Friday, April 04, 2014

Army general wants Fort Magsaysay included in BCDA master plan




Manny Galvez

FORT RAMON MAGSAYSAY, Nueva Ecija – The leadership of the Army’s 7th Infantry Division housed inside this military reservation is proposing that the camp be covered by the development plans of the Bases Conversion Development Authority which is crafting a master plan for military camps in the country.
          Brig. Gen. Vic Castro, acting 7th ID commanding general, said that the reservation, originally spanning 73,000 hectares but is now down to only 45,837 hectares, is not covered by the master plan of the BCDA.
          “I hope that this camp be included in the base development plan of the BCDA so that its development can be fast-tracked,” Castro said.
          He said if that is the case, the military reservation – located 20 kilometers apart from Cabanatuan City and the provincial capital Palayan City - can become a hub for economic activities given its vast potentials.
          Castro made the proposal even as the BCDA has earmarked P120 million for a master plan for the partial development of Camp Aguinaldo and other military camps.
          BCDA president and chief executive officer Arnel Paciano Casanova said they are talking with the Department of National Defense and the Armed Forces in securing the survey and title for the lands as well as preparing the master plan where it needs to invest in infrastructure in the long-term and the various camps into revenue-generating projects that would provide funding for the modernization of the military.
          The BCDA is mandated to transform former military bases into alternative productive civilian use.
          Among those being considered for sale, lease or upgrading by the BCDA are the 33,220-hectare Camp Peralta in Capiz, the 1,925-hectare Camp O’Donnel in Tarlac and the 42,000-hectare Camp Kibaritan in Bukidnon, all owned by the AFP.
          The goal is to help modernize these camps, which have idle or unused areas that could be tapped fro either redevelopment for mixed-use purposes or to create livelihood in the countryside, particularly for camps located in the provinces.  
          Castro said the reservation, which houses the general headquarters of the 7th ID covering 13 provinces in Luzon, was visited recently by DND Undersecretary Fernando Manalo to look into possible economic opportunities inside the camp.
          “We are open to future projects here at Fort Magsaysay,” he said, adding that initially, projects on tap include the setting up of a 3,000-hectare bamboo plantation and plantation for jathropa.
          Castro  said one of the key components of the development of the camp is its conversion into a premier tourism destination. He said the provincial government of Nueva Ecija led by Gov. Aurelio Umali and its provincial tourism office has pledged to help in its promotion as a tourist spot in the province.
          During the term of then-commanding general and now Northern Luzon Command (Nolcom) commanding general, Lt. Gen. Gregorio Pio Catapang, he proposed various activities to enhance tourism inside the camp among them wall climbing, trekking, hiking, mountain biking, camping, motocross riding, 4x4 offroad-driving, horseback-riding and water sports activities such scuba diving, wind surfing, jet skiing, beach volleyball and parasailing in the camp’s coastal areas in Dingalan, Aurora.            
          Among the reservation’s tourist attractions are the historic Aquino-Diokno shrine, the Heroes Memorial, the Pahingahan complex, the golf course, the Kaugnay clubhouse, the Mount Taclang Damulag and the camp airfield.
          The shrine was where President Aquino’s late father, former senator Benigno “Ninoy6” Aquino and ex-senator Jose Diokno were placed under solitary confinement from March 12 to April 11,1973 after nearly six months of detention in Fort Bonifacio. – Manny Galvez  
    
   

DILG confers P1M Performance Challenge Fund to Zambales town

DILG confers P1M Performance Challenge Fund to Zambales town
By: Carlo Lorenzo J. Datu
 
IBA, Zambales -- Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) recently conferred Performance Challenge Fund (PCF) check, amounting to P1 million, to the town of Palauig.
 
“The PCF is bestowed to local government units who earlier bagged the Seal of Good Housekeeping (SGH),” DILG Regional Director Florida Dijan explained.
 
SGH is conferred to those who have excelled in the areas of planning, budgeting, revenue mobilization, financial management, and budget execution, procurement and resource mobilization.
 
Also, LGU recipients of the said merit have obtained a “no adverse report” from the Commission on Audit, which means that they have complied with all the requirements of the government’s auditing agency.
 
Dijan added that the PCF, amounting to P7 million for provincial, P3 million for city and P1 million for municipal grantees; will be utilized for projects supportive to the attainment of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals such as eradicate extreme poverty and hunger, achieve universal primary education, reduce child mortality and promote gender equality.
 
The municipality will use the fund for the concreting of Sto. Niño – Tuktok Pangol Road. (CLJD-PIA 3)

Over 18,000 students in Central Luzon to be given SPES jobs this 2014

Over 18,000 students in Central Luzon to be given SPES jobs this 2014
by: Carlo Lorenzo J. Datu
 
CITY OF SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga, -- A total of 18,352 poor but deserving college and vocational students in Central Luzon will be given an opportunity to work in private companies and local government units (LGUs) this year under the government’s Special Program for the Employment of Students (SPES).
 
“Bataan got the most SPES slots with 6,134 followed by Pampanga with 3,676; Zambales- 3,304; Bulacan- 1,800; Nueva Ecija- 1,500; Aurora-1,221; and Tarlac-717,” Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Regional Director Raymundo Agravante disclosed.
 
The distribution was based on the SPES provincial performances in the last five years.
 
“SPES is a law-mandated program that seeks to help poor but deserving students pursue their education by giving them jobs during summer and/or Christmas vacations,” Agravante explained.
 
Provincial, Municipal and City Public Employment Service Offices (PESOs) select the students based on the required qualifications as to age, grades, income, and other pertinent documents.
 
In order to qualify, a student must at least be 18 years old but not more than 25 years old.
 
Also, the combined net income after tax of his/her parents, including his/her income if any, does not exceed the latest annual poverty threshold level for a family of six as determined and provided by the National Economic and Development Authority and he/she must have obtained passing grades in the last school term attended.
 
Among the jobs given to SPES beneficiaries include tax mappers, barangay survey personnel, encoders, school assistants, food service crew, gasoline attendants, and promotion merchandisers.
 
The salaries of the students are in accordance to the prescribed minimum wage wherein DOLE shoulders the 40 percent while the remaining 60 percent comes from the participating companies and LGUs.
 
A total of 367 employers are taking part in the region, consisting of 255 private firms, 99 LGUs and 13 schools. (CLJD-PIA 3)

Agri chief on rice self-sufficiency: We tried hard



Agri chief on rice self-sufficiency: We tried hard

Department of Agriculture Sec. Proceso J. Alcala lauded the Central Luzon farmers for helping achieve the highest rice harvest in the Philippine history during the Farmers` Lakbay Palay hosted by the Philippine Rice Research Institute in Science City of Muñoz, Nueva Ecija, April 1-4.

Despite strong typhoons that ravaged agricultural lands last year, Alcala told about 1,500 farmers that they had produced 18.44 million metric tons of rice, enlisting the Philippines as the fastest growing rice production country in Asia.

The production also made the country 97-percent rice self-sufficient in 2013. Although three-percent short of the 100 percent target, the country, however, registered a 16-percent increase within three years. The country was only 81-percent rice self-sufficient in 2010.

With the rice sector`s performance last year, the agriculture secretary discouraged the public from focusing on the deficit in the 100-percent rice self-sufficiency target.

“We have tried hard. Nawa`y [mapahalagan] natin, lalo na sa mga nasa Manila, ang pagpupunyagi nating mga magsasaka.  Hindi ho tayo titigil sa 97 percent. Magpupursige pa din tayo para ang isasaing ni Juan dela Cruz, dito ipupunla, dito itatanim, dito aanihin (May we, especially the city dwellers, value the efforts of the farmers. We’ll not stop at 97 percent. We’ll work harder so that the rice that we’ll serve on our table will be planted and harvested in the country),” Alcala said.

Alcala, who also unveiled the latest rice technologies, urged the farmers to be receptive of new farming practices as this may help them reduce production cost and make the price of rice more competitive in the market.

“We can`t solve problems such as rice smuggling in an instant. We still have a long way to go to stop rice smuggling. As long as our production cost is high, rice smuggling will always be around,” he said in Filipino.

He said that rice smuggling persists in the country because domestic rice prices are uncompetitive to Southeast Asian countries such as Vietnam.

“Production cost in the Philippines is [about P11 a kilo] while in Vietnam, it`s around P6,” he said.

Alcala said that if farmers can peg production cost even at P8, rice smuggling will be minimized.

At present, PhilRice is on its second season of implementing Palayabangan: 10-5 challenge, a nationwide farming competition that aims to produce 10 tons/ha yield at only P5 input cost per kilogram of palay.