4 Salintubig projects in Eastern Visayas completed TACLOBAN CITY, Philippines, Oct 24 – Four projects under the Sagana at Ligtas na Tubig Para sa Lahat (SALINTUBIG) program implemented in Eastern Visayas by the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) have been completed; four more are substantially completed while five are ongoing. These are projects funded under the 2012 budget amounting to P99 million. The fund covers projects for nine waterless municipalities with P7 million each; 11 waterless barangays each allotted some P2-3 million and five rural health units/lying-in clinics (RHUs) with P1 million fund per project. Engr. Ofelia M. Pido, coordinator of the Planning and Project Development Management Unit (PDMU) of the DILG said that they are trying to fast track the implementation of the projects to hopefully have them completed before the year ends. The water system project for waterless municipalities is completed in Calubian, Leyte. For waterless barangays already completed are in towns of Julita in Leyte and Palapag in Northern Samar. Also completed is the water system project at the Palapag RHU. Meantime, projects are already substantially completed in Las Navas, Northern Samar; RHUs in Culaba, Biliran and Tolosa, Leyte and a barangay health station in Salvacion, St. Bernard of Southern Leyte. These are projects that are 80-95 percent completed, Pido said. Ongoing projects are in Abuyog, Leyte; Biri, Northern Samar; San Jose, Samar and Gen. MacArthur and LLorente in Eastern Samar. DILG memorandum circular 2012-83 stated that the SALINTUBIG program aims to contribute to provision of universal access to potable water supply and in targets defined in the Philippine Development Plan 2011-2016, Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), Philippine Water Supply Sector Roadmap and the Philippine Sustainable Sanitation Roadmap. Once completed it hoped to increase water access and sanitation services in target areas and reduce incidence of water-borne diseases. (PNA  Authorities urge public to be wary of toys they buy for children By Perla Lena TACLOBAN CITY, Philippines, ,Oct 15 -- The public has been warned to be cautious of the toys that they will buy for kids, especially with Christmas already fast approaching.Bureau of Health Device and Technology director Agnette P. Peralta said that toys to be safe shall have an approval from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). In today’s opening of the consumer information market and exhibit in line with the celebration of the Consumer Welfare Month, she urged that toys shall only be bought in stores with permanent address and not from sidewalk vendors. “We would like the public to be aware that they should not buy toys from the sidewalk. They should buy toys from an establishment with a permanent address,” she said adding that there is no assurance that toys sold in sidewalks are safe. She admitted that while they have massive monitoring yet the provinces are too large for them to undertake the task. “Check the labels and packaging of the toys,” she stated pointing out that the age of children that are allowed to play of a particular toy shall be indicated at the label. Also, buyers are advised to ensure that toys have no sharp points and that the importer is licensed. Nonetheless, she said that they are closely working with the association of supermarkets and markets in the country and they have been assured that only toys from licensed importers, manufacturers and distributors are being sold by their members. Meanwhile, the consumer information fair and exhibit at the Robinsons Place here until Oct 17 is being participated in 13 exhibitors and members the consumer network in the province of Leyte. Spearheaded by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) this year’s celebration anchors on the theme “Health Products: Quality, Efficacy, Safety and Transparency..Everybody’s Concern.” (PNA) Tacloban City Hospital mulls increasing fees TACLOBAN CITY, Philippines, Oct 9 -- The city government-run Tacloban City Hospital has proposed an increase in its hospital and laboratory fees. Chief of hospital Joedina Gumagay said the proposed increase is long overdue since the last time the health institution increased its fees was in 1999. Gumagay however assured that the proposed increase will only be minimal and impoverished patients can still avail of free hospital services provided that they are certified indigent by the hospital social worker. As a government hospital, the TCH not only serve Tacloban City residents but caters to a mostly impoverished clientele coming from nearby municipalities and provinces in Eastern Visayas. The hospital has added services and has improved its facilities in the past years. Gumagay said it now has an air conditioned ward and private rooms complete with amenities and restroom facilities. Part of the proposal is to impose a P50 charge on outpatient consultations and a hospital room rate of P150 from the previous P75. The TCH which is classified by the Department of Health (DOH) as a level 1 hospital has a bed capacity of only 25 but averages 47 admissions a day. Annually approximately 12,000 patients from around the region avail of its services. City Treasurer Zosima Cordaño said running the hospital is no longer ‘cost-efficient.’ According to Cordaño the city government ideally should only subsidize 50 percent of the total cost in running a hospital, but presently it is now funding 82 percent of the operational costs. The TCH’s yearly income of P7 million is short of the P30- 40 million it needs annually to operate. The Committee on Health of the Sangguniang Panlugsod here chaired by councilor Evangeline Esperas called a public hearing on Monday at the Balyuan Convention Center to discuss the planned increase of hospital fees. (PNA) PEMC turns over donations to Leyte Provincial Hospital TACLOBAN CITY, Philippines, Oct. 9 -- The Philippine Electricity Market Corporation (PEMC), the governing body of the Philippine Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM), formally turned over Wednesday its donated playroom and pediatric rooms to the Leyte Provincial Hospital, as part of PEMC’s corporate social responsibility. “The provincial government of Leyte can only do as much, to attend to the needs of the sick, the need for more medical services and address the lack of hospital equipments. But a helping hand from other sectors is always a welcome one,” said Leyte Gov. Leopoldo Dominico Petilla during the turnover rites. Petilla said that maintaining hospitals is a costly one as the local government runs several hospitals in the province. “This is one way by which the private sector can assist local governments in improving health services, and help LGUs (local government units) maintain hospitals within their administration. We surely are blessed to have the PEMC to share their corporate blessings for our patients at the Leyte Provincial Hospital,” he said. PEMC is the administrator of the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) and was created by the Department of Energy (DOE) jointly with the electricity industry participants, as mandated by section 30 of RA 9136, also known as the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA). PEMC has been in existence since November 2003. It is governed by a board of directors where the chairman is the secretary of the DOE. It will also conduct its update for electricity industry participants in Tacloban on Thursday. The Leyte Provincial Hospital is currently being renovated in preparation for converting it into the Leyte Medical Center. The upgrade and enhancement of the hospital was started by then governor and now Energy Secretary Carlos Jericho Petilla. Part of the improvement is the addition of 10 private rooms and 25 additional beds in the hospitals ward department. The hospital’s Emergency Room is currently under renovation, while new delivery and operating rooms were opened in December. Funding for these hospital improvements were derived from the provincial government and from its income. (PNA) Ormoc City gov’t employees press on healthy workforce ORMOC CITY, Philippines, Oct 8 -- The City of Ormoc Government Employees Association (COGEA) has pushed for an annual medical check-up of employees to monitor their health condition. Utilizing the City Health medical staff and apparatus for the employee checkup scheduled in September and October, COGEA president Leo Ritchie Tugonon is confident that the move will at least reduce the number of employees who are sick. Those who had prescriptions are provided with free medicines that are available at City Health Office. Mayor Edward Codilla conferred his full support to COGEA as he stated that it is better that they know who are in need of medical attention so proper responses will be undertaken. And he added, it could have been better if the drug test was included to keep close watch towards workers’ total well-being. The action taken by COGEA is seen as an imperative move considering some employees especially those 50 years old and above were found out to have been hospitalized. Also, they used up considerable amount in regaining their health and consequently affect their work performance. To assist the employees, starting this year, the association extends P20,000 hospitalization benefit annually to its 580 members and grants a maximum of 5,000 pesos to the beneficiaries. Mortuary assistance is also endowed to members at P20,000 and P10,000 to the declared dependents and retirement “Pera Pabaon” of P50,000. Aside from check up city employees also engage in a weekly exercise. COGEA was formed in 2003 and as of end of last year has achieved a total asset of P11.94 million, said Tugonon. (PNA) |
 DOST 8 activates food safety team TACLOBAN CITY, Oct 25 (PNA) -- The Department of Science and Technology (DOST) in Eastern Visayas is activating its food safety team, tasked to check the products of government-assisted firms. The team composed of DOST and health officials have been visiting small and medium enterprises to check their compliance on good manufacturing practices. “Safety is a basic requirement of food quality. Food contamination and poisoning can occur at any stage from farm to the consumer’s table,” said DOST regional director Edgardo M. Esperancilla. Considering that majority of their beneficiaries under the Small Enterprises Technology Upgrading Program (SETUP) are engaged in food processing, they envisioned to form a group that will check food safety. “Aside from conducting inspections, the team is also enhancing the capability of tertiary schools and local government units, as well as other government agencies, in terms of food safety system,” Esperancilla said. He added that these officials are technical persons who can provide regular consultancy services to food industry including food manufacturers, food service units, and street food vendors. Technical consultancy includes good manufacturing practices, good agricultural practices, hazard analysis and critical control point, and food safety management system. The team makes recommendation after inspection and monitors the compliance of enterprises, according to Esperancilla. (PNA) Northern Samar revives population management program CATARMAN, Northern Samar, Oct 9 (PNA) –- The Commission on Population in Eastern Visayas conducted an orientation on the Philippine Population Management Program to the population officers and workers of Northern Samar today as part of efforts to strengthen and intensify the government’s population programs. PopCom-8 regional director Elnora R. Pulma said the orientation was aimed at reviving Northern Samar Provincial Population Office’s work of localizing population management and strategies that have stagnated for several years. “We express our deep gratitude to the provincial government under the leadership of Governor Jose L. Ong, Jr. for his ardent support to population management programs that are very vital to sustainable development,” Pulma said. Pulma added that population is a significant factor in development and initiatives to slow down population growth could complement efforts to achieve economic progress and poverty reduction. “With the impact of population factors on today’s development issues such as slow economic progress, increasing poverty, environmental degradation, unmanaged urbanization, among others, the population management program is a relevant strategy for development,” Pulma said. She added that the local government units (LGUs) serve as one of the locus of services for population management concerns. “The LGUs have a critical share in the implementation of related strategies under the PPMP, primarily in the localization of the population management objectives and strategies,” Pulma said. She stressed that responsive and effective leadership in implementing programs that would lead to healthy, productive and empowered constituents who will help in local development and growth of local economy. Meanwhile, Governor Ong expressed his full support and commitment to the implementation of population management programs of the government. Ong has reactivated the Provincial Population Office by capacitating population program officers and workers through seminars and trainings. Ong has also committed to design and implement local population management policies and programs to address relevant population development, adolescent health and youth development, responsible parenthood, and reproductive health and other population-related issues to further ensure universal access to reproductive health and population services. As a gesture of his commitment, the governor vowed to designate a provincial population officer who will focus on the localization of the population management objectives and strategies in Northern Samar, one of the region’s populous provinces. Based on the 2010 Census of Population and Housing (CPH), Northern Samar, a second class province, posted a total population of 589,013 persons, larger by 88,374 persons compared to its total population of 500,639 persons counted in the 2000 CPH. The increase in the population count from year 2000 to 2010 translated to an average annual population growth rate (PGR) of 1.64 percent. (PNA) |
