Public, private sectors ink MOA on Anti-Human Trafficking
By Minerva BC. Newman
CENTRAL VISAYAS, April 6 (PIA) -- During its 1st quarter meeting of the Regional Development Council (RDC-7) in Central Visayas various government units and private sector reps in Central Visayas inked a memorandum of agreement (MOA) on Anti-Human Trafficking.
This after both the Regional Anti-Trafficking Task Force (RATF) and Regional Sub-Committee on Gender, Anti-Trafficking and Violence (RSC-GATV) reported an increasing number of trafficking and cyber pornography cases and activities in Central Visayas.
For this purpose, concerned government agency or entity shall implement programs and projects that will protect and prevent children and women from being trafficked and sold to cyber sex dens.
In the MOA, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) shall make available its resources and facilities overseas for trafficked persons and explore means to enhance its assistance to eliminate trafficking activities thru networking with other government agencies in the country and overseas.
Specifically, the DFA shall take the necessary measures to strictly implement the Machine Readable Passports to protect the integrity of PHL passports, visas and other travel documents to reduce incidence of trafficking.
The Department of Social Welfare and development (DSWD) shall implement rehabilitative and protective programs for trafficked persons. It shall provide counseling and temporary shelter to them and accredit NGOs for the establishing centers and programs for interventions in the community.
The Department of Labor and Employment on the other hand shall ensure strict compliance of labor laws and regulations to monitor, document, and report cases of human trafficking involving employers and labor recruiters.
Cebu, Bohol, Negros Oriental, and Siquijor, and the highly urbanized cities of Cebu, Mandaue, and Lapulapu shall monitor and document cases of trafficking in persons in their respective areas.
These LGUs will also conduct information campaigns against trafficking in persons through the establishment of the Migrants Advisory and Information Network (MAIN) desks in towns, cities, or provinces in coordination with DILG, PIA, Commission of Filipinos Overseas (CFO), NGOs, and other concerned agencies.
The MOA also calls on the Philippine National Police (PNP) as the primary law enforcement agency to undertake surveillance, investigation, and arrest of individuals or groups suspected to be engaged in trafficking.
The Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) on the other hand shall institute a systematic information and prevention campaign and maintain a databank for the effective monitoring, documentation and prosecution of cases of trafficking in persons.
Lastly, the Department of justice (DOJ) shall ensure the prosecution of persons accused of trafficking. It shall also establish a mechanism for free legal assistance for trafficked persons in coordination with DSWD, IBP and other NGOs and volunteer groups.
Bohol governor and RPOC-7 chair Edgar Chatto hopes that through this MOA trafficking of women and children in Central Visayas will be reduced if not eliminated.
“It cannot be denied that any development efforts are anchored on peace, security and the protection of our women and children,” Chatto added. (mbcn/PIA7, Siquijor)
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RSC-GATV asks for integration of anti-trafficking, cyber porn topics in school curriculum
By Minerva BC. Newman
CENTRAL VISAYAS, April 6 (PIA)--The Regional Sub-Committee on Gender, Anti-Trafficking and Violence (RSC-GATV) against women and children requests the CHED, TESDA and DepEd to integrate topics on Anti-trafficking in Persons and Anti-Cyber Pornography in their respective school curricula.
The Regional Development Council (RDC-7) during its 1st quarter meeting on March 26 at Larena, Siquijor endorsed the request.
RSC-GATV reports noted that cases of trafficking in persons and cyber pornography have steadily increased in Central Visayas.
Regional state prosecutor Fernando Gubalane confirmed this observation. According to Gubalane who also heads the Regional Anti-Trafficking Task Force (RATF) that in 2011 the task force had conducted six to seven entrapment/rescue operations in KTV bars, hotels and resorts in Cebu City, Toledo City, Ubay, Bohol and in Negros Oriental.
In his report to both the Regional Peace & Order Council (RPOC) and the RDC-7, Gubalane bared that during those operations the Task Force rescued and assisted some 232 trafficked persons including 13 minors.
“In the April 29, 2011 entrapment operation at a KTV in Banilad, Cebu City, we rescued 146 women including two minors,” Gubalane reported.
That particular operation was jointly undertaken by the International Justice Mission (IJM), DSWD, PNP, Task Force and DOJ-Inter-Agency Committee against Trafficking.
The Task Force also reported that in 2011 it had conducted 10-12 briefing, seminars, fora on RA-9208 and RA-7610 to the various sectors in the region.
During the Regional Peace & Order Council (RPOC-7) meeting on January 26, 2012 in Dumaguete City, Bohol governor and RPOC-7 chairman Edgar Chatto expressed his concerns on the increasing cases of human trafficking and cyber pornography in Central Visayas.
Chatto urged both council members (RPOC & RDC) to be counted in this fight against trafficking of women and children in the region, ”knowing that tourism breeds a gamut of related concerns and issues,” the governor noted.
In the same RDC-7 1st quarter meeting in Larena, Siquijor local government units of Cebu, Bohol, NegOr, Siquijor, and the cities of Cebu, Mandaue and Lapulapu thru their respective governors and mayors; national government agencies and private sector reps inked the memorandum of agreement on Anti-Human Trafficking.
The MOA called on these sectors to extend full cooperation and coordination in the implementation of RA-9208 and to establish and implement preventive, protective and rehabilitative programs for trafficked persons. (mbcn/PIA-Siquijor)
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RDC-7 approves strat plan for rehab of storm hit areas in NegOr
By Minerva BC. Newman
CENTRAL VISAYAS, April 5 (PIA) -- The tropical storm, Sendong, that badly hit Negros Oriental showed how undated the infrastructure were. Not only did it hit commercial establishments and houses but so too the eco-tourism sites of the area that brought livelihood to hundreds in the NegOr. Clearly, there must be new structures in place to weather the strom.
During its 1st quarter meeting in March 2012 at the Siquijor State College (SSC) Cafeteria in Larena, Siquijor, the Regional Development Council (RDC-7) in Central Visayas approved the Strategic Action Plan for the Rehabilitation and Recovery of areas in Negros Oriental affected by tropical storm Sendong.
Data presented at the RDC-7 meeting showed that Sendong hit 126 barangays in Negros Oriental affecting 14,631 families or 72,556 individuals and damages to infrastructure estimated at over P40.944-million.
According to the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA-7) OIC-regional director Efren Carreon, the strategic plan aims to restore the economy and use of socio-economic services in the typhoon Sendong affected areas in Negros Oriental.
Carreon explained that the plan includes the rehabilitation, reconstruction, and enhance the resiliency of infrastructure against extreme weather events and or hazards.
Carreon added its objective is to improve the capacity of communities,and local and national government units in disaster risk reduction.
The RDC-7 noted that during the Sendong calamity, various local government units in Negros Oriental were unable to respond to the extreme situation immediately.
The strategic plan includes the rehab and restoration of infrastructure support system such as roads, bridges, flood river control, waterworks, and dams.
Priorities for rehab and restoration are those eco-tourism areas and facilities of Negros Oriental that were badly hit by Sendong.
These were identified to include the Balinsasayao Twin Lakes and Dauin Hot Springs; Apo Island Coral reefs; Tejeros swimming pool and spillway in Valencia town; government assistance to restore Forest Camp, also in Valencia, NegOr.
In a joint meeting of the Regional Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council and the Regional Land Use Council on March 20, 2012 both bodies agreed that Forest Land Use Planning and mainstreaming disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation must be included and or institutionalized in local development planning and decision-making processes of local and national government units.
In the same joint (RDRRMC/RLUC) meeting, the councils recommended the inclusion of environmental protection programs in the plan.
Specifically the adoption of Forest Land Use Plans by cities and municipalities in NegOr because managing the forestlands serves as effective buffer against floods and landslides, according to DENR.
NEDA-7 OIC-regional director Carreon in his presentation at the RDC-7 1st quarter meeting in Larena, Siquijor, he highlighted the inclusion in the Strategic Plan the strict implementation and monitoring of RA-9903 or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000 and other environmental laws.
“Also clearing of waterways and drainage systems as important activity in the plan,” Carreon noted.
As far as disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation measures are concerned, the Plan underscored the importance of implementing Disaster preparedness programs and mainstreaming DRR-CCA in local development plans of LGUs.
With the typhoon Sendong experience, the implementation of Technology-based disaster early warning systems (SWS) is vital in disaster risk management and this was also given priority in the Plan.
Lastly, to assist in its economic recovery, the Negros Oriental Rehabilitation and Restoration Investment Program for CY 2012-2014 was endorsed and included in the Strategic Plan. (PIA7, Negros Oriental)
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Tour showcases Cebu’s rich heritage
By Minerva BC. Newman
CEBU CITY April 5 (PIA) -- A cultural and heritage tour dubbed as ‘Heritage by Dusk’ showcased the rich heritage and culture of Cebu to over 400 delegates of the 45th Annual Convention of the Association of Philippine Medical Colleges (APMC) held at the Cebu Institute of Medicine, F. Ramos St., Cebu City in February this year.
According to the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation, Inc. organizer of the event, ‘Heritage by Dusk’ is a modified concept patterned after RAFI’s ‘Gabii sa Kabilin’ (A night if Heritage) every last Friday of May to celebrate the International Museum’s Day and Philippine Heritage Month.
The tour allowed the 400 delegates to visit in comfort and see the beauty of the heritage places in downtown Cebu City as a culmination to their event.
It was held at dusk between 4:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. on February 10 and the delegates were separated into various groups, each with its own itinerary.
The delegates visited Cebu City’s lifestyle museums such as Casa Gorordo Museum, Museo Parian sa Sugbo, and Yap-Sandiego Ancestral House; the clerical museums that includes Cathedral Museum of Cebu and Basilica del Santo Niño Museum.
They also visited the socio-historical museums namely; Museo Sugbo and USPF-Rizaliana Museum; old churches, Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral and Basilica Minore del Santo Niño; and sites with historical significance like Fort San Pedro, Plaza Parian, Colon St, Plaza Independencia, and Magellan’s Cross.
In a press release to media, RAFI communications officer Haidee Emmie Palapar said, “Heritage by Dusk” was initiated in partnership with the Basilica Minore del Santo Niño Museum, Cathedral Museum of Cebu, Fort San Pedro, Museo Parian sa Sugbo, Museo Sugbo of the Cebu Provincial Government, University of Southern Philippines Foundation (USPF)-Rizaliana Museum, and the Yap-Sandiego Ancestral House.
Palapar added that tour guides, who are history major students of the University of San Carlos-Department of Anthropology, Sociology, and History (USC-DASH) steered and animated the guests as they moved from one museum to the next.
The event served as a platform for tour guiding apprenticeship for the students.
Dr. Anna Marie Pato, a professor of the Cebu Institute of Medicine (CIM), said. “Heritage by Dusk gave the delegates a memorable experience of the rich culture and heritage of Cebu.” (PIA-7/MBCN & RAFI/HEP)
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Oplan Ligtas Cuaresma nets 18 Cebu PUV drivers positive for drugs
By Fayette C. Ri�en
CEBU CITY, April 5 (PIA) -- “Passengers are excited to go back home to their provinces and they expect to be brought safely to their destinations. We want to give them that security,” said LTO-7 regional director Raul Aguilos, hence the program "Oplan Ligtas Cuaresma" that random tests drivers for drug use.
Several public utility vehicle (PUV) drivers in Cebu tested positive to drug use during the random drug tests were conducted by the Land Transportation Office (LTO) - 18 out of the 113 PUV drivers were positive.
Random drug tests were conducted in major highways and public routes frequented by PUV drivers.
LTO-7 personnel remind bus drivers on public safety measures. LTO-7 is also set to do random drug tests on jeep, bus, and taxi drivers.
“We will continue to do spot checks on public drivers,” Aguilos said.
The Cebu City Traffic Operations Management is complementing efforts of LTO-7 as they will also do surprise drug tests on public drivers along major highways.
“The license of drivers who tested positive to drug use may be confiscated as test results will be brought to Manila for confirmatory laboratory exam,” the LTO 7 chief declared.
In case the confirmatory test yielded positive, drivers will be advised to check into drug rehabilitation for six months.
Aguilos said drivers could only go back to driving after being cleared from the rehabilitation center and after paying the appropriate administrative fine. (PIA7 Cebu)
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Oplan Ligtas Cuaresma nets 18 Cebu PUV drivers positive for drugs
By Fayette C. Ri�en
CEBU CITY, April 5 (PIA) -- “Passengers are excited to go back home to their provinces and they expect to be brought safely to their destinations. We want to give them that security,” said LTO-7 regional director Raul Aguilos, hence the program "Oplan Ligtas Cuaresma" that random tests drivers for drug use.
Several public utility vehicle (PUV) drivers in Cebu tested positive to drug use during the random drug tests were conducted by the Land Transportation Office (LTO) - 18 out of the 113 PUV drivers were positive.
Random drug tests were conducted in major highways and public routes frequented by PUV drivers.
LTO-7 personnel remind bus drivers on public safety measures. LTO-7 is also set to do random drug tests on jeep, bus, and taxi drivers.
“We will continue to do spot checks on public drivers,” Aguilos said.
The Cebu City Traffic Operations Management is complementing efforts of LTO-7 as they will also do surprise drug tests on public drivers along major highways.
“The license of drivers who tested positive to drug use may be confiscated as test results will be brought to Manila for confirmatory laboratory exam,” the LTO 7 chief declared.
In case the confirmatory test yielded positive, drivers will be advised to check into drug rehabilitation for six months.
Aguilos said drivers could only go back to driving after being cleared from the rehabilitation center and after paying the appropriate administrative fine. (PIA7 Cebu)
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Budget for Cebu rivers rehab approved
By Hazel F. Gloria
CEBU CITY, April 5 (PIA) -- The Central Cebu River Basins Management Council (CCRBMC) has approved an estimated P13-million budget to rehabilitate and protect the rivers in the region.
Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR-7) regional executive director Maximo Dichoso said that the Council issued resolution no. 2012-01 endorsing the integrated river basin management and development master plan.
Dichoso added the components of the master plan includes watershed management, environmental conservation, institutional and policy, water resources management, flood control and hazard mitigation, wetlands and river, gender, and information, education, and communication.
Meanwhile, the said council resolution dated March 7, which was attested by Dichoso and approved by Cebu Archbishop Jose S. Palma as chairperson of the council, was forwarded to the Regional Development Council (RDC-7) on April 2 for adoption, acceptance, and support.
“The CCRBMC subscribes to the integrated approaches to development using the river basin as a planning and management unit,” he said.
The project has two phases: the first phase reviewed the water policy and development strategy for the river basins, and the second phase involved the formulation of a 15-year master plan, with specific projects for water resources, watershed management, flood control, environment, and institutional arrangement considering current problems and issues.
The Central Cebu river basins has a total area of 68,133 hectares which covers four major watershed areas such as Mananga with 8,716 hectares; Lusaran-Combado, 26,257; Coastal, 24,849; and Kotkot with 8,311 hectares.
Coastal river basins include Guinsaga, Butuanon, Mahiga, Guadalalupe, Lahug, Linao, and Bulacao.
This covers cities of Cebu, Toledo, Danao, Mandaue, and Talisay; and municipalities of Asturias, Minglanilla, Lilo-an, Consolacion, Compostela, and Balamban.
CCRBMC is a multi-stakeholder organization that will use the integrated water resources management principles and adapt the integrated watershed or river basins and ecosystems management approach as an overarching strategy to environment and natural resources management. (MBCN/HFG-PIA7/DENR-7)