Rare species found in Mainit Lake
By John Glenn A. Platil
SURIGAO CITY, Surigao del Norte, Apr. 16 (PIA) -
After more than a year of biodiversity assessment survey sponsored by the
United Nations Development Programme and Global Environment Facility through
the Protected Area and Wildlife Bureau (PAWB), four endangered species were
identified in Lake Mainit recently.
Provincial Tourism Coordinator Arturo Cruje said
the four species are the rufous hornbill (kalaw), rafflesia (considered
belonging to the specie of the world’s largest flower), goby (pidjanga), and
eel (kasili).
He said that recognizing the importance of
protecting threatened species and saving them from extinction, governor Sol
Matugas, chairperson of the Lake Mainit Development Alliance (LMDA), approved
the conduct of the survey and it was conducted by experts from Caraga State
University in consortium with Mindanao State University.
“These icon species are found only in the Lake
Mainit area, and their habitats are being encroached by human activities,
worst, by mining activities. This Biodiversity Partnership Project (BPP) aims
to rehabilitate the ecosystem in the aforementioned site, and restore the
ecological integrity of its forests,” said Cruje.
Cruje added that the provincial government is
trying to develop its ecotourism potentials, conserving, safeguarding and
protecting these species all the way through.
He
maintained, however, that watching over these species is a formidable challenge
to the local officials and community people. (SDR/PIC-Surigao del
Norte/PIA-Surigao del Norte)
TESDA, PLEMO Dinagat Islands to conduct 15-day
skills training on driving
By Ma. Jane A. Mayola
SAN JOSE, Dinagat Islands, Apr. 16 (PIA) - The
Provincial Labor and Employment Management Office (PLEMO) of this province in
partnership with Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA)
here is set to conduct a 15-day Skills Training on Driving NC-II.
The training is part of the upliftment program of
PLEMO to all provincial government employees of the province.
The program will be held in order not only to help
improve the performance of the employees in terms of driving skills but also to
help those who are willing to gain knowledge in driving for employment
purposes.
The training will be done at the motorpool,
Capitol Site, Brgy Cuarinta, this municipality every weekend starting on April
18 with Arnel Villapaz as driving instructor.
During the orientation program, there were 85
applicants including provincial employees, barangay officials, and walk-in
applicants applied for the said training which exceeds in the allocation of 25
trainees.
According to Provincial Administrator Millard
Tawakal, the province will conduct second and third batches in order to cater
all the applicants. (SDR/PIO-Dinagat Islands/PIA-Dinagat Islands)
Search is on for outstanding BKD program
implementers
By Marivic B. Mira
BUTUAN CITY, Apr. 16 (PIA) – Department of
Education (DepEd) secretary Br. Armin Luistro encourages secondary schools with
an established and functional BKD chapter to join the Search for Outstanding
‘Barkada Kontra Droga’ (BKD) Program Implementers in Secondary Schools for
School Year (SY) 2014-2015.
The search is aimed to strengthen the National
Drug Education Program (NDEP) through the BKD movement established in schools;
develop skills and understanding among pupils/students, faculty and school
administrators in initiating active responses for a drug-free school.
Br. Luistro also emphasize in his memorandum that
the search will also help increase community awareness and participation and
maintain a fully drug-free environment in the school, home, workplace and
community. “It will also support and sustain other services which adopt the
‘Barkada’ concept among educators, professionals, families, work forces, peer
groups and other sectors,” Br. Luistro added.
During the search, best practices of the different
BKD chapters, which will serve as models for other schools to implement will be
identified.
The search will cover BKD activities conducted
from June 2014 to June 2015.
There are three levels of searches: Divisional
Level; Regional Level; and National Level.
The search for the divisional level will be
conducted in April 2015 and the winner shall be submitted to the Regional
Evaluating Team on or before April 30, 2015.
In the regional level, the search will be done in
June 2015 and the judged best entry in each region shall be submitted to the
National Evaluation Team on or before July 31, 2015.
The national level evaluation will be from August
to October 2015 and will choose the three Best BKD entries.
The search is spearheaded by the Office of the
President through the Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB), and in collaboration with
the DepEd through the Health and Nutrition Center (HNC). (DepEd-Butuan City
Division/PIA-Agusan del Norte)
PRO 13 processes applications for the 1st 300 PNP
applicants
By Noel B. Najarro
BUTUAN CITY, Apr. 16 (PIA) - The Police Regional
Office (PRO) 13 has started processing on Wednesday morning the application of
the first batch of 300 rookie PNP applicants out of the 947 quota for Police
Officers 1 this year.
PSupt. Martin M. Gamba, the chief regional
spokesperson of the PNP here said that they are now conducting the
pre-assessment of the first of the three batches of applicants for the year.
The police applicants will undergo the initial screening, face-to-face
interview, and the weight and height determination.
According to Supt. Gamba, the regional police
office has scheduled the agility test to start on April 20. They had also set
the month of April for the applicants to complete all the documentary
requirements of their applications, Gamba added.
On May, the regional police office has set the
screening proper which will include the psychological, the neuro-psychiatric
examination, physical, medical, dental, drug test and the background
investigation (BI).
The deliberation of the applications is set on
June, the processing of the appointments and the submission of the documents to
the civil service (CSC), according to Gamba.
Supt. Gamba said that the oath-taking of the first
300 batch is scheduled on July 1.
According to the chief regional spokesman, they
have received 722 application folders so far, but they needed to double or even
triple this number of applications if only to come up with the “best and the
finest” choice to fill up the regional quota of 947 new police personnel. In
order to address this need, the regional police will coordinate with the local
government units, particularly through the public employment service offices
(PESO) of the cities and the municipalities to include the PNP recruitment
during their job fairs.
The next batch of 400 will be processed on October
while the processing of the remainder of the 947 which will compose the third
batch is set on January 2016, according to Gamba. (PNA/PIA-Caraga)
Barangay commits to plant 4,700 trees in support
of the LGUs Vision 2020
By Noel B. Najarro
BUTUAN CITY, Apr. 16 (PIA) - Barangay Libertad,
the city's largest barangay, committed on Wednesday to plant more trees in
support to the city government’s “Vision 2020.”
In a cascading forum held at the computer
laboratory room of Libertad National High School, the barangay officials led by
Barangay Chairman Vincent Rizal C. Rosario committed to plant 4,700 more tree
seedlings until June, this year.
Representatives from the City Environment and
Natural Resources Office (ENRO) explained during the forum attended by the
village officials, members of the village councils, purok (district)
presidents, sectoral representatives, religious groups, transport
organizations, academe and other stakeholders that the city’s “Grow A Million
Tree Program” as well as its “Vision 2020” is right on its track.
City ENRO chief Forester Alexander C. Alaan
explained briefly the city’s “Vision 2020” mission, vision, the vision’s core
values, the strategic accomplishments and the breakthroughs. Alaan said that the city had been able to
produce what it had envisioned so far of its tree planting program and had been
successful in protecting and see growing of its planted trees.
He also mentioned some of the early “wins” of the
city’s tree planting program such as the eight income generating nurseries of
the city, the on-going tree planting programs as cascaded and adapted by the
city’s 86 barangays, the utilized 10,000 tree planters sometimes on March last
year, the organization and participation of the critical mass in the city’s
tree planting program and the establishment of the mechanisms of planting, protecting
and nurturing of the planted tree seedlings among others.
He also explained that among the future plans of
the city’s tree planting program will be the continuous planting of tree
seedlings along the city’s major thoroughfares and watersheds, the farming of
4,000,000 trees in its 4,000 hectares production zones to be intercropped with
high value crops, the establishment of arboretums and greenbelts, making Butuan
City a future premier forest-based city.
Libertad Brgy. Capt. Rosario also explained during
the Wednesday afternoon forum that Libertad had its own “greening program” in
support of the city’s program. He said that the barangay had also initiated the
planting of bamboo groves and mangroves on September this year headed by the
village officials and its purok presidents assisted by the sector
representatives and other stakeholders, along the Libertad-Masao river banks.
He also said that the targeted 4,700 trees to be planted, the 3,500 will be
implemented by its 35 puroks at 100 tree seedlings planted per purok and the
remainder by the other sectors and stakeholders. (PNA/PIA-Caraga)
TESDA-13 announces PESFA, TWSP scholarship slots
By Robert E. Roperos
BUTUAN CITY, Apr. 16 (PIA) – Caraga Regional
Office of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) has
recently announced the available scholarship slots for 2015.
TESDA Caraga regional dir. Florencio F. Sunico,
Jr. said the available slots were made possible as per approved qualification
map for this year.
For the Private Education Students Financial
Assistance (PESFA), constituents from the provinces of Agusan del Norte and
Surigao del Norte will be able to avail of such grant.
For Agusan del Norte, 50 slots were approved in
the Food and Beverage Services NC II; 25 for Gas Metal Arc Welding NC II; and
25 for Shielded Metal Arc Welding (SMAW) NC II.
In Surigao del Norte, 30 slots were approved in
Bookkeeping NC II; 15 for Electrical Installation and Maintenance NC II; 15 for
Machining NC II; 15 for Masonry NC II; 15 for Plumbing NC II; and SMAW – 53.
Under the Training for Work Scholarship Program
(TWSP), Dir. Sunico said all provinces in the region were given such grant.
Agusan del Norte residents can apply for the
following qualifications with the following number of slots: Cookery NC II –
40; Electrical Installation and Maintenance – 40; Events Management Services NC
II – 25; SMAW NC II – 217.
Available slots for Agusan del Sur are as follows:
Animation NC II – 50; Refrigeration and Air Conditioning (RAC) Servicing NC II
– 20; and Visual Graphics Design NC III – 41.
For Dinagat Islands, approved number of slots for
Automotive Electrical Assembly NC II is 100; Electrical Installation and
Maintenance NC II – 75; and SMAW – 200. Further, Dir. Sunico said 50 slots in
SMAW NC II were approved in the province of Surigao del Norte.
In Surigao del Sur, 100 slots were allocated for
the Automotive Electrical Assembly NC II; 50 for Automotive Servicing NC II;
Heavy Equipment Operation: Backhoe Loader NC II – 75; Heavy Equipment
Operation: Off-Highway Dump Truck (Rigid) NC II – 75; Heavy Equipment
Operation: On-Highway Dump Truck (Rigid) NC II – 50; Machining NC II – 50; and
SMAW NC II – 200.
PESFA was established through Section 8 of
Republic Act No. 8545, otherwise known as the Expanded Government Assistance to
Students and Teachers in Private Education (GASTPE) Act. PESFA offers educational grants to qualified
and deserving college freshmen both in degree and non-degree courses. The program seeks to extend financial
assistance to marginalized but deserving students in post-secondary non-degree
courses; promote TVET; contribute to the development of a competent skilled
workforce; and assist private institutions in their development efforts by
assuring a steady supply of enrollees to their course offerings.
The PESFA directed the beneficiaries on the
choices of careers to the critical skills requirements of in-demand jobs in the
labor market. It also allows for equity distribution of the opportunities made
available through government subsidies.
TWSP provides immediate interventions to meet the
need for highly critical skills. It aims to purposively drive TVET provision to
available jobs through incentives and appropriate training programs that are
directly connected to existing jobs for immediate employment, both locally and
overseas and; build and strengthen the capacity and capability of TVET
institutions in expanding and improving the delivery of quality, efficient and
relevant training programs that meet job requirements, including programs for
higher levels of technology.
Interested applicants may contact the provincial
offices of TESDA-Caraga at the following details: TESDA-Agusan del Norte (085)
342-0085; TESDA-Agusan del Sur (085) 343-7278; TESDA-Surigao del Norte (086)
826-2591; TESDA-Surigao del Sur (086) 211-3957; TESDA-Dinagat
Island-0907-7319173.
In an earlier interview with a local broadcaster
here, Dir. Sunico enjoined the Caraganons to avail of the scholarships that
TESDA has been offering. He also said this undertaking was made possible based
on the blueprint of the national government through the Aquino administration.
“This initiative was made possible through our
Director-General, Sec. Joel Villanueva which is in line with the Human
Development Cluster of the Philippine Development Plan,” Dir. Sunico said. (TESDA-Caraga/PIA-Caraga)
IP education consultation set in Butuan City
barangay
By Maxima P. Buron
BUTUAN CITY, Apr. 16 (PIA) – In line with the
on-going implementation of the Indigenous Peoples Education (IPEd) Program in
the Department of Education (DepEd) Butuan City Division, an IPEd general
assembly meeting/community consultation on the Indigenous Knowledge Systems and
Practices (IKSP) will be held on April 21 at barangay Anticala here.
According to schools division superintendent (SDS)
Arsenio T. Cornites, Jr, the said general assembly meeting is a venue to have a
consultation with the indigenous peoples in the community.
Also, the community consultation on IKSP is in
relation for the crafting of conceptualized IPEd policy framework and
curriculum, SDS cornites said.
“The activity is also a venue for a community
consultation on the IKSP especially to the Manobo community with the National
Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) personnel, and DepEd personnel for the
crafting of the Butuan City IPEd Conceptualization Framework and Curriculum,”
SDS Cornites added. (DepEd Butuan City Division/PIA-Agusan del Norte)
