Cebu City Police Office to get 100 addt’l personnel this Christmas
by Amor Saludar
CEBU CITY December 23 (PIA) – A total of 100 personnel from the Regional Public Safety Battalion (RPSB) recently arrived in Cebu City to augment the number of police in ensuring a peaceful and safe celebration of the Christmas holidays.
The RPSB team will serve as reinforcement of the police troops of the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) task to maintain peace and order this yuletide season.
Earlier last week, about 190 policemen of the CCPO were already given assignment to make certain that the Christmas holidays remain peaceful.
CCPO Director S/Supt. Melvin Ramon Buenafe said the police will be dispatch to crowded areas such as malls and churches as well as in crime-prone areas.
Other areas where police will be highly visible included in traffic stop lights where most snatching incidents take place, specifically inside PUJs, churches, malls and other crowded places just to guarantee a crime-free Christmas celebration. (FCR/AS/PIA-Cebu)
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Cebu Gov. Garcia to visit typhoon-stricken CDO, ILigan
by Amor Saludar
CEBU CITY December 23 (PIA) -- Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia pledged to visit typhoon-devastated areas in Mindanao particularly Cagayan de Oro (CDO) and ILigan City.
Garcia will personally hand in the financial assistance and other donations from the province. She will be accompanied by some mayors from certain towns and cities of Cebu.
Cebu donations included relief items and financial assistance from local government units here who volunteered to give a share of their calamity funds and the budget intended for their Christmas Party to the typhoon stricken places.
Aside from the contributed donations, the Cebu governor committed to bring the heavy equipment of the province to help in the clearing and cleaning of some wrecked areas.
Gov. Garcia said that mayors from the towns and cities of Cebu volunteered to visit the place with her because they wanted to directly give the financial assistance and relief items coming from their respective places to the victims.
The number of Cebu LGUs who committed to extend help to the victims of Typhoon increased as more and more victims needed assistance.
Lately, Liloan town Mayor Vincent Franco Frasco informed that the town will give P200,000 to the Typhoon victims in Cagayan de Oro while Asturias Mayor Allan Adlawan will also give financial aid of P100,000 to be taken from their municipal calamity fund. (FCR/AS/PIA-CEBU)
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DENR-7 Greening Program exceeds its target in 2011
By Hazel Gloria
CEBU CITY, December 22 (PIA) --- The national greening program (NGP) in Central Visayas has planted 3.658M seedlings on 5,663.78 hectares of area coverage since its regional launch in June 2011.
This came after a series of tree planting and growing activities were conducted throughout the region with the support and assistance of various stakeholders.
Targeted at greening some 1.5 million hectares of degraded forest lands in six years, Department of Environment and Natural Resources [DENR-7) regional director Maximo Dichoso said NGP will focus essentially at developing a sustainable forest resource base to accelerate the national greening campaign.
“It will also rejuvenate rural economies in parts of the nation’s most chronically poor areas in the uplands, ultimately providing livelihood opportunities for some six million families in the upland areas across the country within six years, from 2011 to 2016,” he added.
Cebu has covered a total area of 1,965.40 hectares or 101 percent of its target of 1,954 hectares; Bohol with 1,573.38 hectares or 101 percent of its target of 1,563 hectares; Negros Oriental with 1,874 hectares or 101 percent of its target of 1,864 hectares; and Siquijor with 251 hectares or 100 percent of its target.
To recall, President Aquino issued EO 26 on February 24, 2011 establishing the NGP not only to reforest 1.5 million hectares of land but also to promote a sustained environmental awareness campaign in the face of the deleterious effects of climate change.
So far, Dichoso said a total of 3.658 million seedlings were planted of agroforestry, native and indigenous species with close to 39,000 volunteers participated in the planting.
He also said the NGP in its six-year implementation will be carried out following a people-centered development framework, that seeks to achieve stability and productivity of watersheds.
The NGP also aims to improve farm level productivity and stability, household incomes and general well-being of the people; and increase production of food crops, timber and non-timber forest products.
EO 26 supports and complements EO No. 23, an earlier directive of Pres. Aquino which bans logging in natural and residual forests, as well as Proclamation No. 125, declaring 2011 as the National Year of Forests in the Philippines.
This is also in consonance with the United Nations declaration of the International Year of Forests, with the theme: "Forests for People."
For 2012, NGP intends to cover 10,628 hectares. Of these, Cebu province has the biggest target of 4,880 hectares; Negros Oriental with 3,318 hectares; Bohol with 2,130 hectares for Bohol; and 300 hectares for Siquijor.(mbcn/hfg/PIA-7 & DENR-7)