To increase their income

PALO, Leyte- Senator Cynthia Villar urged coconut farmers to go into inter-cropping saying they could earn more in doing so.
Villar, who was in this town Thursday (Oct.13) to grace the regional cooperative center on climate change and mitigation, said that big farmers in the country are into inter-cropping reason why they earn big.
“If we just remain on planting coconut trees, that’s only (equivalent) to P50 a day; it should only be a sideline. We have to intercrop high value crops like corn, cacao, coffee or vegetables,” the senator said.
“We should have varied sources of income so that if one is not available, there are still other sources where we can earn,” she said.
Villar noted that considering of the impacts of supertyphoon ‘Yolanda’ to coconut farmers in the region, in particular, coconut farmers should really go into inter-cropping.
Over a million of coconut farmers in the region suffered economic losses when the region was pummeled by Yolanda in 2013.
The regional office of the Philippine Coconut Authority had earlier reported that 33 million coconut trees with a value of P16 billion were lost due to Yolanda.
The PCA has also urged the coconut farmers to go into inter-cropping.
Sen. Villar said that poverty could also be significantly reduced if coconut farmers will also practice inter-cropping.
“The best way to reduce poverty is to empower our farmers and even fishermen because they are the poorest in the country. So, if we are able to increase their income, then we are able to reduce poverty,” the senator said.
Incidentally, Eastern Visayas is now the second poorest region in the country after Yolanda’s onslaught as production of the agriculture sector suffered massive decline.
(JOEY A. GABIETA)

Miss International Queen bet

TACLOBAN CITY– Camille Anderson may be the representative of the United States in this year’s Miss International Queen beauty tilt but she remains proud of her lineage- she is from this city.
The Miss International Queen is a beauty and brain search for transgender women and is staged in Pattaya City, Thailand since 2004.
The current title holder is a Filipina transgender, Trixie Maristela.
“The pageant will give me an opportunity to reach out to many people to help raise awareness about the transgender community,” said Anderson, 36, whose real name is Kim Cordeta-Hudec and works as an Oncology nurse in Los Angeles, California.
She specializes in critical care nursing, as well as administering chemotherapy and biotherapy to cancer patients.
“ As a nurse to cancer patients, I help them physically, emotionally and mentally, giving them hope not to give up,” Anderson explained the nature of her work at Torrance Memorial.
She finished her Nursing at the Remedios Trinidad Romualdez Medical Foundation, this city in March 2001. She is an achiever being the class president of the nursing college and also awarded Academic Excellence Class Nightingaleans.
She moved to the US on April 2001.
“I am very proud of my Filipino ancestry. It is my roots; being raised in Tacloban City influenced me a lot with my values and motivated me to reach my goals in life,” she said.
“I am blessed to have the support of my family, and friends and encouragement from many people especially my husband who pushes me and motivates me to the best of my ability,” Anderson added.
The beauty queen, who counts dancing, skiing, among others, as her hobbies, is married to Marco Anderson, a model and an athlete for three years now.
When she was growing up, she knew she always wanted to become a beauty queen and she worked for it.
She was crowned as Miss USA and Miss Los Angeles Pride of both in 2014 and last year, as the Queen Universe.
“I believe that beauty pageants does not only showcase beauty and glamour but also gives one an opportunity to become a role model for so many people who suffer low self-esteem and fear of coming-out,” Anderson said.
“Everything should be perfect. Now that I am an official candidate, I want to enjoy the pageant. I am grateful and excited for this journey,” she said.
Anderson said that winning the titles opened so many doors for her to participate in fund raising events and outreach programs that benefit the LGBT(lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) community and the under privileged youth.
When Tacloban was barreled by supertyphoon ‘Yolanda’ in 2013, she came to the city, wearing her Queen Universe crown.
Not only she was able to visit her family but also initiated a food drive, gave toys to children and spent ample time with them.
Mykel Tenefrancia, a top-notch make-up artist from Tacloban will fly to Thailand as member of team USA do her face.
The pageant will officially start on October 30 and will have its coronation night on November 11 in Pattaya, Thailand. (VICKY C. ARNAIZ)