Naga City enters agreement with PAG-Ibig Cebu City Branch
(for coverage of job order employees)
Cebu City, April 7 (PIA) – Naga City in Cebu is the first LGU that entered into an agreement with PAG-IBIG Fund for the coverage of its job order employees.
Pag-IBIG Fund Cebu City Branch establishes ties with local government units (LGUs) for the enrollment of the job order employees so they can avail the full benefits like housing loan, short-term loan/multi-purpose loan or calamity loan subject to the existing guidelines.
OIC Department Manager of HDMF Cebu City Branch Rio Teves and Naga City Mayor Valdemar Chiong signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for the Fund coverage of its job order employees under the self-employed category on April 1, 2011.
In the agreement, the city government will deduct from the employees’ salary the amount equivalent to two percent of the actual salary but not less than P200 every month.
The employees however may opt to contribute more than what is mandated by law.
The LGU will remit the collection directly to Pag-IBIG Fund and it is also authorized to collect loan payments through the salary deduction scheme.
Under Republic Act 9679 job order employees are required by law to register as Pag-IBIG members under self-employed coverage regardless of trade, business or occupation, with an income of at least P1,000.00 a month and not over 60 years old.
One of the goals of the agreement is for the convenience of the job order employees as they no longer need to go to the Fund office to pay their monthly dues thereby saving time and unnecessary expenses.
The event was also witnessed by other officials of Pag-IBIG Fund and of the city government.
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PNoy grateful over Filipino veterans’ heroism
By Eli C. Dalumpines
Cebu City – As an act of paying tribute to the patriotic duty they rendered to the country during the last war, President Benigno S. Aquino III praised the heroism of the Filipino veterans when they fought against the Japanese invaders despite the terrible odds they were facing then just to preserve the country’s independence.
In his written message to the Filipino veterans on Tuesday in line with the celebration of this year’s Araw ng Kagitingan on April 9, President Aquino said that the sacrifices they rendered in the past will always be cherished as the Filipino people owe them their freedom.
“We are eternally grateful to our Filipino veterans who, spurred by your immense love for our country, have bravely fought for our nation’s freedom,” the President said.
With this year’s theme “Beterano: Huwaran ng Lahing Pilipino” he urged the people to remain inspired and draw strength from the stories of valor of the Filipino war veterans as the country faces new challenges in its journey towards national transformation.
In this connection, the Philippine Veterans Affairs Office (PVAO) has lined up a series of activities to commemorate the Philippine Veterans Week which will culminate on April 9.
This includes the reliving of the death march through a bike-a-thon event from Mariveles, Bataan to Capas, Tarlac on March 27 and a book launching for Dr. Cesar P. Pobre’s book entitled “Victory in Northern Luzon,” an account of the Filipino World War II veterans’ military exploits in that part of the country, on March 31.
Meanwhile, Cebu City PVAO Chief Mr. Emmanuel Pabilona, in an interview this morning, said he had already communicated with Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama to hold a flag raising ceremony and a short program for the commemoration of the event here in the City on Saturday.
He informed though that the Veterans Affairs Office here has not prepared a program of activities for this year’s Araw ng Kagitingan celebration but that they will monitor the activities initiated by the different local government units for the said event. (PIA-Cebu/ECD)
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Cebu City’s dengue cases down by 13.59 percent
By: Juju S. Manubag
CEBU CITY, April 7 (PIA) --- Dengue cases in Cebu City decreased by 13.59 percent compared to the same period last year with 456 cases and 6 deaths with Barangay Basak, San Nicolas on top of the list.
The City Epidemiology Statistics and Surveillance Unit of the Cebu City Health Department reported that there were 394 dengue cases with 6 deaths noted for the period from January to March 26 this year.
The data was culled from the fifty-eight (58) barangays in Cebu City where occurrence and cases of dengue were reported.
Per CESSU report, barangay Basak, San Nicolas is on top of the list with 33 cases, followed by Barangay Kamputhaw with 22 cases and barangay Labangon with 18 cases.
Barangays Lahug, Mambaling and Punta Princesa have the same 18 cases each while barangay Talamban has 17 cases. Guadalupe on the other hand has 15 cases the same with barangay Tisa.
Barangays Duljo has 14 cases, Sambag 2 with 13 cases, Cogon, Pardo and Sambag 1 has 12 dengue cases recorded each.
The six (6) recorded deaths for dengue came from Barangays Kamputhaw, Labangon, Pasil, Talamban, Tisa and Budlaan with one death from each of these barangays recorded from January 1 to March 26, 2011 period.
According to the CESSU report, ages of those with dengue cases ranged from two (2) months to 79 years old and mostly of those affected, 51 percent are males.
The incidence rate of the dengue disease is .44 for every 1000 population.
In Cebu City, Barangay Sto.Niño has the highest incidence rate of 3.8 of the disease. Barangay Pahina Central with 1.55 and Barangay San Nicolas with 1.16 incidence rates, per report furnished to PIA by Cebu City Asst Epidemiologist Dorinda Macasocol. (PIA-Cebu/JSM)
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SMC eyes to venture into telecommunications
By Eli C. Dalumpines
Cebu City, April 07 (PIA) – The food and beverages manufacturing giant San Miguel Corporation (SMC) has expressed its intention to venture into the telecommunications business, an official of the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) here disclosed.
NTC 7 Legal Officer Atty. Alan Felix J. Macaraya, Jr., in a forum held Tuesday said SMC has already filed at NTC its application to put up a telecommunications company.
If approved, SMC would be the third player in the telecommunications business in the country along with Smart Communications and Globe Telecom.
According to Atty. Macaraya, this is a welcome development on the part of the consumers since they can now expect better services that will result from the tough competition with the entrance of SMC in the field.
With SMC as the third player, the monopoly that Smart and Globe had established in the telecommunications business will be broken, the NTC official assured.
“This is going to be a lively competition considering the fact that SMC’s purse is also quite deep,” he said referring to the company’s large financial capital.
Meanwhile, he allayed the fears expressed by Sun Cellular’s subscribers that they might no longer enjoy the unlimited texts and calls which the telecommunications provider has offered its clients with Digitel’s sale to the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company (PLDT).
Digitel used to own Sun Cellular while PLDT is the owner of Smart Communications, which enjoys a bigger share in the telecommunications business with around 40 million subscribers nationwide. (PIA-Cebu/ECD)
Most HIV cases in Cebu are injecting drug users
President Aquino appoints Cebu Mayor Rama as new RDC-7 chair
By Eli C. Dalumpines
Cebu City , April 07 (PIA) – President Benigno S. Aquino III appointed Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama as the new Chairman of the Regional Development Council (RDC) in Central Visayas .
The President signed the appointment dated March 31, 2011.
Rama replaced Negros Oriental Governor Agustin M. Perdices who was not able to assume his function formally as RDC Chair after he succumbed to cancer on February 1, this year.
In an interview with PIA, Rama expressed jubilation over his appointment saying that it came rather unexpected as he has no inclination whether President Aquino would chose him to be the RDC-7 chairman.
The mayor said he will enforce the mandate of RDC during his stint as chairman, even as he vowed to fulfill his task in working for the development of the region through the implementation of projects that can benefit its people.
He also said he would employ consultative planning and will involve all stakeholders in coming up with programs that are to be implemented so that it will redound to the benefit of all sectors of society.
With his appointment, Rama will serve the RDC chairmanship for three years which will coincide with his regular term as Cebu City Mayor.
Mayor Rama’s name was among the short list submitted to Malacanang by the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA-7).
Among the nominees included Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia, Bohol Governor Edgar Chato, Siquijor Governor Orlando Fua, Jr., Mandaue City Mayor Jonas Cortes and Negros Oriental Governor Roel De Gamo. (PIA-Cebu/ECD)
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Most HIV cases in Cebu are injecting drug users
By: Juju S. Manubag
CEBU CITY , April 7 (PIA) --- Ninety-two percent (92%) of the thirteen (13) recorded Human Immuno-deficiency Virus (HIV) cases in Cebu for the 1st quarter this year are injecting drug-users.
Cebu City Health Department CCHD Social Hygiene Head Dr. Ilya Tac-an bared this in a phone interview with PIA.
Tac-an said that a high percentage of injecting drug users have caused the spread of the HIV due to the sharing of needles from an HIV carrier to another.
Tac-an also bared that the 13 cases in Cebu are all men and most of them are “Men who have sex with Men (MSM).
Tac-an also disclosed that the ages of these patients are from 18 to 44 years old.
According to a report from the Department of Health (DOH) the Human Immuno-deficiency Virus (HIV) infection does not respects age, race, gender, social status among others.
The report also states that twenty six (26) years after the first case of HIV was detected in the country.
The Philippines has now a total of 6,167 HIV positive cases reported to DOH (1984-January 2011).
At present, a total of 1,200 people living with HIV are currently on anti-retroviral (ARV) treatment in the 13 treatment hubs.
In Cebu , the ARV treatment is being administered for free at Vicente Sotto Memorial Center (VSMC), Tac-an said.
If the patient will have a healthy lifestyle, the infections will be controlled by a healthy immune system and will make him live up to ten years.
But if he is “abusado” according to Tac-an it will ultimately cause the fatally Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome or Aids resulting to death. (PIA-Cebu/jsm)
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Search for Child- Friendly LGUs kicks-off
By: Hazel F. Gloria
Cebu City, April 7 (PIA) --The Presidential Search for Child Friendly Local Government Units (LGU) starts early this year.
The executive director of the Council for the Welfare of Children (CWC) Parisya Taradji said the award has five categories that included 1st-3rd class municipalities; 4th-6th class municipalities; component city; independent chartered city; and highly urbanized city.
Taradji added that the Presidential Award is conferred to deserving towns and cities in recognition of their vital role in the sustained promotion of children’s rights to survival, development, protection and participation as well as in ensuring child friendly governance.
Further it encourages local government units at all levels to prioritize and address issues/concerns affecting the full realization of the rights of children.
It also aims to monitor, evaluate and document the implementation of programs, projects and services particularly those directly benefits the children.
It strengthens local partnerships and gives national recognition to cities and municipalities that have been considered and confirmed as “child friendly.”
Deadline of submission of entries will be on April 30 to the province. Highly Urbanized Cities will submit their entries directly to the Regional office on or before April 30, 2011.
Provincial winners will be submitted to the regional office on or before May 30, 2011.
Regional validation for Highly Urbanized Cities will be in May. For the rest of the categories, the regional validation will be on June-July 2011.
Outstanding Regional Winner will receive a Regional Seal and P50T. For the Presidential Award it will receive a Regional Trophy and P300T.
For the Hall of Fame Awardee, it shall receive a Glass Trophy and P500T while all LGUs short listed as National Finalist shall receive a Plaque of Recognition.
Details and form request can be downloaded at the Council for the Welfare of Children website www.cwc.gov.ph or call DSWD Specialist Josephine Belotindos at 032- 2329505.
The accomplished entry form shall be submitted with all the required supporting documents to the Provincial Social Welfare and Development Office and the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Field Office-7, at M.J. Cuenco and Gen. Maxilum Sts, Cebu City. (PIA-7/HFG with data from Jaybee Binghay of DSWD-7)