BCWD aims for ISO certification
By Jennifer P. Gaitano
BUTUAN CITY, June 17 (PIA) – As the company aims
to achieve quality management system (QMS), the management and personnel of
Butuan City Water District (BCWD) will participate in the two-day International
Organization for Standardization (ISO) Orientation/Awareness Seminar on June
19-20, 2014 at Dottie’s Place Convention Hall, this city.
BCWD general manager Anselmo Sang Tian said they
are aiming for ISO 9001:2008 QMS certification through setting-up, knowing and
conforming to the requirements set for said ISO certification.
“We are determined to fulfill the ISO
certification on quality management system and we will be there soon. With this
two-day orientation/seminar on ISO by the Ace Training Services, we will do our
best to comprehend the processes in ISO and comply with all the needed
requirements,” expressed Sang Tian.
Sang Tian further bared that ISO 9001:2008 QMS
is an internationally accepted standards applied by many companies aiming to
satisfy its customers through continual improvement of its system.
“We are not perfect but we believe that by doing
the right process or system in our management, we can continuously provide the
quality services which our concessionaries deserve,” Sang Tian pointed out.
Also, it was learned that the benefits of being
and ISO 9001:2008 QMS certified include the following: 1) Involves Top
management in the improvement of the Quality management System; 2) Facilitates
the organization to become a customer-focused organization; 3) Ensures
sustained customer satisfaction by producing, delivering services and providing
support functions that meet customers’ needs and expectations; and 4) Increases
the effectiveness and efficiency of the organization through continual
improvement in systems and products /services quality. (JPG/PIA-Caraga)
DAR celebrates 26th CARP anniv; bares
significant accomplishments
By Jennifer P. Gaitano
BUTUAN CITY, June 17 (PIA) – In celebration of
its 26th year of Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP), the Department
of Agrarian Reform (DAR) Caraga convened the local media and reported its
significant accomplishments, as well as activities for this year.
In a press conference held at the Robinson's
Place here, DAR-Caraga regional director Faisar Mambuay thanked the Philippine
Information Agency (PIA) Caraga for its untiring support and info-dissemination
of DAR's programs and services to the public. He also appreciated the efforts
of the local media in the promotions of the farmers’ welfare.
Mambuay disclosed that around 122,264 Agrarian
Reform Beneficiaries (ARBs) with 259,220 hectares have benefited in the DAR's
Land Tenure Improvement. "First of the major programs of CARP is the Land
Tenure Improvement which re-distributes land to qualified landless
farmers," he said.
Mambuay added that DAR-Caraga has been a
consistent performer in land distribution with over 100 percent accomplishment
from its annual target in the past 12 years.
"In 2013, 147 percent of DAR's Land
Acquisition and Distribution was delivered by the region making Caraga number 2
in accomplishment by percentage. There was a total of 9,588 target
beneficiaries in this program while this year 2014, the region is faced with
its 23,027 hectares target," announced Mambuay.
Mambuay further relayed that the second of the
major programs of CARP provided for various support services and interventions
to farmer beneficiaries to ensure continuous improvement of their quality of
life.
"The CARP program will not end in June 30,
2014 instead this will continue until President Aquino's term. We will continue
to move forward and provide the services to our farmers," Mambuay
emphasized.
It can be recalled that the CARP is an agrarian
reform law of the Philippines passed in 1988. In this program, all lands
exceeding seven hectares were bought by the government and sold to the landless
farmers.
Meanwhile, it was also learned that DAR-Caraga
is spearheading this year's International Year of Family Farming in the
country, with the Department of Agriculture and other partner-agencies.
"Family farming is inextricably linked to national and global food
security. Both in developing and developed countries, farming is the
predominant form of agriculture in the food production sector," he
explained.
The good director also urged Caraganon farmers
to register their farm land and their products at DAR to avail of the insurance
in times of disasters.
Among its other activities, the DAR-Caraga is
also staging the "Ani at Biyaya ng CARP" Photo Gallery at the 2nd
floor of Robinson's Place, Butuan City. The gallery will run until June 22,
2014. (JPG/PIA-Caraga)
Gov Plaza bares PGAS' plans, programs for
sustainable development
By David M. Suyao
PROSPERIDAD, Agusan del Sur, June 17 (PIA) –
Governor Adolph Edward Plaza lay down the provincial government of Agusan del
Sur’s (PGAS) strategies on how the province bagged the honor and prize having
awarded the Seal of Good Housekeeping, including his administration’s plans and
programs that will uplift the economic condition of the Agusanons.
In his State of the Province Address (SOPA)
delivered on Tuesday at the Naliyagan Cultural Center (NCC) during the 14th
Sangguniang Panlalawigan (SP), Plaza said it not enough that the government
will be giving the people what they think is good for them but it must be what
the people need most.
“Thru the Community Based Management Survey, we
have better understanding on what specific programs and projects our people
need, and that is the time our intervention comes in because Agusanons have
different needs. The delivery and implementation of our pro-poor programs always
come in timing, from education, livelihood, health, infrastructure and other
programs that include environment protection, so that recipients will have the
sense of ownership,” Gov. Plaza said.
According to Plaza, his administration is giving
emphasis on the Upland Sustainable Agro-forestry Development (USAD) Program so
that farmers can produce rice even in the upland.
“Construction and repair of our farm to market
roads are included in our USAD program and are now on-going, in order that our
farmers have easy access to market their products,” Plaza added.
Plaza also said his administration is doing its
best in order to access to funding institutions to finance lined up priority
projects that the provincial government have lined up. And because of this,
there are big programs of the provincial government that are funded by four
funding institution and one of them is the PAMANA program that has almost P500
million funds.
“Right now, I am challenging the Department of
Agriculture that if they have programs and projects to be implemented here in
Agusan del Sur, we can arrange it even tomorrow because we have a standby
surplus fund of P100 million ready for our counterpart,” Plaza said.
On education, Plaza said the province have
presently 374 scholars for this school year 2014-2015. “We have already
hundreds of graduates as products of our scholarship program and many are now
working with the provincial government as doctors, nurses, teachers and
managers. This scholarship program will continue to increase until there are
qualified students who want to avail of it,” Plaza added.
Plaza’s oral presentation of his SOPA is
backed-up by a multi-media presentation presenting figures and graphs.
(DMS/PIA-Agusan del Sur)
Talacogon GPB project set to take off
By Kylee Doreene T. Que
AGUSAN DEL SUR, June 17 (PIA) - The Department
of Tourism (DOT) headed by its regional director Leticia DC Tan handed over the
check amounting to P1 million to the municipality of Talacogon thru Mayor
Jesryl E. Masendo on June 2, 2014 at the Municipal Hall.
The check is a partial (50%) release of funds
for the establishment of Agri-Ecotourism Center under the DOT Grassroots
Participatory Budgeting Program of 2014.
Talacogon aims to position itself as the
agri-industrial municipality of Agusan del Sur so that it can stand out from
other municipalities in the province and in the region as a whole. Other
objectives of the project include showcasing the various agricultural products
and technologies that could not only augment the income of farmers, but also
cater visitors and tourists.
The total cost of the project is P2.3 million of
which P2 million will be funded by the national government and the remaining
P300,000.00 will be the local government unit’s counterpart.
The Grassroots Participatory Budgeting (GPB),
formerly known as the Bottom-up Budgeting (BuB), is a joint undertaking of the
DOT and the Department of Interior Local Government which aims to ensure the
implementation of priority poverty reduction projects as identified at the
city/municipal level through a participatory planning and budgeting process. (DOT-13/PIA
Caraga)
DENR apprehends 1,439 illegal logs
By Eric F. Gallego
BUTUAN CITY, June 17 (PIA) – The Department of
Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Caraga forest officers in coordination
with the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Philippine Army (PA) have
apprehended about 1,439 pieces or 113.82 cubic meters of freshly cut logs from
the eight different illegal operating mini sawmills during two days
anti-illegal logging operations at the remote Barangay of Baylo in San Luis, Agusan
del Sur.
The DENR is also verifying reports that some
local officials are either involved or directly engaged in the illegal
operation of mini sawmill.
The two-day operation was backed up by three
teams of regular army soldiers from the 26th Army Infantry Batallion, 4th
Infantry Division under Lt. Col Rolando Dumawa and one unit from the Special
Action Police Force (SAF) under PNP Chief Aldrin Salinas.
The authorities, however, were dismayed to find
out that the gadgets, engines and other tools have been removed by the
operators from the sawmill before they arrived at the site. The police were
also checking reports that nine 6-wheeler trucks loaded with lumbers of various
sizes have managed to slip away earlier and heading to an undisclosed place in
Bayugan, Agusan del Sur.
“The operators seemed to have anticipated the
crackdown on illegal sawmill in the area,” DENR 13 regional director Nonito M.
Tamayo said.
Tamayo has instructed PENRO Roberto Oliveros of
Agusan del Sur to look deeper into the situation and find out about the people
involved in the illegal trading of logs.
Tamayo went to the area to personally supervise
the operation. He said that some people in that barangay are reportedly
coddling with timber poachers.
“It’s very disappointing, “Oliveros said. The area has been placed on surveillance
following reports of the clandestine mini saw mill operations of logs harvested
by timber poachers from the nearby defunct timberland domain of Integrated
Forest Management Area holder Woodland Domain Inc (WDI).
“The illegally-cut trees that are harvested from
the area are moved through the tributaries to the sawmilling plants along the
riverbanks.
According to OIC, CENR Officer of Talacogon,
Luis Gonzaga several raids have been made by the CENRO personnel in the
previous months only to be informed later that the operators are back again in
business. “It’s like cat and mouse game,” he said.
Barangay Baylo is also known as hub of timber
poachers with armed supporters. The report said operatives from the CENRO
Talacogon who bring nothing but notebooks and ballpens can hardly penetrate the
area due to the critical situation.
According to CENR Office Gonzaga, “The request for military back-ups for
anti- illegal logging operations are more often jeopardized by the current
military operations against the New People’s Army rebels."
The extractions of the 1,439 pieces of illegal
logs from the different sawmills took about 48 hours which included 243 pieces
28.09 cubic meters at Purok 4; 996 pieces ( 85.99 cubic meters) at Purok 3 at
Sitio Don Alejandro all in Barangay
Baylo, San Luis, Agusan del Sur and 200
pieces (19.74 cubic meters) from the Barangay Proper of Baylo. The authorities
also recovered one unit of C190 Diesel engine and one unit S195 N Chang Fa
brand Diesel engine capable of generating 9.48 kilowatt electric power.
Tamayo said “the DENR is definitely filing
appropriate charges against the people who were engaged and involved in the
illegal sawmill operations and illegal logging activities."
He said that he will confer with some government
agencies on issues related to the participation of some local officials in the
illegal sawmill operations.
Tamayo instructed PENRO Oliveros to strengthen
the monitoring of illegal logging activities particularly the timber poachers
in the forest area formerly occupied by the WDI.
The DENR director has earlier met with the DENR
11 officials headed DENR 11 regional director Joselin Marcus E. Fragada in
Davao City to further improve the
tracking down of undocumented forest products being transported by closed vans
along the Maharlika Highway between Davao City and Agusan del Sur. (DENR-13/PIA-Caraga)
BIMP-EAGA envi cluster adopts climate change
proposal
DAVAO CITY, June 17 (PIA) - In a bid to make
BIMP-EAGA and its people more adaptable to climate change, the sub-region’s
environment cluster adopted the proposal of the Philippines to implement a USD
1.2 million project that will build the resilience of local communities and enhance
disaster preparedness.
Entitled “Building Local Community Resilience in
BIMP-EAGA for Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation and Disaster
Preparedness,” the project proposal was presented by the Philippines during the
3rd BIMP-EAGA environment cluster meeting held in May in Sandakan, Malaysia.
“The proposal’s main thrust is to lessen the
impact of climate change, with the prime goal of preventing environmental
disasters within the region,” said Janet Lopoz, executive director of the
Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA).
She said that environmental disasters can be
prevented by implementing projects that strengthen disaster risk management and
develop efficient response mechanisms in addressing environmental issues within
BIMP-EAGA.
BIMP-EAGA stands for Brunei Darussalam Indonesia
Malaysia the Philippines East ASEAN Growth Area, a key strategy to accelerate
social and economic development of less developed areas in participating
countries.
The Philippine representatives composed of
officials from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and
MinDA led the presentation of the proposal to the sub-region’s environment
cluster.
An EAGA-wide policy on climate change adaptation
and mitigation will be formulated based on key outputs of the proposal,
including climate change-proofing of infrastructures, resulting in local
communities that are more resilient to environmental disasters. The policy will
also push for the sustainable management, protection, and utilization of the region’s
natural resources.
Lopoz stated that within BIMP-EAGA, there is the
strong need to address issues among the river basins of each member country,
where the rivers flow from water sources to estuaries that lead towards the
main bodies of water that surround the sub-region.
“Water is a shared resource among all EAGA
countries, and our ecosystems are in a way interconnected with each other,”
said Lopoz.
The project, which will be implemented in a span
of three years also incorporates capacity building on humanitarian assistance
and disaster response leading to the development of disaster preparedness
action plans at the community level.
It also aims to strengthen
Customs-Immigration-Quarantine-Security (CIQS) mechanisms for disaster
response, and establish resource centers for information sharing on climate
change and disaster risk reduction within the four countries of the sub-region.
Lopoz
added that the budget will be spread across 11 critical watersheds and river
basins and seven coastal areas in the sub-region.
Located within the Coral Triangle, BIMP-EAGA is
part of the global epicentre of marine species diversity that is considered as
the “Amazon of the seas.”
The triangle is home to a combined population of
over 350 million people and is recognized as a global priority for
conservation.
Due to its geographic location, the region is
considerably sensitive to the effects of climate change and is vulnerable to
possible natural and environmental disasters.
“This
proposal consolidates all efforts from across the sub-region, and prioritizes
programs and projects that will lessen the impact of climate change while
ensuring environmental integrity in the area,” said Lopoz.
The proposal’s final draft is expected to be
endorsed by this month to the senior officials of BIMP-EAGA for approval and
eventual implementation. (MinDA/PIA-Caraga)
DTI releases P1.1-M for Malimono enterprise
projects
SURIGAO CITY, June 17 (PIA) – The municipality
of Malimono, this province received funds for three micro-enterprise projects
from the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI)-Surigao del Norte provincial
office amounting to P1,100,000 under the Grassroots Participatory Budget (GPB) program.
The three funded projects are Coco Processing in
Barangay Cayawan amounting to P550,000, Fish Drying Shared Service Facility in
Barangay Cantapoy costing P142,500 and Bamboo Development in Barangay Tinago
with P237,000.
The said projects will be implemented by the
following three community organizations which include the Malimono Farmers
Consumers Cooperative, Women Livelihood Vision for Tomorrow and Tinago Eagles
Fishermen and farmers Association.
Malimono Mayor Teodoro F. Sinaca expressed his
gratitude to DTI provincial director Celestino L. Negapatan for the support
extended to his municipal constituents who are eager to implement their
proposed enterprise projects. He is also hoping that with the guidance and
supervision of the LGU, proponents will be able to implement and operate their
projects successfully so it can generate income for the organizations as well
as the members-beneficiaries.
On his part, Negapatan assured the projects
proponents that DTI will be assisting them on their various technical needs and
that if they want further support for additional equipment as they sustain and
expand their operation, the agency will always be ready to help in their
productive endeavours.
Based on the work and financial plan prepared by
the recipient groups, various activities like benchmarking, trainings,
acquisition of needed materials and equipment among others are scheduled in the
coming months to fast track the implementation of the said projects.
(SDR/DTI-Surigao del Norte/PIA-Surigao del Norte)
