PIA Dispatch - Thursday, June 25, 2009

PGMA state visit to Brazil yields wider RP-Brazil cooperation with 5 bilateral agreements sealed 

BRASILIA, Brazil - President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and Brazil President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva witnessed Wednesday the signing of five bilateral agreements between the Philippines and Brazil aimed at expanding the two countries’ cooperation in several fields, including energy and agricultural development.

One of the agreements was on Bioenergy Cooperation between the Department of Energy and the Ministry of Mines and Energy of Brazil. It aims to facilitate technical cooperation between the Philippines and Brazil in bioenergy, including the production and use of biofuels, particularly ethanol, and promote the expansion of bilateral trade and investment the biofuel.

The areas of cooperation include projects and activities of mutual interest such as information exchange on the sustainable production and use of biofuels, including large-scale production technology, best practices in policy and regulatory infrastructure, joint undertakings, including research and development exchange of experts, training seminars, conferences and other cooperative activities promoting the efficient production and use of biofuels, and other areas in the bioenergy sector.

Energy Secretary Angelo Reyes and Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap signed the accord in behalf of the Philippine government. 

Foreign Affairs Secretary Roberto Romulo and his Brazilian counterpart signed in behalf of their respective countries, an Agreement on Remunerated Employment of Dependents of Diplomats, Consular, Administrative and Technical Personnel.

The agreement allows dependents of Filipino and Brazilian personnel in the two countries’ diplomatic and consular missions to engage in gainful employment in the host countries.
The Philippines has similar agreements with the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Chile, Spain and the Netherlands.

Also signed was the agreement between the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Brazil’s National Confederation of Industry that seeks to expand business linkages and promote cooperative activities between their members.

The two MOUs on agricultural cooperation between Brazil and the Philippines were the Cooperation on Agriculture between the Department of Agriculture (DA) and Brazil’s Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply; and between the Philippine Agricultural Development and Commercial Corporation (PADCC) and the Empresa Brasiliera de Pesquisa Agropecuaria or the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (EMBRAPA).

The MOU on Cooperation on Agriculture involves collaboration in livestock and animal health, biofuel feedstock and development, dairy, horticulture, food safety, agribusiness management, sustainable land management, genetics and biotechnology, processing and post-harvest technologies and agricultural machineries, and plant and animal science.
Under the plant and animal science, the Philippines and Brazil will look into the areas of disease control, quarantine, pest surveillance, pest risk analysis, and cooperation in inspection procedures for international transit of animals, plants and agricultural inputs.

With the MOU, the Philippines and Brazil will be able to share experiences and best practices in enhancing agricultural productivity and promote trade and investment in agriculture.

The MOU between PADCC and EMBRAPA will allow the Philippines and Brazil to cooperate in science and technology through joint projects in agriculture and natural resources and thus broaden the existing knowledge base on agricultural development and institutional strengthening.

The PADCC and EMBRAPA will also closely cooperate in joint research, information exchange and technology transfer in high value crops, fisheries, livestock, biofuels, and other agricultural crops.

The Philippines and Brazil will also commit to an exchange of scientists, experts and trainees, the organization of symposia and conferences, the joint publication of studies and papers, conduct of agricultural trade fairs and exhibitions, joint ventures and other means as may be mutually agreed upon.

The MOU also include training, technical assistance, germplasm exchange, provision of equipment ,bibliography and technology commercialization.


Malacanang calls on Filipinos not to panic over influenza AH1N1 

Malacanang said there is no need to panic in the wake of the AH1N1 outbreak because health authorities are on top of the situation. 

Presidential Spokesperson Lorelei Fajardo told Palace reporters that the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) has also allayed people’s fears that the spread of the virus might cause a slowdown of consumer spending and lead to a contraction of the country’s economic growth. 

Fajardo said “precisely in all our press briefings we make it a point to have health authorities update us and brief us on what is really happening so there is no need for the people to panic and speculate further on the virus.” 

The DOH had reported that most of the reported AH1N1 cases turned out to be mild. 
Deputy Spokesperson for the economy Dr. Gary Olivar said “we have nothing to fear but fear.” 

Health authorities said there is no need to close down schools with confirmed AH1N1 cases as this would only stop students from attending their classes. 

If there is a low level of contamination there is no need for the schools to shut down as the students, who go home to their respective areas, will also come in contact with the virus. In effect, the move to close down schools is self- defeating, Fajardo said. 

People’s awareness of the virus through the continuing public information campaign, has made reporting of the virus spread somewhat more threatening, but this does not mean that the situation is out of hand, DoH doctors said. 
Fajardo said that as long as people heed the advice of health officials the problem will be contained faster. 

The DOH has medicines good for 500,000 patients and “I doubt if we will need that much medicines,” she added. 

For DOH officials to have a baseline data or socio-demographic projection of the virus, they need to have two to three-month observation period of the movement of the virus. 

“The virus is treatable. We have enough medicines. Health officials are handling it very well and we have the cooperation of the people,” Fajardo said. (PNA) 


DOH, Deped revise guidelines for suspending classes, work for A(H1N1) alert 

The Department of Health (DOH) and the Department of Education (Deped) on Thursday issued the revised rules for the suspension of classes or offices that have influenza A(H1N1) alert. 

The agencies said this will prevent the practice of schools and offices who suspend their operations even when their students or personnel are not even infected with the A(H1N1) virus. 

The DOH said under the revised guidelines, classes will no longer be called off should new cases be reported in the same schools. 

The DOH and Deped also revised the alert system on schools.Whereas now under the new Alert Level Response 3, classes will only be called off for ten days after the first confirmed case is reported, to assess the medical situation of the patient and those in close contact with the patient. 

The new guidelines said the suspension of classes will also be done to enhance the campaign for cleanliness, hygiene and readiness in the school, and to disinfect the school. Subsequent cases in the same school will only be made to go home, along those in direct contact with them, for medical observation at home or in a medical facility. 

The DOH said only high-risk cases, such as those with chronic illnesses before contracting the A(H1N1) virus infection, will be hospitalized. 

Based on the revised Alert Level Response 4, classes will no longer be suspended in schools in communities with a low-level community outbreak. 

The DOH and Deped said it would be pointless to cancel classes in areas where students would be going home to a community already beset with many A(H1N1) cases. 

The agencies said classes will go on communities with presence of A(H1N1) cases and only hose who are sick and those suspected to have close contact with positive cases will be subjected to stay at home. 

The guidelines also said for schools with many buildings or large campuses, classes will only be called off in units or buildings where the patient stayed. 

Authorities said the new guidelines is in line with the government’s campaign against the disease which now focuses on mitigation strategy and not containment. 

There are now 42 schools that have suspended classes due to the spread of the illness. (PNA)


Feria leaves 8 people dead, 11 others missing -- NDCC 

Eight people perished while 11 others are still missing and five others injured as tropical storm Feria continue to batter some parts of the country, the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) reported Thursday. 

Citing reports from the field, Glenn Rabonza, NDCC executive officer and concurrent administrator of the Office of the Civil Defense, said four of the fatalities were hit by a tornado in Perez town in Quezon last Tuesday night. 

In Bantayan town in Cebu, two people died due to drowning. The other fatalities were victims of landslides in Cagagayan de Oro City. 

According to Rabonza, 37 houses have been recorded destroyed and 551 more have been damaged as Feria wreck havoc in several regions, including Southern Tagalog. 

Rabonza said at least 10,228 families or 44,401 persons have been affected by the weather disturbance and they are being attended to by workers from the NDCC, OCD, Department of Social Welfare and Development and local government units, among other agencies. 

Rabonza said they have recorded nearly 10,000 passengers who have been stranded at various ports as authorities suspended sea travel to avoid potential mishaps at sea. 

Also, he said that the estimated damage to property had been initially placed at P2.5 million but the figure is expected to rise as reports from the field begin to trickle up to the NDCC office in Camp Aguinaldo. 


DOST to lead 51st National Science and Technology Week

The Department of Science and Technology will lead the celebration of the 51st National Science and Technology Week that starts July 20. 

Various activities that showcase recent developments and achievements in domestic science and technology along with technology fairs and scientific fora are lined up for this year’s celebration.

The annual event also aims to raise public understanding of science and technology as well as DOST’s role and contributions to national development. 

This year’s NSTW keeps in step with current global challenges through the theme “Science and Technology, Responding to Global Challenges.”  

Various symposia related to climate change and business fora will be held to try to provide a venue for discussions on prevailing world climate change scenarios, and encourage Filipino technopreneurship.

Meanwhile, the science communities in Quezon City, Manila, Bicutan, and in Los Baños, Laguna will hold separate celebrations within the weeklong NSTW while regional celebration schedules are spread throughout July. 

The Quezon City and Metro Manila Science Communities will focus on disaster mitigation and health issues, respectively. The Los Baños science community will present lectures mainly on agriculture and aquaculture sciences. 

The Bicutan science cluster will offer several livelihood seminars at SM City in Bicutan.

The NSTW, previously called as the Philippine National Science Week in the 50s, was instituted by virtue of Presidential Proclamation 2214 in 1982. It was later amended through Republic Act 169 on April 23, 1993 which declared the third week of July of every year as the National Science and Technology Week. 

NSTW has since become the platform for informed exchanges on important S&T issues, developments, and locally developed technologies. [S&T Media Service] 


ITDI researchers develops solar wastewater detoxification

Researchers at the Industrial Technology Development Institute, an agency of the Department of Science and Technology trying to develop a technology using sunlight and ordinary cosmetic ingredient to clean industrial wastewater of pollutants, have successfully eliminated pesticides in contaminated water during initial tests.

Trial runs are onstream to treat wastewater contaminated with dyes used in handicraft industry. They hope to help cottage dyeing industries comply with strict regulations imposed by countries that rigorously monitor the environmental impact of exporters and their manufacturing activities.

“Eventually, we intend to design and build a simple and inexpensive technology that runs using sunlight and, when that is not available, by using ultraviolet lamps as backup,” explains Dr. Christopher M. Silverio, chief of ITDI’s Environmental Division.

The technology is called solar photocatalysis, a promising technique that uses sunlight and titanium dioxide, a non-toxic chemical commonly used as white pigment in paints and cosmetics to break down toxic and hard-to-remove pollutants.

Photocatalysis occurs when a relatively small amount of light-absorbing material, called photocatalyst, chemically reacts with pollutants without itself being consumed. In this case, the photocatalyst used is titanium dioxide.

In standard photocatalysis, ultraviolet lamps driven by electricity are used. In contrast, solar photocatalyis uses sunlight, which is abundant in tropical Philippines. 

“Wastewater, especially those containing harmful chemicals, need to be treated before disposal. Various wastewater treatment processes like filtration, microbial degradation and chemical decomposition are available.” 

“However, these systems may be cheap but inefficient, effective but costly or the contaminants basically remain as pollutants,” says Dr. Silverio.

Solar photocatalysis can completely destroy toxic pollutants into harmless end products without leaving solid residues”,  

“Our technology is also designed so that it will be cheap, easy to operate, and does not need filtration process that limits its commercial feasibility in the past,” Dr. Silverio added. “It simply involves passing of wastewater through glass tubes packed with titanium dioxide under sunlight.”  

Different designs have seen successful applications in countries such as the United States and Japan. In Spain, they call it “solar water detoxification.”

Solar photocatalysis is virtually unheard of domestically until ITDI researchers thought of ways to use sunlight to remove difficult-to-treat pollutants in wastewater.


ISO certification puts PSALM at par with world-class corporations

The Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corporation (PSALM) marked another milestone in its young existence as it recently received ISO (International Organization for Standardization) certification for its business processes, which now adhere to internationally-recognized standards of management.

As a highlight of its eighth anniversary celebration, PSALM received the validation for its Quality Management System (QMS) from the Certification International Philippines Inc., the Corporation’s third party certifying body, after successfully meeting all the requirements for ISO certification.

The QMS broadly consists of a formalized system that documents the structure, responsibilities, and procedures required to achieve effective quality management. These include the objectives and processes of a company designed to focus on quality and customer satisfaction. 

The ISO certification puts PSALM at par with world-class corporations, having raised the caliber of its business processes to an internationally-recognized standard and having firmed up its commitment to assure the world’s investment community and its stakeholders of the integrity and transparency of the government’s power privatization program.

“The ISO certification is a legacy that PSALM leaves to its employees,” said PSALM President and Chief Executive Officer Jose C. Ibazeta. “It not only boosts our stock as world-class workers, it also signifies that we can relate and work with similarly certified organizations.”

Aside from boosting the confidence and trust of investors and stakeholders to do business with PSALM, the ISO certification will result in increased savings for the Corporation as business processes are systematized and are repeated through time, according to Helen E. V. San Pedro, PSALM’s Quality Management Representative and manager of the Information Technology and Communication Department.

The impact of the ISO certification on PSALM’s operations would be in terms of reduced waste and fewer delays, increased employee and customer satisfaction, and continual improvement of the QMS, she said.

PSALM’s managers, for their part, will find it easier to run the Corporation as a system of interlinked processes where the employees will realize their relevance to the whole organization.

Management responsibility, Ms. San Pedro pointed out, is enshrined in the system with respect to the periodic review of the QMS. This will enable PSALM managers to regularly review the variances between the set business process and service delivery. Thus, they will be able to assess opportunities and address any need for change in meeting customer demands and requirements.

The QMS will also be able to show that corporate policies trickle down to the lowest employee level possible.

PSALM’s certification program, however, does not end with the attainment of the ISO 9001:2000 standard. Two more surveillance audits will be conducted in the next two years that will involve improvements in the ISO standard based on the new version, the ISO 9001:2008. This means that PSALM will have to undertake and accomplish a number of activities to bolster its current certificate.


28 FRs received family packs from Surigao del Sur PSWDO 

Tandag, Surigao del Sur (June 23) – The 28 Former Rebel (FR) who denoted to go back to the government received 50 family packs from the Department of Social Welfare Development (DSWD) thru the Provincial Social Welfare Development (PSWD) officer May Navidad G. Salinas on June 22, 2009. 

Each family pack contained 3 kilos of rice, 3 tins sardines, 2 tins corned beefed and 3 packs of noodles.

Present during the distribution of goods is 58th IB Executive Officer Lt. Col. Erwin Rommel Lamzon.

It can be recalled that the 21 Former Rebels surrendered on May 24 and 7 FRs on June 9 to Lt. Col Benjamin Pedralvez, Jr. They are still housed at the custody of the Philippine Army for validation and were forwarded to the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace Process (OPPAP) prior to the effectivity of the Administrative Order 172 which take effect on March 23, 2007.