Comelec to local candidates in Butuan: “Don’t
harass our volunteers, partner agencies”
By Robert E. Roperos
BUTUAN CITY, May 7 (PIA) – Lawyer Ernie Palanan,
City Election Officer has warned the local candidates here not to harass their
partner agencies and volunteers.
In a press statement, Palanan reminded the local
candidates not to intimidate those who are helping the Commission on Elections
(Comelec) in achieving Honest, Orderly and Peaceful Elections (HOPE),
particularly during the conduct of “Operation Langkat” or removal of political
advertisement nailed on the trees and posts alongside the roadside of this
city.
The local Comelec official also said if these
candidates choose not to adhere to commission’s rules on campaigning, they will
implement the full force of the law. “There should be no reason for the
candidates not to be aware of campaign rules as we have already informed them
of all these,” Palanan said.
Palanan also urged the public to report any
complaints and violations committed by local candidates and their supporters
directly to the City Comelec Office, and assured that their office will not
leave any complaints unattended.
“I urged the public to report to us any
violations committed by these local candidates vying for various positions from
congressman, mayor, vice mayor to councilors in the local polls. I assure you
that the office of the City Comelec Butuan will not leave any complaints unattended,”
Palanan said. (RER/PIA-Caraga)
All systems go for Comelec-Butuan on election
day
By Robert E. Roperos
BUTUAN CITY, May 7 (PIA) – It's all systems go
for the Commission on Elections office here.
According to City Election Officer Atty. Ernie
Palanan during the “City Comelec Hour on Friday,” the Comelec, together with
officials of the Department of Education (DepEd) and the Philippine Information
Agency (PIA) have already conducted ocular inspection in schools designated
with voting precincts.
The official said majority of the schools in the
Division of Butuan have already put in place directional arrows informing the
voters of the location of the voting precincts. Also, action centers were
already designated within the vicinity of the school.
He explained the action center is a venue for
the voters to ask assistance or inquiry. Personnel from the National Movement
for Free Election, Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) and
other volunteer organizations will man the action centers.
Palanan added they have also coordinated with
the security forces of the city particularly the Philippine National Police
(PNP) to ensure safety and security of all the voting precincts here.
“We can assure the public that we are protecting
the sanctity of the votes of the people, that’swhy we have been regularly
coordinating with the PNP and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).
Today, the final testing and sealing of the
Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) machines was already conducted at the Bishop
Carmelo Morelos Campus of Father Saturnino Urios University (FSUU) in Brgy.
Libertad here.
The official further said foods such as coffee
and noodles were already packed by the Comelec staff to be distributed to the
Board of Election Inspectors who will report on the election day. (RER/PIA-Caraga)
Mobilizing barangay workers on family planning
By Angie Balen-Antonio
BUTUAN CITY, May 7 (PIA) -- The Commission on
Population intensified the campaign to reduce the unmet need on family planning
through capacitating the Barangay Service Point Officers (BSPOs), in the
region.
The BSPOs who served as the implementing arm of
the population program at the community level were trained in four batches
recently, who came from the Provinces of Agusan del Norte, Surigao del Norte,
Dinagat Islands, and also Surigao City.
The training equipped the BSPOs on the skills
needed to become an effective and efficient service delivery provider
particularly in the identification and motivation of Married Couples of
Reproductive Ages (MCRA) towards family planning,
According to the POPCOM OIC Alexander A.
Makinano, capacitating and mobilizing the volunteer workers is one of the
strategies and commitments of this office to reduce the unmet need for family
planning. We tapped the volunteers considering that they have personally known
the residents in their respective barangays.
“Couples who want to use Long-Acting and
Permanent Methods will be referred to the Barangay/Rural Health Station for
counseling and accessing the needed family planning services”, Mr. Makinano
quoted.
Technically, unmet need for family planning is
define as the proportion of currently married women who do not want any more
children or prefer to space births but are not using any method of family
planning.
Data on high unmet need for family planning in
the region is still evident in the latest Family Health Survey posted at 20.4,
higher than the national figure which is 19.3 percent.
Study revealed that top reasons identified on
high unmet need indicate lack of correct information, fear of side effects on
family planning methods, and myths and misconception about family planning in
general. Other causes include poor access to FP services, husband’s objection
and lack of LGU support. (NCLM/POPCOM-13/PIA-Caraga)
Youth in population development
By Angie Balen-Antonio
DINAGAT, Province of Dinagat Islands, May 7
(PIA) -- Youth leaders of this province pledged to support the campaign of the
Commission on Population (Popcom) for responsible sexuality as their
contribution in rationalizing population growth.
Prioritizing the importance of community
outreach, an action plan was formulated by the youth leaders as an offshoot of
the summer camp held recently.
They also organized themselves as advocates of
the Population – Health – Environment (PHE) to help propagate among the youth
the proper care and protection of the environment by way of balancing it with
population.
Alexander A. Makinano , Officer-In-Charge of
Popcom - Caraga pointed-out that the camp was a good venue of the participants
in discovering their inner selves and gained more friends as some structured
learning exercises and team building activities were introduced.
“Strengthening the leadership skills and
inculcating positive values to our future leaders is of paramount importance as
they will be facing new challenges ahead,” Mr. Makinano stressed.
Participants expressed their appreciation to the
organizers for the opportunity given to them which have broadened their
knowledge not only the physical aspect of the youth but more so on being
responsible in their sexuality.
“One of the realizations I had being a
Sangguniang Kabataan leader is I should not only focus on sports program, but
also activities in curbing the cases of teenage pregnancies,” revealed by one
of the participants.
Being one of the sponsoring groups, Popcom
believed that the gathering of the youth is aligned with its program,
Adolescent Health and Youth Development Program (AHYDP), which aimed at
providing correct information that will help the youth understand their
sexuality, develop right values and help them make responsible decisions to
prepare them for adulthood.
About 56 SK officers and members coming from the
seven municipalities of the Province of Dinagat Islands attended the 3-day
Summer Youth Camp organized principally by the Population Office of the said
province.
Similar activity is set to be staged in the
cities of Butuan and Bislig sometime this May. (NCLM/POPCOM/PIA-Caraga)
Cebuano news: Malakanyang mihisgot sa S&P
credit upgrade isip dugang palig-on sa peso
Ni Susil D. Ragas
SURIGAO CITY, May 7 (PIA) -- Gibutyag sa
Malakanyang ang bag-ohay pa lamang nga credit upgrade nga gihatag sa Pilipinas
aron pagpalig-on sa peso gikan sa international credit rating firm Standard
& Poor’s (S&P).
Sumala ni Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Abigail
Valte tungod sa maong credit upgrade, ang Philippine Peso karon nakalista na sa
ikatulong pwesto isip best performing currencies sa kalibutan.
Sumala pa ni Valte usa kini ka maayong balita
alang sa Pilipinas ug dugang pa niya nga sa maong kalamboan uban ang ika 28th
nga pagsara sa Philippine Stock Exchange index lakip ang PSEi isip ika lima sa
listahan sa mga gitawag nga “hottest” stock markets sa kalibutan nakapadako
gyud sa paglambo sa investment climate dinhi sa nasod.
Sa pamahayag nga gipagawas sa S&P, kini
miingon nga ilang gipasaka ang grado sa nasod gikan sa BB+ ngadto BBB-.
Dugang pa niini nga ang hinungdanan sa pagtaas
sa grado sa Pilipinas mao ang pagpalig-on niini sa external profile, pagkunhod
sa inflation, ug ang pagdumili sa Pilipinas pagsalig sa pagpangutang ngadto sa
laing nasod. (SDR/PIA-Surigao del Norte)
