Day: April 11, 2023

The city government of this Negros Oriental provincial capital will pay tribute to World War II and post-war veterans when it commemorates its 78th Liberation Day on April 26. The city had to forego the usual April 9 nationwide celebration of Day of Valor (Araw ng Kagitingan) to give emphasis to the commemoration of local heroes, said retired Judge Rafael Crescencio Tan in an interview Tuesday with the Philippine News Agency. Tan, the post commander of the 4th Dumaguete City Veterans Post and the district president of the VFP’s Sons and Daughters Association here, said he has requested the city to celebrate Liberation Day as mandated by law. Both deceased and living WWII veterans will be given tribute during the liberation day ceremony, although the attendees are mostly post-war veterans, he said. Assistant Secretary Restituto Aguila, deputy administrator of the Philippine Veterans Affairs Office (PVAO), will be the keynote speaker while Mayor Felipe Antonio Remollo will deliver his inspirational message, he added. There are less than 10 living WWII veterans in this capital, but the WWII-Veterans Federation of the Philippines Sons and Daughters Association, Inc. will be on hand to represent deceased veterans’ next-of-kin, Tan said. The liberation day commemoration will be held at the Quezon Park here, with a wreath-laying ceremony at the Rizal monument, the playing of taps, three volleys of fire, and a medical mission. Tan, meanwhile, said they are now working on putting up a Heroes Wall of Fame at the Silliman University (SU) here. ‘The Wall of Fame will feature SU’s graduates of ROTC (Reserved Officers’ Training Corps) who died during World War II,’ he said. The Silliman University’s ROTC was the first unit activated in the Philippines to serve in WWII alongside the United States armed forces, he added. The PVAO has promised to help fund the project, which Tan said is expected to be finished before the end of the year.

Source: Philippines News Agency

Four died from drowning in Pangasinan province and two in La Union during the Holy Week holiday from April 6 to 10, according to the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Offices (PDRRMO) of the two provinces in the Ilocos Region. In an interview on Tuesday, Pangasinan PDRRMO operations and training head Vincent Chu said two drowned in Dagupan City, one in Infanta town, and another in Tayug town. Aside from the drowning incidents, jellyfish stinging incidents and petty crimes were also recorded during the Holy Week. ‘They were given first aid and one of the victims of the jellyfish sting was brought to the hospital but they were all safe. There were also missing children who were reunited immediately to their families and petty crimes, which were reported to the police. But overall, it was generally peaceful,’ he said. Tourist destinations in the province, especially the beaches, were at full capacity throughout the Holy Week. Along with it came the heaps of garbage left by tourists. ‘We have been constantly reminding the tourists to observe proper waste disposal as these were left at the beaches,’ he said. Meanwhile, La Union PDRRMO officer Aureliano Rullada III, in his report, said two people died from drowning in the province, while 31 other tourists got injured from jellyfish stings, near-drowning incidents, road crashes, and other health issues. Drowning victims in La Union included a nine-year-old who hails from Pangasinan who drowned at Sudipen, and a 42-year-old who drowned in Aringay town. Authorities also responded to a forest fire in Bauang town, and a grass fire at San Fernando City. The Ilocos Region is under blue alert due to a weather disturbance within the Philippine Area of Responsibility. ‘We are in continuous monitoring and we are ready for search and rescue,’ Chu said.

Source: Philippines News Agency

Ilocos Norte’s provincial board on Tuesday unanimously approved a resolution urging local government units to restore the employment of bet takers or ‘kristos’ in licensed cockpits. In sponsoring the resolution, provincial board member Franklin Dante Respicio said more than 200 bet-takers in the province’s 21 towns and two cities have lost their livelihood when the oral placing of bets was replaced by betting machines due to the coronavirus disease 2019. Respicio said as businesses went back to normal operations, however, the affected ‘kristos” also have the “right to earn for a decent living and to provide subsistence for their families.’ Ilocos Norte has seven accredited cockpits, four of which are using betting machines. These are located in Laoag City, and in the towns of Badoc, Pasuquin, and Dingras. The provincial board recommended that under the grant of a franchise to cockpit operators, bet takers should be allowed to take turns in scheduled cockfights. In February last year, Ilocos Norte Governor Matthew Joseph Manotoc allowed the operation of licensed cockpits in the province, subject to minimum public health standards. The three-page Executive Order 175-22 signed by the governor states that cockfighting will only be allowed in a licensed cockpit per municipality at 50 percent venue capacity and exclusive for fully-vaccinated Ilocos Norte residents who are 18 years and older. Manotoc said “cashless betting and use of technology-based platforms shall also be in place and there shall be no drinking of intoxicating beverages and live streaming” while inside the ring. As to the schedule of operation, cockpits are only allowed one cockfighting day per week from 9 a.m. until 9 p.m. But before participants can enter the cockpit arena, a health desk must also be installed at the main entrance to ensure that all entrants have vaccination cards and pass through thermal scanning. The provincial government disallowed cockfighting, a popular recreation and entertainment among Ilocanos when the pandemic began, as it is considered a superspreader event.

Source: Philippines News Agency

Hog raisers in Negros Occidental province will continue selling live pigs in other areas in the Visayas and Luzon after the neighboring Cebu province extended the pork ban covering the Negros Island for another 15 days or until April 20 to curb African swine fever (ASF) infection. Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz II said on Tuesday that they respect Cebu’s pork ban and sees no problem with it. “There’s no problem with that. We have no complaints from our hog industry. They have a market, they’re happy. They’re selling at a higher price to buyers in Manila,” he told reporters. Negros Occidental, which has a PHP6-billion swine industry, is listed as a dark green zone or ASF-free by the Department of Agriculture. When the ban started on March 6, live pigs sold by raisers in Negros Occidental to buyers in Leyte can no longer pass through the ports in Cebu, prompting the sellers to ship out to Luzon instead, along with other areas in the Visayas. On March 7, Negros Occidental included Cebu, with Bantayan Island and Camotes Island, in its own pork ban, which already covers Luzon, Mindanao, Eastern Visayas, Panay Island and Guimaras Island, which all have reported cases of ASF between 2019 and 2022. Data from the Provincial Veterinary Office showed that since the Cebu pork ban started, 4,031 heads of pigs have already been shipped out by the province to Negros Oriental, Iloilo and Capiz as well as Bulacan, Rizal, and Quezon in Luzon and the cities of Caloocan and Malabon. ‘Even if Cebu extended the ban, our raisers still have outlets. Those not shipped out are being processed into pork by-products,’ Dr. Placeda Lemana, acting provincial veterinarian, said in a radio interview on Tuesday. Lemana earlier said that since Negros Occidental has also banned bringing in pork by-products from Cebu, backyard raisers here have to increase production of processed pork items such as “chorizo and tocino” to meet the local demand.

Source: Philippines News Agency

An additional 40,559 indigent families in Western Visayas will be admitted to the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) this year. Belen Gebusion, chief of the Pantawid Pamilya Pilipino Program Division of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) 6 (Western Visayas), said this was after the region’s share for 4Ps has been increased to 345,919 households this year. The DSWD has delisted 18,203 out of the 94,214 households that were cited to be non-poor after the validation of the result of the Listahanan 3 or the 3rd version of the National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction, an information system that identifies indigent households. The remaining households were recommended for retention and the result is expected before the end of this month. ‘Maybe this is good news for some of the households who have been requesting to be included in the program but unfortunately, not all of them can be included,’ Gebusion said on Tuesday. She said 81,869 families have been identified as potentially eligible beneficiaries in the Listahanan 3 but only 40,559 will be included in the first batch. “The remaining will be filled in if there are households that will exit between April and December,’ she added. Households with three children who are all enrolled were top priority. Gabusion said they are just waiting for the final approval of the list, which is expected by April 15. Last year, a total of 12,949 families in Western Visayas graduated from 4Ps after being assessed to be able to financially stand on their own feet. Eligible households to be admitted to the 4Ps should have a pregnant member, studying children, or members aged 0 to 18 years, and the willingness to comply with the program’s rules. Beneficiaries of the 4Ps also include farmers, fisherfolk, homeless families, indigenous peoples, those in the informal settler sector, and those in geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas, including those in areas without electricity.

Source: Philippines News Agency