AgNor supports move for P800B IRA back pay to LGUs
By Aimee B. Sienes
BUTUAN CITY, Feb. 22 – The Sangguniang Panlalawigan
of Agusan del Norte supported the move of Governor Hermilando I. Mandanas, et.
al of Batangas province for the release of the local government units’ Internal
Revenue Allotment (IRA) back pay from the P800 billion total estimated
unreleased portion of the just share of LGUs from the National Internal Revenue
Taxes since 1992 up to present.
Mandanas filed a petition before the Supreme Court
for the national government to release the said LGUs’ IRA back pay collected by
the Bureau of Customs due to the province, cities, municipalities and barangays
from 1992 up to the present, but still awaited for the final resolution.
Provincial officials of Agusan del Norte believed
that under Sections 284 and 286 of Republic Act 7160 and other existing rules
and regulations, the national government should automatically release the just
shares of the IRA for the LGUs from the national taxes to enable the LGUS to
hasten the delivery of much needed services to their constituents.
In its Sanggunian Resolution No. 050-2018, authored
by Vice Governor Ramon AG. Bungabong, it strongly supported the said petition
asserting that the LGUs have a rightful share from the Bureau of Customs, being
a collecting arm of the Bureau of Internal Revenue for the LGUs to provide
better governance to their constituents and promote local autonomy which, in
the long run, would fasttrack the implementation of the LGUs’ development
projects and simulate the economy in the countryside. (ABSienes, LGU-Agusan del
Norte/PIA-Agusan del Norte)
Agusan Norte LGU controls rice black bug
infestation
By Aimee B. Sienes
BUTUAN CITY, Feb. 22 – The provincial government of
Agusan del Norte is urging all rice-producing city and municipalities in the
province to participate and adopt a synchronized light trapping activities and
institute integrated approaches to control the infestation of rice black bugs
(RBBs) in the province.
It was learned that the Provincial Agriculture’s
Office has conducted plant diseases and pests surveillance due to the reported
incidence of RBBs attach affects the rice farms in the province.
Based on the validated report from the surveillance
team, the areas affected by the RBBs infestation were the municipalities of
Kitcharao, Jabonga, Las Nieves and Buenavista. It was also reported that
massive and intensive insecticide applications failed to control rice crop
damages, but instead the process killed the natural enemies of RBBs like wasps,
long-joined spiders, red ants, damsel bugs and other beneficial insects.
According to Provincial Agriculture’s Office, aside
from water management and biological control, the use of light traps with high
intensity of light rays is highly recommended to use because it can easily
attract the black bugs that caused them from entrapping.
It was recommended that the light trapping be done
three days before and three days after the full moon, since it is during this
period that RBBS attack and they are trapped and collected and buried
underground.
The call for urgency of the city and municipalities
in the province to use the light trapping was to prevent the infestation of
RBBs and save the rice farms from further damage. (ABSienes, LGU-Agusan del
Norte/PIA-Agusan del Norte)
Culmination of skills training for Marawi victims
set in Butuan
By Robert E. Roperos
BUTUAN CITY, Feb. 22 – More than 100
internally-displaced persons (IDPs) who are victims of Marawi siege will finish
the skills training program on February 22, 2018 and will be receiving toolkits
at the Atrium Center of Robinsons Place-Butuan.
The program, dubbed as "DOLE Kabuhayan
Program" is in convergence with the Technical Education and Skills
Development Authority (TESDA)-Caraga by a virtue of a Memorandum of Agreement
(MOA) signed between DOLE-Caraga Regional Director Chona Mantilla and
TESDA-Caraga Regional Director Ashary A. Banto.
Accordingly, TESDA will conduct a training through
a training-cum-production program with allowance to qualified trainees in
masonry and carpentry. For food processing, TESDA will provide or facilitate
the skills training.
Also, materials to be used during the duration of
the training will be provided by the agency. A free assessment will be
conducted and upon passing the assessment, a National Certificate (NC) will be
issued to the trainees.
Meanwhile, DOLE-Caraga through the DOLE Integrated
Livelihood and Emergency Employment Program (DILEEP) shall support the
convergence arrangements by making available to the identified communities the
number of interventions, subject to existing program guidelines.
Among the interventions is to provide working
capital in the form of raw materials, equipment, tools and jigs, and other
support services necessary in setting-up the business and/or enhancement of
individual and group livelihood projects.
Further, DOLE will provide continuing technical
assistance and business advisory services to ensure efficiency, productivity,
and sustainability of the business/enterprise. The labor department also
provides opportunities for showcasing successful projects, as well as to
conduct and facilitate supervision, project assessment and monitoring visits.
Meanwhile, the National Commission on Muslim
Filipinos (NCMF)-Caraga Region has identified the beneficiaries of this
program.
The activity is in line with the trust of the
current administration of generating decent and productive employment so that
every Filipino can enjoy better and dignified quality of life.
It is also anchored on the two-pronged strategy of
TESDA led by Director-General and Secretary Guiling “Gene” A. Mamondiong in
poverty reduction, particularly those who are socially excluded and displaced
such as informal workers, indigenous peoples, farmers, fisherfolks, drug
dependents, rebel returnees, women victims of abuse and human trafficking, returning
OFWs and persons with disabilities to be active participants in the development
process.
This will also serve as a driving force for change
and upliftment of the life of the Filipino people, contributing to the
socio-economic development of our nation as a whole. (RERoperos,
TESDA-Caraga/PIA-Caraga)
SurSur gov takes on call for probe on TS Basyang’s
onslaught
By Greg Tataro, Jr.
TANDAG CITY, Surigao del Sur, Feb. 22 (PIA) –
Surigao del Sur Governor Vicente Pimentel, Jr. has joined Diocese of Tandag
Bishop Nereo Odchimar’s call for a no nonsense probe on the root cause of
“flooding in CARCANMADCARLAN” area.
Carcanmadcarlan, a cluster of five northern towns
in the province, were said to have been badly hit by Tropical Storm (TS)
Basyang, particularly the two adjacent municipalities of Carrascal and
Cantilan, on February 13, 2018.
From then on, what happened became a controversy.
In what Pimentel has called a “pastoral letter,”
the bishop threw out the question “Could the reason be due to massive mining
operations that denuded the natural forested mountains and critical watersheds
of Cantilan and Carrascal?”
In his response, the chief executive of the
province issued a well-crafted statement pitting his wits by bringing out “hard
and indisputable facts, point-by-point” against the bishop’s themed “A Call for
Responsibility."
In addition, he cited similar occurrences like
Typhoon Uring in Ormoc, Leyte on November 5, 1991; the Guinsaugon, Southern Leyte landslide on
February 17, 2007; the Typhoon Sendong that hit Iligan and Cagayan de Oro on
December 17, 2011; and Typhoon Pablo that wiped out three towns in Davao
Oriental, including Barangay Palo Alto, this province, on December 4,
2012. The governor said, the places
mentioned had no mining activities.
Contrary to some views, Pimentel noted that
“premature and sweeping conclusions do not help.”
“Nonetheless, I agree with the call of Bishop Nereo
P. Odchimar for an immediate and independent investigation on the flooding in
all the affected areas in order to ferret out the truth and determine if mining
is really the cause of the flooding and landslides,” he said in his rejoinder
titled “A Call for Sobriety."
Also, on the allegation that some of mining
companies “are allegedly owned by the high ranking government officials of the
province,” Pimentel vehemently denied such.
“I categorically state that I am not, in whole or
in part, an owner of any mining company operating in our province or
elsewhere. Simply put, I am not a
miner. Just like any other ordinary
businessman, my connection in the mining industry is limited to hauling
business,” he emphasized.
Earlier, Pimentel likewise cleared “mining” in this
regard. “There is no truth to the claim
that siltation ponds in some mining sites have collapsed. All the siltation ponds area intact and solid
to this day. Drone videos that I have
ordered taken right after the storm is proof of this.“
It can be recalled that on February 19, Provincial
Administrator Efren Rivas has already shared his thoughts on the issue after
watching the drone video taken from the so-called “ground zero.”
The administrator believed that it was also pure TS
Basyang’s wrath that had caused the devastation. (Radyo
Pilipinas-Tandag/PIA-Surigao del Sur)
