Publiko pinag-iingat pa rin laban sa mga karneng hindi dumaan sa tamang inspeksyon

Ni: Bennie A. Recebido

Lungsod ng Sorsogon, September 8 (PIA) – Kalusugan pa rin ang pinakapangunahing dapat na pag-ingatan ng publiko.

Kung kaya’t muling pinaalalahanan ng mga awtoridad dito ang publiko na maging maingat at suriing mabuti ang mga binibili nilang karne sa palengke at iba pang mga tindahan.

Ayon kay Veterinary Technician at In-Charge for Media Affairs Arwill Liwanag, sa patuloy na pagtaas ng bilang ng mga karneng ‘botcha’ o ‘double dead meat’ sa ibang mga lugar, kinakailangang doblehin pa lalo ng mga Sorsoganon ang pag-iingat at hindi dapat na hayaang makapasok ang ganitong kalakal dito.

Sinabi din niyang magkakaiba ang ‘botcha’ ang hot meat sapagkat ang hot meat ay yaong mga karneng hindi dumaan sa slaughter house at sa tamang inspeksyon.

ANiya, sa ngayon ay tanging mga karneng walang sapat na dokumento at hindi dumaan sa tamang inspeksyon ang mga nasasabat nila. Ang mga nakukumpiska nila diumano ay idini-dispose nila ng maayos upang kung sakaling may sakit ang mga hayop na kinatay ay hindi na makahawa pa ito sa mga taong kakain nito.

Ayon naman sa National Meat inspection Service (NMIS), madaling makilala ang “botcha’ o ‘double dead meat’ sapagkat maputla at may kakaibang amoy na ang karne, madulas o malagkit pag hinahawakan, walang tatak ng NMIS at hindi gaanong natanggalan ng mga balahibo dahil kadalasang mabilisang kinatay ito.

Dapat din umanong iwasan ang pagbili ng mga matagal nang nakaimbak o nabubulok nang karne. Suriin din ang mga processed foods na binibili tulad ng longganisa sapagkat may mga ibinebentang itinatago angamoy o pagkabulok ng karne sa pamamagitan ng paglalagay ng maraming bawang at pagbabad nito sa tawas upang maalis ang pagiging maputla ng karne at kakaibang amoy nito. (PIA Sorsogon)

PSWMB tackles issues on hospital wastes management in Sorsogon

by Irma A. Guhit

SORSOGON CITY , SEPTEMBER 7 (PIA).....The issue on the proper treatment, management and disposal of hospital wastes here in the province has been the focused-issue tackled yesterday during  the 3rd quarterly meeting of the Sorsogon  Provincial Solid Waste Management Board (PSWMB) held at Uncle Tat's Function Hall, in Pilar town.

Engr. Leonisa Madeloso , representing the Environment Management Bureau (EMB) of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources(DENR) RO5 tendered a report on the monitoring, evaluation and assessment conducted  by EMB of the several hospitals here in the province  following the guidelines provided in RA 6969 in the proper disposal of hospital and hazardous wastes.

According to Madeloso, here in the province of Sorsogon they have conducted an evaluation of one public and one private tertiary hospital ; four secondary private and 2 secondary public hospitals and how these hospitals managed their wastes.

In the findings,  Madeloso said that all these hospitals use chlorine and lysol as  the standard chemicals for disenfecting hospital wastes.

Most of these 8 hospitals are without waste water discharge permits, some are without solid waste management reports and most of the mercurial wastes from busted florescent lamps are not safely disposed together with sharps and other hospital wastes.

EMB has already issued notice of violations and that they have dialogued with the responsible personnel on how these wastes should be managed so as not to affect the environment and create another public health problems.

Madeloso also recommended that proper signage should be placed on what kind of waste are these especially on the sharps that were just placed on plastic containers and not properly provided description.

"Sharps and syringes used should always be properly managed and placed in plastic containers and these containers should again be placed in cans and with proper signage and should never be disposed together with other hospital wastes" Madeloso said.

She also reported that some hospitals do not have Pollution Control Officers (PCOs) or if there is, most are not properly trained and should still undergo training.

"We at the EMB would like to recommend to the  local chief executives through the PSWMB  to make proper representations  to the provincial government  to ventilate these findings so that we can work together to help and assist in the concerns raised " Madeloso expressed.

"Proper report on what wastes are generated, volume and how these are treated, and disposed should also be made to keep track of the implementation of RA6969 which hospitals are required to do", Madeloso explained

Local chief ececutives present during the meeting were Mayors Alejandro Gamos of Sta Magdalena, Roque Carranza of Magallanes and Dennis Reyes of Pilar.

A consensus to raise the issue during the meeting of the League of Municipalities was recommended so that LCEs will be informed on how to ventilate the issues raised during the PSWMB meeting and how these issues can be resolve to make the hospitals within their municipalities compliant to the provisions of RA6969.

Also tackled during the meeting was the need to organize a Provincial Monitoring Team specifically for the purpose of monitoring and evaluating the implementation of RA6969.

Through the PSWMB it was agreed that a letter will be sent to the hospitals identified in the report given by Madeloso.

The letter will reiterate the compliance of the hospitals on the provisions of RA 6969 according to the agreements made in the meeting of the PSWMB.(PIA-SORSOGON)

GREEN SCOUTS - "Dalagan sa Kadlagan 2011"

Sistema sa mabilisang pagtatasa sa lagay ng panahon, pinatataas pa ang antas

Ni: Bennie A. Recebido

Lungsod ng Sorsogon, September 7 (PIA) – Patuloy pa rin ang pagsisikap ng pamahalaan sa tulong ng iba’t-ibang mga organisasyon, na mapataas pa ang antas ng pagsubaybay sa mga pagbabago ng panahon upang makaiwas o mabawasan ang epekto ng anumang kalamidad na tatama sa Pilipinas.

Ito ang napag-alaman mula sa pamunuan ng Sorsogon Provincial Disaster Risk Management Office sa ipinadalang press statement nito sa Philippine Information Agency Sorsogon.

Kasama na dito diumano ang pagtatatag ng sistemang tinatawag na PREDICT o Philippine Real-Time Environment Data Acquisition and Interpretation for Climate-Related Tragedy Prevention and Mitigation na may kakayahang makapaghatid ng real time data o datos ng aktuwal na kaganapan sa ating kapaligiran.

Layon ng PREDICT na dagdagan pa ang umiiral na kakayahan ng Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical Astronomical Administration (PAGASA) sa pagsubaybay sa lagay ng panahon. Binubuo ito ng mga automatic weather station network kung saan, batay sa mga nakakalap na obserbasyon ay ibinabato nito ang naiipon na datos sa isang central server sa pamamagitan ng cellular network.

Autimatic warning System (photo: SPDRMO)

Kasama rin sa proyektong ito ang disenyo at produksyon ng Automated Weather Station (AWS) units, pagbuo ng server software, at paglagay ng AWS units sa mga piling lugar.

Gamit ang natatanging instrumento, masasagap nito ang iba’t ibang kinakailangang basehan ng pagtukoy sa lagay ng panahon tulad ng temperature, pressure, humidity, wind direction, wind speed, at rainfall. May nakakabit din na GSM/GPRS modem sa naturang instrumento upang magpadala ng datos sa central server nito.

Ang makakalap na impormasyon ukol sa mga nangyayari sa kapaligiran ay iipunin ng AWS unit mula sa isang lugar at gagamitin sa pagtaya ng lagay ng panahon at sa aktuwal na pagsubaybay na gagawin nito (real-time environmental monitoring).

Naisakatuparan ang proyektong ito sa tulong ng Asti Embedded Systems Group, isang grupo na naglalayong makabuo ng isang pang-malayuan subalit aktuwal na sistema ng pagkalap ng agricultural meteorological data sa buong Pilipinas.

Ito diumano ang tutulong upang makaiwas o mabawasan ang epekto ng anumang kalamidad kaugnay ng lagay ng panahon, gayundin ang pagbigay ng kaukulang impormasyon na aagapay sa mga magsasaka upang palakihin ang produksyon ng kanilang mga pananim, at upang makipagtulungan sa mga institusyong tulad ng PAGASA, National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Councils, at PHILRICE. (PIA Sorsogon)

Bulkang Bulusan nagpapakita pa rin ng abnormalidad

Ni: Bennie A. Recebido

Mt. Bulusan

Lungsod ng Sorsogon, September 7 (PIA) – Matapos ang ilang linggong pamamahinga ng Bulkang Bulusan muli na namang nagpakita ito ng pagkabalisa matapos na makapagtala kahapon ang seismic network ng Bulusan Volcano ng dalawang volcanic earthquakes, subalit hindi gaanong naobserbahan ang steaming activity ng bulkan dahil natatakpan ng makapal na ulap ang bunganga at ilan pang lagusan ng mainit na singaw nito.

Ayon sa Phivolcs, kahit dala lamang ito ng mababaw na hydrothermal process, hindi pa rin tuluyang nananahimik ang bulkan kung kaya’t ptuloy pa ring nananatili sa Alert Level 1 ang lagay ng Bulusan Volcano at mahigpit pa ring ipinagbabawal ang pagpasok sa 4-km radius Permanent Danger Zone.

Sa isinagawang ground deformation survey ng Phivolcs mula Agosto 16 hanggang 20 ngayong taon ay wala naman anilang kapansin-pansn na pagbabago sa leveling line ng Brgy. Inlagadian sa bayan ng Juban o sa Hilaga-Hilagang Silangang gilirang bahagi ng bulkan. Subalit sa isinagawa nilang survey noong Hunyo 7 hanggang 9, 2011, nakitaan ang bulkan ng bahagyang pamimintog sa leveling line ng Brgy. Mapaso sa bayan ng Irosin o sa Timog-Timog Silangang gilirang bahagi nito.

Dahil din sa umiiral na direksyon ng hangin, pinaalalahanan ang mga naninirahan sa Hilagang-Kanluran at Timog-Kanlurang bahagi ng bulkan na maging maingat sa mga ashfall sakaling biglaang sumabog ito, at maging sa mga naninirahan sa loob ng mga lambak at tabing-ilog na maging alerto laban sa lahar sakaling bumuhos ng matagal ang malalakas na ulan. (PIA Sorsogon)

OPAPP orients Sorsogon PPOC members on the revised Philippine Reintegration Program

by Irma A. Guhit

SORSOGON CITY, SEPTEMBER 6 (PIA) ..... The Office of the Presidential Advisory on the Peace Process (OPAPP) through its Southern Luzon representative Cristopher Azucena oriented the members of the Sorsogon Provincial Peace and Order Council (PPOC) of the revised Philippine Reintegration Program (PRP) in a meeting held here last week at the Sorsogon Provincial Management Office (SPMO).

Members were provided a copy of the Framework for the Reintegration and Development of Former Combatants incorporated in the revised  PRP.

According to Azucena the PRP first program implementation  was contained in the Economic Development Corps (EDCOR) which was conducted from 1950-1954.

This was followed by the National Reconciliation and Development Program (NRDP) implemented from 1986-1991. Then it was reviewed and revised so from 1992-1993 what was implemented under the PRP was the New National Reconciliation and Development Program.

In 1994 under the PRP the National Program for Unification and Development was implemented from 1994-2000 followed by Expanded Balik Loob which was in effect  from 2000-2003 and another name was coined to implement the PRP, implemented from 2007-2010 which was the Social Integration Program (SIP)

Azucena said that based from the  findings from past experiences and records , the implementation of the program  since 1986, around 275,147 former rebels and their families have benefited from the  government reintegration activities and a total of P1, 835 Billion have been spent.

Under the NDRP/ NNRDP P1.28 M was provided to 233,996 beneficiaries,
While under the NPUD a total of P385.55 M was distributed to 40,396 beneficiaries. In the SIP,  P253 M was provided to 982 beneficiaries.

Now under the Aquino administration Prospects for Peace , the  OPAPP has released the Framework for the Reintegration and Development of  Former Combatants (FCs) now contained in the revised Philippine Reintegration Program.

It is anchored on four guiding principles and policies.

These four guiding principles and policies are : first,  it should be locally driven and owned and nationally led ; second, built on broad partnership; third, time bound with clear exit strategy ; and fourth, subject sensitive and flexible.

Azucena also explained that under the locally driven strategy, provincial Local government units whenever practicable are focal points of authority, assistance and management. OPAPP and other national agencies will act or perform as oversight functions, monitoring and evaluation, provide policy direction, capacity building support and assist in resource mobilization.

Under the broad partnership strategy, government and non-government organizations are converged to assist and provide support programs and services.

Former combatants (FCs) , their families, communities of settlement, LGUs and other stakeholders should be involved in planning and implementation of the PRP.

Underscored by Azucena is that the program should be time bound with clear exit strategy. Meaning, the local reintegration plan are with clear outputs and timelines.

 For this he said, "There should be effective monitoring and evaluation system installed at the start of the program to track progress of FCs and how the program will help them to be mainstreamed.

The last guiding principle he said for the PRP to be successful is that it should be subject sensitive.

"It should be a flexible packaging and provision of assistance that is context-specific , and needs and capacity based.It should utilize case work approach for each FC , allows for flexibility in implementation arrangement based on capacity to deliver", he stressed.

"Most importantly respect for privacy of FCs and their family and need for confidentiality of some process  be observed", he said."These guidelines on the revised PRP are of utmost importance so that as members of the PPOC, each one can really assist in the implementation and success of the program.

The delivery of the program according to Azucena to new surfacing rebels shall be done as need arises through local government and non-government partners as seen as appropriate.

The purpose of the orientation is also to organize the local reintegration team. (PIA-SORSOGON)

Sorsogon reaps 9 major awards in the 2nd Salud Bicolnon Awards 2011

by Irma A. Guhit

SORSOGON CITY , SEPT 5 (PIA)..... Sorsogon provincial health workers went home proud and elated after the just concluded 2nd Salud Bicolnon Awards 2011 bagging 9 major awards for health and the major cash incentive award of P100.000.00.

Held at the Concourse Hotel, Legaspi City on Sept 1, the 2nd  Salud Bicolnon Award distributed trophies and cash incentives to health workers and LGUs for their accomplishment and contribution in the efficient and effective delivery of health programs and projects spearheaded  by the Department of Health (DOH) and implemented through the provincial , district municipal hospitals and barangay health centers to include local government units supporting health efficiency delivery as part of good governance.

Sorsogon province went home a little bit richer being one of the two major awardees with the highest monetary value awarded by the DOH as cash incentive aside from the several minimal cash incentive awards received.

Sorsogon is the  sole regional awardee for the Outstanding Interlocal Health Zone (ILHZ) implementer by the cluster of   Bulan, Irosin, Matnog and Sta Magdalena (BIMS) carting the major cash incentive award.

In the category of Mother Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative for 2 years, Gubat District Hospital and the Sorsogon Medical Mission Group Hospital and Health Service Cooperative ran off with this regional major award.

Also, six hospitals here in the province were awarded the 10 Steps to Successful Breastfeeding hospital implementers namely : Vicenta Peralta Memorial District Hospital in Castilla, Irosin District Hospital, Pantaleon G. Gotladera Memorial Hospital of the municipality of Bulan, Prieto Diaz Municipal Hospital, Matnog Medicare Community Hospital and the Dr. Fernando B. Duran Sr Memorial Hospital or the Sorsogon Provincial Hospital.

For the Outstanding Kidney Disease Prevention and Control implementer, Sorsogon Provincial Hospital shared the limelight with two other awardees, the Center for Health Office of Legaspi City and Intervida, a non-governmental organization assisting in  renal disease prevention.

Meanwhile the Municipal Government of Magallanes has been given the Regional Red Orchid Award for the passage of an ordinance on anti-smoking. This award was also given to the City Government of Ligao and Guinobatan , Albay.

The Sorsogon Provincial Health Office or the Fernando B. Duran Sr. Memorial Hospital was chosen as the regional best implementer on TB Control Program for Public-Private Mix DOTS together with Center for Health Office, Masbate.

For the award in the Taking the Challenge as Treatment Center for Multiple Drug Resistant TB, the sole awardee was the Sorsogon Medical Mission Group Hospital and Health Service Cooperative.

Sorsogon province also capped the Invaluable Contribution Commitment to the Success of the Measles Rubella Campaign shared with three other awardees, the local government of Catanduanes, Camarines Norte and Naga.

For the regional Best Performing Barangay Nutrition Barangay Scholar, the Barangay Health Workers of Sta Ana ,Gubat shared the same award with 6 others awardees.

"We are indeed very happy with the accolade given to the best performing health workers and local government implementers of health services here in our province", Dr. Edgar Garcia expressed during the event.

"We shared this award with former governor Sally A. Lee who inspired us to work better and who has been instrumental in the rehabilitation, provision of additional facilities and equipments provided during her term as governor and now also being well sustained by current governor, Raul R.Lee', Garcia also explained.

"In fact all local government hospitals here are with ambulances and the hospital as a work place has been enhanced and improved ", Garcia also said.

Former governor Sally A. Lee who represented the governor in the awarding ceremony and was chosen to give the response under good governance awards extended her thanks to the DOH headed by regional director, RO V, Dr. Nestor F. Santiago, Jr. and to the health workers of the Bicol region.

"In Sorsogon, we are trying to provide the best health service we can afford to the constituency. In behalf of the province of Sorsogon, I congratulate all our health workers here present doing their duty to make the Bicol Region achieve the required standard for health service delivery and  doing their share in making health an agenda to serve best. ", she said.

"To all the awardees let's not just think of the awards, let us feel proud and good that we are doing this for humanity" , Dr. Ferchito L. Avelino, assitant regional director, DOH RO V said as he closed the one day program of the DOH . (PIA-SORSOGON)