DENR-7 inks with LGUs on public land titling
CEBU CITY, March 27 (PIA) -- Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) - 7 Regional Executive Director Maximo Dichoso recently inked a memorandum of partnership (MOPA) on public land titling with four local government units (LGUs) in Cebu.
Said LGUs are the municipalities of Alcoy, Dalaguete, Ronda, and Samboan.
The agreement signed last March 23, 2012 at the Montebello Villa Hotel, Banilad, Cebu City, aims to institutionalize the improvement of land administration and management at the local level by putting up an express lane in issuing land titles.
Dichoso said they received a letter of intent from said LGUs to work on the land titling program and conducted of series of consultations, dialogues and trainings on the existing laws, rules and regulations on the issuance of titles or patents, particularly under the Residential Free Patent Act or RA 10023.
“We want to reasonably expedite the issuance of untitled alienable and disposable lands at the local level to get them titled so that we would be able to help those who want to apply,” he said.
A free patent on residential land covers untitled residential lands in public alienable and disposable lands that are zoned by LGUs as residential areas, including town sites, public schools, municipal halls, public plazas or parks, delisted and abandoned military camps or reservations.
Any Filipino citizen who is an actual occupant of a residential land for at least 10 years may apply for a free patent title.
As indicated in the MOPA, a cadastral council to provide advice and oversight functions in the execution of titling program will be constituted to accelerate the issuance of land titles.
DENR-7 will assign Land Management Officers (LMOs) to the LGU-initiated titling program and the titling office that may be created.
“The DENR-7 will provide technical assistance and conduct surveys, land adjudication, training and capacity building on public land administration and management including the relocation or delineation of territorial boundaries between adjacent LGUs," the MOPA said.
The agreement also mandates "the LGUs to facilitate the titling of lands owned by LGUs concerned through the passage of an ordinance which shall constitute the creation of a local titling program, a titling office, adjudication teams, and information office in order to facilitate exchange of information, reconciliation, and reconstruction of data from local government and national government offices."
To recall, Cebu City, Cordova, Borbon, Tabogon, and Ginatilan also signed a MOPA last December 2011.(rmn/PIA-7/HFG/DENR-7)
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Cebu City, one of the switch-off sites for Earth Hour 2012In 2009, Phl participation equivalent to temporary shutdown of a doz. coal-fired power plants
By Juju Manubag-Empuerto
CEBU CITY, March 27 (PIA) -- Cebu City is officially declared as one of the switch-off sites for Earth Hour 2012 this coming Saturday, March 31 together with the cities of Makati and Davao.
Sophia Regine Dedace, communications officer of the World Wide Fund (WWF) for Nature Philippines bared this during a recent press conference held here.
“Other cities and towns are expected to hold well-organized events to observe Earth Hour 2012,” Dedace said.
The Cebu event this Saturday will start with a walk at 5:30 p.m. from Fuente Osmeña Rotunda towards Plaza Independencia to be led by Aboitiz Group president and chief executive officer Erramon Aboitiz together with company executives.
Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama, Ms Earth 2008 Karla Henry, Ms Cebu 2012 Pierre Anther Infante and her court, WWF representatives, and Cebu City residents will join while the Sinulog Dancers will lend a festive atmosphere to the street parade.
A short program will be held at the Plaza Independencia where a live streaming broadcast of other Earth Hour activities will be shown of what is taking place in the cities of Makati and Davao.
President Benigno S. Aquino III will have a video message to be shown during the live streaming as well as the keynote message of Earth Hour founder Executive Director Andy Ridley and WWF leaders.
The switch-off at Plaza Indepencia will also feature a candle lighting ceremony capped off by the release of biodegradable sky lanterns.
In Makati, the Earth Hour ceremony will be at the Ayala Triangle Gardens and at SM Davao for Davao City.
Earth Hour started in March 31 in 2007 as a single initiative in the city of Sydney, Australia where a one-hour power-off was done from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. Around 2.2 million people switched off unnecessary lights while the power saved during the 60-minute switch-off was equivalent to removing 48,613 cars off Sydney roads for an hour.
The following year, the Philippines joined the global call and was the first Southeast Asian nation that supported the Earth Hour campaign. Its flagship cities of Pasay, Manila, Parañaque, and Makati along with 50 other local towns and cities participated in the one-hour lights out from 8:00-9:00 p.m. on March 28, 2008.
Its first involvement garnered the country a total power savings that amounted to 80MWh which was equivalent to shutting down a coal-fired power plant for one hour.
In 2009, the Philippines became the top Earth Hour country in terms of town and city participation with 647 towns and cities that joined the campaign. Ten million Filipinos saved at least 611MWh of electricity in 2009 which was equivalent to a temporary shutdown of a dozen coal-fired power plants.
In 2010, the participation of local government units grew to 1,076 towns and cities combined that supported the campaign. This again made the Philippines as the top participating country worldwide that joined the movement.
Last year, a record breaking 1,661 cities and municipalities switched their lights for Earth Hour-making the country a three-time Earth Hour champion and an official Earth Hour “Hero Country.”(FCR/JSME-PIA 7, Cebu)
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Mini-park for Talisay jail eyed
CEBU CITY, Mar 27 (PIA) -- The Talisay City Jail Management in Talisay City, Cebu is planning to establish a mini-park inside the jail compound where inmates and their families can spend time together.
Deputy Warden, Jail Inspector Emilianito Enriquez bared this during the recent Cebu Association of Cities and Municipalities Information Officers (CAOCAMPIO) monthly meeting held in Talisay City.
The Talisay City jail has 288 prisoners, of which more than 30 of are female.
About 80 to 90 percent of the total numbers of prisoners come from Talisay City.
Enriquez said they hope to finish construction of the park either by the end of this year or early next year.
He said the concept of the mini park is to serve as a leisure area suitable for adult and children visitors of the inmates.
There will be cottages and benches under the trees as well as a mini-playground for children to give time to play during their visit.
“Para makompleto ang pamilya nga mobisita, pwede na madala ang mga bata kay naa naman unya’y area para malingaw pud sila unya makita pud sila sa ilang paryente o kinsa ba kaha nga ilang giduaw (So that the family who will visit will be complete, the children will be brought along because there is already an area for them where they can enjoy and then they will also be seen by their relatives or anyone they wish to visit)," Enriquez explained.
Enriquez said this is the jail’s own way of catering also to the health needs and skills enhancement of the prisoners by not limiting them to the four corners of the prison cells.
The jail currently has a cottage inside its compound where prisoners are allowed to spend their mornings.
It also has a training center where prisoners are given a chance to enhance their electronic and technical skills which may be useful to them when they are released and go back to society.
Some of these skills include: welding, composting for producing organic fertilizers and electronic works for men and cosmetology and dress making for women.
”TESDA personnel will come to conduct trainings for our prisoners because we have this Skills and Development Training Program so that they still have something to learn,” Enriquez said. (rmn/AS/PIA-CEBU)
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DSWD-7 thanks relief donors for quake victims in NegOr
CEBU CITY, March 27 (PIA) -- The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Field Office-7 thanked its donors for their generous help and donation extended to the earthquake-stricken communities in Cebu and Negros Oriental.
The Russian Foundation donated food and non-food items equivalent to Php 2,603,220.00.
This donation consisted of 45 big tents which can accommodate 4 families per tent and 85 smaller tents that accommodate 1 family per tent.
There were 2,500 wool blankets, more than 27 thousand pieces of canned meat, more than 12 thousand pieces of canned fish and almost 4 thousand kilos of sugar which were distributed to the City of Guihulngan and the towns of Jimalalud, La Libertad, Ayungon, Bindoy and Tayasan.
All these food items however were distributed in the city of Guihulngan and the municipality of Jimalalud only due to its high number of affected families.
Out of the 130 tents, only 50 were installed in the following areas: Ayungon (5), Guihulngan (20), Jimalalud (5) and la Libertad (20). The remaining tents will be installed as the needed.
On the other hand, UNICEF provided 499 tarpaulin tents while the International Organization for Migrants (IOM) provided the emergency shelter kits worth P1,300/kit composed of nails, bamboo and wood as their counterpart in putting up these tents.
The DSWD-7 KALAHI-CIDSS engineers supervised the installation of 163 tents inside the different camp sites and another 125 on-site.
Other evacuees decided to go back to their respective abodes while some stayed with their relatives outside the affected provinces. More of these tents will be put up in other towns as the need arises.
Meanwhile, the World Food Program (WFP) had distributed two thousand boxes or twenty thousand kilos of High Energy biscuits amounting to US$32,000.
Each family received two kilos or 20 pieces biscuits good for five days consumption to the same critical areas hardly hit by the earthquake last February 6.
The Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) also donated ready to eat food (chicken and beef fried rice) and other non-food items like towels, paper cups, plastic water bottles, plastic bags and 100 tents worth US $200,000.00. Priority recipients of these goods were the same five towns mentioned earlier.
The DSWD-7 also received 20 units of solar panel kit from Second Harvest Japan distributed to Guihulngan (10 units), Jimalalud (2 units) and La Libertad (8 units).
Various legislators also supported the relief operations by allocating their PDAF through the DSWD to help the affected families. Sen. Francis Pangilinan allocated P999,000 worth of NFA rice which were evenly distributed to the 10 towns in Negros Oriental, this time including the neighbouring municipalities of Vallehermoso, Manjuyod and the cities of Canlaon and Dumaguete.
Sen. Loren Legarda also distributed family packs worth P125,000 to the 500 families in Barangay Balugo in Guihulngan City while Sen. Pia Cayetano allocated P90,000 worth of food packs for distribution to the different evacuation camps in Guihulngan.
Meantime, Cong. Walden Bello also transferred Php 30,000.00 worth from his PDAF for the additional 22 sacks of rice to be prorated to all areas affected .
Other donors include the Lapu- Lapu City Government, radio station DYLA, St. Theresa’s College, some Pantawid beneficiaries in Ubay, Bohol and other concerned citizens .
The DSWD is now in the process of validating its generated data as well as the Family Access Cards (FAC) to speed up appropriate interventions and service delivery especially identifying the right resources to the legitimate and most deserving family beneficiaries.
So far, the government through the DSWD has saturated the serving of more than P26 million relief supplies to almost 60 thousand families affected in the 11 identified areas both for Cebu and Negros provinces.
Aside from this, the Department also recorded P11 million worth of relief goods poured in by all the affected LGUs as their local counterpart while other NGOs augmented the resources at P19 million.(rmn/PIA-7/HFG/DSWD-7)
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DOE provides energy saving tips on fridge use‘move aims to promote energy conservation’
By Fayette C. Ri�en
CEBU CITY, March 27 (PIA) -- In its massive advocacy to promote energy conservation, the Department of Energy (DOE) provided nine energy saving tips on refrigerator use during a recent seminar on ‘Electricity Conservation in Schools and Households’ in Cebu City.
Engr. Jan Ramos, science research specialist II of the DOE said the refrigerator is one of the heaviest energy users in the household and accounts for as much as 15 to 20 percent of the total energy consumption in the home.
As part of its household enercon tips, Ramos presented nine ways on how to conserve electricity on the use of refrigerator which are the following:
1. When buying a new refrigerator, consider a unit that suits your need and with a higher Energy Efficiency Factor (EEF).
2. Do not leave the refrigerator door open longer than necessary.
3. Defrost your refrigerator regularly. Frost acts as an insulating blanket, which causes the motor to work overtime, resulting in increased power consumption.
4. Cool food to room temperature before storing in the refrigerator. Placing warm food in the fridge increases the temperature inside.
5. Cover liquids and wrap food stored inside the fridge otherwise, moisture released inside will cause the motor to work harder than normal. Moisture is the source of frost.
6. Place the refrigerator far enough from the cooking stove so that it will not be affected by the heat while cooking. Install it where air can circulate freely around it.
7. Do not overcrowd your refrigerator. This interferes with air circulation and overworks the compressor.
8. Check refrigerator if it is not losing its cool because of a leaking gasket. Test the gasket by closing the door on a peso bill. If the bill slips out when you pull on it, either the gasket needs a replacement or the door needs adjusting.
9. Clean the compressor units and condenser of the refrigerator periodically following manufacturer’s specifications.
Ramos said that it is better to replace a refrigerator that is more than 15 years old, as a new unit is more energy efficient and can reduce electricity bills.
Such basic energy saving tips are also contained in a flyer which was distributed to the over 200 participants attending the seminar.
A priority program of the DOE, the National Energy Efficiency and Conservation Program aims to educate the public on the critical importance of saving electricity not only to cut down on electric bill costs but more significantly, to contribute in fighting climate change which is a bigger issue worldwide. (FCR/PIA-Cebu)
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DA 7 cautions farmers on rice-insect attacks
By Amorganda A. Saludar
CEBU CITY, March 27 (PIA) -- The Department of Agriculture (DA) in Central Visayas warned farmers in the region about the existence of two types of rice-attacking insects that can greatly affect rice production.
Norberto Ouano, assistant center chief of the Regional Crop Protection Center of the DA 7, cited hoppers and rice bugs as the two rice-eating insects that could hinder good rice harvest.
These insects deeply rely on stems and grains of rice for their food.
Ouano said hoppers may cause ‘hopper burn’ where it directly attacks the lower portion of the rice by sucking its lower stem. Rice bugs, on the other hand, concentrate on the panicles of rice grains.
The official recommended that one of the basic measures to counter these attacks is to use another variety of high breed grain seeds that have a higher survival rate against it.
“We also recommend the use of high breed seeds because of its higher production yield. It also produces good quality of rice,” Ouano said.
Another measure he suggested is the adaptation of synchronized planting so that the insects will be scattered and will not be housed in one particular area.
According to him, since these insects prefer to the stay in moist places, farmers are also advised to observe proper cleanliness and proper water management.
Of the two rice-eating insects, rice bugs have recorded the most number of serious attacks. Eighty percent of the cropping in Valencia, Negros Oriental, and in Dimiao and Garcia Hernandez in Bohol were affected.
“Grabe ang atake ani (the attacks were very serious) but the attacks recorded were scattered to specific barangays. Although the attacks were very alarming, the affected areas however were situated near trees preventing the attacks from spreading wide and far,” Ouano said.
He added however that they cannot predict whether the insects would invade Cebu, but no reports as of yet were received by their office.
Meanwhile, the first infestation of hoppers in Central Visayas was discovered in Dagohoy, Bohol but the area was just considered as slightly affected since the attack was immediately monitored during the ripening stage.
Of the 110 hectares of rice field situated in the said locale, only half a hectare was affected by the hopper burn, according to him.
“There was an attack but it was immediately addressed because it was already time for harvest and Dagohoy is just a small municipality. There was also a previous attack but not that alarming and farmers should always be vigilant because hoppers are just around waiting for the right timing to reproduce,” Ouano said.
Because of the recorded attacks, Central Visayas was the first region to report to the Bureau of Plant among all provinces in the country. The assistant center chief added that agency conducted investigative studies immediately for the most appropriate measures to use.
“We also advise farmers to conduct duki-duki (research) on plants and we urge them to communicate with their respective local government units,” the official concluded. (FCR/AS-PIA 7, CEBU)