Cebu biz chamber to hold bowling tournament

CEBU CITY, April 30 (PIA) — A two-day bowling tournament for members of the Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry will be held at the SM City Cebu Bowling Center on May 3 to 4, 2013.

The tournament is an annual event intended to cultivate sportsmanship and solidarity among its members.

In the previous year, there were a total of 21 teams that participated during the tournament, with four members each.

This year, around 35 teams are expected to join the tournament, still with four members each.

Registration fee is set at P3,000.

All reservations are confirmed only upon payment of the entry fee not later than April 30, 2013.

For further inquiries, one may contact Jen, Joy or Sheila at 232-1421 to 24 local 110 or 111. (rmn/Rizelle R. Adriatico/PIA Intern/PIA Cebu)

DOE assures no power interruption on election day

By Ferliza Contratista

CEBU CITY, April 27 (PIA) –There will be no brown-outs during the elections.

Department of Energy Secretary Carlos Jericho Petilla recently assured that there will be no brown outs during the elections.

Petilla was in Cebu during the Visayas Wide Power Summit to brief the stakeholders about the power outlook.

“We have no shortfall this May, so there is no problem, we don’t want the DOE to be blamed for failure of elections,” Petilla said.

He told reporters that there will be enough power supply unless there is a sudden normal tripping.

Uninterrupted service is assured days before and after the elections.

Petilla during his presentation of the power supply outlook for 2012-2030 said that during this year, there is a slight shortfall in the Visayas for the reserve. It will still be bought but just place on stand by, he added.

He told participants from Regions 6, 7, and 8 that the issue on power is a long-term problem that needs a long-term solution.

“When there is outage, we deal with it, so this power summit is really a big help,” Petilla said.

He credited Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama, the current head of the Regional Development Council 7, for bringing him the idea of a convergence with all the stakeholders to discuss power or electricity issues and concerns.

Rama who gave his welcome remarks in the event said that the reforms needed in the power sector should not only come up with strategies for sufficient and reliable supply but also cheap or affordable power rates.

The event ended with a covenant signing by all stakeholders from the three regions towards a competitive power in the Visayas. (FCR/FCC-PIA7)

NEDA concludes reg’l consultation for PDP Update held in Cebu

By Ferliza C. Contratista

CEBU, April 27 (PIA) — The government will do the extra push for the achievement of inclusive growth, this was the assurance given by an official of the National Economic and Development Administration (NEDA) during the regional consultation for the update of the Philippine Development Plan in Central Visayas held recently here in Cebu.

Assistant Director General of the National Economic and Development Administration (NEDA) Rose Marie Edillon said the government will make sure that insights for that “extra push” will come from the different sectors during the consultations.

“That extra push will transform into positive action from the government and will eventually spell as inclusive growth,” Edillon said.

She cited as an example the positive action strategies that are currently done in the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) sector.

Currently, 75 percent of the BPO firms are concentrated in the National Capital Region as there is a need for some government agencies to undertake measures in order to raise the 25 percent of the remaining BPOs located in other parts of the country.

“We have to make sure that the demand is still there. DTI has to continue trade facilitation and boosting of competitiveness and TESDA has to come up with more trainings on systems and software development,” Edillon said.

The PDP 2011-2016 has three more years to achieve its ultimate objective of social inclusive growth.

The identified priority areas of the PDP are agribusiness, tourism, infrastructure, BPO and logistics.

“The PDP has to reconcile inclusive growth with unemployment by creating more jobs, those who want to participate in the growth process, should find work,” she said.

The updating of the PDP, Edillon said, is a potent strategy in the action plan for employment generation.

The over a hundred attendees were from the various national government agencies, sectoral and private groups.

They were then grouped into four clusters namely social or human development, economic, infrastructure and peace and order where they discussed, accept, and modified existing PDP provisions.

Highlighted areas under the PDP include Pursuit of Inclusive Growth, Macroeconomic Policy, Competitive Industry and Services Sectors, Competitive and Sustainable Agriculture and Fisheries Sector, Accelerating Infrastructure Development, Towards a Resilient and Inclusive Financial System, Good Governance and Rule of Law, Social Development, Peace and Security, Conservation, Protection and Rehabilitation of the Environment and Natural Resources.

Among those who attended were Tess Fernandez of Lihok Filipina, environmental lawyer Gloria Estenzo-Ramos and officials of the Cebu Business Club and Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry. (FCR/FCC/PIA7)

PHIC’s registered employers can now remit premiums online

By Juju Manubag-Empuerto

CEBU CITY, April 27 (PIA) — The Philippine Health Insurance Corporation’s (PhilHealth) registered employers can now remit their premiums online through the Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI).

According to Philhealth, BPI offers internet financial services to its existing corporate clientele through ExpressLink.

BPI is an accredited collecting agent of Philhealth so it accepts PhilHealth premiums of employees through the online facility.

However, members are advised that BPI only accepts PhilHealth premiums via its ExpressLink and at present, only for the remittances of employers.

Other establishments can remit employee premiums over-the-counter at any PhilHealth office or at other accredited collecting banks.

LBC branches, except those inside SM malls, and the Business Center of SM City Cebu also collect employer remittances and the PhilHealth contribution of individually paying members for a minimal service fee, whereas Bayad Centers accept premium payments from individually paying members only.

Payers are advised to indicate the complete name of the member or business, the PhilHealth Identification Number (PIN) or PhilHealth Employer Number (PEN), the applicable payment period and the corresponding amount.

For a complete list of accredited collecting agents, visit http://www.philhealth.gov.ph.# . (FCR/JSME/PIA-Cebu/Philhealth)

Three CV gov’t agencies rated excellent in Anti-Red Tape Survey

9 others obtained a GOOD rating
By Ferliza C. Contratista

April 25 (PIA) –Three national government agencies in Central Visayas were rated Excellent while nine others were given a Good rating in a Report Card Survey conducted by the Civil Service Commission (CSC) January to December last year.

The survey rates promptness, reduction of red tape, and transparency in the delivery of its services.

According to the results furnished by CSC to Philippine Information Agency (PIA7), the three agencies that were rated Excellent are the Bureau of Internal Revenue Cebu City (Revenue District Office RDO 82); Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Siquijor, and Philhealth in Dumaguete City.

On the other hand, seven agencies in Cebu province got a rating of Good in the RCS.

These include BIR RDO 80, Mandaue City; BIR RDO 83, Talisay City; Talisay City District Hospital of the Department of Health (DOH); Land Transportation Office (LTO), Talisay City; Government Service and Insurance System (GSIS), Cebu; Philhealth Carcar City; and Philhealth Mandaue City.

Two agencies in Bohol province also landed in the Good rating: Philhealth-Talibon and DOH Don Celestino Gallares Memorial Regional Hospital.

CSC conducted the survey for the whole year last year to 599 government agencies nationwide.

Of these agencies, 345 were national government agencies, two local government units, 251 government corporations, and one local water district.

Republic Act 9845 also known as An Act to Improve Efficiency in the Delivery of Government Service to the Public by Reducing Bureaucratic Red Tape and Preventing Graft and Corruption (ARTA) aims to address issues on transparency and promptness in the delivery of services and transactions.

The law mandated the creation of a Citizen’s Charter which will set up the standards of each government agency, local, national including government owned and controlled corporations.

The Citizen’s Charter will contain instructions how to avail of the service, the amount of time it would take to accomplish, fees to be paid as well as documents and procedures for the filing of possible complaints.

The RCS is a feedback mechanism on how these procedures are being followed.(rmn/FCC/PIA Cebu)

DSWD-7 groundbreaks P1.5M water system project in NegOr

By Juju Manubag-Empuerto

CEBU CITY, April 24 (PIA) — The dream of having access to clean water has become a reality for a barangay in Vallehermoso, Negros Oriental after the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Region 7 inaugurated a water system project in Brgy. Bairan earlier this month.

The Bairan Level II (RAM pump-driven) water system sub-project at Brgy. Bairan costs over P1.5M.

It will directly benefit 110 households in the community and the neighborhood.

Getting water from a source in an upland barangay like Bairan is grueling and time-consuming as the water source is far from their homes, so people in the village had to walk for more than a kilometer to the next barangay to fetch water.

“This water system is a realization of our dream. We will have more time to augment our income because fetching water will be easier and convenient to us. We are so thankful with DSWD of this development,” said Anastacia Gutang, a community volunteer.

This is one of the reasons why community members of the Barangay Barian has identified and validated the construction of the water system.

It addresses their need for water in one of the barangay assemblies conducted during the social preparation stage of Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan – Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services (Kalahi-CIDSS).

Kalahi-CIDSS is one of the flagship poverty reduction programs of the Government of the Philippines (GOP) through DSWD with funding assistance from the Millenium Challenge Corporation (MCC), a funding agency created by the congress of the United States of America which uses Community-Driven Development (CDD) approach, proven to be effective in addressing community needs.

“Kalahi-CIDSS is not just about sub-projects or community projects.uce poverty. It is a process that empowers communities to reduce poverty and help improve local governance. The CDD is operationalize through the Community Empowerment Activity Cycle (CEAC), the primary community development process and intervention of the Kalahi-CIDSS Project,” said Neil Papas, Area Coordinator of Kalahi-CIDSS in Vallehermoso, Negros Oriental.

The Bairan Level II (RAM pump-driven) water system is one of the three sub-project proposals prioritized for funding under the Kalahi-CIDSS Project.

Other projects currently being implemented in Vallehermoso are, namely: Farm-to-Market Road Project in Barangay Guba which costs P4.40 million and a Water System Project in Barangay Malangsa which costs another P1.22 million.

Implementing community projects are done through a cost-sharing scheme by funds coming from DSWD, Millennium Challenge Corporation, and local government units.

Communities are also required give a counterpart of 30% of the total project cost, either in cash or in kind such as local aggregates, labor, etc.

This scheme is done to foster active involvement of communities in the project implementation process while instilling in them a sense of ownership of the project which is important in sustainability concerns. (rmn/JSME/PIA-Cebu/DSWD-7)

Second leg of Mega Cebu Candidates’ forum on April 25

CEBU CITY, April 23 (PIA) — The second leg of the Mega Cebu Candidates Forum will take place on April 25 at the Cebu Cultural Center.

The morning session will feature electoral bets for Cebu province, 5th and 6th Districts, and Lapulapu City coming from the Liberal Party, Lakas, local Bakud party and independents.

The afternoon session on the same day will feature another set of candidates from Lapulapu City and the 5th and 6th Districts, this time from the United Nationalist Alliance, One Cebu, and independents.

The forums are open to the public for free.

Mega Cebu Candidates’ Forums is the first of its kind in Cebu for electoral bets that focus on issues rather than debates, according to Carol Ballesteros of Ramon Aboitize Foundation, Inc. (RAFI).

During the forum, candidates will present their platforms of government in response to the forum’s focus question: “What is your vision of growth for Cebu?”

Candidates will also answer questions from a panel composed of representatives from the academe, business, sector, youths, civil society, and the government.

The audience will also be given a chance to send in their questions either by writing them down or through Twitter by using the hashtag #mcebuforum.

The forums are spearheaded by Metro Cebu Development and Coordinating Board (MCDCB) through its Mega Cebu project, an urban development vision and cooperation among the seven cities and six towns that comprise Metropolitan Cebu.

Organizers also include the Philippine Information Agency, National Economic Development Authority, RAFI, Couples for Christ, Cebu Daily News, Cebu Business Club, Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry, among others. (rmn/Rizelle Adriatico/PIA Cebu)

Cebu City hosts Visayas Power Summit

By Rachelle M. Nessia

CEBU CITY, April 23 (PIA) — Cebu City will host the Visayas Power Summit on April 26 to tackle power-related issues in the region.

The summit is in response to several issues raised during a series of consultation activities conducted by the Central Visayas Regional Development Council (RDC) on power-related concerns in the region, said Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama in a letter.

Rama also sits as the Regional Development Committee Visayas Chairperson.

He said the issues generated during the consultation series highlighted a need to address the problem of high electricity cost.

“The most recent activity that RDC 7 conducted has cited as one of the recommendations for immediate implementation the conduct of a Power Summit,” said Rama in the letter.

The summit will also feature the presentation of power-related issues not only from Central Visayas but from Western and Eastern Visayas as well.

Energy Sec. Carlos Jericho Petilla is expected to present the 2013-2030 Draft of the Philippine Energy Plan during the summit.

Petilla’s presentation will focus, among others, on the current energy situation in the country, the national government’s policy thrusts, energy supply and demand outlook, generation and transmission sectors reforms, renewable energy and FIT rates, and retail competition and open access.

The one-day summit will cap with a press conference with the panelists composed of officials from the Department of Energy (DOE) and Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC). (RMN/PIA Cebu)

DSWD-7, Dauin LGU turn over day care center thru CDD technology

By Juju Manubag-Empuerto

CEBU CITY, April 23 (PIA) — The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and the Local Government Unit of Dauin in Negros Oriental turned over recently to the community a day care centre through the Community-Driven Development (CDD) technology.

The day care center was set up in Barangay Libjo, Dauin.

CDD harnesses the potential of people in the barangay to analyze their situations, identify their problems and issues in their communities and propose small-scale projects.

CDD is the process utilized by the Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan – Integrated and Delivery of Social Services (Kalahi-CIDSS), the government’s flagship poverty alleviation program implemented by DSWD.

Kalahi-CIDSS has been internationally recognized to be an effective strategy in addressing community needs.

“The volunteers will continue their services in assisting Day Care Workers in preparing snacks/food for the children under the Supplementary Feeding Program. It is also part of their function to conduct quarterly inventory on the program materials like toys, books, feeding utensils and outdoor facilities to replace the fund raising/solicitation,” said DSWD Regional Director Mercedita Jabagat during the blessing of the educational facility.

The day care community project is built on a 48-square meter building that costs over P790,000.

It will directly benefit the pre-schoolers of the 120 families located within and outside Brgy. Libjo.

The village’s old and dilapidated Day Care Centre can only accommodate less than 15 children while the newly-built facility is equipped with a mini-kitchen, a storage room, a concrete pathway, and a playground.

Currently, there are 29 children from Brgy. Libjo and the neighbouring villages enrolled in the day care center.

As their counterpart, the Dauin LGU hired a day care teacher to take charge of the center.

“Building them a sense of ownership of the project is the key of sustaining the people in the barangay to volunteer their time and effort to construct the project. The social preparation which included the community members critically identifying the situation of their barangay, prioritizing urgent needs and proposing their solutions which they themselves have thought have instilled a mindset that unless they work hard for it and be active participants in the development process, they will never attain community project,”said Kalahi-CIDSS Dauin Area Coordinator Joel Erediano.

The Libjo Day Care Centre is one of the two (2) Day Care Centre projects identified and prioritized by the communities in Negros Oriental.

Other Day Care Centre currently being constructed is located in Brgy New Namangka in the Municipality of Mabinay and is expected to be finished in the coming weeks.

The province of Negros Oriental will be seeing 55 more completed projects in the next coming months.

The other community projects included Farm-to-Market Roads, Water Systems, School-buildings, Foot-bridges, Health Stations, Drainage Systems and a Rain Water Harvester – all identified and conceptualized by the communities in the province. (rmn/JSME/DSWD-7/PIA-Cebu/)

PNoy OKs BRT, LRT mass transport systems in Cebu

CEBU CITY, April 23 (PIA) — Pres. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III has approved the construction of a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) and the Light Rail Transit (LRT) Systems in Cebu.

The BRT would be situated on ground while the LRT would be constructed as an overhead network, Aquino said during his visit to Bogo City on April 19.

The BRT was proposed by incumbent Cebu City South District Rep. Tomas Osmena when he was then the mayor of Cebu City.

Osmena had sent a team to study BRT systems in different countries and had also invited experts from Colombia to share ideas with the City planners.

Aquino said that the experimental stage of the BRT is ongoing in EDSA, Metro Manila.

The BRT has an approximate cost of P17.5 billion and it aims to decongest the traffic in Cebu as well as decreasing the carbon footprint.

The Philippine Government has proposed the Cebu City BRT as part of the Clean Technology Fund (CTF) Country Investment Plan that was submitted to the CTF Committee in Dec 2009.

The Department of Transportation and Communication (DOTC), in coordination with Cebu City Government, will prepare and implement the project.

The lead consultant on the project is British transport consultancy ITP.

External funding will be sourced from the World Bank, Clean Technology Fund and the French Development Agency (AFD) for complementary measures to improve city transport.

BRT will cover three cities in Cebu, namely Lapulapu, Mandaue, and Cebu.

The LRT on the other hand was proposed by Cebu First District Rep. Eduardo Gullas.

It will run from north to south of the province.

The President was recently in Cebu to inaugurate the Mactan Circumferential Road and to meet with Liberal Party leaders of Bogo, Toledo and Cebu cities. (rmn/Ferliza C. Contratista and Rizelle R. Adriatico /PIA Cebu)