NGCP restores power transmission service in NegOr
By Jennifer C. Tilos
DUMAGUETE CITY, Feb. 14 (PIA) -- The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) has restored power transmission services in parts of Negros Oriental that were affected by the recent 6.9 magnitude earthquake.
Visayas Corp Communication Officer Elmer Cruz of NGCP said five transmission structures along the Amlan-Bindoy-Guihulngan 69kV transmission line were affected by the calamity.
However, Cruz said that despite the aftershocks, heavy rains, damaged bridges and roads NGCP pursued its restoration efforts by using helicopters and motorcycles to reach the areas that were inaccessible to line trucks.
Linemen had to manually haul the tower materials to more accessible locations in preparation for helicopter airlifting of lightweight steel tower segments to Guihulngan City once the weather had cleared, said Cruz.
With this, normal operations of the Negros sub-grid was restored after completion of repairs and re-energization of the Bindoy-Guihulngan 69-kV transmission line on February 11.
The NGCP explained that no major transmission lines were damaged but added that the power interruptions are localized due to downed power lines owned by the electric cooperative.
NGCP, a privately owned company, ensures the fast delivery of safe and reliable electricity to its customers.
The company commit to fast-track similar restoration efforts during emergencies and improve services to power consumers. (mbcn/jct/PIA-NegOr)
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Soldiers turn in P90,000 cash found in retrieval site in La Libertad, NegOr
By: Jennifer C. Tilos
DUMAGUETE CITY, Feb. 14 (PIA) -- Two soldiers from the 32nd Division Reconnaissance Company of the Army’s 3rd Infantry Division turned over the P90,000 cash found in the retrieval site of quake-hit Barangay Solonggon, La Libertad, Negros Oriental.
Privates Danny Faigane and Marlon Vera who found the money were part of the retrieval teams assigned in La Libertad, following the 6.9 magnitude earthquake that hit Negros Oriental last February 6.
Faigane and Vera at once informed 1st Lieutenant Gerald Deles, Commanding Officer of 32DRC, of the money found in the retrieval site yesterday morning.
“Knowing that said money is badly needed especially during this time of calamity, we immediately look for the owner of the house where we found the money,” said Deles.
After the money was turned in, Vera was immediately rushed to the brigade headquarters for immediate treatment as he incurred flesh wound in his right hand from a galvanized iron during the ongoing retrieval efforts. He underwent eight stitches of minor surgery and is currently recuperating.
Virginia Callora, owner of the money, could not hide her joy upon receiving back the money and expressed genuine gratitude to the two soldiers and lauding them for their honesty.
Meanwhile, Major General Jose Mabanta, 3ID Commander, commended both Faigne and Vera for their honesty and said the army will continue the retrieval operations, which they have been doing for the past seven days, amid dim hope of finding more survivors.
Last Sunday, the team retrieved the body of 84-year old Elizabeth Zalafa of Solonggon while members of the 11th Infantry Battalion recovered Asorio Mahinay’s body yesterday noon at the landslide area of Planas village.
Likewise, the army’s 542nd Engineer Construction Battalion was also instrumental in clearing the road towards Barangay Planas in La Libertad on February 11. The road clearing paved the way for relief operations to be brought to quake-affected victims.
On Sunday, the national road in quake-hit La Libertad and Guihulngan City is already passable for vehicles. All roads going to the landslide villages of Solonggon and Planas could now be used by motorists.
However, there are portions in Jimalalud town which are isolated and not accessible for relief operations. As of noon today, two UH-1H helicopters from the Philippine Air Force were dispatched to Barangay Owakan in Jimalalud to deliver relief goods.
As of 6 p.m. of February 12, records from the Negros Oriental Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (PDRRMC) showed 42 earthquake-related fatalities. Of the said number, 17 are in Guihulngan; nine in La Libertad; eight in Jimalalud; three in Tayasan; two in Manjuyod; two in Ayungon; and one in Bindoy.
The PDRRMC said around 60 persons still remain missing due to the landslides. (FCR/JCT/PIA NegOr)
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PH Army offers P2M worth of relief goods to quake-affected areas in NegOr
By Jennifer Catan-Tilos
DUMAGUETE CITY, Feb. 14 (PIA) -- The Philippine Army (PA) turned-over today P2 million worth of relief goods at Bulado Port, Guihulngan City to benefit the most heavily-affected areas of the recent strong earthquake that hit Negros Oriental Province.
PA 3rd Infantry Division Maj. Gen. Jose Mabanta Jr. of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) handed over the relief goods to Social Welfare and Development Officers and local officials from the municipalities of Jimalalud, La Libertad, Tayasan, Ayungon and Guihulngan City.
Two helicopters from the Philippine Air Force also delivered relief goods in Barangay Owakan, Jimalalud and distributed the packed items to neighboring isolated barangays in the area to address the shortage of basic survival needs of affected families.
At present, army troopers of the 302 Brigade are still continuing their retrieval and relief operations in areas most affected by the earthquake in the 1st congressional district of Negros Oriental, this is said.
The army team is still exerting efforts in retrieving the remaining bodies buried yesterday at the two landslides sites at Barangay Planas, Guihulngan City and Barangay Solonggon, La Libertad.
Undersecretary Benito Ramos of the National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council (NDRRMC) and members of the International Humanitarian Country Team were transported by the Philippine Air Force helicopters to La Libertad and Guihulngan City to conduct damage and needs assessment in the affected areas.
The team of 302 Brigade Commander Col. Francisco Patrimonio also conducted ocular inspection in the municipalities of Ayungon, Tayasan, Jimalalud, La Libertad and Guihulngan City and in the two landslide areas. . (FCR/JCT/PIA NegOr)
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Economist calls for lower trade barriers between India, South Asia
By Rachelle M. Nessia
NEW DELHI, Feb. 14 (PIA) --- A former country economist for the Philippines is pushing for the breakdown of trade barriers and the development of “more trust” between India and its Asian neighbors for greater integration within the region.
Isabel Guerrero, one of the panelists during the first session of the Delhi Dialogue IV here and currently the Vice President of the World Bank Group South Asia Region, lamented that countries within South Asia Region (SAR) alone have begun to trade more with the world but not with each other.
South Asia, she said, has one of the most restrictive trade regimes in the world in spite of the trade agreements such as the South Asia Free Trade (SAFTA) signed in 2004.
“South Asian countries rarely trade with each other. In fact, trade within the South Asian Region is the lowest in the world,” said Guerrero.
She pointed out that major trade barriers remain such as tariffs and non-tariff barriers, behind-the-border restrictions and weak logistics, poor market access for lagging regions and barriers to migration and people to people contact such as visa restrictions.
India, on the other hand, reached out to integrate with only a few countries.
Data presented by Guerrero during the session showed that India has 75 percent total trade with Bhutan, 57 percent% with Nepal, 17.23 percent in Sri Lanka, 10 percent in Maldives.
Guerrero urged India and South Asian region countries to trust each other more if it wants regional integration to accelerate.
“One way for this trust to develop is greater people to people contact among SAR countries and India,” she said.
South Asia has the lowest tourism compared to other regions in the world.
A bar graph presented by Guerrero during her dialogue showed SAR registering the least number and the shortest growth spurt of inbound global tourists between 1995 to 2009, compared to East Asia and the Pacific whose inbound international tourists spiked from 80,000 to 180,000 in the same 14-year period.
She cited India’s trade relations with Sri Lanka as an example of how India and South Asian nations can benefit from reduced barriers to trade.
In 2000, Sri Lanka and India signed a trade agreement. A decade after, Sri Lanka’s trade with India in terms of percentage of total trade jumped threefold.
“Integration needs trust and trust comes from greater people to people contact,” she stressed.
Guerrero’s recommendation comes in the heels of India’s move to boost its people-to-people linkage with its neighbors in the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN).
India’s External Affairs Minister Shri Krishna announced on Feb. 13 during the Delhi Dialogu’s inaugural session that India would be hosting 250 ASEAN exchange students this year, which is up from the 100 students annually, after ASEAN and India signed a memorandum of understanding last month on strengthening tourism cooperation.
He also disclosed that the ASEAN-India Media Exchange Programme has been institutionalized by bringing over a group of 20 ASEAN journalists to cover the fourth Delhi Dialogue.
ASEAN countries, in return, will host 40 Indian journalists over the next three years. (RMN/PIA)
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Power firm donates P1M worth of relief goods to NegOr quake victims
By Jennifer Catan-Tilos
DUMAGUETE CITY, Feb. 14 (PIA) -- Geothermal leader Energy Development Corporation (EDC) has donated P1 million worth of relief goods to victims of the magnitude 6.9 earthquake that rocked the towns of Tayasan, Jimalalud and Guihulngan City in Negros Oriental last February 6.
“Employees from our southern and northern Negros sites lost no time in helping the earthquake victims," said Engr. Dwight Maxino, EDC vice president for its Southern and Northern Negros geothermal production fields. "A day after tragedy struck these areas, they already volunteered to pack and distribute bags which contained rice, canned goods, bottled water, blankets and flashlights so we could begin distributing as early as February 08.”
EDC has distributed another batch of relief goods on succeeding days after packing of the relief goods was completed.
The distribution was in coordination with ABS-CBN’s Sagip Kapamilya with its TV station in Bacolod City as the main headquarters of EDC’s relief operations.
According to Maxino, the company would have done it in their southern Negros office in Valencia but roads leading to the three towns were impassable due to typhoon Sendong so they opted to get help from their northern Negros office in Bago City.
Community partnerships have been a cornerstone program of the EDC under its corporate social responsibility (CSR) program.
With health, education, livelihood and environment as its CSR modules, EDC aims to uplift the lives of the residents in its host communities in areas where it operates, this is said.
Notwithstanding, the company still reached out to the earthquake victims in the severely affected areas of the province through its relief operations. ( FCR/JCT/PIA NegOr)