Lt. Col. Bonifacio
Cebrian Jr., the new 46th Infantry Battalion chief, also
facilitates the activation of Integrated Area/Community Public Safety
Plan (IA/CPSP) pursuant to section 51 of the Republic Act 6975 which
provides that the Municipal/City Mayors shall develop, establish, and
oversee the implementation of the security, crime prevention, fire
prevention, health and sanitation, disaster and relief operation, and
development of their communities through the concerted effort of
concerned government agencies.
According Lt. Col.
Cebrian, Project “Kasangkayan”, is a Security Awareness Program for
Civilian Volunteer Organization (CVO) giving emphasizes on their
active role as an integral part of the Integrated Territorial Defense
System (ITDS) that provides the first line security in defense in the
barangay against all kinds of threats in order for the people to live
peacefully. Considering the vital role of the CVO’s, there is a need
to re-educate them on security and other related matters that will
prepare them to undertake the active role.
The Project
“KASANGKAYAN” will reflect on the other adjacent municipalities within
the Area of Operation to strengthen the ITDS of the communities. The
activity was jointly undertaken by 46IB and local executives headed by
Hon. Nancy B. Grey, Municipal Mayor of San Jorge, Samar who provided
the unwavering support and utmost cooperation in the success of the
activity and participated by 41 Barangays with 500 plus participants.
Jaro mayor commends
ICOT Caravan’s services
By
Provincial
Media Relations Center (PMRC Leyte)
February 12, 2008
JARO, Leyte – The
local chief executive of this town has lauded the relevance of the
services being delivered by the provincial government of
Leyte to its municipalities through the Inter-Community Operation
Tambulig or ICOT-Caravan program.
Jaro Mayor Rolando
Celebre said the ICOT Caravan that visited his town last Friday
(February 8) was just timely in that many of his residents, especially
those underprivileged ones, are in dire need of the sought after
services it brings.
The ICOT Caravan is
posing as an extended health program of the provincial government of
Leyte which is primarily aimed towards providing preventive medicine
or medical care to the province’s underprivileged folks.
Among the services
being provided by the ICOT Caravan are medical, dental, veterinary,
Philhealth coverage for the indigents, personal grooming, and other
services including the nutritional feeding program.
More than 2,000
residents of Jaro town benefited from these services last Friday
prompting Mayor Celebre to personally thank Gov. Carlos Jericho “Icot”
Petilla for bringing the caravan to his town.
“The holding of ICOT
Caravan in our town has proven to be a big help as we can see that
this is one of the most needed programs of my people,” Celebre said.
Celebre said he is
glad that Gov. Petilla brought complete line of services especially
the free medicines that most of his people needed.
“We the people of Jaro
sincerely extend our gratitude to Gov. Petilla because of this,” Mayor
Celebre said.
He assured that he
will support whatever development programs that Gov. Petilla would
push and implement in the province of Leyte.
Meantime, Gov.
Petilla also handed over a total P890,000 financial assistance to the
different barangays of Jaro to support the various development
projects in the villages like water system, road concreting, drainage,
school fencing, and improvement of barangay hall, among others.
CSC-8 bares civil
service reforms institutionalized by outgoing chairperson David
By GIGI P. MONTEJO (PIA 8)
February
12, 2008
TACLOBAN CITY, Leyte
– The Civil Service Commission (CSC) Region 8 bared the numerous
reforms institutionalized during her seven-year stewardship by its
outgoing chairperson Karina Constantino-David who retired last January
31, 2008.
These reforms were
publicly presented when she delivered a speech at the Public Lectures
on Constitutional Bodies held at the National College of Public
Administration and Governance (NCPAG), University of the
Philippines,
Diliman, Quezon City.
According to CSC-8,
the Civil Service Commission through David had implemented stricter
policies, installed new systems and enhanced existing mechanisms
within the civil service to ensure a professional bureaucracy.
In her efforts to seek
fair wage and to make salaries of civil servants be more competitive
with private sectors, the CSC in partnership with the World Bank
proposed a Government Compensation and Classification Act after having
conducted a two-year study on compensation structure, classification
structure and the process of compensation management in government.
The CSC ensured strict
adherence to qualification standards in the recruitment of job
applicants to guarantee merit and fitness in the career service.
CSC-8 reported further
that all government agencies were compelled to implement the
performance management system – a tool that measures collective as
well as individual outputs of civil servants to ensure their
performance-based tenure.
Since the civil
servants are accountable to the people, David enhanced the Mamamayan
Muna Program aimed at promoting integrity, efficiency and
effectiveness in the civil service by establishing the TEXTCSC wherein
any person can send their complaints, feedbacks and queries via short
messaging service to 0917-TEXTCSC (0917-8398272).
Aside from TEXTCSC,
the Commission launched the Public Service Delivery Audit (PASADA)
Program with the assistance of the Association of Schools of Public
Administration in the Philippines and the NCPAG. Under this program,
undercover volunteers are deployed to frontline service units to
evaluate the quality of service rendered to their clients.
The CSC envisioned
a civil service that is insulated from politics thus it restricted
appointments made by outgoing officials to prevent midnight
appointments, imposed stricter eligibility requirements for
non-presidential appointees, police officials and unified the third
level by creating the Career Executive Officer System.
14th IB troops
discovered NPA abandoned camp
By Maj. ARMAND F. RICO, (CAV) PA
February
10, 2008
CAMP LUKBAN,
Catbalogan City – A New Peoples Army abandoned camp was discovered
by operating troops of 14th Infantry Battalion at Sitio Lunoy, Brgy.
Tawagan, Arteche, Eastern Samar at 2:45 p.m. on February 8, 2008.
A team led by 2Lt.
Lagunero of Alpha Company of 14IB was conducting combat operation in
the area of Maslog and Arteche both of Eastern Samar, discovered NPA
abandoned camp composed of 15 bunkers that can accommodate 50
Communist Terrorist, three guard posts and one comfort room.
Recovered from said
camp were one Battle Dress Attire (BDA) Uniform, one black suit, one
fatigue T-shirt, one flash light, one boot “buta”, water container and
pentil pen inks.
Same troop encounters
NPA communist terrorist (CT’s) armed with M16 Armalite rifle and home
made shotgun believed to be members of third squad, platoon Rado,
Eastern Samar Provincial Party Committee at Sitio Hitalinga, Brgy.
Tawagan same municipality at around 10:40 a.m. on Feb 9, 2008.
Firefight ensued for about one minute that resulted to the recovery of
one home made shotgun with extra barrel and personal belongings
containing letter and Larab (NPA’s local publication). No casualty was
reported on both sides.
Maj. Gen. Armando
Cunanan, 8ID chief, extends his appreciation to the people of Eastern
Samar for their support and cooperation extended to the operating
troops of the 14th IB. The encounter is a result of accurate
intelligence information provided by the local populace, who are
against the CT’s extortion activities, a clear manifestation that they
yearns peace and development in their locality Cunanan said.
Government troops
are conducting pursuit operations to locate and intercept the
withdrawing terrorists.
Kiko urges church
groups to create legal defense and protection fund for Lozada and
family, urges lawyers to volunteer pro bono services
Press Release
By Office of Majority Leader Kiko Pangilinan
February
9, 2008
“We will not allow harassment to get in the way of truth!” –
Kiko
PASAY CITY,
Philippines – With controversial NBN ZTE witness and Philippine
Forrest Corp. president Jun Lozada’s explosive testimony before the
Senate Blue Ribbon Committee linking Malacañang directly to the
anomalous deal, Senate Majority Leader and Independent senator Kiko
Pangilinan on Friday urged La Salle Brothers, other religious groups and
people’s organizations now aiding Lozada to help establish a Legal
Defense and Protection Fund.
“We urge concerned
groups and individuals to come together and help put up a Legal
Defense and Protection Fund for Lozada as we anticipate various forms
of further intimidation to be thrown at him such as the filling of
various cases against him. We know how financially draining this is,
and the fund aims to ease this difficulty one way or another,” Kiko
asserted.
“We cannot be mere
spectators to this alarming issue. Lozada’s case is a danger sign to
all of us, it tells us that this country has reached the situation
where just about anyone can be kidnapped and terrorized in broad
daylight, right before the eyes of the public and the media! It tells
us that the truth in this country has become so costly that powerful
forces are willing to commit illegal acts to stifle it,” Kiko
lamented.
“We cannot allow
foul play to obstruct the truth and justice. If we allow this to
happen, the chilling effect would prevent would-be whistleblowers from
coming forward. We will all turn a blind eye on the possible excesses
in government, and before we know it, we would wake up chained and
enslaved under a tyranny,” Kiko ended.
Jinggoy wants RP to
seal labor pacts with Saudi, other OFW host-countries
Press Release
By Office of Senator Jinggoy Ejercito Estrada
February 9, 2008
MANILA, Philippines
– Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Ejercito Estrada on
Wednesday urged
the government to negotiate for bilateral labor agreements with the
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and other countries hosting overseas Filipino
workers to ensure their welfare and protection, adding that “the
miserable fate of the 111 Filipinos stranded since last year under a
bridge at the Kandara District in Jeddah, KSA, could have been
prevented by such a labor pact.”
“Having bilateral
labor agreements is the best way to keep our OFWs from abuses and
ill-fate. We have to aggressively negotiate for these agreements now
not only with the KSA, but with all other OFW destination-countries as
well,” said Estrada, concurrent chair of the Senate Committee on
Labor, Employment and Human Resources Development and of the Joint
Congressional Oversight Committee on Labor and Employment.
The senator noted the
labor pact of the
Philippines
with Qatar signed in 1997, as a result of negotiations by the then RP
Labor Attache Rustico dela Fuente and Labor Secretary Leonardo
Quisumbing.
Qatar is the first in
only 13 from out of the 197 countries hosting Filipino workers that
the Philippines has successfully negotiated for labor agreements with,
as the OFW support group Kanlungan Center reported. The 12 other
countries are Norway, United Kingdom, Papua New Guinea, South Korea,
Taiwan, Switzerland, Libya, Jordan, Kuwait, Iraq, Commonwealth of the
Northern Mariana Islands and Indonesia.
Estrada said a meeting
between him and KSA Ambassador to the Philippines Mohammed Ameen Wali
could pave the way for discussions on the proposed labor pact between
the Saudi Ministry of Labor and dela Fuente, who is now the labor
attaché in Riyadh, together with Philippine Ambassador to KSA Tony
Villamor.
“I am optimistic that
KSA’s King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud would be receptive to our
proposed bilateral labor pact, especially since the KSA is now a
member of the World Trade Organization (WTO).
In September last
year, Estrada conducted initial discussions with Australian Ambassador
to the Philippines Tony Hely for a similar labor pact between the two
countries.
"Practically everyday,
we hear of Filipino workers being abused and maltreated by their
employers abroad, especially in countries that our government does not
have bilateral labor agreements with. Such agreements could prevent
these misfortunes by laying down the necessary guidelines and
provisions for the protection of our workers," Estrada said.
Reference: Buboy Aure, 09187938242
Journalists bring home
skills for news reportage
By
MYRA M. TAMBOR
February
8, 2008
CATBALOGAN CITY, Samar
– Selected journalists from all over the country goes home with
added skills as they finished the closing workshop for the Probe Media
Foundation Fellowship Training for Children and Disasters held at Cebu
City last February 1-4, 2008.
Bringing home new
information and latest strategies on news reportage, the journalists
aired enthusiasm over the fellowship training. They lauded the
organizer headed by Ms. Yasmin Tang, Executive Director of Probe Media
Foundation and her team, the evaluators headed by UP Professor Mel S.
Estonilo and former PCIJ Training Director Yvonne Chua.