W Express makes paying easier with ECPay

Press Release
July 5, 2019

QUEZON CITY – W Express, one of the country’s pioneering logistics companies, has launched ECPay, a new service designed to make payments hassle-free for its customers.

ECPay allows W Express to accept and process payments for Home Credit, Cashalo, Dragon Loans, Philippine Airlines, Cebu Pacific, Sky Cable, Cignal TV, BPI Banko, Security Bank Mastercard, Coins.ph, PLDT, Globe, SSS, BIR, NBI, local electric cooperatives and water districts, insurances, and loans, among others. It will also allow customers to top up their prepaid phone credits and their Autosweep or Easytrip RFIDs.

The ECPay service is now available in 82 Metro Manila and Luzon W Express branches. The company aims to offer ECPay in Visayas and Mindanao in June.

“Providing our customers a one-stop shop for bills payments, alongside our courier delivery services, is just one of our efforts in keeping with our philosophy of delivering with care and confidence, and our slogan ‘cargo mo, kargo ko!’” W Express Chairman and President Dawn J. Feliciano said.

In April, W Express announced its major expansion in 2019, starting with the opening of the first two of 19 new branches in growth areas around the country.

Save the Children Philippines calls on mothers to breastfeed newborns as national nutrition survey reveals rising cases of malnutrition among babies and pre-schoolers

Press Release
July 5, 2019

MAKATI CITY – Save the Children Philippines urged mothers to exclusively breastfeed their newborns as malnutrition remains on steady rise among babies and pre-schoolers in the country.

Lawyer Albert Muyot, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Save the Children Philippines said community health and nutrition workers should intensify campaigns on breastfeeding, complementary feeding and proper nutrition particularly among children of deprived families and marginalized communities.

He raised concern over the results of the 2018 Expanded National Nutrition Survey by the Department of Science and Technology-Food and Nutrition Research Institute (DOST-FNRI) presented last June 24 which showed increasing prevalence of malnutrition and anemia among babies and toddlers.

Atty. Muyot said the nutrition survey serves as “a wake-up call” in time for Nutrition Month being observed every July.

Anemia cases among babies six to 11 months increased to 48.2% in 2018 from 40.5% in 2013, while anemia among toddlers aged one to two years old have increased to 35.4% last year from 24.7% in 2013.

Stunting, a life threatening condition due to chronic undernutrition remains high at 36.6% for children two years old in 2018, from 36.2% in 2013.

Malnutrition among pre-schoolers is also high particularly among three years old at 33.8% in 2018 from 38.6 in 2013; and four years old at 30.2% last year from 36.8 in 2013.

“Exclusive breastfeeding in the first six months and continued breastfeeding up to two years old will provide critical nutrients and protection to infants against life threatening diseases and improve their immune system,” said Muyot.

Globally, exclusive breastfeeding in the first six months prevents deaths of 1.3 million children below five years old every year.

Save the Children Philippines had been campaigning to eradicate malnutrition among children through maternal and child health and nutrition programs for children and pregnant and lactating mothers in deprived areas in the cities of Malabon, Navotas and Caloocan of Metro Manila as well as conflict affected areas of Mindanao.

Muyot urged local leaders to implement Republic Act 11148 or the First 1,000 Days Law that ensures optimum health and nutrition for children from conception up to two years old.

He said the first 1,000 days of a child’s life is considered a “critical window of opportunity” when physical growth and brain development are very crucial, and damage could be permanent or irreversible.

“We call on local government leaders to invest in safe motherhood and children’s health and well-being by providing more funds for maternal, newborn and child health and nutrition programs,” said Mr. Muyot.

He lauded the cities of Malabon, Navotas and Caloocan that have adopted the First 1,000 Days law into local city ordinances and allocated funds to improve the health and nutrition status of pregnant and lactating mothers and children below two years old.

Dr. Amado Parawan, Health and Nutrition Advisor of Save the Children Philippines said government programs on maternal and child health and nutrition should focus on priority areas with high malnutrition rates, mostly in conflict affected areas in Mindanao.

“We need to focus our nutrition programs in priority areas with high malnutrition rates to achieve the targets in the 2017-2022 Philippine Plan of Action for Nutrition,” said Dr. Parawan who serves as private sector representative to the National Nutrition Council Governing Board.

Save the Children Philippines advocated for the passage of Republic Act 11148, known as Kalusugan ng Mag-Nanay Act to implement maternal and child health and nutrition in the first 1,000 days of the child’s life using the Nurturing Care Framework developed by the World Health Organization, World Bank and UNICEF.

“Malnutrition is a very complex problem with long-term effects physically, mentally and socially. With the passage of RA 11148, now is the perfect time to mobilize collaborative actions from all sectors. We should always remember that takes a village to raise and nurture a child,” said Dr. Parawan.

Download: Republic Act 11148 (First 1000 Days Law)

New road leading to Calbayog diversion road completed

By CHENZI MAY UY
July 4, 2019

CALBAYOG CITY – DPWH Samar First District Engineering Office has completed the construction of a new road leading to the Calbayog diversion road. The road connects Narcisa Hills Subdivision to barangay Rizal I and taps into the diversion road.

The said road is appropriated P50 million under the district’s Local Infrastructure Program. It is a 1.36-kilometer-long concrete pavement with drainage structure totalling 2,487.4 linear meters. The road width varies from 4.5 meters to 6.1 meters, with some road sections having shoulder lanes.

Prior to the implementation of this road construction project, motorists and commuters coming from barangay Rizal I used a narrower, dilapidated road at Pido St. Extension which connects to the city proper via Magsaysay Boulevard.

This new development creates another access point to and from the city proper, allowing greater mobility for the travelling public. It also provides residents of barangay Rizal I with a new and better means of transport, particularly its local farmers. The barangay is home to at least 715 people (2015 Census).

ACT to PNP: Stop normalizing highly irregular acts against teachers

Press Release
July 3, 2019

QUEZON CITY – The Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) Philippines fired back at PNP Chief Oscar Albayalde for ‘deodorizing the vicious operations’ the police is carrying out against the organization ‘to make the public accept that snooping and harassment is a regular police job.’ Albayalde called ACT’s allegations filed through a supplemental petition to the Court of Appeals as ‘fabricated’, saying that PNP operations on the organization are but part of the regular ‘government profiling.’

“Since PNP launched snooping and harassment operations against ACT, Mr. Albayalde has not provided any concrete basis for their acts and arrogantly dismissed every valid and well-documented case we have bared. He has been defending their abusive operations by carrying a paranoid concept of protecting national security – one that suspects every critical citizen of being enemy of the state and therefore should be subjected to state surveillance, to the detriment of our people and our rights,” hit ACT Secretary General Raymond Basilio.

Basilio said that the confirmation of the PNP Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) of the incidences he cited in the petition contradicts Albayalde’s accusation that ACT’s claims are fabricated. The investigation unit said it was a response to complaints received by the Office of the President regarding threats against Basilio’s life. The agency, however, denied that Basilio was harassed by their operatives.

“For the record, the CIDG operatives refused to sufficiently explain the motives of their investigation, even refusing to give me a look at the copies of the supposed orders which they say they are taking action on. Depriving me of my right to know the bases of their investigation render their actions dubious, especially that they came from the same institution whose flunked intelligence operations spurred the series of threats, harassments, and intimidation that I and other leaders suffered,” argued Basilio.

Basilio furthered that the incidence prompted them to file a supplemental petition ‘to protect ourselves from known rights violators like the police and the military.”

‘DepEd and CHEd need to explain themselves’

ACT called on the Department of Education (DepEd) and the Commission on Higher Education (CHEd) to clarify Albayalde’s implication of the two education agencies regarding a request to do a background check on ACT members.

“This is a targeted intelligence operation, and if DepEd and CHEd have a hand in this, then they are liable to carrying out political persecution against teachers and professors. It breaches our freedom from discrimination based on political beliefs, right to free expression, freedom of association and right to self-organization,” said Basilio.

ACT urged the two education agencies to urgently issue a statement of clarification on the matter. The group further insisted that both DepEd and CHEd as their employer and as state institutions have a duty to uphold and respect human and labor rights.

“Have our education agencies willingly slid into the fold of Duterte’s violent and repressive ‘whole of nation approach’ of weaponizing the civilian bureaucracy in its rabid pursuit to suppress all forms of dissent? If yes, what a shame for institutions supposedly inculcating the principles of human rights, peace and democracy to allow itself to be used for fascistic ends,” stressed Basilio.

Basilio challenged DepEd and CHEd to ‘hold their ground and desist from being instruments to the Duterte regime’s repressive and tyrannical measures.’

Coal as ‘temporary solution’ not possible, groups say

Anti-coal groups respond to former Rep. Albee Benitez’s defense of coal

By Power for People Coalition
July 1, 2019

QUEZON CITY – Anti-coal Negrosanons criticized former Third District congressman Alfredo “Albee” Benitez’s defense of coal as a ‘temporary solution’ to energy needs in his first week as Trade and Investments Promotion consultant of Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson.

“The recent statements of the former Representative casts a shadow of doubt upon the assurance of Gov. Lacson that discussions on coal will be put on hold,” said Bishop Gerardo Alminaza of the Diocese of San Carlos. “We hope that the Governor will honor his word and instead put his cabinet and the rest of the provincial government to responding to our energy needs apart beyond coal.”

The Bishop pointed out that plans to pass a Renewable Energy ordinance to further strengthen the development of renewable energy programs for the province was proposed as early as the RE Summit in 2017. “The concerns of the former Representative can be addressed if a policy outlining how our energy needs can be sustained by clean energy is passed by the Sangguniang Panlalawigan,” the Bishop stated.

The Bishop then urged the Governor to convene Provincial Renewable Energy Council as prescribed by the Executive Order 19-08, which Lacson upheld. “We hope to invite all stakeholders to make a paradigm shift from the outmoded baseload model of energy to a model that employs renewable energy sources and digital technology,” he continued.

“Coal-based energy, by its very nature, cannot be a ‘temporary’ solution,” said think tank Center for Energy, Ecology, and Development (CEED) Executive Director Gerry Arances. “The amount of capital needed to construct and operate a coal-fired power plant, and the amount of time needed before investors could enjoy a return of investment is among the reasons why coal contracts often span two or more decades,” said Arances.

“Energy investments on storage facilities and updating the island’s grid system, if managed and guided properly by public policy, could appease former Rep. Benitez’s concerns about renewable energy,” said Arances. “As Rep. Benitez has mentioned, many countries have already begun shifting from coal to renewable energy. The reality which must be faced is that this entails retiring and repurposing old coal-fired power plants, not constructing more of them.”

Anti-coal stalwart Dr. Romana delos Reyes of the Coal-free Negros Network stressed that there is no room for new coal projects in an ongoing ecological crisis faced and to be faced by the youth of today, their children and their grandchildren. “Coal plants are the monsters that have caused the sea level rise being experienced in various parts of the world. The ongoing melting of the Himalayan glaciers and Greenland sea ice will likely engulf large areas of lands in the entire world,” said Dr. Reyes, citing studies by international climate scientists.

“Our legacy cannot be one that does not care about the Philippine coastal communities where millions of Filipinos live,” Dr. delos Reyes continued. “We need to consider and prioritize the future of the youth over business. This entails resisting the lure of material progress to the detriment of lives, livelihood and a livable future for all Negrosanon youth,” she concluded.

"We are surprised that such a statement would come so close after the successful youth-led action last Saturday, which prompted a commitment from Gov. Lacson to put on hold talks on coal," said Coleen Awit of Youth for Climate Hope. "I hope that former Rep. Benitez could instead help bring in investments for clean energy infrastructure instead of re-introducing coal into the discussion."

142 indigent patients from far-flung areas in Samar Island benefitted surgical outreach program of 8ID and partners

By DPAO, 8ID PA
July 1, 2019

CAMP LUKBAN, Catbalogan, Samar – A total of 142 indigent patients benefited during the two-day Samar Island Surgical Outreach Program at Camp Lukban Station Hospital on June 27-28, 2019.

The 8th Infantry (Stormtroopers) Division, Philippine Army led by its Commander, Maj. Gen. Raul M. Farnacio in collaboration with DU30 Cabinet Spouses Association, Inc. led by its President, Atty. Betty Medialdia, World Surgical Foundation Philippines, GMA Kapuso Foundation and Eastern Visayas Regional Medical Center with the support of Department of Health, Department of Social Welfare and Development, Department of Interior and Local Government, Office of the Presidential Assistant for the Visayas, Presidential Management Staff, Samar Provincial Hospital, Local Government Units in the Region 8, Naval Task Group 2 and other stakeholders conducted the Surgical Outreach Program to extend health services specially surgical treatment to the indigent patients from the conflict affected areas in Samar Island.

This 2-day activity was able to treat 38 major cases, 80 minor cases, 13 consultations and referred 11 cases to Eastern Visayas Regional Medical Center (EVRMC).

Two weeks prior to this activity, patients of different surgical cases underwent series of pre-screening process to qualify them for the said surgical outreach program or be referred to other hospitals for treatment. Furthermore, bloodletting activity was also conducted at Camp Lukban wherein soldiers voluntarily donated a total of 84,150 cc of different types of blood for the patients.

Most of the patients were taken from the far-flung barangays by the Community Support Program (CSP) teams of 8ID in collaboration with the barangay officials, barangay health workers and social workers. They have undergone the Pre-Screening on Sites at the respective Rural Health Services with the assistance of the Municipal Health Officers. The patients were provided with transportation assistance by the Infantry Battalions and MLGUs. In some areas, our CSP teams took 1-2 days of trekking to bring the patients to the nearest road-net before availing transportation assistance.

Medical experts from EVRMC and World Surgical Foundation (WSF) Philippines headed by Dr. Lester Suntay shared their expertise by conducting surgical operations to the patients with the assistance of Lt. Colonel Dionido Napalang, Commanding Officer of Camp Lukban Station Hospital.

“Lahat na makakaya namin ay gagawin namin para makatulong sa ating mga kababayan sa Samar Island gaya ng ginawa namin sa Marawi,” Dr. Suntay stated.

On the other hand, Atty. Betty Medialdia, President, DU30 Cabinet Spouses Association, Inc. is appreciative of the warm reception accorded to them and their partners by 8ID and the beneficiaries.

In her statement during the opening ceremony, Atty. Medialdia said that “We have faith that our mission will be successful at makaka-uwi po sila (patients) ng maayos.”

Maj. Gen. Raul M. Farnacio, Commander, 8ID was glad and grateful to the services or support extended by the different partners and stakeholders who worked hand-in-hand for the success of the Samar Island Surgical Outreach Program.

“Sa loob ng dalawang araw, muli na naman nating naipakita at napatunayan na ang pagtutulungan at pagkakaisa tungo iisang layunin ay madaling mapagtatagumpayan kung sama-sama nating haharapin at bibigyan ng pansin.” Farnacio said.

SFDEO tops 2018 ComDev rankings in Region 8

By CHENZI MAY D. UY
July 1, 2019

CALBAYOG CITY – Samar First District Engineering Office (SFDEO) has once again bagged the first place in the overall ranking of DEOs in Region 8 for the year 2018, under the Communications Development Program of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).

Every month, DEOs are given star ratings based on the quantity, content and timeliness of public information materials they submit to the Regional Office as well as items published in various media. Monthly ComDev ratings are then tallied to produce the final rankings for the year.

Samar 1st District Engineer Alvin Ignacio officially received the certificate of recognition, which was presented by DPWH-RO8 Director Nerie Bueno during the Regional Monthly Coordination meeting held last June 18, 2019 at the Club House, Pawing, Palo, Leyte.

The recognition is a reflection of the tireless efforts of the SFDEO Public Information Office under the leadership of Administrative Chief and then PIO-Designate Ma. Nenita Gomez.

“We were blessed to have had talented personnel under our wings, whose skills we could employ to their utmost potential. Of course, we also had full support from the management, so we had all the equipment and resources we needed,” the chief says.

Through the DevCom Program, the department awards DEOs that work diligently towards keeping the public informed and maintaining transparency for all projects they undertake. This is the sixth consecutive year that Samar I ranked #1 among all thirteen (13) DEOs in the region.

New Negros Occidental Governor puts SMC coal plant on hold

Bishop, groups urge SMC to REthink energy plan for island, country

By Power for People Coalition
June 29, 2019

QUEZON CITY – After incoming Governor Bong Lacson put discussions on hold for the proposed coal-fired power plant in San Carlos, Negros Occidental in a statement yesterday, leaders of the anti-coal movement urged San Miguel Corporation (SMC) to rethink its energy strategy in the province and in the country.

“We are glad that the Governor is putting talks of coal on hold and is prioritizing the maximization of renewable energy in our beloved province,” said Bishop Gerardo Alminaza of the Diocese of San Carlos. “We hope that this is a first step for him towards acknowledging that there is no room for coal in San Carlos and no room for it in Negros.”

The anti-coal groups in the province carried on with their planned gathering in the inauguration of Gov. Lacson to reiterate their calls to reject coal, uphold the coal-free Executive Order, and pass the proposed Renewable Energy Ordinance from the last administration.

Bishop Alminaza urged SMC to back down on its proposed project and instead invest in projects that would unite and not divide the people of the province. “We share the passion of all Negrosanons for growth and prosperity in our province, but we will not cease in viewing the continued use of dirty energy as an issue of morals and justice,” he said.

The Bishop reiterated that a country among the most threatened in the world by the climate crisis should not itself contribute to the problem. “It is the cry of the Earth and the cry of the poor that we refrain from so-called development projects that will not only harm our health and environment, but further decrease the capacity of the impoverished to survive and thrive in this worsening climate.”

“The costs and risks attached to existing coal projects of SMC in other parts of the country is among the many reasons why there is a growing and overwhelming opposition to the projects they are proposing,” said Center for Energy, Ecology, and Development (CEED) Executive Director Gerry Arances. “In the past two years, the company has suffered a bad reputation in the handling of its coal assets.”

Arances recounted how last 2017, health and environmental problems were seen in the waste disposal system of its coal plant in Limay, Bataan. “And just this year, the underperformance and emergency maintenance shutdowns of its coal plants in Calaca, Batangas and Masinloc, Zambales caused electricity hikes which consumers had to pay for.”

Arances encouraged the company to double down and scale up its plan to set up 1,200 MW of renewable energy in five years. “Not only will SMC get the chance to reinvent itself as a leader in clean energy, it will also send good signals to consumers and communities who have long suffered from their dirty and costly investments,” he concluded.

Anti-coal groups to press on to stop SMC plant

Youth and other sectoral groups gathered in the Capitol Lagoon as the inauguration was happening to remind the incoming leaders of their responsibility to the environment and the people.

“While Negros Occidental is already known across the country as its Renewable Energy Capital, we know that we still have much more to do if we seek to harness and maximize all the renewable energy sources that we have in the province,” said Coleen Awit of the Youth for Climate Hope. “Categorically abandoning coal shall also make Negros Occidental a model province not just in its pursuit of renewable energy, but also in its initiatives for climate action and justice.”

Students and religious groups, as well as local contingents of national organizations Bukluran ng Manggagwang Pilipino, Sanlakas, Murang Kuryente, Philippine Movement for Climate Justice also mobilized during the gathering.

Cagnipa Bridge widened by DPWH

By GISSELLE G. PARUNGAO
June 28, 2019

CALBAYOG CITY – From a two-lane Cagnipa Bridge, it was widened to a four-lane bridge by the Department of Public Works and Highways Samar First District Engineering Office with an appropriation of P50 million.

The bridge was widened to a total width of 7.32 meters carriageway (left and right) and 2.22 meters sidewalk. Now, it spans to 14.64 meters total width of carriageway and a total length of 51 meters.

This will provide safe and convenient travel going through this major thoroughfare and faster delivery of goods to and from the city proper.