Local alliance, DENR to conduct Lake Mainit
transboundary planning
By Johny S. Natad
BUTUAN CITY, July 10 (PIA) -- The Lake Mainit
Development Alliance (LMDA) and the Department of Environment and Natural
Resources - Protected Areas Wildlife Coastal Zones Management Services
(DENR-PAWCZMS) Caraga is spearheading a three day-Lake Mainit Transboundary
Planning Workshop in Cabadbaran City on July 10 to 12
Provincial Planning and Development Coordinator
and the LMDA Program Director Arturo M. Cruje said the said workshop is timely
since it facilitates the enhancement of LMDA’s Environmental Management Plan
(EMP) with the help of the DENR through the Biodiversity Partnerships Project
(BPP).
Cruje added the LMDA needs to revise or update
its Plan since it was formulated sometime in 1999.
The Plan serves as the bible of the alliance
that guides the LMDA Program Management and Coordination Office in the
implementation of relevant plans and programs in Lake Mainit Key Biodiversity
Area. “There are some approaches, strategies and programs that become
inappropriate considering the dynamic shift in environmental situation,” said
Cruje.
It is expected that the partners from government
line agencies will actively participate in this planning workshop.
They will be organized into seven sectoral
teams, namely, the social-cultural team, economic development team,
infrastructure and utilities team, environment and natural resources team,
institutional development team, GIS and mapping team, and secretariat will
contribute to the enhancement of the comprehensive plan for Lake Mainit.
The planning workshop is part of the BPP
milestone activities where DENR-PAWCMZS is the project responsible partner and
LMDA, the implementing partner.
The project aims to assist local government
units in critical eco-regions of the Philippines to better incorporate the
conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity resources including the Lake
Mainit Key Biodiversity Area. (FEA/PIA-Caraga)
Popcom Caraga taps media, religious groups to
address teen pregnancy
By Johny S. Natad
BUTUAN CITY, July 10 (PIA) -- The Population
Commission (Popcom) in Caraga urged members of the local media and religious
groups to support the commission in working proactively in addressing the issue
on teenage pregnancy in the region.
Popcom Caraga Officer-in-Charge Alexander A.
Makinano, in a press conference cum “Caraga in Focus” in celebration of the
World Population Day, said the issue of teenage pregnancy in the country is
alarming.
A report from the 2011 Family Health Survey of
the National Statistics Office shows that 9.5 percent of women in the
Philippines aged 15-19 years old have started childbearing.
Makinano recognized the significant contribution
of quad-media in delivering accurate information to the public especially on
family planning and responsible parenting program of the agency.
“The campaign now is to minimize teen pregnancy.
With our concerted effort through our inter-agency engagement in close
partnership with the media, we could eliminate this teen pregnancy rate,”
Makinano added.
He also recognized the significant role of the
different religious sectors and civil society organizations in the problem of
teen pregnancy, as well as in the implementation of the government’s
reproductive health education program, and health and population agenda in the
region.
“Our effort should be multi-sectoral which
includes all sectors of government agencies concerned. The religious sectors
should be actively, directly and sustainably involved in the program
implementation. That is why the authors, co-authors and even the concerned
government agencies ensured that the reproductive health education program
should be values-laden, cultural sensitive - that the religious and ethical and
moral values are seriously considered,” Makinano emphasized.
On the same occasion, Department of Health –
Center for Health Development (DOH-CHD) Caraga Local Health Support Chief Dr.
Ernesto E. Pareja revealed that the unplanned pregnancy is one of the reasons
why they less likely to pursue their education.
“Other researchers believed that the lack of
comprehensive sexuality education and limited access to adolescent friendly
reproductive health services are some reasons for the high incidence of teenage
pregnancy,” Pareja added.
Pareja likewise manifested the essential
cooperation of media groups in delivering updates and advocacies related to
health and population program of the government. He bared that the DOH as part
of the POPCOM board of commissioner continues to support the agency’s
initiatives for the responsible parenthood and reproductive health.
This year’s World Population Day celebration is
anchored on the theme “Work for a Brighter Future, Address Teen Pregnancy NOW!”
(FEA/PIA-Caraga)
DENR, BCWD secure steady water supply in Taguibo
watershed
By Eric F.Gallego with reports from Richelle
Bongato
BUTUAN CITY, July 10 (PIA) -- The Department and
Environment and Natural Resources (DENR-13) and the Butuan City Water District
can now assure a steady supply of water after members of the Taguibo Watershed
Management Council got the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) from the
indigenous people (IP) and other concerned sectors in that area. The IRR
defines the functions and responsibilities of the Council and the IP occupying
the ancestral land at the watershed.
“We consider this occasion a breakthrough as it
allayed fears of environmental degradation of the Taguibo Watershed which is a
vital source of water supply of the residents of Butuan City,” DENR-13 OIC
Regional Executive Director Nonito M. Tamayo said after the consultative
meeting of the Taguibo Watershed Management Council held recently in Barangay
Anticala, this city.
The Butuan City Water District, for several
months, has been working on an effective scheme that will protect the water
resources from the Taguibo watershed but short of getting the full commitment
of the leaders of the indigenous people on environmental protection.
Aside from the general manager of BCWD Engr.
Anselmo Sang Tian, other people present during the consultative meeting were
Regional Director of National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) Carmencita
Cochingco, the barangay officials headed by the Chairman of Barangay Anticala
Reynaldo Z. Zamora, the tribal leaders of the Taguibo Tribal Council, and other
sectors of the civil society.
“We thought the meeting has resolved issues and
conflicts over the proper management of the watershed,” Tamayo who presided
over the meeting said.
The IRR also respect the rights over ancestral
domain of the IPs in the area as enshrined in the IPRA of 1997 or RA 8371.
“The IRR strongly support the protection of the
rights of the IPs to their ancestral domain to ensure their economic, social
and cultural well-being and recognition of customary laws governing property
rights in determining the ownership and extent of ancestral domain,” Tamayo
said.
The IRR also emphasize that a consultation must
be made with the Taguibo Watershed Management Council of any lease granted to
any juridical person by the Indigenous Tribal Council over any part of their
ancestral domain.
The IRR, however, deny the grant of such lease
in areas considered as Strict Protection Zone except to juridical and natural
persons engaging in reforestation projects and other activities on the
protection and conservation of the watershed areas.
The IPs are likewise tasked to assist the Butuan
City Water District in the implementation of plans and programs for the Taguibo
River Wateshed Forest Reserve. It must also report and inform the BCWD of any
illegal activities within the watershed.
The BCWD on the hand, must actively lead in the
operations of the council including the implementation of an integrated
management plan at the Taguibo Watershed. It must also take responsibility for
the implementation of the engineering measures to remedy erosion problems. It
must also serve as facilitator for all reforestation activities to be conducted
in the area. It also compels the BCWD to prioritize the hiring of local
residents as watershed guards to insure the protection of the watershed.
For its part, the DENR will provide assistance
to the BCWD in the delineation of boundary lines of the watershed area. It must
also enable and deputize qualified personnel of BCWD as well as monitor,
evaluate, and review the progress and accomplishment of the watershed
rehabilitation, protection and management projects undertaken by the water
district.
The other aspects taken during the consultative
meeting were the harmonization of the Ancestral Domain Sustainable Development
Protection Plan (ADSPP) with the Taguibo Watershed Integrated Management Plan
(ITWMP) to ensure that programs and projects implemented within the watershed
area conformed to the rights of the Indigenous Peoples and coherent to the
existing environmental policies. It also discussed the delineation of
boundaries of the watershed .
The Taguibo Watershed, which covers a total land
area of 4,367.44 hectares has been proclaimed Forest Reserve Area by virtue of
Presidential Proclamation No. 1076 signed by then President Fidel V. Ramos on September
4,1997.
The city government of Butuan, on August 6,
2012, passed an Ordinance “Addressing the Protection, Conservation,
Rehabilitation and Management of the Watershed within the jurisdiction of
Butuan City and creating the Watershed Management Council.”
The ordinance also declared all watershed areas,
conservation areas and agro-forestry/non-tillage area in the city as
environmentally critical areas and prohibits anybody from converting the area
to whatever classification, conduct commercial tree farming not in conformity
with the plans and programs related to reforestation, and/or watershed
management plan, perform water drilling except for household purposes, hunting,
destroying, disturbing or mere possession of any plant or animal or products
derived in the area with permit from the Watershed Management Council, dumping
or disposing of any waste products, use of motorized and mechanical equipment
and mutilating, defacing or destroying the natural settings of the watershed
areas, burial grounds, religious sites, artifacts, and other objects belonging
to the cultural communities, squatting, mineral exploration or illegal
occupation, altering, removing, destroying or defacing boundary marks or signs,
exploration of minerals, and exploitation of quarry resources and commercial
sand and gravel resources. (FEA/DENR-RPAO 13 Staff/PIA-Caraga)
Cebuano news: Enhanced Justice on Wheels subling
gilusad
Ni Catherine A. Balomaga
SURIGAO CITY, Hulyo 10 (PIA) - Malampuson nga
gipahigayon bag-ohay pa lamang ang re-launching sa Enhanced Justice on Wheels
nga gipasiugdahan sa gobyerno sa syudad, probinsya, Philippine Bar Association
of the Philippines, Philippine Judicial Academy ug Korte Suprema niadtong
miaging adlaw didto sa Capitol Grounds sa Provincial Capitol ning syudad.
Ang Enhanced Justice on Wheels usa ka strategic
action o inisyatiba aron nga maduol ug mahatagan og tigpanalipod ang mga
katawhan nga walay igong kwarta para ibayad pagkuha og abogado nga
makapanalipod kanila pinaagi sa pagsuroy-suroy sa maong bus uban ang abogado.
Nahimong pinasidunggang mamumulong sa maong
okasyon si Court Administrator Hon. Jose Midas P. Marquez diin iyang gipakita
ang iyang pagsuporta sa maong programa aron mas mapalapdan pa ang accessibility
sa katawhan hilabi na kadtong mga kabos aron makakuha ug hustisya.
Samtang sa mensahe ni Governor Sol Matugas
pinaagi kang BM Victor Borja iyang giawhag ang mga Surigaonon sa pagsuporta
aron mapagpauswag ang maong programa tungod kay makatabang gyud kini og dako
aron mapadali ug mahatagan gyud dayon og hustisya ang mga nanginahanglan niini.
Mitambong sa maong okasyon mao sila Surigao City
Mayor Ernesto T. Matugas, Board Member Leonila P. Gorgolon, BM Victor Borja, BM
Fernando Larong, mga court administrators, executive judges, prosecutors, mga
miyembro sa Philippine Bar Association, mga personahe sa Public Attorney’s
Office, mga representante gikan sa nagkalain-laing local ug national line
agencies, ug uban pang mga personahe. (SDR/PIC/PIA-Surigao del Norte)
