Bohol brands its premium rice grown by local farmers as “Sun Rice”

TAGBILARAN CITY – Bohol Province is now branding its premium rice produced by the Boholano farmers themselves through the launching of its own brand “Sun Rice”, as one of the highlights of the Grand Harvest Festival in November 2020, in a shift of local staple agriculture to competitiveness.

Bohol governor Arthur Yap said that rice branding is one government support to the local growers of quality rice who deserve a fair reward of their labor through reasonable buying price of their harvest.  “This 100% Boholano rice is packed and distributed by the provincial government under its Palay Buy-Back Program (PBBP).”

According to Larry Pamugas, officer-in-charge of the Office of the Provincial Agriculture (OPA) that the PBBP is the Advanced Rice Technology (ART) 160 and 120 Program component granting advantage to the farmers in marketing their produce.

Yap innovated the ART 160 and 120 to enhance the harvest to 160 sacks of hybrid rice and 120 sacks of inbred rice per hectare, respectively with the farmers as parts of the ART 160 beneficiaries, Pamugas explained.

Under the ART 160, the province has started buying rice from the farmers produced at the Rice Processing Center (RPC) in Pilar and 1,035 bags of hybrid palay had been bought so far from 17 farmers as of mid-October this year, Pamugas added.

The purchased quantity was equivalent to 38,452.5 kilograms and the province has already dispensed P717,406 as of October 14-16.  Local traders buy palay at prevailing prices ranging from P17 per kilo for "uga" or palay with moisture content at only 14-percent, Pamugas said.

Palay having higher moisture content (basa) is bought at P14 or lesser by P3 per kilo.  Pamugas said the provincial government buys dry palay at P20 per kilo, including the fixed add-on of P1 also per kilo while brown rice, also called "pula nga humay," sells up to P22 per kilo of palay.

According to Pamugas that Capitol has tapped its Provincial Economic Enterprise Unit (PEEMU) in marketing the “Sun Rice” under the PBBP and through the OPA the province facilitated the first batch of ART 160 crop cut sampling.

 Pamugas said that 10 irrigator associations (IA) conducted the sampling with the ISIDJO IA posting the highest yield at 10.8 metric tons of SL 20H rice variety per hectare.  Rice crop under the ART 120 rice is on the ripening stage. (Photos: Google/Rice fields of Bohol)

 

 

 

 

 

DepEd-7, DA-7 toast to kick-off milk feeding program in Cebu

CEBU CITY-- The Philippine Carabao Center-Ubay Stock Farm (PCC-USF) and the Department of Agriculture in Central Visayas (DA-RFO7) and the Department of Education (DepEd)-Carcar City Division joined the ‘milk toasting’ event at the Carcar City Elementary School to kick-off the 10-day milk feeding program in Cebu Province, a component of the school-based feeding program under the Masustansyang Pagkain para sa Batang Pilipino Act or RA 11037.

DA-7 regional technical director Joel Elumba expressed full support to the program especially in this time of pandemic, where food must always be available and accessible as this is the essence of the World Food Day celebration every October 16 of every year.

PCC-USF through the Lamac Multi-purpose Cooperative (LMPC) in Pinamungahan, Cebu inked an agreement with the different DepEd school divisions in Cebu to supply the needed milk packs intended for the milk feeding in various schools in the province.

"The agreement entered with DA-PCC, LMPC and DepEd will improve the livelihood and increase the income of our dairy farmers," PCC-USF representative Jovilyn Traya said.

According to Nezza Rianne Saraña, Carcar City's School-Based Feeding Program (SBFP) Focal Person said that the milk feeding will benefit 4,672 learners from kindergarten to elementary who are undernourished.

"These learners we selected for the milk feeding are those that are wasted (S) and severely wasted (SW). Some of these children are not used to drinking fresh milk (from carabao's milk), so we encourage them to drink half of the ration or small intake at a time to avoid lactose intolerance," Saraña added.

Saraña explained that providing them with milk will eventually develop and improve their nutritional status and school performance. (Photos: DA-7)

 

 

 

CIB.O to chart IT-BPM industry growth in Visayas in the new normal

CEBU CITY – Cebu’s IT-Business Process Management organization CIB-O and other industry players held its first virtual town hall meeting Thursday, October 29 and discuss issues, concerns and trends to help the industry adapt and thrive under the new normal as well as tackle new trends in the BPM and digital education sectors under the theme, “Gearing Up Towards New Normal and Beyond.”

According to CIB.O chair Francis Monera that the virtual town meeting resulted in the mobilization and formation of the Strat 8 Super Committees that were tasked to manage challenges and take advantage of opportunities brought to light by COVID-19. 

 Monera went on that to help chart the growth of the IT-BPM industry in Cebu and in the Visayas, CIB.O must come up with programs that will ensure there are enough quality graduates from universities and promoting Cebu as a global IT-BPM hub.

The CIB.O virtual town meeting lined up main speakers that included Leechiu Property Consultants, Inc. CEO David Leechiu and Xepto Digital Education Founder Dr. Paco Sandejas; Cebu Infectious Disease Specialist Dr. Bryan Lim who shared new normal health tips for industry stakeholders.

Other speakers included Sykes Synergis Senior Director for District Operations Joseph Anthony Reyes, who talked about company learnings during six months of operations under pandemic quarantine measures; and Wipro Philippines, Inc. Country Head Aseem Roy on attracting foreign direct investments.

TELCO updates on the other hand were provided by PLDT Alpha Customer Relationship Management Group Head Victor Aliwalas for PLDT Enterprise, and VP for Product Development and Engineering Francisco Claravall for Globe Business.

The Strat 8 Super Committees also presented strategies and other innovations to further develop the industry under new normal conditions.  They introduced their thrusts and objectives and they tackled on such vital concerns as talent pool, IT-BPM developments, academe-industry linkages, marketing and promotion, fiscal sustainability, core advocacies, and CIB.O membership.

The liaison directors of CIB.O also presented their programs and agenda in one-minute spiels. These include CIB.O President Gregg Victor Gavison of USJR to champion Talent Development; Pert Cabataña of Auksilyo Professionals.for Innovation and Ecosystem Development; Jigger Escario of CIT-U for Linkages; Kris Villaba of Sykes Asia for Value-Added Services; Rey Beluso of Tech Mahindar for Marketing and Advocacies; Kim Aranas of P&A Grant Thornton for Finance; and Aseem Roy of WIPRO for International Relations committee.

CIB.O evolved from Cebu Educational Development Foundation for Information Technology (CEDFIT), the first ICT Council in the Philippines after its transformation into a full IT-BPM industry organization in 2017. (Photos: CIB-O/Robby Alugar)

 

 

 

Cebu Ocean Park reopens on Nov. 5

CEBU CITY – The Cebu Ocean Park located at the SM Seaside Mall, across Mountain Wing,  reopens on November 5, after being closed to guests since April this year.  The Park opens weekly from Thursday to Sunday at 9AM to 6PM, according to its general manager Hitesh Sampat.  

“We are thrilled to welcome our guests back.” Sampat said.  Guests will have the opportunity to once again experience the wonders of wildlife with their families, stroll among diverse habitats, take part in fun, educational activities and visit the Park's newest residents; the baby bearded dragons, and moray eels, all of whom were born during the lockdown, he added.

Guests are also encouraged to stay connected online by tuning into the park's weekly facebook livestream which comes with a fun quiz for viewers to test their knowledge.

Cebu Ocean Park operation’s manager Andrea Bruno said that the Park’s management provides a safe and educational experience made for all ages, where they can learn about the magic of animal life.   It might be different from past visits, but she is confident that the Cebu Ocean Park family - guests, staff - will help make ‘different' feel awesome.”

With the Cebu Ocean Park reopening in November, it limits visitor capacity and implements health and safety measures recommended by state and local officials to provide a safe environment for humans and animals alike, Bruno bared.

The Park's safety measures include: Mandatory safe distancing measures; Contact Tracing Application: mandatory check in and out of guests; Temperature screenings; Increasing the number of sanitizing stations; Maintaining robust cleaning routines and Mandatory face masks for staff and guests alike.

“As Cebu Ocean Park reopens to guests, it's true that we will be faced with a new normal but with this, we will be able to showcase our strength, resilience and dedication to the community. Welcome back!” Bruno said.

Visayan Electric donates 30 trash bins for Mahiga River rehab

CEBU CITY—The Visayan Electric here donated 30 trash bins, 15 each to barangays Banilad and Kasambagan, the barangays in Cebu City that are identified to be within the area where the Mahiga River flows as there is an on-going Mahiga River Rehabilitation effort from the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the cities of Cebu and Mandaue.

According to Quennie Bronce, Head, Reputation Enhancement Department that the electric utility is among the many companies in Cebu that forged memorandum of agreement with EMB-DENR-7 to assist and support in its rehabilitation program of one of the major water systems in Cebu.

The memorandum of agreement (MOA) between the Visayan Electric and the Barangays was signed by Visayan Electric President and COO Engr. Raul Lucero and representative of Barangays Banilad and Kasambagan on October 19 during the turn over of bins to the said barangays with EMB-7’s John Roy Kymco witnessing the event.

Bronce said that the company also installed a river “trip trap” system near its facility in Banilad.  A river trip trap is a litter capture concept promoted by EMB-7 that is designed to float in waterways and trap litter before it flows further downstream.

Aside from the donations, Visayan Electric has also committed to regularly clean up the part of the river that is within the company’s vicinity as part of its corporate social responsibility effort, Bronce added. (Photos: Visayan Electric)

 

Z Club of Childlink celebrates “Int’l Day of the Girl Child” via art

 CEBU CITY – Students of the Z Club of Childlink High School celebrated the “International Day of the Girl Child” 2020 in a very special way via art and painting to express their thoughts and to teach the adults how to nurture their hopes for a future where gender gap is narrowed or totally gone.

 The “International Day of the Girl Child” is observed every year on October 11 and the Zonta Club of Cebu II led the event and hoped to see the day that every girl shall have safe spaces to grow up in, where girls have the same opportunities to obtain education, as boys, and where chances for a bright future abound.

The United Nations’ theme for this year’s celebration is "My voice, our equal future" that focuses on how girls globally are leading the way.  It encouraged the Z Club of Childlink High School to seize the opportunity to be inspired by what adolescent girls see as the change they want, and the solutions they envision, that will bring them closer to their goals.

What better far-reaching expression of dreams is there than through art? The paintings are part of the students’ class in Social Studies where they express their thoughts, and we learn some from these young people. 

What better fertile ground to sow the seeds of awareness about gender equality than in the young minds of students, who have been sensitized to action by the school with social responsibility in mind.

Childlink High School students who made artworks for the International Day of the Girl Child included Alcyone Torrecampo, Andrea Eloise Rentuza, Andrei Jose Ignacio, Breinard Torrecampo, Chen Chit Ying, Galia Eve Casino, Goeun Jang, Jhirlymarie Lloyd Tio, Katrina Isabelle Chua, Lance Andrei Ong, Russelle Sampang, Beau Kristoff Cataluna, Dexie Bernice Estrella, Jamela Aranduque, Jessemarie Lloyd Tio, Renzo Isaiah Bernabe, Eugenie Villamor and Rehsia Therese Gadrinab.

 

Zonta advocates resilience, mental health wellbeing in times of pandemic

CEBU CITY --- The Zonta Club of Cebu II organized a webinar on the topic, “Resilience in the Midst of the Covid-19 Crisis” with mental health advocate Cathy Babao as resource person to mark October 10 as National Mental Health Day and to push for resilience and mental health wellbeing in times of pandemic.

Participants in the webinar included club members, GAD Focal persons of local government units, barangay health workers, women’s desk officers and LGU officials of Mandaue City, a constant partner of Zonta Club in advancing its mission and vision to empower women.

According to Zonta that the COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted the mental health and well-being of many people in our community and around the world.   Studies have shown that nearly half of respondents expressed that they are feeling a decline in their mental health since the novel coronavirus impacted our usual way of life. 

Experts believe that the resulting economic recession, increased isolation, and decreased access to physical or mental health care as a result of COVID-19 will have long term implications on the mental health of individuals, Zonta added.

The Zonta Club of Cebu realized that its partners at the barangay level require and deserve continuing information to better equipped them to handle the challenges of mental health issues that arise during these abnormal times.

The goals of the webinar were to assist and supply the barangay personnel with skills and competences that will help them cope with the mental health fallout of the Pandemic: Anxiety, Stress, Fear

Babao’s webinar discussed the possible physical, emotional and mental symptoms that would help frontline workers identify and understand the psychological reactions related to the COVID-19 pandemic and offered several approaches to manage stress and better cope with isolation and know when to seek help and what mental resources are available.

Babao emphasized the importance of self-care and illustrated various practical techniques that barangay health workers could use to de-stress and decrease coronavirus anxiety and improve emotional well-being.

 

 

 

 

Disaster aid localization is slow in PH, relies too much on int’l actors

CEBU CITY – Localization od disaster aid in the Philippines is slow and there is too much reliance on international actors/assistance within its disaster risk reduction (DRR) and climate change adaptation (CCA) system, a study by the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative (HHI) said.

HHI researchers warned that a continued reliance on international aid agencies means the Philippines is not realizing its full potential for using local organizations to bolster its DRR and CCA system.

According to HHI Resilient Communities program director Vincenzo Bollettino that local community-based organizations (CBOs) and national non-governmental organizations (NGOs) as well as national and local government units are best positioned to respond to disasters.

The study published on October 29 involved face-to-face and online surveys from 2017 to 2019 and a network mapping among 501 international and local organizations with disaster and climate-related projects in the Philippines. 

Participants were NGOs, CBOs or people’s organizations (POs), local government units (LGUs), government agencies, schools or research institutions, faith-based organizations, private organizations or companies, and affiliates of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement.

(Network map of surveyed humanitarian actors working on disaster preparedness and resilience in the Philippines. | HHI/Root Change )

“Our research points to the continued central networked role international aid agencies play in the Philippine disaster system. Further progress is needed to ensure that local agencies are empowered to respond without international support,” Bollettino said in a statement.

HHI, Harvard University’s humanitarian research center said that the findings of their study suggest that there is “preferential attachment” toward international actors within the Philippine DRR system.   International actors were found to be the top “influencers” or those well-connected organizations that spread information quickly across the network.

They were also cited by most network actors as the top “brokers” or those that facilitate interaction between big and small actors in the system.  International actors along with the government were found to be the top “collaboration hubs” or those connecting local organizations that otherwise would be disconnected within the larger system, the survey said.

Survey said that they were also the top “resource hubs” or those to whom other actors seek expertise from, according to the survey preferential attachment is a common phenomenon that can occur in humanitarian aid systems, where existing system actors are more likely to associate with organizations that have the most links and connections, and opportunities for funding.

“Unsurprisingly, when international agencies set up operations, they quickly become the target of preferential attachment by local actors,” HHI said.

The network actors’ preference to collaborate with international actors rather than local actors can have initial positive effects, as seen in the Philippines but such behavior can build a dependency on international actors and can pose threats to the sustainability of the local DRR system, HHI added. 

The study also found out that the potential risks of preferential attachment toward international actors is present in the Philippines.  Out of 387 actors that had relationships with other actors in the network, only 15 percent or 59 were international actors.  But when removed, the total relationships between actors were reduced to 1,905 from 3,146, losing 39-percent of relationships.

The loss of these international actors also made 41 local actors “isolates” or having no connections to the rest of the network.

International actors were found to have more relationships with sub-national than national actors which is an indication that they have the potential to reach local levels.   Most of the relationships though are between international and sub-national actors with 87-percent were from sub-national actors to international actors rather than the other way around, the study said.

This suggests that the flow of information, technical assistance, and resources was top-down.  “This kind of network behavior demonstrates a weakness in the resilience of the local system and local actors’ ability to maintain coordination and collaboration when international actors withdraw their support,” Bollettino said.

HHI survey described sub-national actors as local organizations who work only within a specific locality or region, while national actors are local organizations who work throughout the country, but a shift in the role of international actors within the system is expected over time.

According to HHI that it is common for international actors to eventually transfer their roles of fostering local system connectivity to a range of emerging local leaders at all levels. This process is called “localization,” and it puts local actors in the forefront and support them to lead humanitarian efforts.

“Eventually, we would want to see more local to local ties fostered between sub-national and national actors, government, and other local institutions,” Bollettino said. 

HHI’s study was conducted in cooperation with international non-profit organization Root Change and HHI has been conducting research and training projects on disaster and climate resilience and humanitarian leadership in the Philippines since 2015. (Photos: Google/PH disasters)

 

Netiquette in virtual, online conference

CEBU CITY – “Is there an etiquette manual to follow while on teleconferencing and other forms of virtual forums?” 

Yes, there is, said Atty. Ethelbert Ouano, who was the resource person of the recent webinar on Netiquette (acceptable way of communicating on the internet) organized by the Zonta Club of Cebu II as the new normal allows virtual interactions and webinars becoming the way of life amid COVID-19.  

IF there is an etiquette manual to follow in various  face-to-face situations, like at the dining table, at the office as the boss, in the office as the subordinate, in a board meeting, in church, in an interview, is there a code of behavior to follow while we are glued in one seated position, with eyes focused on the screen?

Ouano’s answer is: To make participants feel they are part of the meeting, thereby, inclusive; that the resource person is approachable, and the presentation is a two-way communication.

 Ouano said there are rules and roles on how to keep the participants interested and interactive during the meeting.  The Do’s and Dont’s of video conferencing give emphasis on respect and consideration for everyone in the room, even though the participants are only seeing each other’s face framed in small squares.

Ouano is the most reliable resource person to speak about technology, being an engineer, which is an uncommon preparatory course for the study of law.  This multi-talented professor at USJ-R spends much of his time as a public servant of Lapulapu City.

The circumstance, that we are in, is doing members of Zonta Club of Cebu II some good.   No one wants to be out of the loop, thus the Zontians are getting to be more proficient at maximizing the benefits that the internet provides in connecting sister Zontians with one another.

These energetic executives, ever-eager to learn, are not passing up the opportunity to upgrade one’s capacity to make use of gadgets, for zoom meetings and for continuing education, and more out-of-the-box activities (line dancing??).

 

𝗗𝗧𝗜 𝗖𝗲𝗯𝘂 𝗮𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱s 𝗣𝟭𝟰𝟬K 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗵 𝗼𝗳 𝗚𝗖𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝘀𝗽𝗶𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗰𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝘀𝘁𝘀

CEBU CITY – The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI)-Cebu Province has awarded some P140,000 worth of gift certificates to college students who are budding comics artists from the Cebu Technological University (CTU)- Danao and Argao Campuses who joined the DTI-sponsored eComics Making Contest in celebration of the Consumer Month.

Jimmy Ricks Grajo and Adrian Jose Arioja, freshmen BS Computer Engineering students of CTU-Danao, with their entry titled “The New Normal Shopping” bagged the 1st prize during the DTI Region 7 Central Visayas regional level judging held on October 15 with P30,000 worth of GCs and another P5,000 worth of GCs from DTI Cebu.

A separate group from CTU Danao bagged third place with P20,000 worth of GCs and CTU Argao bagged fourth place with P15,000 worth of GCs. All other participants were awarded P5,000 worth of GCs as a token of appreciation given by DTI Cebu.

Grajo said that they were hesitant to join at first but was motivated by their advisers. “We never thought about winning. We only wanted to make the school proud,” he added.

Arioja also mentioned that they lack resources and only used mouse and desktop instead of pen-pads or tablets for their illustrations.

The students were enjoined by their advisers, CTU Danao Fablab Manager Christine Omela Ocampo and Chairman of Computer Engineering Chona Dagatan.

“As partners of DTI, we immediately disseminated the competition to our students who have enrolled for online class. It is fit to our current condition right now, where everyone is going online. We are also trying to showcase the skills of our students in digital designing,” Ocampo said.

Dagatan also thanked DTI for recognizing the efforts of their students.  The DTI eComics Making Contest targets college students nationwide to create a comic book using digital technology and raise awareness on consumer programs and address consumer-related issues and concerns.

Grajo and Arioja’s eComics is DTI 7’e entry for the on-going national competition that will be judged on October 28.

“The New Normal Shopping” and other entries are posted on DTI Consumer Care Facebook page where the number of reactions is part of the criteria for judging.  National level competition winners will be announced during the Konsyumer Atbp Dzmm Teleradyo program on October 31.