136 beneficiaries in Pinamungajan receive CLOAs
By: Gay Visitacion
CEBU CITY, July 5 (PIA) --- The Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) of Cebu Province distributed the Certificates of Land Ownership Awards (CLOAs) to 136 agrarian reform beneficiaries of Felix Barba Estate landholdings covering 152.7404 hectares in Anopog, Pinamungajan, Cebu on June 21, 2011.
The distributed lands were Philippine National Bank (PNB) foreclosed properties, Government Owned Lands (GOL) covered under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP).
The CLOA distribution in simple ceremony was held at the Barangay Anopog Stage Hall.
DAR-7 Cebu Province OIC Provincial Agrarian Reform Officer (PARO) I Paulino R. Tudlasan Jr., was assisted in the CLOA distribution by Pinamungajan Vice Mayor lawyer Maria Honeylette Yapha Lingad, Sangguniang Bayan members Francisco Billiones, Bonifacio Alquiza, Anopog Barangay Captain Wensceslao Gentapa, Chief Agrarian Reform Program Officer for Admin, Dr. Andrea Paciana S. Labra, and Pinamungajan OIC Municipal Agrarian Reform Officer (MARO) Jaynes James Abarrientos.
Tudlasan congratulated the farmers and advised them to make their lands productive. He reminded the beneficiaries to dutifully pay their amortization to Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) and the realty tax of the awarded lots.
He encouraged the new landowners to strengthen their people’s organization, and increase agricultural production especially Barangay Anopog was launched as an agrarian reform community (ARC).
The ARC has been a recipient of development interventions of Local Government Unit (LGU) and benefited from projects of CARP Implementing Agencies (CIAs) and Foreign –Assisted Projects (FAPs) such as farm-to market roads, irrigation systems, and provision of post- harvest facilities.
The distribution of the CLOAs was in line with the department’s mandate to distribute agricultural lands to qualified farmer-beneficiaries to uplift the socio-economic status and full development of the rural areas.(PIA-7/mbcn/hfg & DAR-PARO)
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Health, nutrition workers laud passage of Mandatory Child Immunization Act in Congress
By: Minerva BC Newman
CEBU, July 4 (PIA) --- The National Nutrition Council (NNC) and the Federation of Barangay Health Workers in Central Visayas lauded the passage of the “Mandatory Infant and Children Health Immunization Act of 2011” in Congress recently.
NNC regional director Parolita Mission welcomes the Act as she said this is for the greater protection of the children.
“Tungod kay mandatory man, positive kayo and impact niini sa kampanya sa nutrisyon. Kay kung ang bata pirmeng masakit man gud, nagtima-ilhan kana nga kulang kayo sa nutrisyon ang bata.” (Because this is mandatory, it has positive impact on the campaign on nutrition. If the child is prone to illness, it means the child is very much lacking in nutrition) Mission explained.
The mandatory infant and children immunization under this law will make the children free from diseases such as measles, Diphtheria, Tetanus, Pertussis, Polio among others which are actually preventable with vaccination, Mission added.
Senator Loren Legarda, co-author of the “Mandatory Infant and Children Health Immunization Act of 2011”, said that the measure is a few steps away from becoming a law after the Senate Committee on Health and Demography recently submitted the Bicameral Conference Committee report on the disagreeing provisions of the Senate and House versions of the bill.
Legarda hailed the passage in Congress of the measure that will establish a comprehensive program that will provide free vaccination services to infants and children.
This is a significant step in improving the country’s healthcare services since infectious diseases have been prevented dramatically with the advent of immunization, she explained.
Mass immunizations have made a significant bearing in preventive medicine all over the world. Contagion is reduced, strain on healthcare systems is eased, and money is frequently saved that can be used for other health services the senator added.
Under the proposed legislation, infants and children up to five years of age shall be given free immunization at any government hospital or health center for the following vaccine-preventable diseases: Tuberculosis; Diphtheria, Tetanus and Pertussis; Poliomyelitis; Measles; Mumps; Rubella or German measles; Hepatitis-B; H. Influenza type B (HIB); and other diseases as may be determined by the Secretary of Health.
This program is envisioned to make a significant contribution to our country’s achievement of Millennium Development Goal 4, the reduction of child mortality.
As of 2008, the proportion of one-year-old children immunized against measles stands at 79.2 percent a far cry from the 2015 target of 100 percent.
Immunization goes beyond simply protecting the individual. More important, it aims to improve the health of entire communities by limiting the spread of infectious disease among children and adults, Legarda noted. (PIA-7)