NSO sets survey on Census of Agriculture and Fisheries
By Jennifer C. Tilos
DUMAGUETE CITY, Oct 10 (PIA) -- The National Statistics Office (NSO) Negros Oriental announced another set of survey for the Census of Agriculture and Fishery (CAF) in February 2013 in a consultative forum, October 5 in Dumaguete City.
Ariel Fortuito, NSO-NegOr provincial statistician officer, told participants from government agencies concern, farmers and fishermen’s associations, academe, and farmer-irrigators' groups that over a thousand enumerators are needed for next year’s census.
Fortuito said the enumerators will conduct house to house visits to all households in the province to gather data on the latest information on the agriculture and fisheries sectors.
Conducted every ten years, the CAF is a large-scale government undertaking that inventories the country’s agricultural and fishery resources. This survey is useful in making more significant decisions in terms of maximizing the use of these resources.
The importance of this census is to collect basic information on the kind of crops planted, area planted to each crop, kind and number of livestock and poultry raised, kind of species cultured in aquafarms, and fishing activities which are useful to investors, farmers, and fishermen in planning the quantity and types of commodities to be produced, said NSO head.
In 2002 census data, Central Visayas accounted for the highest number of farms, 430,000 farms covering 522.4 thousand hectares, an average farm size in region VII was at 1.21 hectares per farm.
Among the four provinces of Cental Visayas, Negros Oriental is only second to Cebu in terms of number of farms, but it has the largest total farm area of 228, 447 hectares equivalent to about 44 percent of the region’s land area.
For this 2013 census, distribution and structural characteristics of agriculture and fishery sectors will be determined because this will serve as the framework for the country’s development programs, said Fortuito.
The 2012 CAF is the 6th in the series of decennial agriculture census and is the 5th in the decennial census on fisheries.
The said forum intends to raise awareness among representatives from involved local government units and sectors on agriculture and fisheries and to solicit their support. (mbcn/JCT/PIA-Negros Oriental)
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Negors Oriental disaster council allots P3M to fix hyperbaric chamber
By Jennifer C. Tilos
DUMAGUETE CITY, Oct 10 (PIA) --The Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction Council (PDRRMC) in Negros Oriental has approved a resolution to set aside P3 million for the restoration and rehabilitation of the hyperbaric decompression chamber.
In a PDRRMC meeting, Provincial Tourism Officer Myla Abellana said there was a need to rehabilitate the hyperbaric chamber which was initially used as a life-saving tool to treat deep sea diving related illnesses.
The P3-million fund allocation will be used for the purchase of hyperbaric accessories such as compressor, oxygen concentrator, among others including the training of the medical staff to operate the chamber.
Abellana said the hyperbaric was acquired six years ago but lacks the necessary component-parts that will make it fully operational.
Hence, a funding allocation was initially requested to previous administrations but unfortunately, the two governors passed away.
For now, the provincial government of Negros Oriental in cooperation with the private sectors is eagerly collaborating to own a hyperbaric decompression in the province knowing its diving and non-diving health benefits of the chamber.
With this, the Negros Oriental Chamber of Commerce Inc. with the Negros Oriental Business Development Foundation initiated a hyperbaric medicine forum with medical experts from the national as resource persons on October 8 in Dumaguete City.
The Philippine Commission on Sports Scuba Diving Commissioner Dr. Jose Bernardo discussed the importance of hyperbaric medicine to diving and tourism as one of the most promising modern medical developments.
Dr. Michael Perez, administrator and owner of St. Patrick’s Hospital Medical Center in Batangas, cited also the use of hyperbaric medicine in tourism not only for diving diseases but can treat medical emergencies including decompression illness, carbon monoxide poisoning, and soft tissue infections such as necrotising fasciitis and gas gangrene.
Perez said the non-healing and problem wounds such as diabetic foot ulcers and healing issues in cancer patients who have undergone radiotherapy can also be treated with the use of the decompression chamber. (mbcn/JCT/PIA-Negros Oriental)
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Oct. 19 declared a non-working day in NegOr for Buglasan Festival
By Rachelle M. Nessia
DUMAGUETE CITY, Oct. 10 (PIA) -- President Benigno S. Aquino III has declared Oct. 19, Friday, a special non-working day throughout Negros Oriental to mark the celebration of Buglasan Festival.
Malacanang has issued Proclamation No. 472 which was signed by Pres. Aquino on Sept. 13, 2012 proclaiming the special non-working day.
The Proclamation states that the holiday will give Negrenses the opportunity to celebrate and participate in the festival.
A total of 87 events have been slated for the festival which will kick-off on Oct. 12 until Oct. 21.
The festival was initiated by the provincial government to highlight the local fiestas in the towns and cities, giving them a one-stop venue for the public to witness their festivities.
Gov. Roel Degamo in an earlier press conference disclosed that the provincial government is eyeing a total of P7.1 million as the collective budget for this year’s festival.
The amount is sourced from the province’s annual regular Buglasan budget and festival sponsors. (RMN/PIA Negros Oriental)