Masantol, Pampanga -- Fish vendors Carmencita Sunga and Lilibeth Beltran, and boatman Alfredo Punla Sr. were among the grateful people that President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo talked with during her brief visit at the Masantol wharf
Masantol wharf is a “bagsakan” trading area for mudcrabs.
Sunga, 36, a mother of six, remembered her difficulties in the past when she could hardly find a permanent place to sell her fish, crabs and prawns that were brought to vendors like her by fishpond operators in the province.
She said: “With other vendors like me we, would be squatting in other places—San Fernando, Angeles and even Pullilan, Bulacan—where we could sell our products to passersby.”
“It was really very difficult. Often, we would go home without a sale and we even spent for our transport fare going to that area,” she said.
Now with the wharf that was built under the President’s leadership, “we have a permanent place to sell our products and we did not even have to bring them to far away places, with no certainty of a sale at all,” she said.
Her views were echoed by Beltran, 49 and mother of seven, another ‘squatter vendor” like Sunga who now takes pride and comfort in finding a permanent selling place in the wharf.
“Napakalaking tulong ng wharf sa amin. Hindi na kami kinakailangan mag-squat kung saan-saan para lang magbenta,” she said. Beltran sells tilapia that also comes from fishponds in the province.
Sixty-one year-old Punla Sr. -- who has been operating a banca to ferry passengers from the municipal hall to Barangay Alauli in Masantol for P15 -- may have lost a living from the new and upgraded and elevated road systems.
But he is not sad. In fact, he is even happier now that he can use his banca to fish.
He added that with the roads and drainage systems constructed under President Arroyo, there is less flooding in the province now and more comfort for the people living there.
“Mas maginhawa ang lahat. Ako naman puwedeng mangisda sa dagat,” he said.
The Masantol wharf Phase I was completed by the Philippine Ports Authority.
Phase II of the project is a 120-square meter wharf including reclamation works and lighting system worth P19.212 million.
Before she visited the wharf, the President earlier met with Masantol Mayor Peter Flores.
The President gave Flores assorted vegetable seeds worth P50,000 to be distributed to the farmers, 20 gillnets for fishermen and 100,000 saline tilapia fingerlings for the brackish water fishpond operators.
From the wharf, the President took a boat ride to Barangays Batang 1st and Batang 2nd in Sasmuan where she inspected the Kalayaang Barangay farm-to-market road which was constructed by the PAF 335th Aviation Engineering Wing under Col. Pedro Rieza Jr.
At Batang 2nd she inspected the elementary school and a DPWH booth where applications for employment in the construction of the Pampanga Third River Dredging Project and other ongoing road projects in Pampanga are processed.
She then went to the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) booth to watch the lecture/demo on fish processing.
Aside the Masantol wharf and the Kalayaan Barangay farm to market road, government through the Department of Public Works and Highways also upgraded the Apalit-Macabebe-Masantol road to a 9.9-km.secondary national road.
The road starts from the Apalit public market to Macabebe and Masantol town proper.
The upgrading of the Macabebe Road costs P10 million; the Masantol Road project, P90 million.
PGMA fetes Pacquiao
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo feted Monday world boxing icon Manny Pacquaio in festive ceremonies complete with confetti and a 32-inch x 20-inch chocolate pound cake decorated with a replica of his championship belt.
Baked specially for the “Pambansang Kamao” by the Palace chefs, the cake was received by Pacquiao from the President during the ceremonies that lasted close to two hours.
After the luncheon she tendered in Pacquiao’s honor, President Arroyo announced that she had appointed him as “Sugo ng Kapayapaan at Pagkakaunawaan.”
The Palace reception for the Filipino boxing icon started with Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita and other top government officials fetching Pacquiao from the main gate of the Palace.
When Pacquiao entered the Palace grounds, the Presidential Security Group (PSG) band launched into a rendition of his signature song, “Para Sa ‘Yo.”
Red, white and blue paper confetti -- the colors of the Philippine flag -- were tossed by mechanical confetti-blowing machines along the path as Pacquiao, flanked on both sides by PSG soldiers, headed for the Palace.
Pacquiao, who came sans his family, was ushered to the Music Room of Malacanang where he was received by the President and First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo.
Pacquiao brought along with him Filipino lightweight boxer Bernabe Concepcion, who won by unanimous decision over Yogli Herrera in the under card of the Pacquiao-Hatton fight.
“Ang ganda na ng gallery mo, Manny (You have a beautiful gallery of championship belts already, Manny,” the President told the Filipino boxing idol.
The First Gentleman agreed, saying: “Pang-anim na (It is his sixth championship belt)!”
“Kaya greatest in boxing ka na (That is why you are already the world’s greatest boxer),” the President added.
Pacquiao then took out two jackets in red, white and blue, which he gifted to the President and the First Gentleman who both gamely donned the jacket.
“It is Pacquiao Day. I should wear this all day,” the President said as she put on the sports jacket.
The President told Concepcion to visit Chairman Ephraim Genuino of the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corportation (PAGCOR) who was seated next to the Filipino boxer.
The President had instructed the PAGCOR chief to “also give a reward to our other champion,” referring to Concepcion.
At the Rizal Hall, Executive Secretary Ermita read the presidential proclamation proclaiming May 11 as National Day of Celebration in honor of Pacquiao’s latest ring triumph.
“Salamat sa karangalang dinala mo sa bansa (Thank you for the honor that your brought to your country),” the President told Pacquiao.
The President then asked Pacquiao the question she said many of his countrymen wanted to know: “Nasaktan ka daw ba ni Hatton (They want to know if you were hurt by British boxer Ricky Hatton)?”
“Hindi naman po masyado (Not much),” Pacquiao replied.
Pacquaio said Hatton was focused on the former’s right hand that “napabayaan niya – nawala yung focus niya sa kaliwa ko (He forgot about my left fist).
“Di pala niya kaya ang suntok ng Sambayanang Pilipino,” Pacquiao said, adding that he felt for Hatton, who he described as very friendly with him.
PGMA breaks ground for construction of first "green" high-rise building in Asia
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo broke ground Monday the construction of the P7-billion Zuellig Building in Makati City.
Once completed, the Zuellig building will be the first ever “Green” high-rise office building not only in the Philippines but in Asia and seen as a testament to investor’s confidence in the Philippines.
The 33-floor Zuellig building, said to be the “largest investment in a high-rise office building in the Philippines,” occupies 66,000 square meters of prime office space in the heart of Makati City’s central business district.
Despite the challenging global economic environment, Zuellig reaffirms with this P7-billion investment, its confidence in the resilience of the Philippine economy and in the status of Makati as the country’s premier business center,” said a statement from the project’s exclusive leasing agent, CB Richard Ellis.
The “Green Building” tag was attached to the Zuelling Building for having conformed to the U.S. Green Building Council’s (USGBC) guide for developers, architects, engineers and the construction industry towards sustainable design.
Its design, with large windows, makes efficient use of natural light and outdoor views to cut down on electricity costs.
The Zuellig Building will employ highly efficient HVAC (heating, ventilating and air-conditioning) systems; utilize low-VOC (volatile organic compound) paints, sealants, carpets and furniture; and provide filtered outside air for superior indoor air quality.
Other “Green Building” procedures the Zuellig Building will use are:
• A construction waste management plan during construction to divert waste materials from landfills through recycling and salvaging;
• A centralized waste recycling system during normal building operations;
• Efficient bulbs, task lighting and the installation of sensors to curtail unnecessary lighting and reduce energy use;
• Reflective finishes on roofs and other surfaces to diminish “heat islands;”
• Reduction of water usage through the efficient management of potable water, the careful selection of fittings and fixtures, the capture of rain and condensate water, the use of water-saving surface materials and the installation of drainage systems; and’
• The prohibition of refrigerants emitting compounds that contribute to global warming.
With these measures in place, the Zuellig Building aims to be accorded with the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Gold Certification – a certification given to high rise building found to have conformed with “Green Building” code of the USGBC.
RP remains free from H1N1
The Philippines is still free from Influenza A (H1N1).
The new cases raised the total number of CUOs to 23.
Twenty-three of the CUOs were observed in DOH designated referral hospitals (Research Institute for Tropical Medicine, San Lazaro Hospital and Vicente Sotto Medical Center) and the remaining cases were observed in other health facilities.
The age range of these cases is 2 years to 80 years old. Majority (14/20,70%) of the cases were 8 to 40 years of age.
Half (12/23) of the cases were males.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has reported that the number of confirmed influenza A (H1N1) cases increased from 3,440 in May 9 to 4,379 in May 10. Aside from Mexico (45) and the US (1), Canada (1) and Costa Rica (1) have started reporting deaths from this novel virus.
The total number of deaths is now 49 deaths. Currently, the US has the highest number of cases (2,254). However, fatality in the US remains low (2/1,639, 0.2%) as compared to Mexico (45/1,626, 2.8%).
The DOH will continue to intensify its surveillance in ports, airports and the community so that cases of influenza A (H1N1) are detected early and appropriate control measures implemented immediately.
DA lifts import ban on Canadian pork
BAI Director Davinio Catbagan said the carpenter has fully recovered already but the swine farm is still under quarantine although no pig mortality was reported there.
With the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Office International des Epizooties (OIE) or the World Organization on Animal Health declaring that the Influenza A H1N1 virus was not transmitted through pork consumption, continuing the temporary suspension on pork imports in the affected countries would place the Philippines at risk of trade sanctions from countries where it had imposed this restriction for violating World Trade Organization agreements.
Agriculture officials said that the DA had preferred to “err on the side of conservatism or safety by a few days,” which was why the Department had delayed the lifting of the temporary suspension on Canadian pork imports after a case of a human transmitting the virus to swine was reportedly detected in that country.
The chairperson of the Senate committee on agriculture, Sen. Loren Legarda, agreed with the DA’s directive to lift the temporary suspension on pork imports during last week’s Senate hearing in which this trade move was announced.
These imports, Catbagan said, are pork fat used in making processed meat products like hotdogs and canned luncheon meat.
Catbagan said that farm-to-market prices of pork have started to stabilize at P93 to P98 kilo from its lowest of P87 a kilo during last month’s height of the Influenza A scare.
COMELEC: expect computerized polls on 2010
The Commission on Elections is confident that the 2010 polls will be fully automated.
As far the bidding of automated counting machines is concerned, COMELEC spokesperson James Jimenez assured the public that they are on schedule.
“The possibility of a manual election is unlikely: it’s not probable at this stage,” Jimenez told Radyo ng Bayan, “we can award the contract to the winning bidder by the end of May.”
Jimenez made the clarification after some sectors expressed fears that bidders with problematic papers would delay the bidding process.
More than half of the suppliers who have participated in the first round of bidding have been disqualified due to different technical reasons.
Jimenez said that COMELEC will not allow disqualified bidders to repair their bids: especially those whose documents are incomplete.
However, there are bidders who were disqualified based on the legal interpretations of the COMELEC Special Bids and Awards Committee have better chances of getting into the bidding.
What these kinds of bidder need to do, Jimenez explained, are to disprove the bases of their disqualifications.
“May tatlong linggo pa tayo sa Mayo at kasalukuyang nireresolba na yung kanilang mga motion for reconsideration. Confident tayo na mareresolba yan in enough time, para makapag-resume ang proseso at matapos tayo on time (we still have three weeks in May at we are now hearing their motions for reconsiderations. We’re confident that we could resolve it in enough time so the bidding process can resume at finished on scheduled),” Jimenez said.
DOH holds free cervical cancer screening
The DOH strongly advised women aged 15-45 years old to avail of the free screening because with early detection the chances of treatment success are higher.
Health experts noted that the best way to detect cervical cancer is through a regular pap smear to determine pre-cancer lesions.
It is also available in DOH regional hospitals and medical centers such as Region 1 Medical Center, Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center and Davao Medical Center.
Before the May 22 screening, interested women should register from May 12 to 15 in the above-mentioned state-owned medical facilities.
Patients who will be found positive in the screening will be referred for treatment.
In 2005, the Philippine Cancer Facts and Estimates showed that cervical cancer ranks fifth in the list of ten leading causes of cancer deaths for both sexes and ranks second in the ten leading cancer sites among females.
Half of women afflicted by cervical cancer are between 35 to 55 years old.
Approximately, 12 women die each day due to cervical cancer and about five out of 10 women afflicted with said cancer will die within five years.
One of its symptoms is abnormal vaginal bleeding such as bleeding after vaginal intercourse and menopause; and bleeding and spotting between menstrual periods that are longer and heavier than usual.
One more symptom is pain during sex.
POEA sets the record straight: overseas deployments rose in 2008
More Pinoys got hired abroad last year.
The source quoted in the reports allegedly used data from POEA.
“We don’t really know kung saan nila binase yung figures na isinayt sa report. Obviously malaki ang discrepancies na nasa aming final statistics. We can only surmise na baka hindi ito based on total figures for 2008. Baka yung binanggit ay baka partial po (We don’t really know where they based their figures cited in the report. Obviously, it bears big discrepancies with our final statistics. We can only surmise that the figures were not based on the total figures of 2008 which were disegregated and finalized. The figures they [recruitment players] used could be partial),” said Manalili.
The 2008 POEA final report also revealed that the Middle East—particularly Qatar, UAE, Oman and Kingdom of Saudi Arabia—continued to be the favoured destination for OFWs where there was 33.9 percent increase for new hires as compared to 2007 statistics.
Manalili called more collaboration between government and recruitment industry in statistical coordination efforts.
