NegOr mayors ink agreement for anti-poverty program
By Rachelle M. Nessia
DUMAGUETE CITY, April 17 (PIA) -- Mayors of 11 towns in Negros Oriental signed on April 17 a memorandum of agreement with the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) for the implementation of the national government’s anti-poverty program.
Said towns were earlier identified to benefit from the national government’s anti-poverty program, KALAHI-CIDSS or Kapit Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services.
The signing signals the start of a four-year implementation of social service projects in the towns of Ayungon, Bindoy, Jimalalud, Manjuyod, Vallehermoso, Mabinay, Basay, Dauin, Sta. Catalina, Pamplona, and Zamboanguita. Said projects include infrastructure such as waterworks system, construction of farm-to-market roads, road network repairs, and school buildings.
KALAHI-CIDSS is a poverty reduction program implemented by the national government through DSWD.
Negros Oriental was chosen as an expansion area of the program in 2012 with funding from the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), a foreign aid agency created by the US Congress to fight poverty at a global scale.
The total budget for the KALAHI-CIDSS implementation in all 11 towns is P103,050,000.
The respective funding for each town for each year will be based on the following formula: P450,000 multiplied by the LGU’s number of barangays, said Marilou Gallarde, DSWD-7 Deputy Regional Project Manager for KALAHI-CIDSS in an interview.
After the MOA signing, various public assemblies and consultations will be done in the barangays of said towns to determine the nature of the needed projects in their areas to be funded under KALAHI-CIDSS.
“Our approach is community-driven, so 80 percent of the decision-making on which projects will be carried out in the barangays will come from the residents themselves, not solely on the barangay and local officials,” said Gallarde.
DENR-7 director Evelyn Macapobre said the program has already served 12 towns in Bohol and two in Siquijor from 2003 to 2010. (RMN-PIA7, Negros Oriental)
=============
NORSU to offer 10 scholarship slots under COCO Foundation
By Rachelle M. Nessia
DUMAGUETE CITY, April 17 (PIA) -- The COCO Foundation is offering 10 slots as its scholarship grant through the Negros Oriental State University (NORSU) in Dumaguete City for academic year 2012-2013.
Recipients of the scholarship grant are children of small coconut farmers in the province.
The COCO Foundation is administered through the United Coconut Planters Bank - Coco Industry Investment (UCPB-CIFF) Group of Companies.
The foundation was established in 1987 as a non-stock, non-profit organization that aims to address the socio-economic needs of the communities where the company operates.
UCPB-CIFF has been offering scholarship grants through NORSU for several years now, said NORSU Information Officer Joy Perez in an interview.
One of its scholars, Henzel Mae Ymbol, graduated Summa Cum Laude with the degree Bachelor of Science in Mathematics in March this year. Ymbol is a native of San Juan, Siquijor.
UCPB-CIIF Foundation President Edgardo Amistad, in a letter to NORSU President Dr. Henry Sojor, expressed his pride in the foundation scholar for graduating with the highest academic honor.
Amistad cited the university for guiding Ymbol, “to strive for the highest academic performance as well as hone her leadership skills.”
The letter revealed that Ymbol is scheduled to start working for the UCPB group this month.
Perez said 100 scholarship slots are available for first semester 2012-13 in 10 different colleges in the country under the Coco Foundation. (RMN/PIA 7, Negros Oriental)
============
Strategic plan set for NegOr areas badly hit by Feb 6 earthquake
By Jennifer Catan-Tilos
DUMAGUETE CITY, April 17 (PIA) --- The local inter-agency technical working group (TWG) created by the Regional Development Council (RDC) in Region 7 is set to hold a strategic action plan on April 25-26 for Negros Oriental areas affected by the February 6 earthquake.
The TWG will prepare and monitor the implementation of the action plan which includes the rehabilitation and restoration of infrastructure support system of the province that were badly hit by the 6.9-magnitude earthquake.
The earthquake severely affected the municipalities of Ayungon, Tayasan, Jimalalud, La Libertad and the city of Guihulngan with more than 50 casualties and 60 missing.
The tremor also damaged more than 15,000 houses, shattered infrastructure facilities, roads and bridges, school and public buildings, waterworks and irrigation systems in the province.
With the strategic plan, both the national and local governments can provide long-term rehabilitation and recovery of the earthquake-stricken areas.
Provincial Planning and Development Coordinator Jocelyn Gongob, who is also the executive officer of the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (PDRRMC), serves as the chair of the TWG.
In a PDRRMC meeting held recently, Gongob said a timeline has been set with the completion of the plan scheduled on May for the Provincial Development Council (PDC) and PDRRMC to review and approve.
The plan approved by both PDC and PDRRMC will be endorsed to the RDC as requirement to ensure the inclusion in the Regional Development Investment Program to fund the programs, activities and projects.
However, some projects in the plan will also be funded by PDC, PDRRMC and National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Fund. (rmn/JCT/PIA-Negros Oriental)