PIA AKLAN BALITA VOL. 3 ISSUE NO.13

Volume III

Issue 13

AUGUST 1 - 15,015

In this issue Aklan PWDs to have free painting lessons

- page 01 40 tributaries of Aklan River set for clean-up - page 01 DOE holds GEMP seminar in Kalibo - page 01 KBP-Aklan sets "Broadcastreeing" 2015

page 02 Boracay earns more than P26 billion

page 02 DENR distributes 1,320 patents in Aklan province page 02 PSA deploys hundreds of workers for POPCEN 2015 page 03

NEWS FEATURES Tips to conserve energy and save money - page 04 INFO AIDE Tips para sa Driver ng sasakyan - page 04

KALIBO, Aklan, (PIA6) -- Forty (40) tributaries of the Aklan River from the hinterlands of Libacao to the lowlands of Kalibo and Numancia are set to be cleaned on August 14 during the scheduled Clean-Up Drive by the Provincial Government of Aklan through the Provincial Planning and Development Office (PPDO) and the Aklan Rivers Development Council (ARDC).

During the latest meeting to finalize clean-up plans, the PPDO listed a total of 2,889 participants joining the cleanup, composed of barangay officials and volunteers, students, national, provincial and municipal government employees, non-government organizations and other volunteer groups, and the local media.

The Department of Education (DepEd) will also be deploying elementary school pupils for the clean-up drive but will be tasked to clean within their respective vicinities, as shared during the meeting.

Among participating municipalities, Malinao was listed to have the biggest number of participants who committed to join the clean-up drive with 1,380.

KALIBO, Aklan, (PIA6) – Persons With Disabilities (PWDs) have skills and talents too – and these the Rotary Club of Kalibo wishes to enhance and develop, by giving Aklanon PWDs – young and old, free painting lessons.

This good news was imparted to officers and members of Persons With Disabilities Provincial Association of Aklan (PWDPAA) during the recent conduct of a one-day program in celebration of the National Disability Prevention and Rehabilitation Week by the Provincial Government of Aklan through the Provincial Social Welfare and Development Office (PSWDO) which was dubbed “Empowering Day for Persons With Disabilities” and held at the Aklan Trade Hall, Provincial Capitol Grounds.

The giving of free painting lessons by the Rotary Club of Kalibo to PWDs, themed “Makulay ang Mundo ng PWD”,

was sealed through the signing of a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) between the Rotary Club of Kalibo, represented by its President, Ricky Molo; the provincial government of Aklan, represented by Vice Governor Gabrielle Calizo Quimpo; and the PWDPAA, represented by its President, Zaldy Paderes.

Molo, an artist and himself a PWD having lost a leg in an accident, encouraged those interested to learn to paint or draw to start registering themselves.

He also vowed to continue supporting his fellow PWDs, and gave his assurance too that the free painting lessons will be a continuing project of the Rotary Club.

Meanwhile, the Provincial GovernContinued on page… 02

The Clean-Up Drive will be held from 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m., according to Engr.

Roger Esto, Provincial Planning and Development Coordinator.

The clean-up was conceptualized during the launching of the Mass-Based Disaster Risks Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation (DRR/CCA) Project here aimed to serve as the people’s contribution to help reduce incidence of flooding / soil er osion; pr otec tion / conservation and preservation of the environment and promote and enhance

PWDs who are civil servants too. The provincial government of Aklan also employs Persons With Disabilities (PWDs), as shown in this picture taken during the NDPR Week celebration at the Provincial Trade Hall, where they were also in attendance, and to showcase their talents. Second from left is Jones Remilla who works at the Provincial Library while Raul Maaya (right), works at the Communications Section of the Continued on page… 02 Provincial Government. (PIA/vgvillanueva)

KALIBO, AKLAN, (PIA) – In its desire to promote the judicious conservation and efficient utilization of energy, the government through the Department of Energy – Visayas Field Office (DOE-VFO) conducted a Government Energy Management Program (GEMP) seminar held recently at Ati-atihan Country Inn, Kalibo, Aklan.

The seminar is part of the DOE’s information, education and communica-

tion (IEC) campaign under Administrative Order 110 that encourages government to practice energy conservation in their respective offices.

Director Antonio E. Labios of DOEVFO said that GEMP aims at reducing the monthly consumption of electricity (in kilowatt-hour) and petroleum product (in liters) by at least 10 percent in all government offices and establishments.

Continued on page… 03

PIA AKLAN BALITA

Vol. No. 3 Issue No. 13

KALIBO, Aklan, (PIA6) -- Aklan’s broadcasters will take time out from competing with each other on the airwaves August 15 as they embark together on a very worthy and timely activity – tree planting at Barangay Jawili, Tangalan, Aklan to make the province a greener, healthier place to live in.

This activity here, spearheaded by the Kapisanan ng Mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas (KBP) Aklan Chapter, is dubbed “Oplan Broadcastreeing”, and is a nationwide tree-planting project.

KBP-Aklan Chapter Chairman Alan C. Palma of YES FM-Boracay said the holding of “Broadcastreeing” in Aklan will serve as the Aklanon broadcasters’ contribution and participation to the National Greening Program (NGP) of the government under Executive Order No. 26 of President Benigno S. Aquino III, which seeks to plant 1.5 billion seed-

lings on 1.5 million hectares of land from 2011 to 2016.

Palma said the tree-planting activity in Jawili, Tangalan will be conducted with the support of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG).

“Some 30 to 40 KBP members from 8member stations in Aklan with different organizations and volunteers will be joining the activity”, Palma said.

Meanwhile, Ivene Reyes, DENRAklan Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Officer said instructions had been made to concerned DENR personnel who will be assisting the group in the activity.

Reyes said the area identified for tree -planting is within the project site of the barangay.

He also expressed his appreciation on the KBP’s concern and cooperation for the development and conservation of Aklan PWDs to have… natural resources and compliance to from page 01 E.O. 26.

DENR will also be providing the ment of Aklan headed by Governor Florseedlings to be planted. (VGV PIA6 Akencio T. Miraflores also made 62 schoollan) children – all PWDs and enrolled at various public schools in the province “In a way, this affirmation of our love very happy that day – by giving each of for our PWDs will surely liberate them them a bag full of school supplies – note- from physical, emotional and psychologibooks, pad papers, ballpens, pencils and cal pain”, Miraflores said in his message. crayons.

The organizers also invited Technical The children also received shoes, Education and Skills Development Ausocks and umbrellas. thority (TESDA), and through Thedah In his message read by SP Member Marie Tibulan, Financial Analyst, the Nelson Santamaria, Committee Chair on PWDs were oriented on Programs and Health and Social Services, Miraflores Services of the agency for them. thanked the PWDs’ parents for their Dr. Victor Santamaria, Provincial support and overflowing love - and the Health Officer II also lectured on social welfare employees and various “Healthy Lifestyles for PWDs. organizations who willingly provide the Part II of the activity consisted of PWDs with their needs, emotional and PWD Videoke Idol Search simultaneous moral spiritual and even financial help with a Wheel Chair Race. which make the provincial government’s endeavor lighter and more fulfilling.

PAGE 02

KALIBO, AKLAN, (PIA) – The island of Boracay generated P26,510,421,592.80 in tourism receipts from January to July this year.

According to the Aklan Provincial Tourism Office (APTO), of the total amount, P17,357,304,556.80 came from foreign and overseas Filipinos tourists while P9,153,117,036.00 was earned from domestic or local tourists.

Meanwhile, tourist arrivals as of July reached 973,373 of which foreign tourists listed were 431,008, while domestic tourists reached 512, 840 and overseas Filipinos were 29,525.

APTO record also shows that the month of April registered 178,595 tourists, the highest number of tourist arrivals so far.

However, the month of July is on top of the list in terms of growth rate, which recorded 121,266 tourist arrivals showing a 14% increase compared to last year of the same month with 106,665 visitors.

The Provincial Government and the Tourism Office of Aklan are still optimistic that the target of 1.5 million tourist arrivals in Boracay will be achieved this year.

As reported, docking of cruise ships, Environment Summit and other national and international activities will be held in the island in the last six months of the year.

MS Legend of the Seas, a Carribean cruise ship will dock in Boracay on August 21, carrying 2,070 passengers.

(JCM/SQP-PIA6 Aklan) Theme of this year’s NDPR Week celebration was “Health and Wellness Opportunities for PWDs towards Inclusive Development for All”. (VGV PIA6 Aklan)

40 tributaries of Aklan River… from page 01 everyone’s participation to development and disaster risk management.

The clean-up of the 40 river tributaries is aimed to clear the waterways of debris so water can flow freely during heavy rains.

Banga town has the most number of tributaries with 14 and Madalag, with 12.

Towns traversed by the Aklan River include Libacao, Madalag, Banga, Malinao, Lezo, Kalibo and Numancia.

Besides the clean-up, participants will also plant trees along the river bank, to be provided by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DPWH). (VGV PIA6 Aklan)

MOA Signing for Makulay ang Buhay ng PWD. Rotary Club of Kalibo President Ricky Molo (center) signs the Memorandum of Agreement for the conduct of free painting lessons by the club to Aklan's PWDs as PWD Provincial Association of Aklan President Zaldy Paderes (left) and Aklan Vice Governor Gabrielle Calizo-Quimpo (right) await their turn. The MOA Signing was one of the highlights of Aklan's celebration of NDPR Week held recently at the Provincial Trade Hall, Capitol Grounds. Witnessing the signing are RC of Kalibo members, Thedah Marie Tibulan of TESDA-Aklan (right, seated); and Tangalan SB Member Jay Tejada, Aklan SP Member Lilian Q. Tirol, PSWD Officer Evangeline Gallega and Provincial Health Officer Dr. Vic Santamaria (right side standing). (PIA/vgvillanueva)

PIA AKLAN BALITA

Vol. No. 3 Issue No. 13

One thousand three hundred twenty land beneficiaries have received their Free Homestead and Agricultural Patents in the province of Aklan just recently. The DENR, through its Handog Titulo Program, led the patent distribution alongside Aklan’s Governor and Congressman.

Governor Florencio T. Miraflores noted that most beneficiaries are now in their senior years and had waited so long for this event to come. “This is the first time that Original Certificates of Titles are distributed in Aklan. Now you have the assurance that the lands you had been tilling for many years are now yours,” he told the beneficiaries.

The patentees come in color coded badges, representing their respective municipality and their patentee number.

The Handog Titulo activity was held at the ABL Sports Complex where service tables are set up outside to assist the beneficiaries.

“We are glad to see you come here to receive your patents,” Congressman Teodorico T. Haresco said to the beneficiaries who came from Aklan’s 17 municipalities and 253 barangays.

DENR 6 Regional Director Jim O Sampulna once again encouraged the beneficiaries to be responsible land owners. “Pay your taxes promptly so that your local government units will be able to fund other valuable projects,” he said.

Sampulna further told the beneficiaries to thank their political leaders for eagerly pursuing the issuance of land

DOE holds GEMP seminar… from page 01 “When buying appliances, always consider and check the yellow tag for the Energy Efficiency Factor(EEF) because the higher the EEF the more efficient and lesser energy the appliances consume,” Labios said.

Meanwhile, Thelma P. Agagas, Senior Research Specialist of DOE reminded and encouraged government offices in

PAGE 03

From left: DENR 6 Regional Director Jim O Sampulna, Aklan Governor Florencio T. Miraflores and Congressman Teodorico T. Haresco lead the patent distribution recently. A total of 1,320 beneficiaries eagerly received their long-awaited patents./DENR 6 Photo

titles after the cadastral survey of Aklan province was completed.

Some of the beneficiaries are tearyeyed and happy. Some are beyond themselves with so much joy. One of them, Angelita from Altavas has accepted many titles. She said she was given Special Power of Attorney by her siblings to

claim the land titles in their behalf because they have disabilities. Many others share the same story.

Indeed, land ownership has given security of tenure to many landless Filipinos. The DENR has played a big part in making things happen for them./ DENR 6

Hu ndr eds of h ir ed per sonn el throughout the province were deployed by the Philippine Statistics Authority in Aklan to conduct the biggest census of population which started on August 10.

A total of 512 census enumerators were fielded to undertake the house-tohouse visit and data collection and 158 supervisors were assigned to closely monitor and ensure the efficient conduct of the census operation.

The Census of Population is an inventory of the population of the entire country conducted every five years. It also collects information about basic characteristics of the population such as age, sex, marital status, and highest Aklan to submit monthly reports on electricity and fuel consumption to their main office in Manila.

Agagas said that a designation of Energy Conservation Office (ECO), who is

grade/year completed which are vital in making rational plans and programs towards national and local development.

Mrs. Rodelyn Panadero, Interim Provincial Statistics Officer, said that all households, housing units, and institutional living quarters such as hotels, boarding houses, dormitories will be covered in the listing.

Likewise, all Filipinos residing in Philippine embassies, missions, and consulates abroad will also be enumerated.

She said that data on census is very important for government in allocation of resources and revenues, creation of Continued on page… 04

second in rank, must be established in each government offices to monitor the energy consumption.

Conduct of spot checks in the provincial offices to further verify the adherence of the government offices to GEMP will be the activity of DOE, since the national and regional level were already finished, Agagas added.

From September 2005 to January 2013, the DOE conducted spot checks to more than 700 government facilities, issued certificates of energy/monetary savings to 70 government agencies and the government was able to save P2.1 billion in electricity and 290 million tons of transport fuel.

The DOE also promotes the natural DOE on Monthly Report of Electricity & Fuel Consumption. Thelma P. Agagas (right), Senior light and ventilation that can be unReaserch Specialist of the Department of Energy encouraging participants (left) coming from the different veiled in the designs of buildings and government offices in Aklan to submit monthly reports on electricity and fuel consumption to DOE and houses, as one way to efficiently use and the need to designate Energy Conservation Officer in each government offices. (SQPatoza/PIA)

PIA AKLAN BALITA

PAGE 04

Vol. No. 3 Issue No. 13

KALIBO, Aklan, August 14 (PIA6) - Did you know that at home or in government or private offices, people can do many things to help conserve electricity and in the process – pay lesser electric bills and therefore use the savings to buy other household or office needs?

This and more were shared by officials of the Department of Energy (DOE) here when they recently conducted an IEC/Seminar on Government Energy Management Program (GEMP) for Aklan’s government offices, held at the Ati-atihan County Inn in Kalibo.

These simple practices, according to the DOE, involve lamps and appliances, and how we take care of, use, or how we choose them: When buying lamps, we should choose the Compact Fluorescent Lamp (CFL). We must also clean the lamps often, because dust and dirt reduces brightness by 50%.

When buying a refrigerator, one must look for the Energy Efficiency Factor (EEF) label pasted on the unit.

Refrigerators with high EEF consume lesser electricity, according to the DOE. Ice in the freezer should not be allowed to thicken by ¼ inch, while the refrigerator’s condenser coil must always be kept clean.

When buying an air-conditioner unit, the buyer must choose the model with high Energy Efficiency Ratio (EER) which can be found on the yellow label attached to the unit. High EER means lesser electricity consumption.

One must also check the capacity of the aircon to the size of the room where it will be used.

On ironing, one must do it once a week on a specific day. It is advisable to do the ironing in the morning when it is cool and bright.

Also, thick clothes should be ironed first, followed by the thin ones, to fully use the remaining heat after the iron had already been unplugged.

When buying gas range or oven, the buyer should choose the automatic (electronic) ignition system. The DOE said it is much better to use Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG) when cooking to save electricity.

On television viewing, one must turnoff the unit when no one is viewing, and unplug it when using transformer. The unit must not be left on stand-by mode, because this still consumes electricity. Buyers must also avoid purchasing Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) television because this can waste electricity by 50%

compared to a Light Crystal Display (LCD) television.

In using electric fans, the user should lock the oscillator when air is needed in one direction only. Electric fans must always be free from dirt and dust.

The DOE also advise households to regularly clean their appliances for a longer life span of these appliances.

It also warned against phantom load – electricity consumptions of appliances we think are absent because appliances are turned off or on a stand-by mode.

The DOE also said that it is not recommending to the public the use of energy-saving gadgets, because there is no solid proof yet that the gadgets really work. (JCM/VGV PIA6 Aklan)

PSA deploys hundreds … from page 03 political and administrative units and other plans for better services, improve the quality of life and solve existing problems.

“The reference date for the POPCEN 2015 is August 1, 2015. This means that all persons to be enumerated as members of a household or as residents of an institutional living quarter will be as of 12:01 am, August 1, 2015,” Mrs. Panadero said.

Mrs. Panadero appeals to Aklanons to support the POPCEN 2015 by giving accurate and reliable information to PSA’s data collectors.

She assured the public that the information provided will not be used against them in lawsuit or in any investigation as guaranteed by law. (PSA/PIA)