DOH-Caraga intensifies fight vs dengue through
ABKD program
By Robert E. Roperos
BUTUAN CITY, March 6 (PIA) -- The recorded
increase of dengue cases in the region had prodded the Department of
Health-Center for Health Development (DOH-CHD) Caraga to intensify its campaign
against dengue through the implementation of the Aksyon Barangay Kontra Dengue
(ABKD) program.
DOH-CHD Caraga’s Regional Epidemiology and
Surveillance Unit (RESU) Chief Dr. Gerna Manatad pointed out that with the
increasing number of dengue cases in the region, the health department should
find measures to counter this problem.
She emphasized further that the ABKD program
aims to reduce dengue cases and deaths through a nationwide campaign for a
massive clean – up drive starting from the smallest political unit – the
barangay.
“This initiative intends to mobilize all sectors
concerned to support and reinforce clean-up drive against dengue,” Manatad
said.
Dr. Manatad explained the program includes the
regular daily clean-up drive by stakeholders. It also consists of the conduct
of re-assessment of the situation and an extension of the clean up drive, when
deemed necessary.
The schedule of daily clean-up drive is at 4
p.m. (otherwise called the 4:00 o’clock habit) “in order to ensure the absence
of breeding sites of dengue mosquitoes. All stakeholders will be mobilized to
support the clean-up drive in their assigned areas,” she said.
Dr. Manatad also said there will be the conduct
of relaying standard message focused on “searching and destroying” mosquitoes’
breeding sites.
The DOH official also informed the public to
seek early consultation for fever, joint pains, and other early signs of dengue
hemorrhagic fever such as nose and gum bleeding, blood in the stool, vomitus,
and abdominal pain, among others.
Manatad likewise said fogging is only advised to
be conducted in hotspot areas where increase in case is registered for two
consecutive years.
The health department here earlier reported six
dengue deaths from January 1 to February 23. These came from barangays Doongan,
Tungao, Taligaman, Pangabugan, and Pagtapatan in this city; and in Barangay
Poblacion Bayugan City, Agusan del Sur. (RER/PIA-Caraga)
Butuan, national finalist in the national
legislative award
By Robert E. Roperos
BUTUAN CITY, March 6 (PIA) -- The Sangguniang
Panlungsod of the City of Butuan has been chosen as one of the national
finalists in the 2012 Local Legislative Award, vying as the Most Outstanding
Sanggunian under the Highly-Urbanized and Independent Component Cities
Category.
The awards is a joint project of the Department
of Interior and Local Government (DILG) and the Philippine Councilors League
(PCL).
Awarding ceremony will held on March 7 at the
SMX Convention Center, Mall of Asia Complex in Pasay City.
The National Winners for each of the award
categories will be announced during the ceremony. Expected guests include
President Benigno S. Aquino III and DILG Sec. Mar Roxas.
It can be recalled that SP Butuan was chosen as
the regional finalist during the initial screening because of its various
projects.
The local legislature implemented a true and
comprehensive computerization system called the Legislative Management,
Codification, Tracking and Information System (LMCTIS) which enabled the
employees to perform more efficiently and effectively.
With the system, all records of the Sanggunian
such as the proposed and approved resolutions and ordinances, communications as
well as the performance of the SP members can now easily be accessed by one
click of the system.
Apart from the system, reforms in the SP were
also implemented such as equipping the employees by sending them to various
capacity and skills enhancement trainings and the installing all the necessary
equipment that would enable the employees to be more efficient.
Currently, the SP office is the only office in
the city government which employs the facial recognition biometrics machine in
the employee’s timekeeping and salary system.
Very soon the SP will be launching its own
website that will link the legislative system to the web. This would mean that
all transactions can be accessed by the public through the website. This
endeavor will again put the Sangguian of Butuan in the map being the first
local legislature to have implemented such scheme.
Vice Mayor Law Fortun said having been chosen as
a national finalist is already a big achievement not only on the part of the
SP, but the entire local government as well. “Such recognition is already a
manifestation that what we are doing in the Sanggniang Panlungsod is on the
right track of giving genuine public service to our people,” Fortun said.
(LGU-BC/VMO/PIA-Caraga)
Filipino envoys bring home ‘change’ from 39th
SSEAYP
By Rodolfo ‘Sonny’ SB. Virtus Jr.
MANILA, Mar. 6 -- The Philippine youth
ambassadors in the Ship for Southeast Asian Youth Program (SSEAYP) 2012 made a
historic first in the 39-year old program by inspiring the accomplishment of a
project onboard Japanese liner Fuji Maru, which shall benefit the Yellow Boat
Foundation in the country.
The Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)
cluster, one of the eight discussion groups onboard, introduced a project,
‘Change’ for Change, which was supported by the participating youths (PYs) of
the 39th SSEAYP.
In this project, the delegates donated the loose
change (sukli) that they had saved for the Yellow Boat.
Under the leadership of Jona D. Alegre, who was
also the Philippine youth leader, the project was inspired by the Philippine
contingent’s presentation of the Yellow Boat of Hope, which featured efforts of
the Foundation to provide boats for children who have to swim so they could go
to school. The fundraising effort raised about P48,000 for one boat for a
community has yet to be identified by the Philippine contingent.
Aside from CSR the PYs discussed other specific
issues affecting the youth, such as environment, school education, corporate
social responsibility, HIV-AIDS, youth leadership development and
cross-cultural understanding, and food and nutrition. At the end the
discussion, the groups formulated plans for collaboration to be realized after
the program.
Each delegation was also required to plan for
post-SSEAYP activities. The Philippine team decided to complement the ‘Change’
for Change project by helping improve the quality of education in the area
where the yellow boat shall be donated. These outreach activities include,
among others, leadership training, environmental education and health
education.
Further, the Filipino ambassadors popularized on
the ship the country’s tourism tagline It’s More Fun in the Philippines and
showcased the country’s cultural heritage through traditional dances and choral
singing in their National Day Presentation onboard. They also allowed their
ASEAN counterparts to experience Filipino hospitality and friendship through
personal interactions, and youth activism through sharing of their advocacies
or leadership/volunteer involvement.
The 53-day cruise was not just limited to
onboard activities. Before the cruise proper, the delegations had preliminary
activities and Youth Leadership Summit in Tokyo and homestay experience in
different prefectures in Japan. They then boarded the ship from Yokohama port,
then sailed on to five other ports - in Vietnam, Thailand, Singapore,
Indonesia, Brunei Darussalam. In these countries, the participating youth
conducted courtesy calls with government officials, institutional visits,
cultural presentations, interactions with local youth groups, and homestays.
The youth leaders also went to Myanmar for similar activities. The country
program allowed the PYs to deepen their immersion in different cultures, and
facilitate cross-cultural understanding, tolerance and cooperation, which is
the very goal of SSEAYP.
From Brunei, the last port-of-call, Fuji Maru
brought the delegations back to Tokyo where the program officially ended on
December 14. Upon the Philippine contingent’s return in Manila, the National
Youth Commission facilitated the debriefing and evaluation activities of the
group. In 2013, the group hopes to work on the turnover of donation to the
Yellow Boat Foundation, and jumpstart its post-cruise program.
The 28 youth ambassadors are: April Joy B.
Guiang, Region I; Aya Caraphina S. Abraham, Region II; Loreen P. Agulan, Region
III; Brian Jay D. Ambulo, Joseph Victor F. Fresnoza (assistant youth leader)and
Mary Grace D. LeaΓ±o, Region IV; Rodolfo SB. Virtus Jr. and Apple Allison B.
Perez, Region V; Rex Docto and Rosa Lea S. Baldevarona, Region VI; Russ Raniel
A. Ligtas and John R. Lumapay, Region VII; Philip Ariane C. Oledan and Maria
Julie Anne T. Culibar, Region VIII; Ronald Cszar F. Villano and Normelyn A.
Gallardo, Region IX; Catherine R. Victorio, Region X; Mayjee A. De La Cruz and
Jona D. Alegre, Region XI; Meikko Jay D. Forones, Mae E. Ballena and Prince
Noroddin B. Ibrahim, Region XII; Neil M. Lastimosa, CARAGA; Ryan Anthony M.
Bestre, CAR; Nasrudin A. Buisan and Hanna-Tunisia F. Usman, ARMM; and Aaron G.
Laylo and Ma. Lourraine T. Alerta, NCR.
They were joined in by their national leader,
Mabel S. Acosta, political consultant at the Office of Vice Mayor in Davao
City.
The SSEAYP is an annual cultural exchange
program sponsored by the Japanese Government and supported by the ASEAN. In the
country, the selection and training of the youth ambassadors are facilitated by
the National Youth Commission, with the SSEAYP International-Philippines. The
application for the 40th SSEAYP will be open sometime in March 2013. For more
information, interested youth leaders aged 18 to 30 can visit www.nyc.gov.ph. (NYC/PIA-Caraga)
DA-PRDP logo contest is on
By Sherwin B. Manual
DAVAO CITY, Mar. 6 -- A major program or a
commercial product needs a trademark or a logo. It should be simple and could
be easily ‘recalled.’
The DA’s forthcoming Philippine Rural
Development Program (PRDP) is no different.
It needs a logo that would capture its essence,
its objectives and goals.
The DA is thus inviting everyone to join the
PRDP logo design-making contest. The winner will take home P20,000 cash, and he
or she will be part of the DA’s legacy to the Filipino people.
Four other finalists will be honored and will
each receive P5,000 cash, and a certificate.
The logo should reflect the PRDP’s goal to
create a modern, climate-smart or resilient, and value chain-oriented
agriculture and fishery sector.
The PRDP is considered one of the DA’s biggest
foreign-assisted projects, worth $670 million or P27.5 billion, funded by the
World Bank. It will run for six years, and targeted to start third quarter this
year.
The PRDP will complement current major programs
of initiatives of the DA, aimed at attaining sufficiency in rice and major
staples.
All DA family employees and non-employees are
invited to join the contest, as long as they are Filipinos, 18 years old and
above.
Contestants should submit original, digitally-created
entries with resolution of at least 300 dpi and the width and the height of the
logo must have a resolution of at least 700 pixels.
Each entry must have color settings for both RGB
and CMYK modes and should predominantly use the colors green and blue with
white, golden yellow or black as trimmings, strokes or highlights.
Contestants are required to include a
description of the logo-design and colors, not more than 350 words.
Entries should be emailed to
prdplogodesign@gmail.com, on or before April 20, 2013, with the accomplished
information sheet and rationale.
The winners will be announced on May 15, 2013.
For more information visit www.da.gov.ph or
www.damrdp.net. (MRDP/PIA-Caraga)
DOLE Caraga conducts ISO 10002:2004 Training on
Quality Management
By Romelyn Braza
BUTUAN CITY, Mar. 6 (PIA) -- The Department of
Labor and Employment-Caraga conducted an in house training on ISO 10002:2004
Quality Management to ensure customer satisfaction through efficient and
effective complaint handling and continuous process improvement.
DOLE personnel were taught on Customer
Satisfaction, Guidelines for Complaints Handling and Continual Process
Improvement. This was initiated by the DOLE-Caraga Region in coordination with
the Certification International Philippines on February 25-28, 2013 held at the
DOLE-Caraga Conference Room.
“The training will help sustain and improve our
ISO Quality Management System” Director Ofelia Domingo said on her opening
remarks. She further stressed that being certified to ISO is not the end of the
quest, rather the beginning of the search for excellence.
Mr. Romeo M. Ramirez of the CIPI was the trainer
for this three- day ISO training.
All Quality Management System committee members
and the process holders were the participants in the said training.
Salient points discussed including the
involvement and commitment of the top management in the complaints handling
process, how to recognize and address the needs and expectations of complaints,
how to enhance satisfaction and the continual process improvement approaches.
“This training is aligned to the current system and standards of ISO
9001:2008”, Mr. Ramirez said.
Director Domingo said in closing that she
expects more improvements, initiatives and to have this be part to our passion
for service, love for service and raising the bar of DOLE-Caraga. (DOLE-13/PIA-Caraga)
