Today's News

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

LTFRB 7 conducts public hearing on petition for fare hike in Cebu

CEBU CITY, April 11 (PIA) -- The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) 7 is set to hear the validity of the petition for the P1.50 fare hike adjustment filed by the Cebu Integrated Transport Service Multi-Purpose Cooperative (Citrasco) in a public hearing set today. 

Citrasco has filed for a fare hike of P1.50 which if approved, will set the minimum transport rate of public utility jeepneys at P9.50 for the first five kilometers from the current minimum fare rate of P7.50. 

In the same petition, Citrasco also requested an additional P.90 to P1.50 hike in the succeeding kilometer. 

The incessant oil price increases was cited as the major factor behind the petition, according to Citrasco. 

The group did not join the nationwide transport strike of Piston last month saying it would rather wait for the outcome of the petition for a fare adjustment they were set to file days after. 

The LTFRB 7 however, sad the petitioner should submit valid evidences on the urgent need for a fare hike. 

LTFRB 7 on the other hand, asked the public and parties opposed to the granting of the said petition to file their written opposition supported by documentary evidence on or before the scheduled public hearing. (PIA-Cebu) 

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DENR-7 collects P9.8 M from the 3 protected areas in CV

CEBU CITY, April 11 (PIA) --- The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR-7) collected nearly P9.8 million in resource user fees from the three protected areas in Central Visayas in 2011. 

DENR-7 regional executive director Maximo Dichoso said that the resource user fee is paid for the commercial use of a specified quantity of resources within the protected areas over a specified period of time. 

“This is for access to and sustainable use of resources located in protected areas for subsistence, recreational, extractive, commercial, and all other purposes,” Dichoso added. 

TaƱon Strait Protected Seascape (TSPS) got the biggest fees of P9,327,583.55; Olango Island Wildlife Sanctuary (OIWS) in Lapulapu City with P373,093T; and Central Cebu Protected Landscape (CCPL) with P42,750T. 

TSPS is a body of seawater that lies between the Provinces of Cebu and Negros Oriental and partly Negros Occidental in the Visayas area. 

It serves as refuge to unique marine resources that critically balances the ecosystem in the entire Visayan seas. It was declared a protected seascape pursuant to National Integrated Protected System (NIPAS) under Presidential Proclamation No. 1234 signed on May 27, 1998. 

Dichoso further explained that revenues generated from the resource fees shall accrue to the Integrated Protected Area Fund (IPAF) that is managed by the IPAF Governing Board and the concerned Protected Area Management Board (PAMB). 

The funds are to be disbursed solely for the protection, maintenance, administration and management of National Integrated Protected Area System (NIPAS), and duly approved projects endorsed by the PAMBs, in the amounts that DENR authorizes. 

Protected area refers to identified portions of land and water set aside by reason of their unique physical and biological significance, managed to enhance biological significance, diversity and protected against destructive human exploitation. 

Dichoso articulated the rate of use shall be within the carrying capacity of the protected area and its immediate surroundings when taken individually or collectively or in relation to other uses of the area. 

Any form of use of the protected areas shall maintain the socio-economic and cultural aspect of the area.(mbcn/hfg/PIA-7 & DENR-7)

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Community dev’t work needs committed, passionate individuals

CEBU CITY, April 11 (PIA) -- Community development work needs people who are dedicated, committed and passionate about their job of community service. 

Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc. (RAFI) human resource recruitment in-charge Mileesa Lumanog said, the interest and passion to serve are very important factors in working in community development. 

“Social development is also a good venue for personal and professional growth because of in-depth exposure to community work,” Lumanog added. 

According to Lumanog if one has skills but the commitment is not there, one is not able to last in the work that involves serving various communities, sometimes very remote communities. 

Jenny Tan is a graduate in computer science and is equipped to work in the area of information technology where the pay and career growth are promising. 

However, Tan went a different way; she decided to build her niche in community development far from operating systems of computers. She works at the Dilaab Foundation as a program coordinator. 

"After graduation, I was discerning where my heart is, where I will be happy. I know community development is where I belong. I decided to apply as a program assistant at Dilaab Foundation,” Tan said in Cebuano. 

Dilaab Foundation is a volunteer-driven, Church-based movement for a transformed Filipino nation through heroic Christian citizenship. 

Tan cited her passion in community building as the reason she has been involved in social development for the past three years now. 

“My friends asked me why I am still at Dilaab Foundation. It is because I feel the sense of belongingness in a way that I belong to a community I am able to help. Each time I witness the impact of our projects, I feel a sense of fulfilment that I could not explain. This is the thing I would like to do for the rest of my life,” Tan stated. (PIA-7/MBCN & RAFI/Haidee Emmie K. Palapar)