MINDANAO DAILY T H E P U RV E YO R O F T R U T H , J U S T I C E , A N D D E V E LO P M E N T
Volume VI, No. 203
Website: www.mindanaodailynews.com
Friday
P15.00
February 3, 2017
The volumes of illegal logs seized by the task force are of premium specieswhich were abandoned by illegal cutters along an interior road near the boundary of Agusan del Sur and Surigao del sur. Photo courtey of Andres Villaganas Philippine Army, 26IB
‘Hot’ logs seized in Agsur By CHRIS V. PANGANIBAN Contributing Editor
ROSARIO, Agusan del Sur--- An anti-illegal logging task forceon Tuesday afternoon have seized 198 pieces of hot logs worth P90,000 in the interior village of Marfil in Rosario town on Wednesday afternoon just as President RodrigoDuterte announced his plan to declare a total log ban in the
Total log ban aims to protect watersheds P resident R o d r i g o Duterte has ordered the creation of a Tri-Partite Convergence Committee that will formulate guidelines and other details of total log ban implementation in the country. Presidential Spokesman Ernesto Abella said on Wednesday that the committee will be composed of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Department of Agriculture (DA) and Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG). Abella told Palace reporters through text message that the total log ban aims to protect the country’s water sheds.
entire country. The raiding team swooped down the estimated 44 cubic meters of Apitong logs and other miscellaneous species which were abandoned in theremote village known to have been a hotspot where illegal logging thrives in past few years. A report from 26th IB said the logs left near the boundary of Surigao del Sur was supposed to
be sneaked out in Tagbina town in Surigao del Sur but the illegal cutters abandoned it upon sensing of an impending operation. The operation led by the Community Environment and Natural Resources Office based in Bunawan town were assisted by soldiers from the 26th Infantry Battalion, police forces from 3rd Maneuver Company and staff of the Municipal Environment
and Natural Resources Offices in Rosario and neighboring Bunawan town The operation came as President Duterte ordered the creation of a tripartite committee that would study the implementation of a total log ban in the country. “The President has ordered that a tripartite convergence committee be formed, composed of DENR (Department of Environment and
Natural Resources), DA (Department of Agriculture), and DILG (Department of the Interior and Local Government) to discuss details of a total log ban in order to protect our watersheds,” presidential spokesperson Ernesto Abella said in a statement. Duterte gave the instruction during the Climate Change Commission and Advisory Board See logs, page A7
FDA warns ‘Sari-Sari’ storeowners
ZAMBOANGA City––The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has warned to slap appropriate actions against store owners selling medicines, antibiotics, without the required license. Engineer Annette Tan, FDA Mindanao west cluster director, on Wednesday issued the warning after they caught 39 “sari-sari” stores here in Region 9 selling medicines despite they don’t have the license. Tan said majority of the 39 stores were located here in Zamboanga City and “they were caught selling antibiotics,” which needs the prescription of a physician. “They have to apply for a license to operate,” Tan said if they wanted to continue selling medicines. However, Tan advised
The twin newlyborns still wrapped with umbilical cord while still on board the rescue boat. Photo courtesy of La Paz Municipal Information Office
See protect, page A7
See warns, page A7
Twin babies born during flood already went home By CHRIS V. PANGANIBAN Contributing Editor
ESPERANZA, Agusan del Sur--- The twin infants who were born while on board a rescue boat at the height of heavy flooding here are now bouncy normal babies who were allowed by doctors at the birthing clinic to go home on Wednesday. The newborn baby boys , weighing 2.5 and 2.8 kilos
, were born at the height of the heavy flooding while on board a fiber glass rescue boat after a normal delivery of a young Higaonon mother with the help of five male rescue team members of Search and Rescue Agusan del Sur (SARAS) under the Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office (MDRRMO) of this town.
Doctors of Esperanza Birthing Clinic allowed the mother Melona Yandong, 19, and the twins to go home on Wednesday at nearby Hawilian village after they find her and her infants to have fully recovered four days after birth. Using only rain coats, a mat and blankets, the rescuers managed to medically perform the delivery of the infants when Yandong could
no longer bear than to give birth amid the heavy rains and turbulent floodwaters. Oscar Banayon , head of the SARAS MDRRMO, said the rescuers did not hesitate to take the risk helping the mother gave birth since they have also experienced the same situation twice in the past while rescuing expectant mothers on board SARAS trucks. Banayon said they re-
ceived an emergency call from a village councilor of Hawilian about Yandong’s condition of having labor pains already prompting them to immediately respond even as the turbulent floodwaters started to rise. At the time of the incident, Esperanza was already at the orange alert since the floods already threaten to swell the tributaries of Agusan river, Ojot river
and Wawa river. But the SARAS MDRRMO rescue team has been prepared of any calamity since they have been always on the 24/7 standby to respond after months of training on disaster preparedness with the help of the government of Netherlands. But helping a mother gave birth to a child See home, page A7