Author: ltadmin

CALAPAN CITY: Headline inflation in the five-province Mimaropa region eased to 3.4 percent in February, down slightly from the 3.6 percent registered in the year’s opening month.

In an interview on Wednesday, Ana Patricia Ramos, statistical specialist II at the Philippine Statistics Authority-Mimaropa, attributed the inflation slowdown mainly to the easing of price pressures in electricity and cooking fuel.

Ramos said inflation on liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) actually reversed to negative 1.8 percent last month from positive 7.3 percent in January.

Inflation on consumers’ power bills also decelerated substantially to 5 percent in February from 9.1 percent the previous month.

Ramos said softer inflation in several highly-weighted items last month, top-billed by housing, water, electricity and gas, managed to offset sustained price pressures on rice.

She added that inflation on rice accelerated to 15.8 percent last month from 11.3 percent in January.

It was further reported that the region’s food index m
odestly accelerated to 3.1 percent last month from 2.6 percent in January, mostly because of the uptick in rice prices.

However, vegetables, tubers, plantains, cooking bananas and legumes registered negative inflation of 9.8 percent, softening the overall blow on food inflation.

In February 2023, food inflation in Mimaropa was significantly higher at 11.2 percent.

Source: Philippines News Agency

BAGUIO CITY: About 1,077 seniors aged 80 to 95 years in this city are expected to receive cash aid after President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. signed into law Republic Act (RA) 11982 granting benefits to octogenarians and nonagenarians in February.

Liza Bulayungan, chief of the City Social Welfare and Development Office (CSWDO), in a media interview on Wednesday, said there are 848 citizens aged 80 to 89 years, and 229 residents aged 90 to 99 years here.

RA 11982, signed last Feb. 26, grants PHP10,000 cash gift for Filipinos, residing in the Philippines or abroad, when they turn 80, 85, 90 and 95 years old. The beneficiaries will still receive PHP100,000 upon reaching 100 years old.

‘The office advises octogenarians and nonagenarians in the city who will benefit from the law to wait for further advice as to how they can avail of the incentive,’ she said, adding they are still waiting for the law’s implementing rules and regulations (IRR).

Source: Philippines News Agency

DUMAGUETE CITY: The Bureau of Fire Protection chief in Negros Oriental has sounded the alarm over the continued rise in the number of fire incidents in the province during the first quarter of the year.

The province has recorded 64 fire incidents, structural and non-structural, since January 1, according to Supt. Noel Nelson Ababon, provincial fire marshal, during a forum hosted by the Philippine Information Agency.

Of the number, structural fires totaled 30, while non-structural fires totaled 34 as of March 5, Ababon said.

The country commemorates March as fire prevention month.

In 2023, the BFP responded to 222 fire incidents, with a monthly average of 18.

Ababon said the ongoing El Niño was one of the major factors that contributed to the high incidence of fire.

‘For me, this is now alarming but we have to consider El Niño this year, a factor that could have contributed to the rise in fire incidents due to the extreme heat brought about by the phenomenon,’ he said in Cebuano.

Ababon said the most co
mmon cause of the fire was electrical, although some were ignited by open flame.

Many cases this year are still under investigation as fire investigators are given 45 days to determine the cause of a fire, he said.

Another factor that heightened fire risks is flammable items in homes, such as furniture made out of synthetic materials, he added.

The provincial fire marshal is hopeful that with various interventions, the number of fire incidents in Negros Oriental will be fewer than last year.

The BFP here is already implementing the Community Fire Protection Plan in every barangay, with one fire personnel assigned in each village.

Meanwhile, Chief Insp. Marlon Chomling, city fire marshal here, identified at least nine barangays that are ‘fire-prone’, usually due to dense populations.

These are the barangays of Bagacay, Looc, Calindagan, Bajumpandan, Banilad, Bantayan, Piapi, Daro, and Talay, Chomling said.

The city fire chief disclosed they are proposing to establish sub-stations, especially in outskirt
s barangays to cut down on response time.

Chomling is also hopeful that additional fire hydrants will be established in this capital city.

Ababon, also urged local leaders to seek additional funding for the procurement of more fire trucks.

He admitted that the current fleet of 34 fire trucks in the province is not enough if fire callouts happen simultaneously.

Source: Philippines News Agency

BAGUIO CITY: Households and business establishments here have been told to help save water by recycling it and minimizing wastage.

‘Local carwash establishments should start to use only the right amount of water to clean vehicles to avoid wastage. Households, especially those with gardens can do the same when watering their plants,’ Gabriel Keith, Baguio City assistant information officer, said in an interview Tuesday night.

Keith noted that during a recent meeting of city officials, there was a report on the observed decrease in water pressure from deep well water sources, which could affect the supply in the city.

‘We have to help each other save water and use water conscientiously,’ he said.

The Baguio Water District (BWD) earlier reported that they maintain 63 deep wells, 77 pumping stations, four spring sources, and two rainwater catchment facilities, serving a total of 48,450 active connections across the city.

Keith said city officials are expecting an extended El Niño until June, hence the need t
o prepare for the worst.

According to the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) website, El Niño increases the likelihood of below-normal rainfall conditions, which could bring dry spells and drought in some parts of the country.

The city government has asked the National Water Resources Board (NWRB) for deputization so it could close illegal deep wells that cause the over-extraction of groundwater, especially in the city’s watersheds.

Keith also said that during recent visits to the Buyog and Busol watersheds, two of the major sources of water for household use, it was observed that the trees seemed to have lost their vitality, which could be a result of the over-extraction of groundwater.

BWD manager Salvador Royeca earlier encouraged homeowners and commercial establishments to install rain catchment facilities to augment supply, noting that the water supply provider is drilling additional wells to ensure more supply.

Source: Philippines News Agency

MANILA: The Climate Change Commission (CCC) and the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) recently convened national government instrumentalities (NGIs) for the annual Climate Change Expenditure Tagging (CCET) Orientation, in a bid to effectively mainstream climate action in the government’s plans and programs.

The workshop is in support of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s 8-point socioeconomic agenda and the implementation of climate change provisions in the Philippine Development Plan 2023-2028.

Aligned with the National Budget Call for FY2025, this year’s CCET Orientation provided up-to-date information on NGIs’ climate budget programming.

It was attended by 351 NGIs, comprised of budget officers, planning officers, and climate change focals of National Government Agencies (NGAs), agency members of the Program Convergence Budgeting (PCB) Risk Resiliency Program (RRP), state universities and colleges (SUCs), and government-owned or -controlled corporations (GOCCs).

CCC Vice Chairperson and Execut
ive Director Robert Borje emphasized the importance of efficient and effective climate change expenditure tracking.

‘As stewards of public funds, your roles extend beyond routine budgeting and programming. You help build the architecture of our nation’s climate resilience,’ Borje said.

‘Your meticulous planning, programming, and budgeting activities are the building blocks that contribute to the success of CCET and our nation’s adaptation and mitigation strategies,’ he added.

For his part, DBM Undersecretary Joselito Basilio asked planning and budget officers and climate change technical representatives ‘to be at the forefront of the national government’s transformative climate agenda.’

The orientation marks the beginning of the CCET Quality Assurance and Review (QAR) approval process where the CCC reviews the climate-related programs identified.

NGIs are expected to submit their climate budget proposals to CCC from March 13 to April 12, 2024 for issuance of an approval letter, as part of the DBM’s requi
rement for climate budget tagging.

The CCET serves as the government’s tool to track, monitor, and report public climate expenditures within its annual appropriations.

For 2024, the government has allotted P457.41 billion for climate change in the General Appropriations Act (GAA).

Source: Philippines News Agency

TACLOBAN CITY: The 335,105-hectare Samar Island Natural Park (SINP) has been included in the Tentative List of nominees for the UNESCO World Heritage Site for its natural wonders.

UNESCO said the SINP, home to the largest tract of relatively intact lowland forest in the country and a rich population of dipterocarp species, is one of the 24 sites in the Philippines that made it to the list.

‘In our long bid for SINP to become a UNESCO World Heritage Site, we are ecstatic to now be included in the tentative listing. A proud moment for all people in Samar,’ Governor Sharee Ann Tan said in a statement on Wednesday.

In 2018, Tan pushed for the inclusion of SINP on the UNESCO list.

Governors from Northern Samar and Eastern Samar supported the campaign.

Department of Tourism (DOT) Eastern Visayas regional director Karina Rosa Tiopes is optimistic that they will soon have the first UNESCO World Heritage Site in the region.

‘To be included on this Tentative List, sites must be of outstanding universal value and
meet at least one out of 10 selection criteria. We are proud to say that the SINP met not just one, but three of these criteria,’ Tiopes added.

These criteria are the superlative natural phenomena or areas of exceptional natural beauty and aesthetic importance; the development of terrestrial, freshwater, coastal, and marine ecosystems and communities of plants and animals; and the presence of significant natural habitats for in situ conservation of biological diversity, including those containing threatened species.

SINP is the largest contiguous tract of old-growth forest in the Philippines and the country’s largest terrestrial protected area.

The buffer is spread north to south over the island’s three provinces and totals 458,700 hectares, or about a third of the entire island of Samar.

The park is also a center of plant and animal diversity and endemism, containing threatened species belonging to the Eastern Visayas and Mindanao biogeographic regions.

Also inside the SINP are well-known natural landma
rks Sohoton Cave and Natural Bridge National Park; Calbiga Cave, the country’s largest and the second largest cave in Asia; and the more than 100-kilometer Ulot River, the longest river in Eastern Visayas that starts from the upland town of San Jose de Buan, Samar, and ends in the Pacific Coastal town of Can-avid, Eastern Samar.

The park is also home to the critically endangered Philippine Eagle, which has been spotted in the forested areas of Taft and Paranas towns.

Since the park was declared a protected area in 2003, a total of 33 species of mammals, 215 species of birds, 51 species of reptiles, 26 species of amphibians, and 1,000 species of plants have been recorded inside the SINP.

Source: Philippines News Agency