TESDA gives nat’l certification tests bound for CS eligibility

MALAYBALAY CITY— The Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) will continue its 2nd round of free certification tests for electricians, computer technicians, welders and other “middle-level jobs” this Sept. 12.

During the Bukidnon Monthly Convocation Program on September 5,
Catherine Milagros R. Galapon, TESDA provincial director, called for
applicants in the Skills Assessments and Certification tests which
grant National Certificate (NC) and Certificate of Competency (COC) on
specific fields.

TESDA gives nat’l certification tests bound for CS eligibility

MALAYBALAY CITY (Bukidnon News Dispatch/07 Sept) — The Technical
Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) will continue its
2nd round of free certification tests for electricians, computer
technicians, welders and other “middle-level jobs” this Sept. 12.

During the Bukidnon Monthly Convocation Program on September 5,
Catherine Milagros R. Galapon, TESDA provincial director, called for
applicants in the skills assessments and certification tests ,which
are bases for the granting of National Certificate (NC) and Certificate of Competency (COC) on specific fields.

The tests, which assess competency in wide range of functions and
skills are given in Bukidnon from August 8 to November 18, 2011.

For electricians, the Electrical Installation and Maintenance NC II
and III will be held on Sept. 12-16 while the Computer Hardware
Servicing NC II for computer technicians will be on Sept. 26-30.

The Food and Beverage Services NC II, Commercial Cooking NC II and
Housekeeping NC II tests were scheduled on October 10-14 and the
Consumer Electronics Servicing NC II on October 24-28.

The Shielded Metal Arc Welding (SMAW) NC II and Bookkeeping NC III
will be on November 14-18.

According to Daniel Cañete, Competency Assessment and Certification
(CAC) in-charge, the first run of assessments in Bukidnon was held in
March 28 to April 1. It produced only 115 certified workers out of 247
assessed. Galapon said that the target number of applicants for 2nd
run is 500. So far, less than 200 registered.

According to Galapon, the NC holders, with or without college degree,
are accepted in and out of the country for employment. Based on the
TESDA website (www.tesda.gov.ph), NCs could be converted to Civil
Service Eligibility through Skills Certificate Equivalency Program
(SCEP) of both TESDA and the Civil Service Commission.

Alan Haohao, 30 years old welder, obtained his certification (SMAW NC
II) during the first run. His NC II certificate was then converted to
Civil Service eligibility and he now works at TESDA office as watchman
and does part-time welding jobs every weekend.  He claimed that having
the certificate helped him a lot and made finding a job easier.

The tests will be held at the TESDA Provincial Training Center (PTC)
in Valencia City. Application forms are available there and also at
the TESDA Provincial Office in Malaybalay City. Applicants should
apply a week before the scheduled dates and are required to bring a
copy of birth certificate and three pieces passport-size picture with
white background and collar. (Hazel A. Generalao)

Valencia, tornado-prone area – PAGASA Bukidnon chief

MALAYBALAY CITY – Some areas in Bukidnon are prone to tornadoes, the Valencia City barangays along the Pulangui River, included, Anianita Fortich, chief meteorological officer PAGASA Bukidnon said.

SIC, Prov’l Capitol team up for reforestation program

MALAYBALAY CITY – Catholic Church-owned San Isidro College is signing a memorandum of agreement for a four-year reforestation program with the provincial government.

Tornado kills boy, injures 4 in Valencia City

MALAYBALAY CITY – (Bukidnon News Dispatch/05 Sept.)A one-year old boy died and four persons were hurt in a tornado incident in three villages in Valencia City Saturday afternoon, Capt. Alejandro Larosa, head of the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council coordinator reported to the Provincial Social Welfare and Development Office.

James Alumin, from Purok 18, Batangan Valencia City; was swept by strong winds when the tornado passed through their house. He was separated from his mother, Mary Grace, 22, one of four persons injured in the incident.

The others hurt in the incident were identified as Gogelyn Versaga, 15; Sinisa Versaga; and Elton Galsin, 23. All those hurt, except Galsin, were confined at the Abella Midway Hospital in Valencia City.

Bukidnon’s new police director picked through ‘secret balloting’

MALAYBALAY CITY – The new Bukidnon police director was a choice of the plurality of the chiefs of police of Bukidnon’s 20 towns and two cities, Gov. Alex Calingasan admitted to Bukidnon News.

S/Supt. Rustom Duran of the Philippine National Police Regional Police Community Relations Division (RPCRD) was installed Friday as the new provincial police director of Bukidnon, following the relief of Senior Supt. Cristito Rey Gonzalodo and Malitbog police chief Inspector Alexander Eugenio in May for their failure to thwart the attack on the town’s [police] station by suspected New People’s Army rebels.

He prevailed over two other candidates shortlisted by the police regional office from those who applied for the post in Camp Crame.

Duran vowed to do his “best to stop criminality in the province” in his brief acceptance speech. Calingasan noted in his remarks the growing criminality in the province, but that “the situation in Bukidnon is better off compared to the rest of the country”.

Calingasan said in an interview that in his desire to pick a police director who has the confidence of the chiefs of police and who can work with local officials harmoniously, he opted for a secret balloting to determine who gets most of the support before he endorsed his choice to the regional police office.

The governor summoned all the police chiefs to the PPDO Conference Hall in Malaybalay City on Aug. 3 for the voting.

He noted that Duran was not the first choice of the Bukidnon Mayors’ League.

The count was close with Duran getting nine votes, the highest number, followed by another candidate who got eight. The third candidate got six. The 23rd vote came from the representative of the provincial police office, Calingasan said.

The governor said Duran, who was former police chief of Valencia City and police director of Camiguin, was also his choice because he is a native of Malaybalay City and now a resident of Valencia City.

But he preferred Gonzalodo over Duran when he first picked a bet among those who applied to be Bukidnon police director earlier this year. Gonzalodo has served as previously served as Basilan police director and at the PNP Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao and Western Mindanao.

Calingasan faced criticism for choosing Gonzalodo, especially following the latter’s relief. (Walter I. Balane)

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WHO backs Bukidnon fight vs. schistosomiasis

MALAYBALAY CITY –  The World Health Organization positively responded to the request of the Bukidnon Sangguniang Panlalawigan for help in the control of schistosomiasis in the province, according to the letter of Dr. Soe Nyunt-U, WHO country director, to the provincial board, dated July 15.

The WHO official stopped short of saying they approved the request but hinted possibility for funding support.

Ngunt-U requested the provincial board to nominate a provincial non-government organization “who will be responsible for the management of WHO funds.

He said they will work with the NGO, the Provincial Health Office, and the Department of Health to develop a technical proposal to meet the provincial board’s request.

But the WHO required the NGO contractor to have at least 10 years experience in communicable disease control, primary health care, mass drug treatment, training of trainers, field supervision, monitoring and evaluation, public relations, events organizing, reporting, project and financial management.

They also cited that the NGO must have good working relationship with the concerned health authorities and local government units.

“Satisfactory completion of similar works with LGU, DOH, or WHO is an advantage,” the WHO added.

The Bukidnon Provincial Board has passed a resolution requesting the World Health Organization (WHO) to intervene and provide financial assistance for the rehabilitation of the Matin-ao Spring Resort in Bangcud, Malaybalay City to “contain and eliminate schistosomiasis.”

The resolution sponsored by lawyer Nemesio Beltran Jr. in May 2011 sought the assistance of WHO to declare the spring as a pilot area where they can pour scientific, medical, and financial resources to prevent schistosomiasis.

Beltran welcomed the WHO response and filed a resolution expressing elation and gratitude of the provincial board to the WHO for “responding positively.”

But he cited that the search for the NGO is the thing to hurdle. He has requested referrals as to whom to nominate.

Beltran said in May that  the problem is too complicated that WHO intervention is needed.

“The provincial government does not have the money and technical expertise to solve the schistosomiasis problem,” he told Bukidnon News then.

Matin-ao resort, a favorite destination of both foreign and local tourists, has reportedly been contaminated and infected with schistosomiasis in the last 10 years.

The provincial government has prohibited bathing in the resort inside its seven-hectare property, but visitors manage to sneak in and bathe in the spring resort’s cool waters. (Walter I. Balane)

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Bukidnon, CDO priests asked to “go green”

MALAYBALAY CITY –  “Go green,” Malaybalay bishop Jose Cabantan urged priests in Bukidnon and Cagayan de Oro to heed the call to go green in their work with their flock during the Bucag (Bukidnon – Cagayan) priests’ joint Vianney Day celebration at the Diocesan Formation Center.

“To attain wholeness, peace, we must also look at the sickly environment, not just the people,” he added in his homily Monday, the first day of the two-day gathering of priests named after St. John Vianney, the patron saint of parish priests.

The theme of the celebration focused on “The Church’s option for total human and ecological liberation.”

Cabantan encouraged the priests to be instruments of reconciliation not only among conflicts between man and God, between man and man, between man and woman, but also between man and the rest of God’s creations.

He cited the presentation of Fr. Rey Raluto earlier in the afternoon that “everything is interconnected.”

Raluto told Bukidnon News as example of how the Church could go green was when it helped bring down the logging concessionaires in San Fernando town in the late 1980s.

“It was a good local example but it was not continued,” he said. Raluto presented a video presentation of Bukidnon’s renowned martyr priest Neri Lito Satur.

On Oct. 14, 1991, Fr. Satur and his female aide were ambushed on their way back to Valencia City, then a municipality, after celebrating a mass in Barangay Guinoyoran.

He was shot pointblank with a shotgun after falling from his motorcycle. His head was smashed with a rifle butt. He was 29.

Satur, a forest protection officer deputized by the Department of Environment and Natural Resouces, was killed a few years after the imposition of a logging moratorium in Bukidnon.
In 1988, then environment secretary Fulgencio Factoran Jr. declared a logging moratorium in Bukidnon in the wake of anti-logging protests initiated by the people of San Fernando town which culminated in a hunger strike in Manila.

Raluto said to “go green” what the Church did with the people of San Fernando should be continued.

Raluto, who recently finished theology in Leuven University in Belgium, presented excerpts of his dissertation to his colleagues as the keynote presentation of the gathering.

He has proposed that the Catholic Church in the Philippines will not only build church and human communities, “but also impels us to form ecological communities grounded in the principle of interdependence and inter-relationship of all creatures.”

He identified three types of poverty confronting Filipinos, the socio-economically poor, the socio-culturally poor, and the ecologically poor.

He cited that poverty incidence in the Philippines is estimated at 26.5 percent in 2009, mostly from the rural areas, where “even after some years of implementing the agrarian reform, landlessness and poverty continue to dominate.”

Raluto cited the socio-culturally poor, too, as among the oppressed sectors to include the indigenous peoples and the women.  He said the IPs are suffering economically and racially. He cited that the women, worse in indigenous tribes, were treated as second class citizens
lacking opportunities for education.

But Raluto said often excluded is the poverty brought by the environmental destruction.

He cited Forest Management Bureau data that the Philippines remaining forest cover is only 24 percent. He said colonization did not only change the people, but also the landscape through the colonization’s deforestation, which the Philippine government continued.

“Let us not only listen to the cry of the human beings but also of the groaning of the Earth,” he added.

He said, arguably, the problems of poverty and the ecological crisis are inseparable.

“The bad effects of the ecological crisis have immediate harmful social consequences,” he said.

Raluto, who served as station director of the church-run DXDB radio station prior to his study abroad, has proposed change in three levels; in the academe, in the Basic Ecclesial Communities, and in the bishops’ pastoral letters.

He added that the church’s notion of the “preferential option for the poor” has to be expanded to include not only the socio-economically poor and the socio-culturally poor but also the ecologically poor. (Walter I. Balane)

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MGB: Valencia landslide, a disaster ‘waiting to happen’

MALAYBALAY CITY – The July 4 landslide in Sitio Hangaron, Lumbayao, Valencia City, was a disaster waiting to happen, said Engr. Paul Salise, chief of mining environment and safety division, of the Mines and Geosciences Bureau of the department.

Salise told Bukidnon News via telephone Tuesday afternoon the local government have been warned about the susceptibility of the areas to landslide.

Although he clarified that the warning was in “general terms.” According to the report of the MGB staff who responded to the field on July 4, the landslide was caused by the heavy rains in the area as of 5p.m. Right then, land began to fall slowly, he added. But he noted that the major land fall, which claimed the lives of at least three as of 5p.m. Tuesday with at least 15 to 20 others feared of being covered, happened at 8a.m.

He said based on the MGB team’s assessment, landslide was “always possible” in the area every time there is heavy rains. Salise, a geologist, said the underlying rocks in the area was “not very competent” as it is made of “highly” and “deeply” weathered or
old rocks.

He said they have always reminded local governments to keep areas susceptible to landslide away from residents.

Valencia City, he added is among eight towns and cities in Mindanao, which is targeted for a detailed geo hazard study because of the occurrence of past landslides and other disasters.

The MGB considered Barangay Lumbayao as a “moderate, high” in its latest landslide geo-hazard assessment, but it was silent on Purok 11, site of the July 4 landslide where three bodies have been recovered so far and about 15 to 20 others are believed to be covered.

Based on the report released in 2009, the latest so far, a copy of which was obtained by Bukidnon News Tuesday, the MGB report did not have an assessment on Sitio Halaron, Purok 11.

The report said Lumbayao, one of Valencia City’s 31 barangays, have five villages considered as moderate to high in susceptibility to landslide, namely: Purok 15, Purok 16, Sitio Liloan, Purok 12, and Purok 17.

Salise said it is possible that the village was not included in the assessment because there are no residents in the area.

“Flow traffic in the area was not considered (in the assessment) as their consideration was proximity to communities,” he added.

Salise stressed that they have always stressed that residents and commuters should be kept away from landslide susceptible areas.

The 2009 geo hazard assessment report noted that in Purok 15 and 17, 40 houses were on ridges; in Liloan, 10 houses on ridges; in Purok 13, 30 houses on foot slopes; Purok 12, 60 houses on foot slopes; tension cracks, recent and old landslides; and patchy soil creep were observed.

The assessment team, composed of four MGB geologists, recommended among others that an early warning device or system be used in the area.

But, again, there was no recommendation on Purok 11, because the MGB report was silent on it.

Arsenio Alagenio, executive officer of the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, told Bukidnon News that the report was important to local government units because it was a tool for their planning.

He said although he still needs to know why the report was silent on it, he surmised that it was because there was no community in the area.

“But it was an important road portion for the residents in the area,” he added. The death toll in the landslide site remained at three as of 5p.m. Tuesday as the second day of retrieval operations ended with no find. At least 15 to 20 others were feared covered.

Norma Gironella, Department of Public Works and Highways 10 regional director, told reporters in the site Tuesday that the road widening, which the agency contracted with a firm as part of the Davao del Norte-Bukidnon highway could have been a factor in the landslide.

But she stressed that it was “force majeure” or force of nature that actually caused the landslide, as quoted by Sandra Flores, DPWH Bukidnon 1st district public information officer.

About 55 percent of the soil in the landslide that blocked the road have been removed so far, Flores added.

The three victims were identified as Sheryl Arnosa-Sadsad of Musuan, Maramag; Marites Lagunay; and her mother, Segundina Lagunay, of Medina, Misamis Oriental.

The landslide, which started around 6pm Sunday in sitio Hangaron, Lumbayao forced commuters from Valencia and San Fernando town, also in Bukidnon, to transfer to another vehicle upon reaching the area.

A survivor, Conchita Isidro, said she’s not sure of what happened to her fellow passengers who alighted from their vehicle and walked behind her along a 20-meter long passage at the landslide area.

When she heard the sound of earth rushing from one side of the road, she just grabbed her 3-year-old grandson, John Dave, and left her bag containing her clothes and money for her child who is studying in Davao City, she said.

Celso Mahinay, a member of the radio group Karancho said some motorists told him that some of the passengers were brought to a hospital in San Fernando.

Lumbayao Barangay Chair Bobby Enabong said about 200 meters of the highway was affected by the landslide. He admitted that the site is really landslide-prone and poses a risk to commuters although it is not populated.

Rey Peter Gille, DPWH 1st district engineer, has promised that the roads would be cleared soon, as heavy equipment were already dispatched on the way. (Walter I. Balane)

 

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[PHOTOS] Landslide in Lumbayao, Valencia City: the aftermath

 

Volunteers help a driver who survived the landslide pull out his motorcycle from the July 4, 2011 landslide site in Sitio Hangaron, Lumbayao, Valencia City, Bukidnon

The Department of Public Works and Highways backhoe arrived by 1p.m. as recovery and retrieval operations start eigh minutes later on July 4, 2011 in the landslide site in Sitio Hangaron, Lumbayao, Valencia City, Bukidnon

3 bodies retrieved at Valencia landslide site

BARANGAY LUMBAYAO, Valencia City (4 July) – Three dead bodies have been recovered as of 1pm today in a landslide area in Barangay Lumbayao here, although the number of victims could be more as witnesses said some 15 to 20 commuters were trapped this morning when more soil apparently loosened by a downpour since Sunday dropped from one side of the national highway.

The three victims were identified as Sheryl Arnosa-Sadsad of Musuan, Maramag; Marites Lagunay; and her mother, Segundina Lagunay, of Medina, Misamis Oriental.

Members of the Sadsad family including Sheryl’s husband Renante who survived the incident arrived at the scene by 10am and were still looking for her lower body.

Retrieval work started at 1pm with members of the local Red Cross chapter, the City Risk Reduction and Management Office and personnel from the Department of Public Works and Highways provincial office.

When rain started to fall the DPWH warned more landslides may occur and advised people who witnessed the retrieval operation to vacate the area.

The landslide, which started around 6pm Sunday in sitio Hangaron, Lumbayao forced commuters from Valencia and San Fernando town, also in Bukidnon, to transfer to another vehicle upon reaching the area.

Conchita Isidro, a survivor said she was not sure of what happened to her fellow passengers who alighted from their vehicle and walked behind her along a 20-meter long passage at the landslide area.

She said that when she heard the sound of earth rushing from one side of the road, she just grabbed her 3-year-old grandson, John Dave, and left her bag containing her clothes and money for her child who is studying in Davao City.

Celso Mahinay, a member of the radio group Karancho said some motorists told him that some of the passengers were brought to a hospital in San Fernando.

Lumbayao Barangay Chair Bobby Enabong said about 200 meters of the highway was affected by the landslide. He admitted that the site is really landslide-prone and poses a risk to commuters although it is not populated.

Rey Peter Gille, DPWH district engineer, said heavy equipment were on their way, and promised they would clear the road as soon as possible. (Walter I. Balane)

PDEA nabs Bukidnon lawyer, dentist in illegal drugs raid

MALAYBALAY CITY – The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA)-Region 10 nabbed a lawyer, a dentist, and four others who are believed to be involved in illegal drugs syndicate in the province.

PDEA arrested lawyer Winston Intong in a raid Wednesday mid-afternoon at his law office in Purok 11, Valencia City, along with three other suspects.

In a report PDEA 10 furnished to Bukidnon News Thursday afternoon, the anti-drug agent identified the suspect as the 43-year old lawyer, who is a resident of Malaybalay City but runs a law office in Valencia City. Intong has been a lawyer since 1995.

The PDEA report said Intong was apprehended after selling a sachet containing suspected methamphetamine hydrochloride (shabu) to an undercover agent who acted as poseur-buyer.

Also arrested with Intong were registered dentist Ila D. Garcia, 44, also from Valencia City; student Michael Sausi, 26, of Purok 19, Poblacion, Valencia City; and a Dante Rey Evangelista, 42, a businessman-farmer from Poblacion, Pangantucan, Bukidnon.

The suspects were “caught-in-the-act” sniffing inside the Intong’s law office, according to the PDEA 10 report emailed to Bukidnon News.

Evangelista, the report said, confessed in front of the witnesses and PDEA operatives to be possessing shabu, which he hid in his vehicle. He later turned the substance to PDEA officers. PDEA agents recovered from Intong’s  “possession and control” two medium-size transparent plastic sachets containing white crystalline substance believed to be shabu; a medium-size sachet containing suspected cocaine;  five pieces yellow tablets and three pieces green tablets suspected to be “ecstacy” and other drug paraphernalia.

The agents also recovered suspected shabu and various drug paraphernalia with suspected shabu residues from the other suspects. Valencia City Police blotter report cited two others who were with the suspects during the arrest. But the PDEA report did not included the two women in their report.

The suspects were brought to the PDEA regional office in Cagayan de Oro City for inquest investigation. PDEA ARMM regional director Col. Edwin Layese, who was until this month the PDEA 10 director, told Bukidnon News via SMS Intong has been arrested as an alleged user and pusher.  He told Bombo Cagayan de Oro that Intong has been allegedly posing as counsel for drug pushing suspects. He added that he allegedly asked for drugs from the suspects to fix their cases.

The PDEA agents also did another buy-bust operation in Malaybalay City on June 22 evening, where two other suspects identified as Virgilio Dapac Jr, 32, and Ruel B. Abella, 33, were arrested. The PDEA report said Dapac sold a piece of heat-sealed transparent plastic sachet with white crystalline substance suspected to be shabu to a PDEA agent who acted as a poseur-buyer.

According to the report, which was authorized by the new PDEA regional director Roberto Opeña, the suspects were detained at the PDEA Bukidnon sub-office while drug and other evidences were brought to the PNP Crime Lab for qualitative and quantitative examination to prepare for filing of charges in court.

Lawyer Isidro Caracol, who recently assumed as president of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines – Bukidnon Chapter, said they received unconfirmed reports of allegations against Intong. “But he has all the right to defend himself (against all these allegations),” Caracol told Bukidnon News via telephone.

Caracol told the IBP – Bukidnon chapter in a program Thursday morning that he will push for discipline among the members. But he clarified later that they will only act on those matters after the suspect is convicted of any crime.

The IBP chapter, he said, still has no official stand on his arrest. As of now, he is presumed innocent until proven guilty,” he added.

Bukidnon News tried to get Intong’s side from a lawyer who assisted him in the custodial investigation at Kalasag station of the Valencia City police Wednesday. But he said he has not been hired as counsel and refused to give reactions from Intong.

Lawyer Oliver Owen Garcia, a cousin of suspect Ila Garcia said her presence in the law office was coincidental. She was there allegedly to collect a loan payment.  (Walter I. Balane)

 

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Bukidnon family wins ‘Gawad Saka’ outstanding farm family

MALAYBALAY CITY – A family from Bukidnon who ventured on multi-crop farming in their five-hectare property has won the Gawad Saka Most Outstanding Farm Family of the Philippines in 2010, an award presented by the Department of Agriculture National Agriculture and Fisheries Council.

The Rosalitas of Lurogan, Valencia City who advocates against farmers leasing their lands to corporation running plantations is among five from Mindanao of the 13 individuals and nine groups who won the award in 2010.

Maygrale Rosalita, spokesperson of the family, said they started a multi-crop farm because it is sustainable amidst the fluctuating prices of agriculture products.

He said they survived on farming and they thought that diversifying their products would protect them from business failure.

He said the family went through several occasions of crop failure, especially for corn in the past.

The Rosalitas have learned farming several crops at the same time and has shared it to friends and neighbors.

He said they, too, have become advocates of multi-crop farming in forums and they have also opened their farm to private and public groups who want to know their farming technologies.

Rosalita is among the 18 Filipino scholars who joined the Young Filipino Farmers Training Program in Japan in 2005.

But he said it was his parents who had started their farming tradition since they arrived in Valencia City in the 1960s.

The award was presented to the winners by President Benigno S. Aquino III and Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala during awarding rites on May 23, 2011, at the Rizal Hall, Malacañan Palace.

The family farms a hectare each of cassava, sugarcane, and corn. The remaining two hectares is used for the family orchard where they grow 15 fruit varieties including pomelo, papaya, durian, guyabano, and jackfruit.

The family also runs a cut flower cottage industry and grows vegetable such as eggplant, pechay, and mushrooms. They are a major supplier of the vegetarian canteen ran by the Mountain View College.

Three of the Rosalitas’ five children have graduated from MVC from sales of vegetables they supplied the school.

The Rosalitas also raise goats and native chicken, according the Provincial Agriculture Office, which facilitated the family’s nomination documents to the award.

Maygrale Rosalita, 30, one of two sons of Abias Rosalita, 71, the family patriarch, said they run their farm with family members serving most of its labor needs.

He said they only hire during harvest time but they operate basically depending on their family members farming time.

Both Abias and his wife Mercedes, 66, still work in the farm.

Estelita Madjos, deputy provincial agriculture officer, said the family’s experience is a good example in Bukidnon where most farmers prefer to lease their land.

She said some farmers who leased their prime agricultural lands stay farming but in agriforest areas, pushed to the uplands.

The Rosalitos example,  she added, could help convince Bukidnon farmers that it is still viable to run their farms amidst the increasing conversion of farms to plantations. (Walter I. Balane)

Alert up for Bukidnon local disaster risk reduction, management

MALAYBALAY CITY – It’s already approaching the middle of the year, but Bukidnon’s Local Disaster Risk Reduction Management Plan for 2011 is yet to be approved.

The Bukidnon provincial board has asked the Provincial Local Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office (LDRRMO) to prepare and submit to the provincial board the province’s annual Local Disaster Risk Reduction Management Plan for 2011.

In a unanimously approved resolution sponsored by board member Jay Albarece, the provincial board cited Section 12 (7) of Republic Act No. 10121 or the Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act of 2010.

They said the act mandated, among others, for the Local Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office (LDRRMO) to prepare and submit to the local sanggunian through the Local Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council (LDRRMC) and the local development council (LDC) the annual Local Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office (LDRRMO) Plan and budget.

Albarece said the law also required submission of the proposed programming of the Local Disaster Risk Reduction Management Fund (LDRRMF) of the province. The law, he cited, also required submission of programming for the other dedicated disaster risk reduction and management resources, and other regular funding sources and budgetary support of the LDRRMO and the Barangay Disaster Risk Reduction Management Committee (BDRRMC).

But the provincial board wanted the risk reduction and management office to include “a specialized plan to address the possible recurrence of dengue outbreak in the province.”

The provincial board was about to declare a state of calamity in 2009 to “implement mitigating and response measures” against the dengue outbreak in the province then.

But “inconsistencies in data as to the true extent of the outbreak,” Albarece cited, came in the way.

“It was reported that there were as many as 1,670 dengue cases resulting in 19 deaths in the province from January to Sept. 21 in 2010 due to the outbreak of dengue, which figures are way above the 299 cases and three deaths in 2009 and 108 cases and zero death in 2008.

He also blamed the problem to lack of a “disaster preparedness plan” specifically dealing with dengue. (Walter I. Balane)

DOH reveals 53 schisto endemic barangays in Bukidnon

MALAYBALAY CITY – About 53 of Bukidnon’s 464 barangays are endemic to schistosomiasis with five of these villages considered “highly endemic” or with 10 percent and above infection rate, according to a report released by the Department of Health Bukidnon Schistosomiasis Control Office.

This number is 13.2 more barangays than it was 2006’s 46 villages, when Bukidnon had the lowest infection rate, 2.63 percent, in a span of 10 years.

Bukidnon had an infection rate of 3.5 percent in 2010, down from 15.81 percent in 1981, a record high in the province.

The five barangays were identified from the top as San Isidro, Valencia City; San Jose, San Fernando; San Martin, Malaybalay City; Can-ayan, Malaybalay City; and Dagatkidavao, Valencia City.

About 13 barangays were listed in the “moderately endemic” or those with 5 to 9.99 percent infection rate.

A barangay can be included in the “endemic areas” when the DOH verifies the presence of infected snails or a confirmed schistosomiasis case, according to Dr. Vincent Raguro, who heads DOH’s schistosomiasis control office, based in Malaybalay City.

Bangcud, home of the controversial schistosomiasis-infected spring resort in Malaybalay City, is among the 35 barangays considered as “low endemic“ with below 5 percent infection rate.

Only two of the resort’s 11 springs are infected as of March 2011. But Raguro said it means the whole resort is still infected and cannot be cleared from schistosomiasis. He said it is dangerous that it has become a tourist attraction despite its declaration as “infected” spring.

“Even if the visitors just wade in the water, they stand the risk of infection,” he added.

Raguro said the higher number of endemic barangays is a sign of the effort to treat the disease. He added that they conduct, upon request of the endemic barangays, a once a year mass treatment.

Raguro said all of the 53 endemic barangays have requested mass treatment even if he cited difficulty in an earlier interview about some sort of resistance in Bangcud. He said all barangays have cooperated, at difference level of cooperation.

But he said the DOH target for the province of cutting the infection rate down to 1 percent is “difficult to achieve.”

Raguro said Schistosoma japonicum parasite-carrying snails dwells in “clear, clean, cool” waters like Matin-ao springs.

Her said humans and animals can get the Schistosoma japonicum parasite through simple washing of hands and feet, bath or just passing by the infested streams.

But he said schistosomiasis is a curable tropical disease. He dded that the disease does not kill, but its complications does.
In 2010, Raguro’s team examined 13,877 stool samples and found 495 to be positive of schistosomiasis. About 330 or 67 percent of the positive cases were males.

Valencia and Malaybalay cities own up more than half of the barangays with endemic cases, 17 and 16 barangays respectively.
In 2010, the barangays with the most number of cases from the endemic areas are San Jose, San Fernando (54), Mapolo, Malaybalay City (41), and Kahaponan, Valencia City (37).

The DOH did not disclose Bukidnon’s ranking in Mindanao as of Wednesday last week. But he said Mindanao owns 80 percent of schistosomiasis in the Philippines, 5 percent in the Visayas, and 15 in Luzon.

He attributed the big number of cases to the amount of rainfall in Mindanao and the fact that it is the biggest island in the country. (Walter I. Balane)