BPI partners with private, LGUs for environment project
by Rachelle M. Nessia
DUMAGUETE CITY, August 5 (PIA) --- The Bank of the Philippine Islands in Dumaguete City, Negros Oriental partnered with local private and public entities to spearhead a clean-up drive along Silliman Beach as part of its 160th anniversary celebration this August.
The clean-up drive scheduled on August 6 at 5:00 a.m. will be done by BPI employees together with its local partners, the Barangay Sangguniang Kabataan councils, Brgy. Bantayan officials, Silliman University Marine Laboratory, among others.
Under said program, BPI aims to establish permanent structures to remind beach goers of the need to help preserve the marine environment.
The bank also hopes to assist local government units (LGUs) in setting up artificial coral reefs.
The beach rehabilitation is part of BPI's nationwide launch of BPI BAYAN, a bank-wide employee volunteerism program. “This is BPI's way of reaching out to the community with participation of its employees,” according to a press statement from BPI here. (RMN/PIA Negros Oriental)
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NORECO 2 hikes power rates
by Rachelle M. Nessia
DUMAGUETE CITY, August 5 (PIA) --- Households covered by the Negros Oriental Electric Cooperative II (NORECO 2) in Negros Oriental will receive a higher power bill starting July 2011 after NORECO 2 announced an inrease in their energy charge per kilowatt hour.
The new rate per kilowatt hour is P10.18 for residential consumers and P9.63 for commercial or low-voltage consumers.
An advisory from the electric cooperative attributes the increase to the cost adjustments of its power purchased from their energy supplies and “other additional charges such as Value-Added Tax on the generation and transmission of power.”
NORECO 2, on May 16 this year, inked a power supply agreement (PSA) with Green Core Geothermal Inc. (GCGI) to supply its electric requirements.
The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) then issued a provisional authority for the full implementation of the applied generation cost for NORECO II effective immediately, said NORECO 2 Information Officer Beverly Gonzalez in a press statement.
Gonzalez said the power rates will differ as it is not fixed and subject to adjustments every billing month depending on the cost of the purchased power from the generation suppliers. (RMN/PIA Negros Oriental)
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Poor enforcement of wildlife law in localities noted
by Rachelle M. Nessia
DUMAGUETE CITY, August 5 (PIA) --- A former top government official has noted the low implementation of Negros Oriental's existing wildlife ordinance among the local government units (LGUs) in the province.
Former Environment Secretary Angel Alcala, during the recent pre-launching of the 7th Philippine Bird Festival in Dumaguete City, scored the LGUs in the province for the poor enforcement of the provincial wildlife law.
“The problem is the LGUs are not implementing this ordinance in Negros Oriental,” said Alcala.
Alcala's observation was echoed by Oscar Mongcopa, chief of the Ordnance and Protected Area Wildlife Sector of the Department of Environment and Negros Oriental (DENR) in the province. “Until now, there is a need for LGUs to enforce the wildlife ordinance,” Mongcopa told the Philippine Information Agency in an interview.
The province in 2001 passed Ordinance No. 2 authored by then Vice Governor Jose Baldado declaring the hunting and capture of wildlife in Negros Oriental unlawful followed by another ordinance declaring the month of November as Wildlife Conservation Month every year in the province.
But despite the provincial government's call to strictly enforce said law, the poaching of wildlife continues to thrive although Mongcopa stressed that it is not rampant in the province. “We have received reports of hunting incidents of wildlife especially the wild ducks in Basay town.”
He explained that DENR is not authorized to apprehend poachers as this is the responsibility of the LGUs and the police.
Mongcopa urged the mayors to prioritize enforcing the ordinance in theiheir areas. “I am appealing to the mayors to order their Enivonrment and Natural Resources Officers to monitor poaching activities in their LGUs and for their police force to apprehend those caught violating the ordinance,” he said.
Negros Oriental is home to the Visayan Spotted Deer which is now facing extinction due to hunting and habitat alteration. The deer is endemic only to the provinces of Negros Oriental and Panay. (RMN/PIA Negros Oriental)