7 vol 5 isiquijor 2 22 to 3 3 2017

iSIQUIJOR Information is our business.

THE OFFICIAL E-NEWSLETTER OF THE PHILIPPINE INFORMATION AGENCY - SIQUIJOR | WWW.PIA.GOV.PH and the DEPARTMENT OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY - SIQUIJOR | WWW.DOST.GOV.PH VOL. 5| NO.6J February 22-March 3, 2017

NFA-Siquijor intensifies program to ensure rice sufficiency

SIQUIJOR (PIA) -- The National Food Authority (NFA) here has intensified campaigns and programs to ensure the rice sufficiency in the province.

This was bared by NFA provincial manager Carlos Cortes during the monthly info sharing of the Siquijor Association and Information Disseminators (SAID) held recently at the Siquijor State College (SSC) Cafeteria in Larena, Siquijor.

Cortes cited NFA’s flagship programs such as Farmers Market Invention Programs (FOBB), Grains Exchange Program for Farmers Organization and Retailer’s Association (GEPFORA), Farmers Incentive Rice Purchase Program (FAIR), Palay Marketing Assistance for Legislators and Local Government Units (PALLGUs) and LGUs and Legislator, Corn Marketing Assistance Program for Industry Producers/Users- Local Government Units (CMAPIPULGUs), Institutionalized Farmers as Distributors (IFAD), Corn Development Fund (CDF) and Enhanced Electronic Trading System (EETS) for Corn.

These are undertaken to ensure the price of the farmer’s yield, protection of their

LOVE YOUR H E A L T H , LOVE YOUR ENVIRONMENT: Employees from the government and the private sectors joined the Fun Run, Zumba and Health Summit conducted by the local government unit of Larena.

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Larena LGU spearheads health summit

LARENA, Siquijor (PIA) -- For three years now, the local government unit (LGU) of Larena has been holding a Health Summit to encourage citizens to engage in activities that promote healthy lifestyle and healthy environment.

Mayor Dean S. Villa with Municipal Health Officer Susan Jojie Villa spearheaded the activities that include Fun Run, Zumba, free medical check-up and medication and a forum on this year’s theme “Love Your Environment, Love Your Health.”

Different government agencies, public sectors, health workers, and other

health enthusiasts joined the summit that also discussed wellness and climate change, among others.

“Healthy community means successful community,” Mayor Villa said as he stressed the importance of taking care of the environment and one’s health.

He urged the constituents especially the barangay captains and the barangay kagawads to be messengers of the good information learned from the health forum and encouraged them to the lead examples to other municipalities.

Municipal Health Officer Dr. Villa said the event aimed to improve the attitude of Larenians and empower them to live healthy lives and attain their fullest potential.

Other speakers include Rowena Magpiong of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) for environmental protection; Municipal Health Officer (MHO) of San Juan, Ruel Quisel for healthy lifestyle; Sangguniang Bayan Member Carl for Logistics about the environment protection and Philhealth Manager, Marissa Winkler for health insurance. (rmn/rac/PIA7Siquijor)

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IN FOCUS: Gender and Development

Gender equality is essential to achieve inclusive and sustainable development. Women and men play important roles in society. Thus, both should have the same access to education, health, and other social services; can freely participate in the political processes; and have equal economic opportunities.

In the 2016 Gender Gap Report of the World Economic Forum, the Philippines again joins the top 10 countries that have managed to reduce gender-based disparities in the economic, education, health, and political aspects. Ranking seventh among 144 countries, it maintains the position of highest performer in East Asia and the Pacific.

The 2016 report reveals that since 2006, “the Philippines has fully closed its gender gap on the health and survival sub-index and has also managed to fully reclose its educational attainment gender gap after a reopening for the first time in 2015.” For 2016, however, the

Philippines obtains a lower score in the economic participation and opportunity sub-index given its fewer female legislators and senior officials and managers.

A closer look, however, would reveal that critical issues remain. Maternal health remains a challenge in the Philippines as revealed by its accomplishment in meeting the Millennium Development Goals. The Philippine Statistics Authority’s MDGWatch report in September 2015 reveals that the country fell short in reducing maternal mortality, providing universal access to reproductive health, and reducing adolescent pregnancies. PIDS research has found evidence of inequality in maternal and child health services utilization across economic classes and across regions, which requires government intervention.

Moreover, gender issues are prevalent among certain marginalized sectors such as persons with disabilities (PWDs). Data

show that among them, more women are unable to complete any grade in school, and the disparity is wider in the rural areas.

Women PWDs are also left out in terms of employment.

Furthermore, while the Philippines has the second highest percentage of entrepreneurially active females next to Peru, based on data from the Department of Trade and Industry, the vast majority of enterprises owned by Filipino women are small and informal. Most of these enterprises are also engaged in low value-added activities like retail trade, food stalls, and personal services. Women in the informal economy and those operating micro and small enterprises usually have limited access to financial services, production networks, marketing information, and global value chains. These limit their socioeconomic advancement and full participation in the development process.

DOST-Siquijor invites students to avail of scholarships

SIQUIJOR, March 10 (PIA) -- The Department of Science and Technology (DOST) is inviting students in the province to avail of the scholarships that their office is offering.

DOST Information Officer Jek Reinhold Abing said that the scholarship programs are geared towards the acceleration of the development of science and technology (S&T) for socio-economic development.

Undergraduate and graduate level scholarships are available to those who meet the minimum grade requirement and those qualified by the S & T Scholarship Examination, he added.

Undergraduate scholarships include the DOST-SEI Merit Scholarship Program which was formerly known as the National

Science Development Board (NSDB) or National Science and Technology Authority (NSTA) Scholarship, which began in 1958.

Merit scholars pursue priority courses in the basic sciences, engineering, other applied sciences, and science and mathematics teaching at identified universities.

Another scholarship is the RA 7687 Science and Technology Scholarship Program or also known as the S&T Scholarship Act of 1994 that provides scholarships to talented and deserving students whose family’s socioeconomic status do not exceed the set cut-off values of certain indicators.

Qualifiers must pursue priority fields of study in the basic sciences, engineering, other applied sciences and science and mathematics teaching.

Another undergraduate scholarship program is the RA 10612 Junior Level Sciences Scholarship (JLSS) Program.

This grants qualify third year students who are enrolled in priority fields of study in engineering, basic and applied sciences and science and mathematics teaching at identified universities and colleges.

There are two component scholarships namely: Project GIFTS (Government Initiatives on Fellowships for the Talented in the Sciences for the Disadvantaged) and Junior Level Science Scholarships-Merit.

Abing sai all interested applicants/ students may visit their office at Baluarte Street, Pangi, Siquijor, Siquijor. (rmn/rac/ PIA7-Siquijor/ w/ reports from I.A.Abatayo) -

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PhilHealth to employers: Remit premiums on time

(PIA) -- The Philippine Health Insurance Corporation in Region 7 (PhilHealth -7) urged employers in the region from the government and the private sectors to observe a punctual remittance of the monthly premium contributions of their employees.

PhilHealth made this call following the reimposition of the two-percent penalty on delinquent employers.

Laarni Joy Allanic, chief social insurance officer of PhilHealth-7, said it is the responsibility of the employer to comply with their obligation to pay for the monthly premium contributions.

NFA Siquijor... from page 1

rights and establish a manageable relationship between NFA and the local farmers, he said.

Other flagship programs of NFA include licensing and accreditation program, rice fortification program, and the Philippine Grains Standardization Program (PGSP), among others.

NFA has also a special project which for Disaster and Crisis Preparedness.

This enables NFA to operate 24 hours in Operation Centers (OPCEN) and is activated during disasters and calamities to ensure the availability of rice within a twoweek period during emergency and crisis program, Cortes explained.

Under this program, NFA extends rice loan to relief agencies like Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), Philippine Red Cross (PRC) and the local government units (LGUs) under Memorandum of Agreement executed by NFA with the agencies.

Another special program of the NFA is the supplementary Feeding Program.

It is a joint project of NFA, DSWD, LGUs and the Department of Education (DepEd) to feed the Day Care pupils of the entire country to address the malnutrition problems.

Cortes assured that NFA-Siquijor is doing its best to provide excellent and immediate services to the ensure food security and sufficiency in Siquijor Province. (rmn/rac/ PIA7-Siquijor w/ reports from IAAbatayo)

Employers automatically deduct these monthly premium contributions from the monthly basic salaries of its employees.

Under the revised Implementing Rules and Regulations of the National Health Insurance Act of 1995 (Republic Act 7875), monthly premium contributions of employed members shall be remitted by the employer. However, contribution payments remitted beyond the deadline will be charged automatically with a two-percent monthly interest.

Since early 2000, there was already an implementation of this penalty but it was abolished and later reimposed in 2013 in order to enhance the collection of premium contributions.

Allanic also reminded the employers to regularly update the member data record (MDR) of their employees so as not to encounter any problem during in times

of hospitalization involving their family members.

Meanwhile, PhilHealth has given out about 500 emergency kits to hospitals in Metro Cebu area.

These hospitals are Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center (VSMMC), Cebu City Medical Center (CCMC), Perpetual Succour Hospital and Visayas Community Medical Center (VSMC) in Cebu City and Eversley Child’s Sanitarium and General Hospital in Mandaue City.

Each emergency kit contains a face towel, sanitizer, flyers and brochures of PhilHealth which contains information on its programs and advocacy.

The distribution of these kits is part of PhilHealth’s 22nd Anniversary.

PhilHealth-7 reported that as of December 2016, it has already 6,076,376 members in Central Visayas. (rmn/clm/ PIA-7)

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Cebuano News:

Minimum wage earners sa CV, may dugang sa ilang suholan sugod Marso 10

(PIA)--Makadawat og dugang P13 sa ilang i-nadlaw nga suholan ang mga minimum wage earner sa Central Visayas epektibo sugod karong Biyernes, Marso 10.

Matud pa ni Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Central Visayas

Director Exequiel Sarcauga, nahisakop sa maong wage order ang mga trabahante sa Bohol, Cebu, Negros Oriental ug Siquijor.

Ubos sa bag-ong wage order, ang minimum wage earners gikan sa first class municipalities nga nagtrabaho sa mga

(PIA)--Padayon nga naningkamot ang Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) nga bantayan ang kaayohan sa mga overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), apil na ang mga nag-planong motrabaho sa ubang nasod sa gihingusgang kampanya batok sa illegal recruitment.

Nipagawas og pahayag si Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III human ang gipahigayong entrapment operation sa DOLE Regional Office No. 7, kauban ang Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG-7) ning bag-o lang nga hinungdan sa pagkasikop sa tulo ka kawani sa usa ka lokal nga recruitment agency sa syudad sa Sugbo.

Matud pa ni Bello nga ang mga naarestong indibidwal mga empleyado sa Feljobs Manpower Services nga nahimutang sa M.L. Quezon St., Pusok, syudad sa LapuLapu, diin ang lisensiya niini isip private recruitment ug placement agency napaso na niadto pang tuig 2014. Apan nagpadayon pa gihapon sa pang-recruit ang maong ahensiya.

Sa taho ni DOLE-7 Regional Director Exequiel Sarcauga, sugod Oktubre 2016 sa dihang ilang gibantayan ang Feljobs ug ilang nasuta nga ang maong ahensiya padayon nga nikuha og mga trabahante ug nagpagawas og recruitment advertisement sa lokal nga pahayagan.

Napamatud-an usab nga nangayo ang maong ahensiya og P850.00 sa matag aplikante isip bayad sa identification card (ID) ug sa pre-employment medical examination ug gi-ingnan nga maghulat lamang, ug wala’y kasigurohan sa aplikante kun madawat ba sila o dili sa trabaho.

Padayon pa gihapong gibantayan sa DOLE ang upat ka uban pang recruitment agency nga mahimong may mga ilegal nga buhat ug padayon nilang gisusi ang mga

permit sa uban pang ahensiya aron matino kun may ginahimo ba kining illegal recruitment.

Ubos sa balaod, ang DOLE gitahasang mopahigayon og inspeksiyon ug beripikasyon sa nagkalain-laing recruitment agency nga molapas sa balaod, ilabi na ang illegal recruitment.

Samtang gi-awhag sa Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) ang publiko nga itawag sa POEA hotline numbers (02) 722-11-44 / 722-1155 ang bisan unsang ilegal nga buhat sa pagpang-recruit ug gipahinumdoman nga dili gayud mo-apply sa mga dili lisensiyadong recruitment agency, apil na ang mga kawani nga dili awtorisadong tinugyanan sa lisensiyadong ahensiya. (ecb/PIA7-Bohol)

Kampanya batok sa illegal recruitment, gihingusgan sa DOLE

commercial ug industrial establishments makadawat na og P366 matag adlaw.

Mosaka na usab sa P333 ang take-home pay sa mga trabahante gikan sa mga second class municipalities.

Samtang P323 matag adlaw ang madawat sa third class municipalities ug P308 usab sa fourth class municipalities diin apil na niini ang Siquijor, Bantayan Island ug Camotes island. (ecb/PIA7-Bohol)

iSIQUIJOR is

the Island of Siquijor’s first electronic newsletter produced by the Philippine Information Agency-Siquijor Information Center and the DOST - Provincial Science and Technology Center.

It contains snippets of information about Siquijor, Central Visayas and the Philippine Government.

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