Vol 5
Issue 4
In this Issue WESTERN VISAYAS
AGRICULTURE Secretary Proceso Alcala leads the turnover of 25 heavy duty four-wheel drive tractors with implements to local chief executives and representatives of LGU recipients in Western Visayas during the Regional Farmers‟ Forum held at WESVIARC, Hamungaya, Jaro, Iloilo City, January 30.
Jan. 26 – Feb. 1, 2015
Published by: PIA 6, 7 & 8
Students, OSY train to become DRR advocates ROXAS CITY, Capiz, Jan. 26 (PIA) – Students and out-of-school youth (OSY) have been the focus of capability training of an international humanitarian organization helping Capiceños. Education Officer Rommel Acejo of ChildFund disclosed that in the aftermath of supertyphoon Yolanda that heavily hit Capiz, ChildFund has been extending their support to children through various activities in the community and schools. Acejo said that part of their community activities for children is the strengthening of the Barangay Council for the Protection of Children (BCPC) and providing also assistance to health such as the repair if health facilities in their identified target areas. “Since children were among those who were greatly traumatized by the said disaster, we had initiated a Child-Friendly Space which is a psychological support for children,” he said. Acejo said that selected students from the various secondary schools in Panay as well as out-of-school youth from the said area were also trained on disaster risk reduction and management for them to become DRR advocates to other children. He explained that the activity is part of their programs on
Rebuilding Institution and Safe Environment, a ChildFund project. “We are empowering the children on disaster risk advocacy because they are the potential force multipliers of the various government agencies and private organizations in the campaign on climate change which is one of the potent factors in the experienced disaster here such as flood and other emergencies,” Acejo said. He said that the training for the students and OSY here in Panay town will be replicated to other areas in Western Visayas including in Regions 7 and 8. Recently a more than 270 selected high school students from the town underwent a three-day Youth-led DRR Emergency and Survival Camp at Pawa National High School to promote resiliency and developing their skills on basic emergency and survival situation as well as developing them an environmental consciousness. The planting of 300 forest trees in the area was one of the highlights during their concluding activity which was attended by RISE Project Manager for Visayas Michael Bismar. ChildFund is implementing its projects and programs in five towns and city in Capiz, namely Panay, Tapaz, Jamindan, Ivisan and Roxas City. (JCM/JBG/PIA6)
Salt makers told to comply with law on iodine blend More on Region 6, pages 2-3. Also CLICK Here…
CENTRAL VISAYAS
After M/S Europa of Hapag Lloyd Cruises the other day, another luxury ship, M/S Minerva of Swan Hellenic Cruise is in Bohol today carrying 293 passengers for brief tours to some famous sites in Bohol. (PIA7)
CEBU CITY, January 28 (PIA) --- Salt manufacturers are reminded to comply with RA 8172 or the ASIN Law in fortifying salt with the correct amount of iodine in order to get the essential quantity in nutritional iodine requirement for human needs. Dr. Parolita Mission, regional program coordinator of the National Nutrition Council (NNC-7), said under the law, salt manufacturers or producers must fortify their salt with 30 to 70 parts per million (ppm) to allow a margin of iodine lost during the distribution process. “Iodine content of 15 ppm in household level is already okay,” said Mission during the recent forum of the Association of Government Information Officers (AGIO-7) in celebration of Goiter Awareness Week from January 26 to 31. The NNC-7 regional coordinator however clarified that salt manufacturers have complied with the law in fortifying salt with iodine but the question lies on the adequate quantity of iodate potassium as required by law. “In one of our random spot checks to test quality iodized salt in the market, we found out that the salt sold in Carbon and Taboan markets only yielded seven percent ppm of
iodine,” bared Mission, reiterating her call to salt manufacturers to put the correct amount of iodine in the salt fortification process. Mission said the ASIN Law was passed to address iodine deficiency, one of the three top micronutrient deficiencies in the country along with Vitamin A and iron. Iodine is a mineral needed by the thyroid gland to make thyroid hormones important in regulating cell metabolism and growth. One visible sign of iodine deficiency is goiter, said Mission. But the more serious complications involved mental impairment, cretinism, stillbirth and abortion among pregnant women. Dr. Marlon Co, president of the Cebu Medical Society, on the other hand, bared the development of goiter is not due to Iodine deficiency disorder (IDD) alone as other factors like over or under function of the thyroid gland, nodules or tumors. Co said the ideal amount of iodine needed by the body is 150 micrograms a day or less than one teaspoon of iodized salt. He warned on the excessive use of salt intake which can lead to hypertension and other cardiovascular diseases. (rmn/fcr/ PIA-7)
Army exhumes NPA purge victims in Leyte
By Neil D. Lopido MACARTHUR, Leyte, Jan. 26 (PIA) – Soldiers from the Ormoc City-based 802nd Brigade of the Philippine Army led by its commander, Col. Dinoh Dolina, unearthed Friday the remains of two alleged liquidation victims of the New People‟s Army (NPA). These were discovered by local residents in shallow graves in barangays Lanawan and San Vicente, this town. More on Region 7, pages 4-5. The killings were believed to have occurred three decades ago. Also CLICK Here… The barangayas are located in the hinterlands of MacArthur and reported to be once the hotbed of the rebels in the 80‟s. The family of the victims identified the remains to be those of EASTERN VISAYAS Necostrates “Tasting” Novio from Brgy. San Antonio, this town and Lolieto “Rudy” Custodio from Brgy. Mag-aso, La Paz, Leyte. According to Nicostrates‟ 59-year-old son Reynaldo, his father who was to serve as a cook was abducted on his way to Manarog, a nearby barangay then celebrating a fiesta. Reynaldo believed that the skeleton and clothes unearthed in a farm in Lanawan belong to his father, the same polo and pants worn when he [his father] left in August 1984. While the remains of Lolieto which were exhumed in a steep mountain of Brgy. San Vicente, was more intact with arms and feet Rev. Fr. Cris Militante of the Archdiocese of still tied up and the skull with blindfold cloth. Palo officiated a mass and the blessing of the Lolieto‟s son Bartolome, 43, recalled that he was first year new PIA 8 regional office in Tacloban City on high school that time when the rebels abducted his father at their January 8. (Vino R. Cuayzon) coconut farm in Brgy. Mag-aso where they tied him with his three other relatives. “Maybe, I am now at least a high school graduate as what my father dreamt for me,” the sad Bartolome shared to reporters. The families of the victims alleged that members of the NPA abducted them because they were suspected to be working for government forces as intelligence operatives. More on Region 8, pages 6-7. Meanwhile, Col. Dolina said that proper identification of the remains will undergo a thorough investigation, after which, these Also CLICK Here... will be turned over to the claimant families for proper burial.
Present also during the exhumation were members of the Philippine National Police-Scene of the Crime Operatives (SOCO), LGU and barangay officials, Human Rights and Religious sector, members of the media, and families and relatives of the victims. Col. Dolina has been encouraging more witnesses to surface for possible location of burial sites of NPA purge victims. Dolina is urging the dwindling member of NPAs to return to the folds of law and work as one towards peace and development. He noted that the rebel forces in Leyte continue to weaken after super typhoon Yolanda in 2013. The officer hopes that they will avail of the government‟s Comprehensive Local Integration Program to start a new and peaceful life with their families. “We want to win the peace. I am sad when an NPA dies during encounter. I am sad when we recover firearms during encounter. But when we get arms when one surrenders, I am
SOCO operatives assisted by soldiers from the Philippine Army exhumed the remains of a victim allegedly killed during the NPAs purging in the 1980s in one of the mountain barangays in MacArthur, Leyte, January 23. (Vino R. Cuayzon)