TACLOBAN CITY-The Department of Agriculture (DA) Regional Office 8 is activating its Regional Avian Influenza Protection Program Task Force to conduct surveillance and monitoring activities as well as monitoring of prices of poultry commodities.
The activation of the task force was in reaction to the outbreak of avian flu in the province of Pampanga which is now under a state of calamity because of the outbreak Dr. Andrew Rodolfo T. Orais, DA’s assistant director for operations, said.
Orais also announced that there is a temporary ban of movement and transfer of live domestic and wild birds and their products and by- products from Luzon to the Visayas and Mindanao regions and closely coordinating with the Veterinary Quarantine personnel.
As of press time, there is no report of bird to human contamination.
Malacañang released a statement on the outbreak in Pampanga and asked the public to remain calm but be extra vigilant.
A heightened surveillance is in effect for flu-like symptoms in Pampanga within a 7 km radius of the affected farms in Barangay San Luis, Pampanga.
Orais added that the agency is conducting series of meetings with regional veterinarians and getting updates/situationer as well as instructions from the regional office.
This week the Regional Advisory Committee on Animal
Disease Control and Emergency (RAC-ADCE) convened to discuss further the activities based on avian influenza protection program.
(VICKY C. ARNAIZ)
DA assures EV’s chickens are avian-free
Gov. Tan, other Samar officials to join PDP- Laban
TACLOBAN CITY- They too will join the political party of President Rodrigo Duterte.
Samar Governor Sharee Ann Tan together with her younger brother, Vice Governor Stephen James Tan, provincial board members and 19 mayors of the province are slated to take their oath as new recruits of the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino–Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban).
The governor’s mother, Samar Rep. Milagrosa Tan (2nd district) was the first to become a member of the current ruling party.
The governor, who is on her third and last term, is affiliated with the NPC (Nationalist People’s Coalition) while her vice governor brother belonged to the Nacionalista Party.
A total of 19 mayors will be joining Gov. Tan together with all members of the provincial board during their oath-taking as new members of the PDP-Laban next week.
There are 24 town mayors and two city mayors, namely, Calbayog Mayor Ronald Aquino and Catbalogan Mayor Stephany Uy-Tan, wife of Vice Gov. Tan.
Asked why she and other officials of the province will abandon their previous political party, Gov. Tan said that this shows their support to the administration of Pres. Duterte.
“The President is very supportive to the province and there is no reason for us to go against him and not support him,” Tan explained.
Except for Northern Samar Governor Jose Ong and Eastern Samar Gov. Conrado Nicart, all governors of the region now counts as PDP-Laban members. (ROEL T. AMAZONA)
Campaign on illegal drugs may be controversial but helps crime rate drop in EV, Beltejar says
TACLOBAN CITY- The campaign on illegal drugs may be controversial but it helps in the decrease of the commission of other crimes.
Chief Superintendent Elmer Beltejar, police regional director, reported that crime rate in the region has decreased significantly after the national government implemented its war on illegal drugs.
In his report during the joint meeting of the Regional Peace and Order Council and Regional Development Council last Wednesday(August 16), Beltejar narrated that crimes against person and property have dropped covering the January to July of this year.
The crimes committed against persons this year is 15.59 percent lower than last year of the same period. In the actual figure, there were 1,050 cases compared to last year’s 1,244.
On the other hand, there were only 651 cases of committed crimes against property which is 53.37% lower than last year’s 1,396 cases, Beltejar said.
Crimes against persons and properties are often linked by police authorities on the proliferation of illegal drugs, notably methamphetamine hydrochloride or popularly known as ‘shabu.’
The campaign against illegal drugs being waged by President Rodrigo Duterte is being questioned by several human rights advocates to include foreign organizations and governments like the United Nations and the United States.
The campaign has resulted in extrajudicial killings which appeared to be state sponsored,they claimed.
The President and police authorities like the Philippine National Police, however, debunk this allegation.
Beltejar said that because of their strong campaign against shabu, its supply in the region has considerably dropped.
The police regional police, who is to step down from service at the end of this month, said that their campaign will focus in ‘clearing’ barangays that have a serious drug problem. (MARWAH JAILANI, LNU Student Intern)
DOH, DepEd urge parents to allow their children to be vaccinated
CATARMAN, Northern Samar-The Department of Health(DOH) in coordination with the Department of Education(DepEd) urged parents to allow their children to avail the School Based Immunization (SBI) program this month to prevent them from disease and ailments.
North Samar national immunization program coordinator Naome Mercader said all Grade 1 pupils will be immunized with measles containing vaccine (MCV) and tetanus diphtheria (TD), human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccine for female Grade 4 pupils, while Grade VII students will be given measles rubella (MR) and TD vaccines which are highly recommended by DOH.
Mercader said school nurses through the assistance of the teachers are distributing parent’s consent forms to be signed up by the parents or guardians, as the consent is important before they will vaccinate considering that school children are of minor age.
She added there is a need to strengthen information campaign to increase the level of awareness on the benefits of the immunization program and also to achieve the 90% accomplishment as the previous year performance was only 62%.
Mercader explained that vaccines are provided to infants (0 to 12 months) as their shield against contagious diseases such as polio, measles, German measles, diphtheria, and tetanus.
However, over time, this protection will decline and booster doses to older children are needed to ensure that this protection is maintained at high levels.
SBI is a strategy to achieve Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) to ensure that lives and well-being of children at all ages are protected.
(PIA-NORTHERN SAMAR)
Gov’t troops clash with communist rebels in Leyte town
CAMP GENERAL VICENTE LUKBAN, CATBALOGAN CITY – A 20-minute fire fight ensued between the Scout Platoon from 78th Infantry (Warrior) Battalion and the communist terrorists at Barangay Roxas, Burauen, Leyte on August 15, 2017.
The 10 am skirmish resulted in the troops’ recovery of one back pack, one sack of rice, and subversive documents from the communist terrorists.
No casualty was reported on the government side and an undetermined number of casualties on the enemy side. The successful seizure of the enemy encampment is the result of the mutual cooperation of the villagers in the said barangay about the presence of the NPA rebels that continue to extort, recruit and harm the less fortunate.
Maj. Gen. Raul M Farnacio, commander, 8ID commended the people of Burauen for their untiring cooperation with government forces against the presence of the NPA terrorists.
Rest assured that the 8ID remains steadfast in its unending commitment to serve the people and to become one of the catalysts for peace and development in Eastern Visayas.
(PR)
Center for climate change study to rise in Tacloban
TACLOBAN CITY- A four-storey building that will serve as a depository of documentations about super typhoon ‘Yolanda’ will be constructed here in the city.
The proposed building, to be known as the Philippine Center for Climate Resilience, had its ground-breaking Friday (August 18) located in Barangay Salvacion, a northern village located about 14 kms from the city center.
Leading the groundbreaking ceremony were Secretary Emmanuel de Guzman of the Climate Change Commission, officials of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) led by its director, Leonardo Sibbaluca, officials of the Office of Civil Defense headed by Director Edgar Posadas and city officials led by Mayor Cristina Romualdez, Vice Mayor Jerry Yaokasin and Councilor Aimee Grafil.
The structure, sitting at about 1.5 hectares which inside a protected area of the DENR, is expected to be finished within six months with an initial budget of P50 million donated by Senator Loren Legarda, a known environmental advocate.
Sec. de Guzman said that the structure will serve as a “depository of documentation of Yolanda experience.”
“We should continue to learn from the lessons of Yolanda,” he said.
The structure will also serve as a training center, capacity building and advocacy campaign on climate change.
The construction of the building was pushed by PH Haiyan Advocacy Cooperative, a non-government organization which campaigns on protecting the environment.
Mayor Romualdez said that she is thankful that the structure is to be built in Tacloban, considered as the ground zero of ‘Yolanda,’ the world’s strongest typhoon to hit inland.
“Not only you are the ground zero of Yolanda but ground zero of resilience radiating all over the country and the world,” de Guzman said.
de Guzman said that he is planning to showcase the project during a climate change summit in Bonn, Germany this November.
“This is certainly a major development and they might just extend assistance to us,” he said.
(JOEY A. GABIETA)