Police in Cebu City launches project to keep children out of the streets
By: Minerva BC Newman
CEBU CITY , July 03 (PIA) --- The Cebu City Police launched a project called “Adlaw sa Mga Batan-ong Libod-Suroy,” (A Day for Street Children) this week as a means to keep children out of the streets and out of petty crimes.
CPPO city director Ramon Melvin Buenafe, in a recent Kapihan sa PIA on the Talakayan Sa Isyung Pulis (T.S.I.P.) reported that the Police in Cebu City has initiated this novel project to create a “sense of community” and public awareness on the sad plight of the street children.
Buenafe said these children are vulnerable and forced to commit petty crimes because they are hungry and they lack the love and attention from their families.
“Kulang man ni sila sa pagtagad ug pag-amuma sa ilang mga ginikanan and mostly wala sila’y pagkaon sa ilang mga balay,” Buenafe noted. (These kids lack parental love and affection and mostly they don’t have food in their houses.)
These situations are recorded in a song that Buenafe composed through these lines; “Mangita’g tawong mutagad, kanamong mga pinasagdan sa ginikanan, maluoy pa ba ang makakita, wala nay panahon ang katilingban.” (We are looking for people to care for us; we, who are abandoned by our parents, will society looks at us with pity; society does not have time for us.)
To involve the entire Cebu City Police, Buenafe started to “pass-the-hat” for every Policeman to give P1 per day intended for the feeding program of the street kids that the Police adopted and housed at the CPPO headquarters.
“Gamay ra kayo nang P30 kada bulan sa usa ka Pulis, unya daghang mga bata na ang mapakaon niana kada adlaw,” Buenafe said. (P30/month is a small amount from the Policeman, but a big help to feed these children.)
In similar developments and in a bid to keep minors out of the streets, Senator Loren Legarda pushed for the immediate passage of a proposed measure that seeks to establish crisis centers for street children all over the country.
Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) figures showed that there are about 250,000 street children in 65 cities around the country, who are exposed to risks to their health, well-being and their lives.
“It is lamentable that while we have several laws that protect the rights and welfare of Filipino children in general, we have yet to pass a measure that would address the needs of street children and take them off the streets where their lives and future are in danger,” Legarda pointed out.
Under Senate Bill 1438, Legarda proposes the creation of crisis centers in every city or municipality.
These centers will have a comprehensive program that will provide various services, such as temporary shelter, emergency medical and feeding programs, and basic education for street children. There is definitely no clear and decent future for these young citizens if they will remain in the streets.
The government must seek ways to provide them with the means to uplift their conditions and take them out of the streets through programs that will equip them with livelihood, technical and social skills, the senator explained.
“The future of our nation lies in the hands of our youth, therefore we must give every child the chance to live a decent life and to be able to achieve his/her full potential as a person and as a citizen of this nation,” Legarda concluded. (PIA-7/mbcn & Office of Senator Legarda)
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Over 100T native tree seedlings planted during the Run 2 Plant 4 GREENIN Philippines in Cebu
By: Minerva BC Newman
CEBU, July 3 (PIA) --- The Run 2 Plant 4 GREENIN Philippines launched on June 25 at Barangay Jaclupan in Talisay City gathered more than 20,000 participants from the 48 municipalities and cities of Cebu that collectively planted over 100T native tree seedlings in their respective local areas.
The central event of the Run 2 Plant 4 GREENIN Philippines in Central Visayas was in Barangay Jaclupan, Talisay City but the more than 1000 local government units in the region simultaneously planted native tree seedlings in their own localities.
Most of those that joined the event had exceeded the minimum requirements, for instance, Tuburan town in Cebu , the largest contributor, required all of its 54 barangays to plant 1,716 seedlings in a one-hectare forestland.
The central event in Jaclupan, Talisay City also went beyond its target. It gathered more than 8,000 runners and planters, instead of 4,000 that registered online and manually.
Seedlings were planted in just a few hours, although RAFI prepared two seedlings for each participant to plant.
The Run 2 Plant 4 GREENIN Philippines project is an initiative of the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc. (RAFI) that supports the National Greening program of the government.
The program, which chose Cebu as pilot area, will be gradually implemented in the different regions in the country to ensure that it will be properly managed and implemented while building up relevant lessons and best practices.
For the Cebu front, RAFI, DENR and Talisay City Government will maintain the native tree seedlings planted in Jaclupan to ensure their survival.
Government agencies and schools that have adopted a certain area of the planting site in the various towns and cities also committed to maintain the planted trees in their respective areas.
The Run 2 Plant 4 GREENIN Philippines was organized in collaboration with the Cebu Provincial Government, City Government of Talisay, Aboitiz Equity Ventures, AboitizLand, DILG, and the DENR.
Metro Cebu Water District, Armed Forces of the Philippines Central Command, DA, DAR, and the GREENIN Philippines partners and champions also committed to pursue the National Greening Program through the Run 2 Plant 4 GREENIN Philippines .
According to Rowena Alensonorin, the overall coordinator of the project, RAFI, through its Integrated Development unit, will see to it that the first central planting site of the Run 2 Plant 4 GREENIN Philippines will grow into a vibrant forest.
Alensonorin said quarterly reports on the status of the seedlings planted and the planting site as a whole will be released to the media for the public to know the status of the seedlings planted and the project itself.
Several provinces in the country, including Negros Oriental, Bohol, and Davao has already expressed interests to implement the Run 2 Plant 4 GREENIN Philippines in their areas next year, which is set on June 30.
The National Secretariat of the Catholic Educational Association of the Philippines (CEAP) also joined to observe the event. CEAP, with its 1,286 member schools in the entire country, will implement the Run 2 Plant 4 GREENIN Philippines next year nationwide through the schools under them.
For more information about Run 2 Plant 4 GREENIN Philippines or about the GREENIN Philippines Program, please contact 418-7234 loc. 519 and look for Myryl Mendoza. (PIA-7/mbcn & RAFI)
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Pantawid Pamilya supports government’s greening program
By: Minerva BC Newman
CEBU, July 02 (PIA) --- The government’s National Greening Program has already caught fire among the various sectors in Central Visayas as its launching on June 25 in Barangay Jaclupan in Talisay City reportedly drew over 20,000 participants in Cebu Province alone including the Pantawid Pamilya beneficiaries in the region.
Chief executives of Central Visayas including representative Eddie Gullas, Governor Gwendolyn Garcia of Cebu Province , Governor Roel Degamo of Negros Oriental and local Cebu City officials headed the launching and the signing of the Memorandum of Agreement with the regional line agencies to fully support the NGP.
One of those that inked the MOA was the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) headed by its regional director Ma. Evelyn Macapobre that signified the support of all Pantawid Pamilya beneficiaries to the greening program.
Simultaneous with the signing of the Memorandum of Agreement, Pantawid Pamilya beneficiaries all over Cebu Province also conducted its own run-to-plant program in support of the E-Gwen program to plant at least 100,000 native tree species in 56 hectares spread over the 51 towns and cities in Cebu.
DSWD-7 Pantawid Pamilya coordinator Ailene Lariba said the office is now coordinating with DENR and DA in securing appropriate technical assistance in vegtable gardening; timber and fruit tree planting; solid and liquid waste management; recycling and decomposing projects applicable for implementation at the households and communities where the beneficiaries of Pantawid Pamilya are located.
Such topics and training are to be incorporated in the Family Development Sessions being conducted in every Pantawid Pamilya area of implementation, Lariba added.
The National Greening Program hopes to develop a sustainable forest resource base to rejuvenate rural economies in parts of the nation’s most chronically poor areas in the uplands, where the Pantawid families live.
“Ultimately providing livelihood opportunities especially for the identified poor who could mostly be found in the Pantawid Pamilya program,” Lariba noted.
DSWD’s Pantawid Pamilya support of NGP does not only provide the beneficiaries a brighter future to look forward to but a cleaner and fresher one as well, Lariba concluded.(PIA-7 & DSWD-7)
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Cebu City Police Office launches ‘Adlaw sa Mga Batang Libod Suroy’ today
By Fayette C. Riñen
CEBU CITY, July 1 (PIA) -- Over 1,000 streetchildren in Cebu City are gathered today at the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) grounds as the latter treats them with congee (lugaw) to mark the launching of the ‘Adlaw sa Mga Batang Libod Suroy.’
CCPO Police Director S/Supt. Melvin Ramon Buenafe bared that apart from feeding the streetchildren, games film showing, proper hygiene and talks on value formation by police officers will be done.
“Instead of letting these streetchildren wander in the streets with the high risk of becoming snatchers, we want to assist and guide them as much as we can so that they will not become criminals in the making,” according to Buenafe, the brainchild behind the program.
Buenafe said he often received reports on complaints of people being victimized by snatchers who are minors and the sad thing is that they cannot be arrested because of the Juvenile Justice Law so the problem becomes a vicious cycle.
“These streetchildren needs guidance which is not found in the home. This is why we are initiating the program for them to see the police as a role model,” Buenafe declared.
Buenafe said he intends to continue his program for streetchildren but this will already be implemented per police station. There are 11 police stations in the city with more than 800 policemen combined which each station would handle the program at their level such as feeding, teaching of values formation and other activities that will take the streetchildren in their respective areas away from the streets.
Previously, Buenafe has initiated the “Piso sa Pulis Alang sa Mga Batang Libod Suroy,” where policemen in every station is encouraged to donate one peso everyday and place the coin inside a wine bottle.
Buenafe urged his men that instead of buying cigarettes, alcohol or unnecessary make-up, they could each donate piso for this noble program. “What is P30 a month if we really want to help these streetchildren be productive citizens instead of being liabilities in society,” the city police official stressed.
The city police director added for P500 alone, the amount is equivalent to feed 100 streetchildren. “Each wine bottle can accommodate slightly over P1,000 so this is more than enough to conduct feeding program in the police station level,” Buenafe revealed.
The program could also be another venue to espouse the PNP Role Model Program where streetchildren could learn and inculcate the good values of being good citizens.
Buenafe said he plans to seek the support of other sectors for the program but that a private group should be the one to handle the money that will be donated to prevent any suspicions that it could just be a money-making venture by the police. (PIA 7-Cebu)
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DSWD-7 observes NDPR Week celebration on July 17-23
By: Hazel F. Gloria
CEBU CITY, July 01 (PIA) --- The Department of Social Welfare and Development in the region (DSWD-7) with other concerned agencies will observe the week-long celebration of the 33rd National Disability Prevention and Rehabilitation (NDPR) week on July 17-23, 2011 with the theme “Making the Rights for Filipinos with Disabilities.”
This activity aims to stimulate awareness on disability issues and concerns that will strengthen the involvement of government and non-government organizations including self-help organizations or persons with disabilities, academe, professional groups and societies, local government units (LGUs), business sector, media and other entities of the society, Baruc added.
This celebration also encourages the public to take active responsibility on the upliftment of the economic and social conditions of persons with disabilities and to develop and strengthen cooperation and partnership between and among various sectors to understand better the issues and concerns on disability.
Baruc also said the celebration also aimed to serve as the vehicle of information of programs implemented by government and non-government organizations that adhere to the promotion of the inherent rights of persons with disabilities (PWDs).
Activities in the region is still to be finalized and for the first time, Cebu Province will have its own NDPR week celebration kicking off with a parade in various places within the province and carrying a local theme, “Katungod sa Pagpakabuhi, Katungod sa Kinabuhi.” (PIA-7/HFG)