DILG 7 pushes LGUs to draft disaster preparedness plans
By Amorganda A. Saludar
CEBU CITY, May 24 (PIA) -- The Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) in Central Visayas is pushing local government units to draft their own Disaster Preparedness Action Plan amidst the existing threat of climate change.
In a pro-active move to remind LGUs about their responsibility, the DILG 7 will be holding a regional summit dubbed "Tapatan on Disaster Preparedness and Climate Change Adaptation: A Call to Action” on Friday, May 25 at the Cebu International Convention Center in Mandaue City.
“We actually have to be ready for any disaster and emphasize the urgency and significance of getting ready for disaster. There is a need to lead the process of defining roles and delineating functional and operational responsibilities for those mandated or committed for disaster preparedness,”Assistant DILG 7 Regional Director Elias F. Fernandez said.
The DILG 7 assistant director said the extreme weather conditions due to climate change is really a serious threat as some areas that are not calamity prone or have not experienced any natural disasters before are now greatly affected by natural calamities and disasters, citing Cagayan de Oro and the quake-hit towns of Negros Oriental.
Fernandez added that there is a need to put an end to lip service on disaster preparedness and force the issue among LGUs by having actual operational plans on disaster preparedness as what is mandated under the laws. He added that Republic Act No. 10121 known as the Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act of 2010 and Republic Act No. 9729 or the Climate Change Adaptation of 2009 that mandates LGUs to have their action plans on disaster preparedness and climate change adaptation and mitigation.
“The DILG will see to it that the LGUs are complying with RA 10121 and RA 9729. This is also our initiative to intensify the disaster preparedness efforts of local government units amidst the recent occurrence of natural calamities in many parts of the country,” said Fernandez.
DILG 7 said around more than 600 participants, primarily of local chief executives and their city, municipal or provincial disaster coordinating officers and other stakeholders are expected to attend the activity.
DILG Secretary Jesse Robredo will also grace the activity as the special guest of honor. (FCR/AS/PIA 7, Cebu)
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Cebu town connects constituents through modern technology
By Amorganda A. Saludar
CEBU CITY, May 23 (PIA) -- The local government of Dalaguete town in the southern part of Cebu is connecting Dalaguetnons through the use of modern technology for communication - wireless broadband connection for internet.
The municipal government of Dalaguete is offering its residents free access to the wireless connection which is accessible at the municipal plaza and through retail of connection provided by the municipality internet providing network.
The connection offered via retail is similar to loading of a mobile phone's credits. For P25, users have three hours of wireless internet connection, six hours for P50, and P80 for 10 hours. Users will be provided a ticket containing the connection password for them to access the internet.
Dalaguete IT Consultant, Danny Russel Lumayag, said that they have been conceptualizing this project since November of 2010 and it was in February 2011 when the project materialized.
“The main essence of this project is really to connect the people of Dalaguete with their loved ones outside the town and outside the country, and to bring business opportunity in town that is very essential for the development as well as improving the means of communication," said Lumayag.
"I think the people can really attest to the usefulness of this project in their lives, and since its implementation (more than a year ago) a lot of people have been benefited already, they can now connect to their love ones far from them as well as having easy access to the local government of the town,” Lumayag added.
Dalaguete Information Officer Rydal Cisneros said that the project is one of the thrusts of the present set of municipal officials to bring cooperation and unity as well as to boost the communication between the government and the people of Dalaguete.(RMN/AS-PIA-7 CEBU)
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LGU management team undergo orientation through EQUIP-CEBU Project
CEBU CITY, May 24 (PIA) -- The municipal government of Liloan, Cebu in cooperation with Department of Education (DepEd), Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc. (RAFI), Educational Development Unit, and Synergeia Foundation conducted a half-day pre-organizational orientation to the EQUIP-CEBU Project Management Team last April 25 at the Panfil Municipal Market of Liloan.
This was headed by Tanya Flores, RAFI senior program officer for Education, and Reve Gabriel, project assistant.
The RAFI’s EQUIP-CEBU project or Educational Quality Improvement through Community Empowerment and Capacity Building, under its Educational focus area, aims to improve the quality of education by improving the capacity of the stakeholders in managing their schools, focuses on four different areas: school governance, infrastructure, capacity building, and access and delivery of education.
The municipality of Liloan in the northern part of Cebu is one of the three pilot municipalities for the project, including Carcar and Asturias, which represents the north, south and west of Cebu.
These municipalities were selected for its strategic location and willingness to be part of the project.
The Project Management Team (PMT) organized in every municipality plays a vital role as it leads school improvement projects, and it is a multi-sectoral body composed of government officials, school board, DepEd, the religious sector, the business sector, the health sector, the parent-teacher's association, the barangay, and RAFI, to name a few.
The PMT of the municipality of Liloan consists of 11 participants composed of the different sectors from the town.
As part of the orientation activity, the participants were given a chance to write down what they believe are lacking in the education system and the schools today.
Some of the answers were “capacitate more education stakeholders,” “instructional competence of the teachers,” “lack of facilities and school supplies,” and “community participation.”
The participants were then introduced to EQUIP-CEBU’s goals and framework, and the issues that need to be changed wherein they engaged themselves in an interactive discussion on the importance of community and local government involvement and the PMT’s role in improving school governance.
“We have this principle, if you give a man a fish, he will eat for a day. If you teach him how to fish, he will eat for a lifetime. If you teach him how to make a fishing business, he will eat for a lifetime and share to others as well. RAFI will only guide, the PMT and the community will be the ones implementing it,” Flores said.
Isaiah Wagas, Secondary School head representative said that “although EQUIP-CEBU is still in the initial stage, I can just foresee that it can certainly help the school and empower the community so they will be able to become viable and bankable supporters of the school operations.”
“I think I am ready and we are ready because we accepted the challenge not just because we intend to show to the world but because I do believe that we have the heart for the project," he added. (rmn/AS/RAFI/PIA-7, CEBU)