AgSur Peace and Order Council plan for 2014-2016
ready for implementation
By David M. Suyao
AGUSAN DEL SUR, Feb. 12 (PIA) - The Provincial
Peace and Order Council (PPOC) Plan for the year 2014-2016 will be ready for
implementation upon the signature of the council’s chairperson Governor Adolph
Edward Plaza.
During the PPOC meeting last week, members of
the council were given the task to review the draft of the plan for three years
implementation with the council’s chair and vice chairman Vice Gov. Santiago
Cane Jr. present.
The PPOC major plan for 2014-2016 ranges from
Crime Prevention and Law Enforcement whose objectives are to deter criminal
elements and intensify implementation of laws and local ordinances. The
Philippine National Police (PNP) is identified as the lead agency in the
implementation of these activities with local officials, civilian volunteer
organizations (CVOs), non-government organizations (NGOs), religious and
private sectors, civil security units and private security agencies as support
groups.
Other major responsibilities of the PNP together
with the army embodied in the plan are to intensify the internal security
operation and the formulation of assistance in traffic enforcement and
management, which will include the Land Transportation Office, the Highway
Patrol group as implementing agencies.
Other priorities in the plan include the
anti-criminality campaign on illegal drugs targeting supply reduction, demand
reduction, inter-agency cooperation and community participation. The others are
illegal gambling, illegal logging, anti- carnapping, recovery of loose firearms,
anti- cattle rustling and arrest of most wanted persons. With these activities
identified, the plan includes its concept of operations.
According to DILG Provincial Director Arlene Ann
Sanchez, other activities will be subject to review by the member-agencies and
will be finalized as soon as corrected and signed by the agencies concerned. (DMS/PIA-Agusan del Sur)
TESDA-13 chief bares scholarship grants for 2014
By Robert E. Roperos
BUTUAN CITY, Feb. 12 (PIA) – Technical Education
and Skills Development Authority (TESDA)-Caraga regional director Dr. Florencio
F. Sunico, Jr. bared the scholarship grants available this year.
During this year’s first Regional Coordinating
Committee’s (RCC) press conference held recently at the conference room of the
Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE)-Caraga, Sunico said more scholarship
slots are offered by TESDA through then directives of Sec. Joel J. Villanueva
to ensure that more Filipinos can avail of free technical-vocational (tech-voc)
education, especially the youth sector.
When asked why the government has increased
scholarship slots this year, the official said the government has seen the
importance of training the people to be skilled workers so that they can find
stable jobs enough to feed their family.
Sunico further said this development is also in
support to the Human Development Cluster as embodied in the Philippine
Development Plan (PDP) of the present administration.
Sunico stressed because of TESDA’s successful
implementation of scholarship programs last year, the government wants that
more people will be given the opportunity to be trained as skilled workers for
free in preparation for their quest to find decent jobs both here and abroad.
Under the Private Education Student Financial
Assistance (PESFA) scholarship program, Sunico said the government is
allocating some P10,418,000 for Caraga Region alone. “High School graduating
students aged at least 15 years old are qualified to apply the program,” Sunico
added.
The Training for Work Scholarship Program (TWSP)
is intended for workers who wish to undergo tech-voc training for free. The
program has a fund allocation of P21,124,000 and is focused on Agro-Fishery,
Business Process Outsource-Information and Communications Technology (BPO-ICT),
Tourism, General Infrastructure, Electronics, and Manufacturing Services.
Meanwhile, the TESDA-chief of the region
emphasized that a new scholarship program is now being offered by the
government. Through the Special Training
for Employment Program (STEP), constituents in the nine congressional districts
of Caraga will be benefited and will each have an allocation of P3 million.
“For this community-based training program, the government is spending a total
of P27 million for our region,” Sunico said.
In other developments, Sunico said TESDA is
likewise supporting the Grassroot Participatory Budgeting, formerly called the
Bottoms Up Budgeting (BUB). He explained this is the first time it was
implemented in the country. The project comes from the Local Poverty Action
Plan of the Local Government Units (LGUs).
The concerned LGUs will identify the training
for their constituents. TESDA, on the other hand assists the LGUs in conducting
skills training, provide trainors, and conduct assessment.
In Caraga Region, Sunico said 25 municipalities
have submitted their project proposal that is attributed to skills training. It
has a budget allocation of some P13,276,663, it was learned.
With these developments, Sunico enjoined
interested scholarship applicants to get in touch with the respective TESDA
provincial offices for details. In Agusan del Norte, the provincial office can
be contacted thru (085) 342-0085. For TESDA-Agusan del Sur, the numbers are as
follows: (085) 343-7278. TESDA-Surigao del Norte can be reached at (086)
826-2591, while TESDA-Surigao del Sur may be called at (086) 211-3957.
Residents in the Dinagat Island Province may contact the OIC-Provincial
Director at 0917-7035737. (TESDA-13/PIA-Caraga)
