APRIL 4-10, 2015
website: www.mindanaostarbalita.com
Volume III, No. 2
0935-160-0668 HERMILINO VILLALON
22nd/31st Nazareth, Cagayan de Oro City
P10.00
MindanaoSTAR THE PURVEYOR OF TRUTH, JUSTICE AND DEVELOPMENT
Normin residents lack iodine in food intake Salt makers, processors do not adequately fortify salt with iodine as mandated by law By URIEL C. QUILINGUING
Health workers and nutritionists in Northern Mindanao are one in saying residents in Northern Mindanao are not getting adequate amount of iodine from salt in their food intake and this have negative impact on mental and physical well-being of individuals. Ideally, iodine content in fortified salt is supposed to be 15 parts per million and yet the Food and Nutrition Research Institute (FNRI) in its 2013 study found out salt used in households contain only 6.7 ppm, according to National Nutrition Council regional coordinator Mitch Navales yesterday. “Many of salt producers and processors do not adequately fortify their products with iodine as mandated by law,” Navalez said during a forum dubbed as Talakayan sa PIA in a local restaurant in Cagayan de Oro. The law on salt iodization, otherwise known as Asin Law or Republic Act 8172 took effect in 2009. Food and Drug Administration regional inspector Juliet Bingona
agreed with Navalez’ statement and admitted her agency has difficulty in accurately measuring the iodine content in salt until the donated WYD equipment from the United Nations International Children Education Fund (UNICEF). Bingona said while they are tasked to monitor local salt manufacturers yet they are faced with difficulty on salt importers which supplies about 80 percent of salt sold in public. NNC’s Navales said manufacturers are mandated by R.A. 8172 to fortify their products with iodine ranging from 30 to 70 ppm. She said local government units must be concerned of the findings of FNRI where children six to 12 years old in the provinces of Bukidnon and Misamis Occidental were found to be mild deficient in iodine. Department of Health 10 nutrition program coordinator Telesfora Madelo said iodine deficiency is one of the concerns which the govern- HEALTH ADVOCATES. Northern Mindanao’s National Nutrition Program coordinator Mitch Navales with Department is trying to address ment of Health’s nutrition program coordinator Telesfora Madelo and immunization program head Karyn Yee are in through the year-round agreement that residents in the region are not getting adequate amount of iodine in salt in the households during See lack, page 11
Talakayan sa PIA, April 8, 2015, Cagayan de Oro City. ( Photo
Power forum tackles privatization issues By MIKE BAÑOS Editor-at-Large
TWO of Mindanao’s leading advocates for reliable and cheap electricity have joined hands to bring more transparency to some apparently contradicting energy policies of government and proffer possible
solutions acceptable to all stakeholders. The Integrated Institute of Electrical Engineers-Cagayan de Oro Chapter (IIEE-CdO) and the Mindanao Coalition of Power Consumers (MCPC) will bring the third edition of the Mindanao Power Forum as a side event of the 19th
IIEE Northern Mindanao Regional Conference (NMRC) scheduled for April 9-11, 2015 at the Limketkai Luxe Hotel in Cagayan de Oro City. Dubbed “Mindanao Power Forum Update III” the forum, co-sponsored by the Alsons Power Group and STEAG State Power, Inc. will focus
on the theme “Privatizing Agus-Pulangi: Balancing the Interests of Stakeholders in the Mindanao Grid” and will be held Friday, 10 April 2015 from 1:005:00PM at the Limketkai Luxe Hotel Function Room. “We have sought See forum, page 11
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PIA 10)
RPOC seeks OPAPP aid to revitalize Lantad peace development initiatives BALINGASAG, Misamis Oriental, April 6 (PIA) -The Regional Peace and Order Council (RPOC) in Northern Mindanao has requested the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP) to include revitalization of Sitio Lantad Peace and Development Initiatives for funding support. RPOC, in its resolution addressed to Secretary Teresita Quintos-Deles of the OPAPP, stated that
Misamis Oriental as a Payapa at Masaganang Pamayanan (PAMANA)covered province needs to outsource funding support in order to keep sitio Lantad in its momentum of progress. Sitio Lantad which is a fertile valley in the remote and mountainous fringes of barangay Kibanban, Balingasag, Misamis Oriental used to be infamous “no man’s land” in Region 10 due See seeks, page 11
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