Visayam Forum, DOLE grant 50 ‘paaling’ fishing victims livelihood projects
by Jennifer Catan-Tilos
DUMAGUETE CITY, Nov. 9 (PIA) The Visayan Forum Foundation, Inc (VFFI) in partnership with the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) in Negros Oriental granted 50 “paaling” fishing victims from the municipality of Ayungon some small scale fishing, goat raising and backyard gardening, under the Alternative Livelihood Program.
The Visayan Forum recently turned over the fishing implements as livelihood assistance to eleven fishermen which include bancas, fish nets and its necessary accessories, and petromax as fishing lights.
Another 37 fisher-beneficiaries received two female goats each on the following occasion and five Bucks were also distributed to four Barangay Captains under their care for breeding purpose and prioritizing the beneficiaries of the livestock growing livelihood projects.
Part of the assistance include deworming of goats which will be done every twice a year by veterinary technician assigned in the barangays.
The assistance for the paaling victims is part of the commitment of the government to promote a better alternative livelihood to fish workers while the litigation is going on.
The “paaling” victims had filed a complaint before the DOLE against PescaMaharlika Marine Resources Inc., the Navotas, Malabon based fishing company that recruited them as its crew but Labor Inspectors later found several violations of the Labor Code in their recruitment.
Some 42 complainants filed cases under R.A. 9208 against Pesca of which a preliminary investigation conducted last October 13 and the next hearing will be on November 11, this year.
Paaling is a deep-sea compressor fishing activity where fishermen, using crude equipment, pound coral reefs to scare and drive fish into a net laid out on the ocean floor.
Visayan Forum, a non-government organization engaged in anti-human trafficking campaign, has partneredwith the DOLE in livelihood assistance activities. (PIA/JCT)
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NegOr congresswoman urges youth to develop potentials for social change
DUMAGUETE CITY, Nov. 8 (PIA) --- Negros Oriental First District Cong. Jocelyn Limkaichong urged the youths in Negros Oriental province to harness their potentials and use them for public good.
Speaking before more than 200 students, youth leaders, and teachers during a three-day leadership summit held recently in Dumaguete City recently, Cong. Limkaichong encouraged the youths to allow their idealism to be their “sword and never allow it to be sapped…in the complicated world of politics.”
Referring to P-Noy’s administration’s mantra of Tuwid na Daan, the congresswoman called for new blood to be infused in the system especially since “this is the right time to join the journey towards developmental or righteous leadership.”
The Nov. 4 summit was organized by local youth-serving organization SACEDA Youth Lead, a recipient of the 2004 Ten Accomplished Youth Organizations of the Philippines by the National Youth Commission.
Cong. Limkaichong was one of the speakers invited to discuss on the role of development leadership in the pursuit of social change.
She also cited the need for leaders to make personal changes and sacrifices along the way to stay committed to the cause.
“Change will not happen if we are too used to certain norms that prohibit, if not cause a slothful, development,” she added.
Limkaichong also called on the leaders to be transparent and accountable to the public in their decisions, plans, and activities involving the use of government resources.
““We, leaders, must always report to our people and seek feedback from them on how we are performing,” she said.
Currently on her second term in Congress, Limkaichong sits as the senior vice chairperson for the Committee on Appropiations and co-authored the landmark Cheaper and Quality Medicines Law and the recently re-enacted law Promoting Financial Viability and Fiscal Discipline in Government-Owned and Controlled Corporations. (PIA Negros Oriental with reports from James Paul Inawasan)