraga, ang regional na tanggapan ay matatagpuan sa Lynzee’s Bldg., J. Rosales Avenue, Butuan City na may telephone numbers na (085) 342-6992, 341-6404. (RER/PIA-Caraga)