LEGAZPI CITY, Feb. 15 (PNA) -- The Albay Povincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (PDRRMC) on Wednesday suspended classes in the preschool, elementary and high school levels across the province, as disaster authorities are bracing up for heavy rains spawned by an active Low Pressure Area (LPA) spotted in the Mindanao region.
Albay Gov. Joey Salceda said the suspension of classes is a standard public safety and disaster avoidance measure to secure a zero casualty goal during disaster events.
“Due to the potential negative effects of the thick cloudiness associated with a Low Pressure Area it is estimated that rains with a volome of 10-18mm per hour is expected to affect the province today,” Salceda said.
Upon advice of the Office of Civil Defense-Regional Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (OCD-RDRRMC), classes in preschool, elementary and high schools are suspended until lifted, he said.
Local disaster council in the 15 towns and three cities were likewise advised to be on high alert and to prepare those in low lying and landslide-prone areas for countermeasures including possible evacuation.
Residents were warned not to cross swelling rivers, and artificial pools of water while those living near mountain slopes were advise to take precautionary measures for possible landslides.
Army trucks and other military mobility assets were requested to be prepositioned in the towns of Libon, Oas, Polangui and Ligao City, areas which are prone to floods and landslides. (PNA)
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The PHILIPPINES NEWS AGENCY (PNA) is a web-based newswire service of the Philippine government.
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Salceda bats for building inspection as disaster risk reduction measure
LEGAZPI CITY, Feb. 15 (PNA) – “How safe and sound are our buildings and houses?” This was the question posed by Albay Governor Joey Salceda as he directed local chief executives to conduct an inspection and assessment of building structures in their respective areas.
In the wake of an earthquake of 6.9 magnitude that recently hit and devastated Negros Oriental, Salceda directed the mayors of 15 towns and three cities to conduct a thorough assessment of all buildings and houses as to their dependability and soundness during an earthquake.
The inspection would determine if building developers and homeowners strictly follow the guidelines stipulated in the National Building Code, Salceda said at the recently held Mayon Summit.
The inspection would also identify buildings that need to be condemned, structures that violated the code and edifice needing repair works.
The data would be submitted to the disaster risk reduction and management plan as a component of the provincial development strategy.
Salceda said that it is very vital that local government units strictly enforce the national building code to ensure that structures built are compliant with the code and provisions under the act are fully carried out by planners, engineers and developers.
The strict compliance with the law would guarantee that a building structure is safe and sound from any disaster event such as earthquake, and typhoons.
He also directed disaster authorities to regularly or on a quarterly basis hold earthquake, fire and tsunami drills so as to make the public aware of what to do in times of quakes, storms and fires.
Albay is located within the “ring of fire” or the Philippine earthquake fault or trench.
As this developed, Senator Francis Escudero recently reiterated his call for a comprehensive review of the National Building Code through Senate Bill No. (SBN) 2843 that seeks the strengthening the state’s existing structural policy.
The Bicolano lawmaker, said that the country had been through major weather disturbances, and structures and constructions in the country did not respond well to its natural impacts.
Escudero, chairman of the Senate committee on environment and natural resources, said that under SNB 2843, conformity to structural protocols should be forced upon all stakeholders and authorities who violate its enforcement will be meted life sentence.
SBN 2843 directs the Departments of Interior and Local Government and the Public Works and Highways, and the National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council to work with all local government units to initiate and conduct a comprehensive inspection of all buildings nationwide before building officials could issue Certificate of Inspection and Clearance in conformity with the by-laws of Presidential Decree 1096 or the National Building Code of the Philippines.
Escudero said it was unfortunate that there had been building permits issued under questionable circumstances saying “these fraudulent issuances have allowed faulty building constructions to the detriment of its occupants and those beside and around it.”
Building authorities who will commit fraud related to the issuance of permits, clearances and certifications shall face life imprisonment, absolute disqualification to hold office and permanent revocation of professional license.(PNA)
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In the wake of an earthquake of 6.9 magnitude that recently hit and devastated Negros Oriental, Salceda directed the mayors of 15 towns and three cities to conduct a thorough assessment of all buildings and houses as to their dependability and soundness during an earthquake.
The inspection would determine if building developers and homeowners strictly follow the guidelines stipulated in the National Building Code, Salceda said at the recently held Mayon Summit.
The inspection would also identify buildings that need to be condemned, structures that violated the code and edifice needing repair works.
The data would be submitted to the disaster risk reduction and management plan as a component of the provincial development strategy.
Salceda said that it is very vital that local government units strictly enforce the national building code to ensure that structures built are compliant with the code and provisions under the act are fully carried out by planners, engineers and developers.
The strict compliance with the law would guarantee that a building structure is safe and sound from any disaster event such as earthquake, and typhoons.
He also directed disaster authorities to regularly or on a quarterly basis hold earthquake, fire and tsunami drills so as to make the public aware of what to do in times of quakes, storms and fires.
Albay is located within the “ring of fire” or the Philippine earthquake fault or trench.
As this developed, Senator Francis Escudero recently reiterated his call for a comprehensive review of the National Building Code through Senate Bill No. (SBN) 2843 that seeks the strengthening the state’s existing structural policy.
The Bicolano lawmaker, said that the country had been through major weather disturbances, and structures and constructions in the country did not respond well to its natural impacts.
Escudero, chairman of the Senate committee on environment and natural resources, said that under SNB 2843, conformity to structural protocols should be forced upon all stakeholders and authorities who violate its enforcement will be meted life sentence.
SBN 2843 directs the Departments of Interior and Local Government and the Public Works and Highways, and the National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council to work with all local government units to initiate and conduct a comprehensive inspection of all buildings nationwide before building officials could issue Certificate of Inspection and Clearance in conformity with the by-laws of Presidential Decree 1096 or the National Building Code of the Philippines.
Escudero said it was unfortunate that there had been building permits issued under questionable circumstances saying “these fraudulent issuances have allowed faulty building constructions to the detriment of its occupants and those beside and around it.”
Building authorities who will commit fraud related to the issuance of permits, clearances and certifications shall face life imprisonment, absolute disqualification to hold office and permanent revocation of professional license.(PNA)
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OPAPP grants funds for ex-NPAs’ livelihood projects in Catanduanes By Danny O. Calleja
LEGAZPI CITY, Feb 15 (PNA) – The Aquino administration, through the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP), has provided P437,000 in grant for various livelihood projects of former communist rebels in Catanduanes.
Paul Escober, OPAPP area manager for Bicol, in a statement here on Wednesday, said the 12 rebel returnees, who were once members of the New People’s Army (NPA) unit operating in the island province, received the grant last week during turn over rites held inside the headquarters of the Philippine Army’s (PA) 83rd Infantry Battalion in San Andres town.
The fund grant, Escober said, is under the government’s Social Integration Program (SIP) for rebel returnees who have chosen to resume a normal life. The fund came from the Payapa at Masaganang Pamayanan (PAMANA), a priority government program being undertaken by the OPAPP.
PAMANA is being implemented towards the attainment of economic progress in conflict affected areas (CAAs) all over the country in line with the Aquino administration’s peace agenda geared at ending internal armed conflicts, according to Escober.
PAMANA operates under three pillars of program implementation wherein the province of Catanduanes had qualified in its intentions of building a foundation of peace, establishing resilient communities and addressing regional development.
It also focuses on empowering households and promoting convergent delivery of goods and services to the community, Escober explained.
He identified the recipients as Clarita Frias, Jolito Eugenio, Michael Rodriguez and Joseph Interior, all of Pandan, Catanduanes; Pablo Antonio, Mergilda Tevar and Juanito Lucero, all of Caramoran town; Maria Jane and Almir Español of Viga; Rowell Fernandez of Baras and; Alfredo Base of San Andres.
Frias, Eugenio, Antonio, Interior and Rodriguez received each a uniform amount of P50,000; Base, P45,000; Jane, P40,000; Fernandez and Eugenio, P20,000 each; Lucero and Español, P12,000 each and Tevar, P10,000.
The qualification of these rebel returnees to the livelihood assistance was validated by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) provincial office and the money received would be used by each recipient in establishing their own small-scale enterprises like backyard piggery, sari-sari stores and buy and sell ventures, according to Escober.
Based on military records, the 12 who have been integrated into the military as Civilian Armed Forces Geographical Unit (CAFGU) volunteers were all former guerrillas belonging to the Nerissa San Juan Command (NSJC), the NPA unit operating in the province with a present force of about 40 armed regulars.
Español, 28, and a native of Albay was the highest ranking among them, being one of the command’s former unit commanders, the records show.
He started his stint with the rebel movement in his home province when he was 16 and in his 3rd year in high school. He was fielded in Catanduanes in 2002 to help in the organizations of rebel mass bases in the area and bringing in to the villagers the NPA message that the corrupt political system is to blame for poverty.
The NPA, which had been in the front line of the armed uprising being waged by the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) that is seeking to overthrow the Philippine government to establish a Marxist-Leninist state for over four decades now, set foot in the island only about 15 years ago. (PNA)
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Paul Escober, OPAPP area manager for Bicol, in a statement here on Wednesday, said the 12 rebel returnees, who were once members of the New People’s Army (NPA) unit operating in the island province, received the grant last week during turn over rites held inside the headquarters of the Philippine Army’s (PA) 83rd Infantry Battalion in San Andres town.
The fund grant, Escober said, is under the government’s Social Integration Program (SIP) for rebel returnees who have chosen to resume a normal life. The fund came from the Payapa at Masaganang Pamayanan (PAMANA), a priority government program being undertaken by the OPAPP.
PAMANA is being implemented towards the attainment of economic progress in conflict affected areas (CAAs) all over the country in line with the Aquino administration’s peace agenda geared at ending internal armed conflicts, according to Escober.
PAMANA operates under three pillars of program implementation wherein the province of Catanduanes had qualified in its intentions of building a foundation of peace, establishing resilient communities and addressing regional development.
It also focuses on empowering households and promoting convergent delivery of goods and services to the community, Escober explained.
He identified the recipients as Clarita Frias, Jolito Eugenio, Michael Rodriguez and Joseph Interior, all of Pandan, Catanduanes; Pablo Antonio, Mergilda Tevar and Juanito Lucero, all of Caramoran town; Maria Jane and Almir Español of Viga; Rowell Fernandez of Baras and; Alfredo Base of San Andres.
Frias, Eugenio, Antonio, Interior and Rodriguez received each a uniform amount of P50,000; Base, P45,000; Jane, P40,000; Fernandez and Eugenio, P20,000 each; Lucero and Español, P12,000 each and Tevar, P10,000.
The qualification of these rebel returnees to the livelihood assistance was validated by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) provincial office and the money received would be used by each recipient in establishing their own small-scale enterprises like backyard piggery, sari-sari stores and buy and sell ventures, according to Escober.
Based on military records, the 12 who have been integrated into the military as Civilian Armed Forces Geographical Unit (CAFGU) volunteers were all former guerrillas belonging to the Nerissa San Juan Command (NSJC), the NPA unit operating in the province with a present force of about 40 armed regulars.
Español, 28, and a native of Albay was the highest ranking among them, being one of the command’s former unit commanders, the records show.
He started his stint with the rebel movement in his home province when he was 16 and in his 3rd year in high school. He was fielded in Catanduanes in 2002 to help in the organizations of rebel mass bases in the area and bringing in to the villagers the NPA message that the corrupt political system is to blame for poverty.
The NPA, which had been in the front line of the armed uprising being waged by the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) that is seeking to overthrow the Philippine government to establish a Marxist-Leninist state for over four decades now, set foot in the island only about 15 years ago. (PNA)
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Sunday, February 12, 2012
One dead, thousands evacuated due to floods in Albay and Camarines Sur
LEGAZPI CITY, Feb. 13 (PNA) -- An 18-year-old girl drowned while crossing a swollen spillway in Barangay Monte Calvario, Buhi, Camarines Sur on Sunday afternoon, the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) in the Bicol regionsaid Monday.
Rampaging floodwaters at spill way swept away and killed Lea Alarcio, a native of Sitio Omandao, Monte Calvario village in Buhi town while crossing the spillway at 3 p.m. Sunday at the height of a heavy downpour, according to Raffy Alejandro, OCD regional director and Regional Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (RDRRMC) chairperson.
Alarcio’s body was recovered at 4 p.m. Sunday at the Rinaga river in Barangay San Pedro, Buhi, reports from the Camarines Sur PDRRMC said.
Jocelyn Pamor, 46, an ABC TV5 crew member and a resident of Cainta, Rizal, suffered multiple abrasions when she was carried by floodwaters while crossing the Cagsawa river in Barangay Busay, Daraga, Albay.
Pamor and 10 other TV5 crew members were covering an event on Sunday at the Cagsawa Ruins, a historical and tourist destination in Albay, in connection with the celebration of the month-long Cagsawa Festival in Daraga town.
The Low Pressure Area (LPA) spotted earlier in Malabalay, Bukidnon and the tail-end of the cold front (TECF) brought moderate to heavy rains in Albay and Camarines Sur on sunday.
The incessant rains spawned flooding in the villages of Busay in Daraga town, Masarawag in Guinobatan, Sugcad and Ilaod in Polangui, Libon, Jovellar, and in this city, all in Albay.
Albay Governor Joey Salceda, PDRRMC chairman, ordered the evacuation of 679 families or 3,537 people affected by flooding in Polangui, Jovellar and Libon towns.
Salceda ordered the suspension of pre-school classes on Monday as a disaster-avoidance measure due to the incessant rains.
The governor said initial damage to agriculture was estimated at P8.6 million, affecting 220 hectares of rice land in Albay.
The OCD report said that Sunday’s heavy downpour also triggered the overflowing of rivers in Barangays Baliwag Viejo in Minalabac, Buhi town, and the flooding of Bombon Highway, all in Camarines Sur.
Landslide hit a national road network in Barangay Sugod, Tiwi, Albay, and Barangay Patitinan, Sangay, Camarines Sur.
The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) in Bicol issued an advisory to all passenger and cargo vessels and fishermen in all ports in Bicol not to sail due to strong waves at sea. (PNA)
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Rains pelted Albay bringing pockets of floods and landslides
LEGAZPI CITY, Feb. 13 (PNA) -- Several low-lying areas here were flooded due to heavy to moderate rains in Albay that prompted disaster authorities here to be on high alert for flooding and landslide in mountain slopes, Albay Gov. Joey Salceda said.
Report reaching the Albay Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (PDRRMC) said flooding incidences were noted in low lying villages of Busay in Daraga town, Masarawag in Guinobatan town and Maoyod and Tula-tula in this city.
The report said a landslide hit Bargy. Sugod in Tiwi, Albay rendering the national highway impassable to all types of vehicles. The national road links Albay and the Partido area in Camarines Sur.
Salceda issued on Sunday morning an advisory placing the province under alert status following a Philippine Atmospheric and Geophysical and Astronomical Administration (PAGASA) forecasts that Bicol would be affected by the Low Pressure Area (LPA) in Malaybalay, Bukidnon.
Jun Dalida, PAGASA southern Luzon bureau director in a phone interview, said widespread cloudiness and moderate to high rains blown away from the center of the LPA would affect the Bicol region.
Salceda advised villagers in low lying areas to take precautions and be alert of possible flooding.
Residents were also advised not to cross flooded waters, swelling rivers, artificial pools of water.
Households living near riverbanks and mountain slopes are to take precautionary measures.
Local disaster councils in the 15 towns and three cities were directed to monitor and disseminate weather bulletins and PDRRRMC advisories to BDRRMCs and to monitor and address situations in their respective jurisdictions.
The Office of Civil Defense (OCD) in Bicol said that military trucks are being readied for dispatch once the weather situation gets worst.
Raffy Alejandro, OCD regional director and RDRRMC chairperson, said the Maharlika Highway a major road network linking the main Bicol provinces (Sorsogon, Albay, Camarines Sur and Camarines Norte) to Metro Manila are still passable to all types of vehicles as of press time. (PNA)
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Thursday, February 9, 2012
Alcala orders BFAR to curtail illegal fishing in Burias Pass
By Danny O. Calleja
PILI, Camarines Sur, Feb. 10 — Burias Pass, a sprawling fishing ground within the municipal waters of at least eight Bicol towns, where thousands of marginal fishermen derive their livelihood, is besieged with massive illegal fishing and Department of Agriculture (DA) Sec. Proceso Alcala wants it stopped at once.
Dennis Del Socorro, the regional director of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) based here on Friday said his office is under firm instruction from the DA secretary into initiating an intensified crack down on illegal fishers and clear away unlawful activities in the Pass.
The Secretary’s instruction was first issued verbally during his consultation meeting with local government officials, fishermen and farmers in Bicol held in Albay and Sorsogon last January 26 and it was reiterated in writing received by the BFAR regional office over the week indicating that he really means business in curtailing illegal fishing in the area, Del Socorro said.
The problem was brought before the agriculture secretary by the local officials in the municipalities of Donsol of Sorsogon, Pioduran in Albay, Balatan, Bula and Pasacao in Camarines and Claveria and San Pascual in Masbate, all towns covering the municipal waters of Burias Pass, he said.
According to reports, superlight, trawl and blast fishing have been rampant in the area depriving marginal fishermen of their only means of livelihood. There are over 10,000 fisherfolk families from these costal municipalities that rely solely on fishing for their daily existence, according to Del Socorro.
Immediately after receiving the first order from Alcala, the BFAR regional chief said his office started coordinating with local officials given that municipal waters are under the operational jurisdiction of local government units (LGUs) and the BFAR’s mandate over these waters is only general supervision on municipal fisheries.
Under this mandate, Del Socorro said, the BFAR, in coordination with LGUs could enforce fishery laws and prosecute offenders. “We have been doing these even without an instruction from our higher office but since this is not only our functions, we greatly rely on LGUs in safeguarding their municipal waters.”
The BFAR had also been working hand in hand with the maritime police of the Philippine National Police (PNP), Philippine Navy (PN) and the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) in enforcing fishery laws particularly Republic Act 8550 or the Philippine Fisheries Code of 1998 that provides for the development, management and conservation of the fisheries and aquatic resources,
There have been several apprehensions and charges filed before local courts against violators caught along Burias Pass. Some were convicted and fined by the courts and some of the cases are pending, he said.
Nonetheless, Del Socorro said, “we are initiating more seaborne patrols along with the maritime police, PN’s Naval District Command and the PSG in this more intensified anti-illegal fishing campaign until we are able to wipe out these illegal activities not only in Burias Pass but all the coastal waters of Bicol”.
The DA through the BFAR is also already addressing the lack of livelihood opportunities of marginal fishermen via the aquasilviculture program, where fish species like grouper, tilapia and mudcrabs are raised in mangrove areas.
Likewise, the DA-BFAR is putting up multi-species hatcheries in Bicol and other parts of the country to provide additional income and employment opportunities for them, Del Socorro said.
In his recent Bicol sortie, Alcala provided over P19 million worth of agricultural and fishery inputs, equipment and livelihood projects, benefiting thousands of farmers, fisherfolk and their respective communities in Albay and Sorsogon.
Funds for the projects were provided under the “Agrikultura: Kaagapay ng Bayang Pinoy (AKBAY)” livelihood program of the DA being implemented under the administration of Pres. Benigno Aquino III.
In his sortie, the DA secretary impressed upon Bicolano farmers, fishermen and local officials that the Aquino administration through the DA is willing to listen and ready to respond and act on the issues and concerns raised by the agricultural sector and all its stakeholders and development partners. (PNA)
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Wednesday, February 8, 2012
‘Fear campaign’ up vs cholera in Sorsogon
LEGAZPI CITY, Feb. 8 (PNA) – The Sorsogon Provincial Health Office (PHO) has launched a “fear campaign” as it intensified moves to address the alarming cholera cases in the province that has already killed 18 persons and hospitalized 240 others during the last four months.
“Fear campaign” is a scheme that warns off residents in a particular area from all possible sources of the deadly bacterium called Vibrio cholera acquired through ingesting contaminated food or water, according to Dr. Edgar Garcia, the Sorsogon provincial health officer and chief of the Sorsogon Provincial Hospital in a telephone interview on Wednesday.
In the campaign, Garcia said “we see to it that barangay residents are totally prevented from sourcing their drinking or cooking water from open dug well. For those who source their water from deep wells, we impress upon them that they should boil it first before consuming.”
The campaign involves the PHO along with all its Rural Health Units (RHUs) including Barangay Health Workers (BHWs), local government officials. They are under instructions to conduct intensive information dissemination campaigns to warn the public and guide them into vigilance against this killer disease.
“So far, this strategy reinforced by our massive information, education, communication (IEC) campaign towards proper hygiene is gaining positive results as reports received by the PHO on cholera cases from the entire province have been leveling off, meaning no addition to the number of cases earlier reported has been monitored,” he said.
From October last year until January this year, Garcia said 240 diarrhea cases attributed to cholera have been reported in the province and 17 of them died. “There is another one case of death reported late in January but we are still validating it to confirm if it was caused by diarrhea”.
He said 13 of these deaths came from Sorsogon City, the provincial capital and the rest were distributed among its nearby towns of Castilla, Gubat and Bulusan.
These figures, he said are big enough to be considered an outbreak but since the cases were sporadic or not confined within a clustered area, it remains unqualified to be called a provincial level epidemic.
There is one barangay however in Prieto Diaz town where the cases are in a clustered section of the village and “we are still in consultation with the Department of Health (DOH) regional office whether to declare or not an outbreak situation. Residents of this village source their water from an open dug well.”
Almost all these 240 cases that were brought before the attention of the PHO, Garcia said were primarily attributed to the presence of “fecal ecoli” in rivers and streams in some areas due to poor hygiene and wrong toilet habits. “We found this out based on rectal swabs tests on patients including those who died,” he noted.
The prevailing rainy season had a very significant influence to the situation as contaminated water overflowing from rivers and stream pours into open dug wells from where the victims get their water. “I don’t know if it is caused by the climate change but rainy days in the past whose volume of water were greater did not cause much cholera troubles in the province,” he said.
Cholera, Garcia explained is an acute infectious disease characterized by watery diarrhea caused by the Vibrio cholera bacterium. It is the most feared epidemic diarrheal disease because people can die within hours of infection from dehydration due to the loss of water from the body through the bowels.
It spreads when human feces from a person who has the disease seeps into a community water supply. Fruits and vegetables can also be contaminated in areas where crops are fertilized with human feces. Cholera bacteria also live in warm, brackish water and can infect persons who eat raw or undercooked seafood obtained from such waters, he said (PNA)
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Bicol mercy mission send to Guihulngan, Negros Oriental
LEGAZPI CITY, Feb. 8 (PNA) -- A Mercy Mission composed of water and sanitation (WATSAN), medical and psycho-social teams will be dispatched to Guihulngan City, Negros Oriental, the hardest hit area of the killer quake that struck on Monday, the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) in Bicol said Wednesday.
The Mercy Mission is a joint undertaking by the OCD, Department of Health (DOH), Armed Forces of the Philippines (Army, Navy Air Force), the Albay Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (PDRRMC), Raffy Alejandro OCD regional director said.
At a meeting held on Wednesday, Alejandro said the RDRRMC-Albay WATSAN and medical team is composed of 73 medical, sanitary and security personnel, including a water liquefying machine.
The WATSAN team will leave this city at 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, on board a Navy boat BRP Gen. Luna at the port of Bulan, Sorsogon and is expected to arrive Guihulngan port Thursday afternoon.
While the medical team will enplane for Damaguete City on Thursday.
The medical team with two doctors and nurses led by Dra. Rose Rempillo of DOH will assist disaster and health authorities in Guihulngan City in providing post disaster health intervention and psycho-social services.
The WATSAN team led by Sanitary Engr. William Sabater of DOH, will operate and distribute water to residents that badly need potable water in the two cities in Negros Oriental.
The water purifying machine can produced 33,000 liters of potable water per hour.
Similar to the overall strategy of Team Albay was patterned to the WATSAN and Medical services interventions in Cagayan de Oro City, Iligan City during typhoon Sendong, Isabela, Iloilo during typhoon Frank, and Bagong Silangan, Quezon City when hit by typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng.
The 73-man team will render service for 10 days from February 9 to 18 this year.
Albay Gov. Joey Salceda, PDRRMC chair, said the mercy mission is in response to the call of President Benigno Aquino and the NDRRMC for LGUs to activate their disaster response and assist other LGUs affected by disaster events of huge impact.
Salceda at the organizational meeting said Guihulngan City with population of 91,358 was the most heavily hit area by the killer quake.
The water system of the city was totally damaged and people there are in dire need of water for their drinking and daily hygiene.
The mercy mission would provide clean, potable water to displaced and affected families, it will also render emergency pre-hospital care and pre-emptive public healthcare given the protracted water supply problems, while a psychosocial care would be given to people traumatized by the earthquake, Salceda said.(PNA)
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Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Phivolcs to Bulusan geothermal developer: ‘At your own risk’
By Danny O. Calleja
SORSOGON CITY, Feb 8 (PNA) – “At your own risk”.
This was the warning aired on Wednesday by the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) addressed to a private industrial firm eying on the development of a geothermal power facility near the foot of the active Bulusan Volcano.
Crispulo Diolata, the resident volcanologist manning the Phivolc’s Mt. Bulusan Observatory in Barangay Cabid-an here said the volcano’s condition remains abnormal and still under alert level one.
Under this alert level, human activities are discouraged within the four-kilometer permanent danger zone (PDZ) of the volcano as a life threatening eruption may take place anytime, Diolata explained.
In its bulletin issued on Wednesday, the Phivolcs said “Bulusan Volcano’s status remains at Alert Level 1. Entry into the 4-kilometer radius Permanent Danger Zone (PDZ) is strictly prohibited due to sudden steam and ash eruptions.
Due to the prevailing wind direction, residents in the northwest and southwest sectors of the volcano are reminded to take precautions against ashfall from sudden eruptions.
Civil aviation authorities must also warn pilots to avoid flying close to the volcano’s summit as ejecta from sudden eruptions may be hazardous to aircraft. If possible, aircraft should avoid airspace west of the volcano as volcanic ash is likely to be dispersed in this direction by prevailing winds.
Furthermore, people living within valleys and along river/stream channels should be vigilant against sediment-laden stream flows and lahars in the event of heavy and prolonged rainfall.”
The Phivolcs is not saying that the developer of the proposed geothermal power project should not go ahead with their planned activities within the area but they should do it at their own risk. Mt. Bulusan eruptions are risky to human lives and may severely damage their equipment, Diolata stressed.
The proposed establishment of the geothermal facility was contracted by the Department of Energy (DOE) with the Summa Kumagai Industries (SKI) that expects to produce some 40 megawatts of geothermal power following a five-year exploration and construction activities that would slash into the Bulusan Volcano Natural Park (BVNP).
BVNP is a 350,000–hectare protected area covered by the municipality of Bulusan and four other adjoining towns sitting near the foot of the volcano. The area is gifted with lush vegetation teeming with exotic flora and fauna.
It serves as home to several endangered species of birds and animals like falcon, monkeys, deer, wild pigs, among other rare ecological properties that contribute to its rich biodiversity.
It is also a watershed area supplying water to thousands of households and irrigating extensive farmlands within the five towns bordering it. It covers the scenic Bulusan Lake Ecological Park, a sprawling virgin forest area that encloses the magnificent Bulusan Lake, Sorsogon province’s main eco-tourism landmark.
BVNP was awarded early last year by the DOE under its Geothermal Resource Energy Service Contract (GRESCO) to the SKI Construction Group Inc., a fully-owned subsidiary of First Philippine Holdings Corporation of the Lopez Group.
Most of the local government units (LGUs) covering the area are opposing the project on ground that it would destroy the ecological wonders of the area that serves a major destination for the growing local tourism industry.
The SKI, on the other hand, said it is determined to pursue the project despite oppositions from the host communities.
The Bulusan Geothermal Energy Project (BGEP) service contract between the DOE and SKI, covers a five-year development arrangement, the first two years for the exploration or pre-development stage and the next three years for the full development stage.
The pre-development stage would involve the conduct of date review, geochemical sampling, geophysical investigations, data evaluation and resource assessment through drilling of exploratory wells down to the earth’s core within the 26,000 portion of the BVNP.
The development stage is for massive constructions, forest clearing and well-drilling activities to put up roads, geothermal plants, power turbines, toxic waste tailing ponds and other installations.
Diolata said the proposed energy project would not affect in anyway the volcano and its natural attitude. “It is the volcano that would affect the project given its abnormal condition that poses danger to the project and the people working in it.”
Mt. Bulusan that stands 5,135 feet in elevation above the ground was declared under abnormal condition in March 19, 2006 after it manifested increased seismic unrest that was followed by an explosion on June 8 of the same year. At least 11 other eruptions took place later and the latest was on May 13, last year. (PNA)
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This was the warning aired on Wednesday by the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) addressed to a private industrial firm eying on the development of a geothermal power facility near the foot of the active Bulusan Volcano.
Crispulo Diolata, the resident volcanologist manning the Phivolc’s Mt. Bulusan Observatory in Barangay Cabid-an here said the volcano’s condition remains abnormal and still under alert level one.
Under this alert level, human activities are discouraged within the four-kilometer permanent danger zone (PDZ) of the volcano as a life threatening eruption may take place anytime, Diolata explained.
In its bulletin issued on Wednesday, the Phivolcs said “Bulusan Volcano’s status remains at Alert Level 1. Entry into the 4-kilometer radius Permanent Danger Zone (PDZ) is strictly prohibited due to sudden steam and ash eruptions.
Due to the prevailing wind direction, residents in the northwest and southwest sectors of the volcano are reminded to take precautions against ashfall from sudden eruptions.
Civil aviation authorities must also warn pilots to avoid flying close to the volcano’s summit as ejecta from sudden eruptions may be hazardous to aircraft. If possible, aircraft should avoid airspace west of the volcano as volcanic ash is likely to be dispersed in this direction by prevailing winds.
Furthermore, people living within valleys and along river/stream channels should be vigilant against sediment-laden stream flows and lahars in the event of heavy and prolonged rainfall.”
The Phivolcs is not saying that the developer of the proposed geothermal power project should not go ahead with their planned activities within the area but they should do it at their own risk. Mt. Bulusan eruptions are risky to human lives and may severely damage their equipment, Diolata stressed.
The proposed establishment of the geothermal facility was contracted by the Department of Energy (DOE) with the Summa Kumagai Industries (SKI) that expects to produce some 40 megawatts of geothermal power following a five-year exploration and construction activities that would slash into the Bulusan Volcano Natural Park (BVNP).
BVNP is a 350,000–hectare protected area covered by the municipality of Bulusan and four other adjoining towns sitting near the foot of the volcano. The area is gifted with lush vegetation teeming with exotic flora and fauna.
It serves as home to several endangered species of birds and animals like falcon, monkeys, deer, wild pigs, among other rare ecological properties that contribute to its rich biodiversity.
It is also a watershed area supplying water to thousands of households and irrigating extensive farmlands within the five towns bordering it. It covers the scenic Bulusan Lake Ecological Park, a sprawling virgin forest area that encloses the magnificent Bulusan Lake, Sorsogon province’s main eco-tourism landmark.
BVNP was awarded early last year by the DOE under its Geothermal Resource Energy Service Contract (GRESCO) to the SKI Construction Group Inc., a fully-owned subsidiary of First Philippine Holdings Corporation of the Lopez Group.
Most of the local government units (LGUs) covering the area are opposing the project on ground that it would destroy the ecological wonders of the area that serves a major destination for the growing local tourism industry.
The SKI, on the other hand, said it is determined to pursue the project despite oppositions from the host communities.
The Bulusan Geothermal Energy Project (BGEP) service contract between the DOE and SKI, covers a five-year development arrangement, the first two years for the exploration or pre-development stage and the next three years for the full development stage.
The pre-development stage would involve the conduct of date review, geochemical sampling, geophysical investigations, data evaluation and resource assessment through drilling of exploratory wells down to the earth’s core within the 26,000 portion of the BVNP.
The development stage is for massive constructions, forest clearing and well-drilling activities to put up roads, geothermal plants, power turbines, toxic waste tailing ponds and other installations.
Diolata said the proposed energy project would not affect in anyway the volcano and its natural attitude. “It is the volcano that would affect the project given its abnormal condition that poses danger to the project and the people working in it.”
Mt. Bulusan that stands 5,135 feet in elevation above the ground was declared under abnormal condition in March 19, 2006 after it manifested increased seismic unrest that was followed by an explosion on June 8 of the same year. At least 11 other eruptions took place later and the latest was on May 13, last year. (PNA)
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Fear campaign’ up vs cholera in Sorsogon
LEGAZPI CITY, Feb. 8 (PNA) – The Sorsogon Provincial Health Office (PHO) has launched a “fear campaign” as it intensified moves to address the alarming cholera cases in the province that has already killed 18 persons and hospitalized 240 others during the last four months.
“Fear campaign” is a scheme that warns off residents in a particular area from all possible sources of the deadly bacterium called Vibrio cholera acquired through ingesting contaminated food or water, according to Dr. Edgar Garcia, the Sorsogon provincial health officer and chief of the Sorsogon Provincial Hospital in a telephone interview on Wednesday.
In the campaign, Garcia said “we see to it that barangay residents are totally prevented from sourcing their drinking or cooking water from open dug well. For those who source their water from deep wells, we impress upon them that they should boil it first before consuming.”
The campaign involves the PHO along with all its Rural Health Units (RHUs) including Barangay Health Workers (BHWs), local government officials. They are under instructions to conduct intensive information dissemination campaigns to warn the public and guide them into vigilance against this killer disease.
“So far, this strategy reinforced by our massive information, education, communication (IEC) campaign towards proper hygiene is gaining positive results as reports received by the PHO on cholera cases from the entire province have been leveling off, meaning no addition to the number of cases earlier reported has been monitored,” he said.
From October last year until January this year, Garcia said 240 diarrhea cases attributed to cholera have been reported in the province and 17 of them died. “There is another one case of death reported late in January but we are still validating it to confirm if it was caused by diarrhea”.
He said 13 of these deaths came from Sorsogon City, the provincial capital and the rest were distributed among its nearby towns of Castilla, Gubat and Bulusan.
These figures, he said are big enough to be considered an outbreak but since the cases were sporadic or not confined within a clustered area, it remains unqualified to be called a provincial level epidemic.
There is one barangay however in Prieto Diaz town where the cases are in a clustered section of the village and “we are still in consultation with the Department of Health (DOH) regional office whether to declare or not an outbreak situation. Residents of this village source their water from an open dug well.”
Almost all these 240 cases that were brought before the attention of the PHO, Garcia said were primarily attributed to the presence of “fecal ecoli” in rivers and streams in some areas due to poor hygiene and wrong toilet habits. “We found this out based on rectal swabs tests on patients including those who died,” he noted.
The prevailing rainy season had a very significant influence to the situation as contaminated water overflowing from rivers and stream pours into open dug wells from where the victims get their water. “I don’t know if it is caused by the climate change but rainy days in the past whose volume of water were greater did not cause much cholera troubles in the province,” he said.
Cholera, Garcia explained is an acute infectious disease characterized by watery diarrhea caused by the Vibrio cholera bacterium. It is the most feared epidemic diarrheal disease because people can die within hours of infection from dehydration due to the loss of water from the body through the bowels.
It spreads when human feces from a person who has the disease seeps into a community water supply. Fruits and vegetables can also be contaminated in areas where crops are fertilized with human feces. Cholera bacteria also live in warm, brackish water and can infect persons who eat raw or undercooked seafood obtained from such waters, he said (PNA)
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