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Wednesday - Thursday I Mar. 6-7, 2013
Economy
BusinessWeek M I N DA N A O
YOUR LOCAL ONLINE BUSINESS PAPER
www.businessweekmindanao.com
World Bank hails Philippines transparency effort DAVAO City -- Billed as the Philippines efficient and cost-effective project management tool, the World Bank (WB) recently cited the government’s use of geo-tagging technology in its effort for a transparent and corrupt-free government.
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An article bannered in their Washing ton-based website (www.worldbank. org), said that the use of geo-tagging technology in the Department of Agriculture’s (DA) second Mindanao Rural Development Program (MRDP2) has made project monitoring in far-flung places become more transparent and easier to access with the help of a new technology that allows pictures and videos to be geo-tagged. “The geo-tagging process involves attaching locationspecific information such as geographical coordinates to pictures, videos, and even SMS messages. Users would need a GPS-enabled phone
and internet connection to upload multimedia to a web-based application such as Google, which provides the platform to geo-tag at no cost,” the article said. MRDP is long-term poverty alleviation initiative in Mindanao with a total funding of $127 million coming from the $83.752 million loan from the WB and the equity share of the national government and its 225 covered municipalities. “As we implement projects in the six regions of Mindanao, we constantly faced challenges of accessibility, manpower, resources and security concerns,” said the WB article quoting deputy
program director Arnel V. De Mesa. “With the use of technology our project team and even country officials and donors agency can validate, monitor and evaluate actual progress on the ground without having to travel to hard-to-access locations and areas with high security risk,” De Mesa said. “The learning curve of geo-tagging is not that long, and the beauty of it is anyone can learn the ropes. Even the young ones who are exposed to smartphones nowadays can easily do it,” he added. Mea nwhi le, Progra m Director Lealyn A. Ramos said that the department is proud that WB has given recognition to their efforts of heeding the challenge of President Benigno S. Aquino III’s tuwid na daan (straight path) and inclusive growth hails/PAGE 8
By APIPA P. BAGUMBARAN Contributor
ing. It started its operation in January, this year. In its initial operation, the group has already employed ten women-members for the squid drying, earning P20 for every 100 pieces of fresh squids. The husbands of the women-members operate the five pump boats in catching squids and receive two-thirds (2/3) of its earnings. After a month of operation, the group has harvested 500 kilos of fresh squid sold at P35 per kilo to the womenmembers. After the drying process, the squid were sold to the local market in the entire province at P500 per kilo. BSWCC Project Manager Adelina Fabela is happy to note that the cooperative has
already earned a net income of P14,900 or a total profit approximately 45.84 percent from its expenses of P17,500 for the labor and capital. Sagay municipality is currently the only major producer of dried squid in the province. BSWCC President Maricel S. Uayan thanked DOLE-10 for the livelihood and employment opportunities they can generate from the assistance. Through the financial assistance, the cooperative can purchase weighing scale, freezer, five units of pump boats, squid flashers, jiggers, flashlights, knives, styrofoam and big-sized cellophanes, fishing nets, containers, and starting capital in buying fresh squid.
Camiguin women’s coop gets livelihood assistance
THE Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Regional Office 10 has released a livelihood financial assistance of P298,000 to Balite 2 SEAK Women’s Consumers Cooperative (BSWCC) under the DOLE Integrated Livelihood Program (DILP). The DILP is DOLE’s contribution to the Aquino administration’s agenda of reducing poverty through the promotion of livelihood and entrepreneurship and transforming them into community enterprises through convergence of services. The BSWCC is a women’s cooperative in Sagay, Camiguin province engaged in squid drying and catch-
Oro dads OKs free patent of lot for poor residents THE City Council has approved a resolution for the issuance of free patent to 80 poor families occupying a 5,750-square meter lot in Migkawa, Barangay Tablon here. Vice Mayor Ian Acenas, presiding officer of the City Council, said the local legislative body interposes
no objection to the free patent application for the titling of the parcel of land occupied by members of the Migkawa Landless Association in Tablon here for over 20 years now. Councilor Ramon Tabor, member of the committee on urban and rural poor, said actual inspection was
conducted together with technical persons from concerned departments. The legislation was reviewed and favorably endorsed by the committees on urban and rural poor and on laws and rules respectively chaired by Councilors Alexander Dacer and Ramon Tabor.