NGO on guard vs illegal recruitment in disaster areas
DUMAGUETE CITY, March 28 (PIA) -- In the aftermath of the two natural disasters that hit Negros Oriental last year and early this year, local anti-human trafficking groups are strengthening linkages in the neighboring Negros Occidental province in expectation of increased illegal recruitment activities.
The Visayan Forum Foundation (VFF), a non-government organization, is beefing up its network in San Carlos City, Negros Occidental closely monitor possible illegal recruitment victims coming from disaster-hit areas in Negros Oriental.
San Carlos, along with Vallehermoso town in the Negros Oriental side, straddles the border lines of the two provinces.
“We were not lucky enough to have good connections in the San Carlos area so we’re working on it right now,” said Dondee Seneres of VFF here during a March 27 forum in Dumaguete City.
There is a possibility that trafficked victims will be re-routed to San Carlos following the heightened watch against human trafficking in some of the major ports in Negros Oriental.
VFF has earlier noted a link between climate-caused disasters and an increase in illegal recruitment.
“We noticed that during disasters, while the government and other organizations are busy handing out relief goods and assistance, illegal recruiters would also take advantage of the situation by stepping up their recruitment,” said Marlene Pepino of the VFF in the same forum held by the Philippine Information Agency.
Pepino said the illegal recruiters would target the women and young people.
“They are the most vulnerable to trafficking because they are easily convinced by the illegal recruiters in view of their situation,” said Pepino.
After Typhoon Sendung struck on Dec. 17 last year, a task force from the Provincial Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (PIACAT) immediately launched a watch against illegal recruiters in flood-hit areas where government agencies are extending relief assistance.
When the 6.9-magnitude earthquake jolted the province on Feb. 6, this year, the task force again carried out an operation against human trafficking activities in quake-hit areas.
“Our team also made an ocular inspection two days after the earthquake. We saw in the evacuation centers of affected areas how vulnerable the victims were to possible illegal recruitment,” said Seneres. (RMN/PIA Negros Oriental)
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NegOr SMEDC backs bamboo plantation
DUMAGUETE CITY, March 27 (PIA) -- The Provincial Small and Medium Enterprise Development Council (PSMEDC) in Negros Oriental encouraged farmers in the province to start planting bamboos not only for business opportunities but to lessen disaster risk.
In a meeting of the Small & Medium Development Council (SMEDC) recently, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) presented the Philippine Bamboo Foundation Inc. (PBFI) which has three bamboo nurseries in the province due to the growing demands of bamboo nationwide and in the global market.
PBFI Visayas Region senior project director Herbie Teodoro said some 400,000 bamboo propagules are now produced in a Dauin nursery and in the garden centers in Bayawan City and Vallehermoso town in Negros Oriental.
The province has bamboo varieties that are available and abundant and these plants grow fast and can be harvested in three years, said Teodoro.
He assured the SMEDC that his company will support for financing and technical if and when organized farmers' groups decide to invest in the commercial farm production of bamboos.
It was noted that export potentials for bamboo-based products in global markets remained strong in the country, Teodoro added.
According to PBFI there are around 1,500 uses of bamboo. It is used extensively for soil and water conservation technologies, suitable in disaster situations, protects against soil erosion, landslides, among others. (mbcn/JCT/PIA-Negros Oriental)