TACLOBAN CITY– The regional office of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) said in a statement that some beneficiaries of their program had graduated high school.

These includes 15 Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) grantees whose studies were stopped due to poverty and because they married early.

These parents graduated from high school through Alternative Learning System at Hinabangan Central Elementary School.

“These 4Ps beneficiaries proved that poverty and age are not hindrances from pursuing their dreams to continue schooling,” the DSWD-8 said in the statement.

The 15 graduates are part of the 3rd batch of ALS program at the Hinabangan Central Elementary School in Hinabangan, Samar.

Aside from the 4Ps completers, some children-in-conflict with the law (CICL) who are residents at the Regional Rehabilitation Center for the Youth (RCCY), a DSWD facility located in Tanauan town had also finished Senior High School and complete their Junior High.

The RRCY is a residential facility that provides intensive treatment for the rehabilitation of male CICLs whose sentences have been suspended, and as a nurturing out-of-home placement to enhance their psychological, emotional, and psychosocial well-being.

At least five CICLs had graduated from their senior high school, three junior high completers, and 16 other students had advanced to the next grade level.

Six students graduated with honors, 24 students received conduct awards, six students for outstanding performance in the arts, three students for outstanding performance in literature, and two students were given the leadership award.

Formal education inside the facility started in 2020 after the DSWD and the Department of Education Leyte Division signed a memorandum of agreement to open a class inside the rehabilitation facility for Grades 7 to 12.

“The graduation and moving up ceremony served as a powerful reminder that the unwavering support of the government and the community can empower CICLs to overcome their past and build a brighter future,” the DSWD-8 statement added.
(ROEL T. AMAZONA)

TACLOBAN CITY-A village in Padre Burgos town, Southern Leyte was hit by African Fever Swine (ASF) which resulted depopulation of 200 pigs.

However, due to timely intervention by the local government unit, the ASF cases that affected Barangay Tangkaan is now under control, says its agriculture officer Cesar Tinambacan.

According to Tinambacan, the first cases of ASF in the village, which is about 2.5 kms away from the town proper, were noticed during the last week of June.
“The spread was so fast that about 200 pigs were affected by the ASF as of this week. But it is now under control as we were able to stop its spread (to other villages),” he said in a phone interview.

All ASF-affected pigs were buried to ensure it would not affect other healthy pigs in the village, Tinambacan said.

The occurrence of the ASF in Tangkaan could be due to pigs brought from Mindanao where there are ASF cases, he disclosed.

It was learned from Tinambacan that about 50 hog raisers in Tangkaan were affected by the ASF.

This is not the first time that Padre Burgos reported of ASF cases.

Last year, about 20 pigs from Brgy. Santo Rosario were also affected by ASF.

Based on the records of the regional office of the Department of Agriculture (DA), Eastern Visayas had 13,366 ASF cases since 2021, the year said disease was first noticed in Abuyog town in Leyte.

The department is calling the hog raisers to immediately coordinate with their respective local government units if they see signs or suspect that their pigs of a possible ASF.

Among the measures recommended by the DA include avoid swill feeding; observe sanitation in the surrounding; and have their hogs regularly checked by an expert, among others.
(JOEY A. GABIETA)

CATARMAN, Northern Samar– Fourteen out of 24 towns of the province of Northern Samar are included in the list of implementation areas for the Philippine Multisectoral Nutrition Program (PMNP) of the Department of Health (DOH) and Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).

This was learned from Felicita Borata, DOH Region 8 Nutrition Program Manager in a press conference held at PIA Provincial Office as part of the program launch on August 3.
The 14 PMNP-recipient towns are Biri, Capul, Gamay, Laoang, Las Navas, Lavezares, Lope de Vega, Mapanas, Palapag, Pambujan, Rosario, San Roque, Silvino Lobos, and Victoria.
Borata sought the support of the media, other sectors particularly the LGUs concerned, for the success of the program.

The Philippine Multisectoral Nutrition Program is a specific nutrition intervention to reduce stunting, respond to other nutrition issues and improve behavior and practices in selective and identified local government units which will run for four years with four implementation phases.

Lavezares Mayor Edito Saludaga expressed his gratitude for being one of the LGU recipients of the program. He disclosed that based on statistics 15% of their children 5 years old and below are stunted and malnourished, and that accounts for 1 out of 7 children in his town.
“I know that this will succeed because it is a joint project of the two best departments of the government, the DSWD and DOH, so I am very positive and enthusiastic that this program will really help solve the problem of malnutrition in our municipality,” said Saludaga.

“On my part, whatever the strategy that will be imposed by this program, we will follow. I support this project 110 percent,” he said.

The design and intervention of PMNP are enclosed in three components: strengthened delivery of nutrition and primary health services; community-based nutrition service, delivery and multisectoral nutrition convergence; and institutional strengthening, monitoring and evaluation.

The PMNP implementation structure flows from collaboration at the national level through the Inter-Agency Task Force for Zero Hunger (IATF-ZH) which is the Project Steering Committee. Under it is the management with PMNP National Technical Working Group from DOH, DSWD, NNC, DA, DILG, FNRI and OCS, while implementation will be spearheaded by the DOH and DSWD.

(MMP/ADiaz/PIA Northern Samar)

Department of Budget and Management (DBM) Secretary Amenah F. Pangandaman on Thursday, August 3, signed with Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) President/CEO Lynette V. Ortiz a memorandum of agreement on the use of a Government Purchase Card (GPC) that simplifies, in a faster, cost-efficient way, the purchase of goods and services by government agencies.

The GPC — a charge/credit card to be issued and facilitated by Landbank to authorized government personnel, and programmed with pre-assigned credit limits and merchant restrictions — is part of DBM’s pursuit of the government’s Digital Transformation program for the entire bureaucracy.

It can be used to pay for government agencies’ immediate miscellaneous expenses without going through the time-consuming paperwork and requisition process.

Secretary Pangandaman hailed the MOA signing as an important collaboration with Land Bank — a milestone for cost savings and another step towards the achievement of bureaucratic efficiency and ease of doing business.

“In December last year, we were gathered here for the agreement signing of the online release of the Notice of Cash Allocation (NCA). As I have stated then, the online release of NCAs through the DBM’s Action Document Releasing System will save the government approximately P2.8 million per month, or P33 million annually… And now… with the agreement signing of another game-changing digital initiative, the use of a Government Purchase Card or GPC, I would like to express my sincerest gratitude to the Land Bank of the Philippines for partnering with us and making sure that this initiative will be implemented at the soonest possible time,” said Secretary Pangandaman.

“It will significantly reduce administrative costs by lessening cash and check handling and paperwork; simplifying reconciliation processes; shortening the requisition process; and promoting employee convenience. The GPC will also enhance control by having a pre-defined credit limit feature, expense capture and monitoring, and a secure payment process, the Budget Secretary added.

LBP CEO Ortiz reaffirmed the government financial institution’s adherence to the responsibilities of good governance.

“Land Bank is certainly one with the DBM in the shared commitment of enhanced operational efficiency, transparency, and accountability in the disbursement of public funds. Through the GPC, we aim to further streamline the purchase of goods and services, thereby the delivery of meaningful and responsive public service,” Ortiz said.

“Following the successful partnerships with the Bureau of Treasury (Btr) and Department of Finance (DOF), we are confident that DBM will also benefit from the use of GPC to eliminate procurement lead time, facilitate quicker payments, and lowered administrative costs for purchases. Just to share with you, from January to June 2023 alone, the Land Bank GPC has facilitated for the BTr and the DOF 998 combined transactions with a value of P5.1 million for various purchases and payments,” Ortiz added.

Among the GPC’s features are a 30-day revolving credit with full settlement on due date; access to point-of-sale and e-commerce transactions; global acceptance; email alerts for all GPC transactions regardless of amount; and electronic statements of account.
Its benefits for government agencies include reduced administrative costs; enhanced control of expenses and cash liquidity management. (PR)