4,000 hectares of agri land distributed by DAR-Cebu in 2011
By Hazel F. Gloria
CEBU CITY, February 17 (PIA) -- The Department of Agrarian Reform – Provincial Office (DARPO) Cebu reported that it has distributed 4,458 hectares of land to its CARP beneficiaries in Cebu province in 2011.
DARPO-Cebu OIC Provincial Agrarian Reform Officer Isaganie Yee said that 719 hectares of those lands are compensable through the Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) while 3,739 hectares are non-LBP compensable.
Yee added the land distribution benefited 3,805 agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs) in Cebu.
"This is in line with the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program Extension with Reforms (CARPER) implementation. DARPO Cebu got the highest accomplishments at 47 percent of the Land Acquisition and Distribution (LAD) target area of 9,439 hectares," Yee beamed.
The LAD component is an essential tool of the CARP in bringing social justice to the farmers by giving access to qualified ARBs to agricultural lands and security of tenure.
From 1972 to 2011, DARPO Cebu has distributed 32,946 hectares of agricultural land benefictting 29,477 farmers.
Based on its reports, DARPO Cebu ranked first both in LAD accomplishment and in land survey activities in terms of efficiency and volume on funded targets, land survey execution, survey returns transmittal, and survey returns approval.
While it also ranked 3rd in terms of volume in land distribution and ranked 6th nationwide in terms of volume in land distribution involving LBP compensable lands. (mbcn/hfg/PIA-7 & DARPO)
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LTO recommends nationwide implementation of random drug testing among PUV drivers
By Fayette C. Ri�en
CEBU CITY, February 17(PIA) – Land Transportation Office (LTO) assistant secretary Virginia Torres mulled on recommending random drug testing among public utility vehicle drivers nationwide.
Torres witnessed the effectiveness of the said LTO-7 program in ensuring road safety. She was in Cebu last week to observed first-hand how LTO-7 conducted the random road drug testing among PUV drivers.
LTO 7 regional director Raul Aguilos said that out of 50 PUV drivers tested last week, five yielded positive of illegal drug use. Those found positive were three taxi drivers, one bus driver and one public utility jeepney driver, Aguilos said.
“The licenses of the PUV drivers that initially yielded positive from the random drug test will be confiscated. The results, however, will still be subjected to confirmatory tests in Manila,” Aguilos declared.
In case the confirmatory exam again yielded positive of illegal drug use, the license of the drivers will be revoked which means their driving privileges will be suspendede, Aguilos said.
Unless the drivers concerned subject themselves to a six-month rehabilitation in a center accredited by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), drivers can no longer drive again, this is said.
The LTO 7 chief also said drivers have to pay P15,000 penalty fee.
Since 2009, over 1,000 PUV drivers have been subjected to the random drug testing and more than 100 of them yielded positive to illegal drug use or about 10 to 15 percent, Aguilos further said.
So far, not one of the over 100 drivers apprehended came back to get their license, this is learned.
“We are also regularly checking on the authenticity of the license of drivers because some might resort to bogus licenses,” Aguilos said. He added that the conduct of the random drug testing which was first done in Cebu City is part of road safety measures. (mbcn/fcr/PIA-Cebu)
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Volunteers collect 100 kilos of trash from Olango Island Wildlife Sanctuary
By Hazel F. Gloria
CEBU CITY, February 17 (PIA) -- Nearly 100 kilos of trash were collected by more than 200 volunteers who conducted a clean up campaign at the Olango Island Wildlife Sanctuary, Lapulapu City, Cebu in celebration of the World Wetlands Day (WWD) on February 2.
DENR-7 regional executive director Maximo Dichoso said, “garbage on our beaches and in our waterways is posing potential threats or danger to our marine resources where we rely for food and livelihood among our fisherfolks.”
He said we want to make sure the integrity of our coastal resources are preserved by way of a coastal cleanup.
"We solicit the help of the communities and other stakeholders because it is important to increase the level of awareness on the effects of garbage to our marine resources," Dichoso added.
February 2 was declared World Wetlands Day by the Convention on Wetlands of International Importance, also known as the Ramsar Convention. The country also observes National Wetlands Day by virtue of Presidential Proclamation No. 74, series of 1999. This year’s theme is “Wetlands and Tourism.”
DENR explained that wetlands are lands that may be permanently or seasonally inundated. These include lakes and rivers, swamps and marshes, peatlands, estuaries, tidal flats, mangroves and coral reefs, and even man-made sites such as fish ponds, rice paddies and reservoirs.
Participants of the coastal cleanup included Department of Tourism-7 officials, Korean and Taiwanese, Pook Elementary School, Suba Elementary School, Tinggo Elementary School, Santa Rosa High School, Pangan-an Elementary and National High School and other out of school youth.
On the other hand, Dichoso said that DENR Secretary Ramon J.P. Paje bared the move of DENR, through its Protected Areas and Wildlife Bureau (PAWB) to officially nominate Puerto Princesa Underground River (PPUR) as one of world’s Seven Wonders of Nature to the Ramsar Convention.
Paje said that PPUR best exemplifies this year’s WWD theme as it is a wetland and has long been considered a prime natural jewel for our local tourism, drawing both foreign and local tourists.