Safer schools ensure children’s rights to education and survival- Save the Children Philippines
Save the Children Philippines welcomes partnership with the Department of Education and Prudence Foundation in strengthening safety in schools as millions of children face risk of injury, psychosocial trauma and deaths during disasters and emergencies.
The project-Education Safe from Disasters was launched on January 16, 2019 to be implemented by the Department of Education, in partnership with Save the Children Philippines and Prudence Foundation.
The three year project improves the capacity of learners, teachers, schools staff and officials on disaster preparedness and risk reduction. It also integrates safety and disaster resiliency in the construction and retrofitting of school buildings. The program will be pilot tested in 16 schools division in Metro Manila.
The Philippines ranks third in the 2016 World Risk Index of the most disaster prone countries in the world. Every year, the country is hit by almost all forms of natural and man-made calamities like typhoons, earthquakes, floods, volcanic eruptions, landslides. Lingering armed conflict in Mindanao and parts of Visayas continue to disrupt classes and displace families and children.
Lawyer Albert Muyot, Chief Executive Officer of Save the Children Philippines said safety in schools guarantee children’s rights to survival and basic education.
Learners spend five to eight hours in schools during weekdays and their safety and security should be ensured while they are away from parents and guardians.
From 2007 to 2012, a total of 11 Million schoolchildren in the Philippines were affected by major disasters jeopardizing their rights to education and survival.
“Children face the harshest impact of disasters and emergencies, as they miss out on school, suffer injury and worse, deaths,” said Muyot. “We welcome the Education Safe from Disasters as part of our comprehensive child-rights based response to the needs of learners before, during and after disasters and emergencies.”
Save the Children Philippines has been providing emergency response during disasters by establishing Child Friendly Space (CFS) where displaced children can play and learn and Temporary Learning Space (TLS) where school age children can attend alternative classes.
The organization has provided interventions for thousands of displaced children during typhoon Mangkhut (Ompong) that hit Northern Luzon provinces and armed conflict in Marawi. (PR)
On feeding program budget
The move of the Senate to increase the Department of Education (DepEd) budget for school feeding from P3.97-billion to P7.58-billion is commendable enough but it could have ill-effects and disadvantages if the program implementation is not closely monitored.
Without any doubt, this on-going program is advantageous to the students and pupils particularly those who come from hard up families. It could promote proper nutrition, eradicate hunger, build up a healthier young generation, and even attract children to schools instead of just roaming around outside doing drugs and vices.
Drawbacks, however, are likewise accompanying this program. One such downside is the indolence that results on the part of parents, who eventually just rely on the feeding program for the sustenance of their children. They are not urged to work hard anymore since they can’t see its necessity. If millions of families nationwide will just rely on the feeding program so their children could eat, they would become a great burden for the government and the tax-paying citizens.
Moreover, this program needs constant monitoring from anti-corruption measures of the government because, per observation, some of its school budgets are not spent for the children’s feeding but are siphoned into the pockets of corrupt school officials. Now that additional budgets are on the way, the more that they will likely be malversed—to the government’s loss.
While the Senate is acting in a heroic manner with this additional budgetary allocation, there should also be effective mechanisms that should monitor the feeding program implementation so that the children will indeed benefit from it and the government’s funds will not go to waste.
Eastern Visayas engineers brace for strong quakes
TACLOBAN CITY — The Association of Structural Engineers of the Philippines (ASEP) has been raising the capability of civil engineers to compose the post-earthquake response team and assess damaged buildings.
Training of civil engineers is badly needed since the country is highly vulnerable to destructive earthquakes, said Ferdinand Briones, ASEP regional coordinator for Eastern Visayas (Region 8).
“This is our advocacy to make structures and communities resilient to various hazards. Among our key activities are vulnerability and risk assessment of structures, and capacity building and training,” said Briones, who also heads the Department of Public Works and Highways Northern Samar 2nd district engineering office.
Hundreds of civil engineers, both from private and government sectors of different parts of the region, on Thursday gathered in this city for a two-day training on the group’s disaster mitigation, preparedness and response program.
ASEP has been deploying its volunteers after destructive earthquakes to check buildings, certify if the structure is safe or not, and submit recommendations to local government units.
In 2017, ASEP-Eastern Visayas dispatched responders after the magnitude 6.7 Surigao earthquake on Feb. 10, 2017 that killed eight people and the magnitude 6.5 earthquake in Leyte that killed four people.
“Since we need more volunteers, we have been conducting training in different provinces. These teams of experts can be deployed anywhere in the country where their services are needed after a disaster,” said ASEP national director Cesar Pabalan said.
ASEP is the recognized organization of Structural Engineers of the Philippines. Established in 1961, ASEP has been in existence for more than five decades. The group is known for its publications, such as the different volumes of the National Structural Code of the Philippines and the approved referral codes of the Philippine National Building Code. (SARWELL Q.MENIANO/PNA)
Leyte town honors its outstanding people, business establishments
Carigara celebrates its 448th founding anniversary
CARIGARA, Leyte- As part of the 448th founding anniversary of this town, a number of individuals and groups were awarded of the Datu Gara Awards on January 23.
According to Dale Daniel Bodo, executive assistant of Mayor Eduardo Ong, in- charge of socio-cultural and tourism affairs of Carigara, the Datu Gara Awards is part of the week-long celebration of the town’s 448th founding anniversary dubbed as ‘Magara sa Carigara.’
The awards is the recognition the outstanding contribution of the Kalgaran-ons to the advancement and prestige of the municipality.
Among those recognized were eight employees of the municipal government received loyalty awards for serving the local government unit for more than 25 years.
A former councilor, Anita Villalino, was also recognized by the municipal government while a teacher, Liza Espina, was recognized as the best SPED teacher.
A farmer’s group, Cutay Gudti na Parag-uma, was given recognition as an awardee of the Department of Labor and Employment.
The Fatima Multi-Purpose Cooperative Carigara Cassava Cluster was also honored as it garnered the 2nd runner-up- in the cassava Cluster Management Excellence Award.
Different barangay health stations among them were in Barangay Jugaban having the highest number of blood donors; Brgy. Ponong for achieving 1% of target population of blood donors; Brgy.Guindaponan East as the LGU with highest percentage and one of the highest number of blood donors; and of Brgy. Baruguhay Norte with the highest number of blood donors.
Several barangays were also given award for the outstanding performance of their Lupong Tagapamayapa, namely, Baybay, East Guindapunan, East Visoria, Baruguhay Central and Ponong.
The villages of Baruguhay Central, Tagak, Bagong Lipunan, Ponong, and Parena were given seal of good local governance-barangay level.
The municipal government, under Mayor Eduardo Ong, also bestowed awards to outstanding taxpayers of the town, Shoppers Budget Inc., Leyte-Samar Farmers Center, RAQ Farm Food Corporation, Rodriguez Burger and Bread Corporation Baudillio Sevilla Jao, Honda Motor World, Ramas Uypitcing Sons Inc., Eric Joseph Q. Tolo, LBC Express, Inc., and Linda Imus Misagal.
Another set of outstanding tax payers were given recognition in terms of real property tax: J and F Department Store Inc., Trinidad Apostol, Aileen Combinido, Baudillo Jao, and Vevincio Lim.
The composer and lyricist of Magara Festival jingle, Rodolfo Parena and Neil Salarda were also honored during the event. (LIZBETH ANN A. ABELLA)
Farm-to-market road benefits farmers in a rural E. Samar village
BORONGAN CITY- Residents in Barangay Anislag, Quinapondan, Eastern Samar are now experiencing faster delivery of their products with the completion of the farm-to-market road (FMR) with cheaper transportation cost.
Brgy. Anislag is 6.40 km from Quinapondan town proper is nestled on a hilly and mountainous area.
“For so long ago, farmers used to travel by foot or carabao with their farm products. In the early 90’s, there already existed a gravel road. Residents travelled by motorcycle and tricycle with more or less 45 minutes to one hour from Brgy. Anislag,” farmer Rolly Pagadora said.
He said when the road was really in a poor condition, the farmers spent so much time in delivering their products so that they needed to transport their cargoes twice: first, by carabao and then by motorcycle.
“After we harvested our crops such as vegetables, root crops, bananas and coconuts, we had difficulty in selling them because the hauling cost was too expensive. We endured high transportation cost and long travel time that greatly affected the quality of our products and our income,” said Pagadora.
“These were some of our struggles until the Subsidiary Grant Agreement (SGA) came bringing the road concreting project to Quinapondan town and to our poor barangay,” he said.
The national government secured a financial contribution in the form of a grant from the Federal Republic of Germany under the Financing and Project Agreement (FPA) between the Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) and the LGU of Quinapondan through SGA under the Yolanda Reconstruction Program (YRP), said Marites Servano, the municipal planning and development coordinator.
Under this agreement, P40 million came from SGA and P10 million from LGU Quinapondan as counterpart fund or equity.
“Because of the completion of the 4.5 km FMR with a bridge, the travel time now is only 20 minutes to 25 minutes and delivery of our farm products to the market is easier,” Barangay Councilor Linda Baston said.
She thanked the national government, Federal Republic of Germany, and LGU Quinapondan because of the positive changes brought by the project implemented in their area.
The FMR with bridge did not only benefit the farmers but also the high school students when going to school from Barangay Anislag to Quinapondan, the village councilor said.
(NBQ/SDC/PIA-EASTERN SAMAR)