Day: April 5, 2024

The city government assured its constituents on Friday that water supply would continue amid the supplier’s deadline to cut off its services.

In a media briefing, Mayor Rolando Uy said should the April 12 deadline set by the Cagayan de Oro Bulk Water Inc. (COBI) be enforced for Cagayan de Oro Water District (COWD) to settle its obligations, the local government will tap another provider.

Uy said the city council will hold a special session to approve a no-objection resolution allowing the city to directly source its water from the Rio Verde Water Consortium through the COWD.

“I would like to assure the Kagay-anons that they have no reason to fear losing water even if COBI disconnects its service,” he said.

COBI, which sources its water directly from Rio Verde, extended its deadline to COWD to settle its collectibles worth PHP426 million to April 12.

However, COWD said its board has not approved a resolution to pay the amount.

Councilor Edgar Cabanlas, co-chair of the Task Force on Water Supply and Dist
ribution, confirmed in a radio interview on Friday that their fact-finding subcommittee recommended canceling the bulk water supply contract between COWD and COBI ahead of their submission of the consolidated report to Uy.

Cabanlas said they would send the report to the Commission on Audit to decide whether to file charges against those involved in negotiating the contract.

“We will also send the report to the COWD’s board of directors because the main party involved here is not the city but the water district,” he said.

Cabanlas said the COWD board might use the committee report to cancel the contract with COBI.

Under the contract with COBI, COWD will implement an incremental PHP3 increase in water rates every three years. (PNA)

Source: Philippines News Agency

MANILA : The Commission on Population and Development (CPD) on Friday urged Filipino couples to observe and be educated about family planning despite the recorded drop of fertility rate in the country in the past few years, especially during the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic.

“Our prescription in the Commission on Population and Development is still family planning. The importance of planning when, where, how many ang gusto mong maging anak para makamit mo yung (children you want to have and achieve your) aspirations as a family,” CPD Knowledge Management and Communications acting Division Chief Mylin Quiray said during an interview with Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon.

Based on the qualitative study commissioned by CPD to the Philippine Statistical Research and Training Institute, the drop in fertility rate was observed as early as 2017 and 2018 when there was a decline in total registered live births from 1.7 million to 1.6 million, respectively.

The drop was more pronounced in 2020 as only 1.5 mi
llion babies were born. The figure dipped further in 2021 to 1.3 million but rebounded in 2022 at 1.4 million.

In the National Capital Region, Quiray said the average fertility rate, at 1.2, is less than the “replacement level” of 2.2, while the general average among all regions is at 1.9.

Replacement level fertility is the level of fertility at which a population exactly replaces itself from one generation to the next.

But some regions, she said, have fertility rates that are going as high as an average of 3, like the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

Quiray said the regions with high fertility rate, as well as others with the lower rates, should be more educated about family planning to achieve the demographic dividend with a higher working age population that can support the dependent population (ages 0-14, and 65 and over).

She urged couples in urbanized regions who tend to prioritize their work more, or to contribute to the economic growth than to start having children, to still obser
ve family planning so they can help increase the country’s workforce (aged 15-64) and help support the dependent population (aged 0-14 and the 65 and over).

“Baka naman gusto niyong i-consider, lalo na kung kaya niyo naman (Maybe you want to consider, especially if you’re capable) to add to the population, to contribute in the working age population who are healthy, educated, and employed,” Quiray said.

The CPD official encouraged them to visit the nearest health center and avail of the free family planning orientation and learn all its modern methods. (PNA)

Source: Philippines News Agency