Linggo, Enero 24, 2021

NATIONBoracay launches tourists hotline

 



The local government of Malay launched over the weekend a 24/7 hotline to cater to the concerns of tourists.

Acting Mayor Floribar Bautista said that the hotlines (0917-4392343 and 0968-2431919) will supply answers to queries like list of travel requirements and how to process them, what to do and where to go in the island and recommend accommodation establishments.

“Even before the pandemic, some tourists do not know the rules and regulations that are being implemented in Boracay. Calling the hotlines will solve their needs,” she said.

The world-famous island opened for domestic tourism in October but remained closed for international guests.

Data from the Malay Tourism Office indicated that from 1 to 17 January, the island had 6,238 tourists, with 4,926 coming from the National Capital Region. Visayas neighbor Iloilo was a far second with 74.

“New normal travel protocols are safety-focused but Boracay travelers are not spared from confusion on how to start their holidays in the island,” the Malay Tourism office stated.

Sabado, Enero 23, 2021

Boracay hotel workers test yields 15 positive results

 



Aklan’s Provincial Health Office (PHO) resumed this week its Covid-19 mass testing for hotel workers in Boracay.

Dr. Cornelio Cuachon of the PHO said initial testing of 1,394 workers yielded 15 positive results. They were immediately transferred to a quarantine facility in Kalibo while contact tracing is ongoing.

The PHO tested the first batch of 1,400 on 26 to 29 December using the P10-million fund allocated by the Department of Tourism.

The mass testing was temporarily suspended to give way to mass testing of employees of the Kalibo International Airport during the first week of January.

As of Friday, Aklan has 576 positive with 20 deaths and 86 active infections.

Sabado, Enero 16, 2021

Villar: Fast-tracking Distribution of Solid Waste Management Equipment Will Help LGUs Achieve Zero Waste Goals

 


Amendment of RA 9003 (Solid Waste Management Act of 2000 and law on single-use plastics among the legislative priorities for 2021

 

            Senator Cynthia Villar, chairperson of the Senate Committee on Environment and Natural Resources, said that while long-delayed, the turnover of solid waste management (SWM) equipment to local government units (LGUs) will really help in attaining zero waste targets of cities and municipalities.

            “The distribution of the equipment is long overdue because the budget for it has been made available since 2017 but is only last month when the turnover started. It needs to be fast-tracked because the country’s waste problems even worsened during the Covid-19 pandemic, when healthcare-related wastes such as face masks added to the pile of garbage we have to deal with,” cited Villar.

            The whole country, according to estimates from environmental groups, generates over 40,000 tons of garbage per day. The composting equipment being distributed by the Environmental Management Bureau of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR-EMB), according to Villar, will allow LGUs to manage their wastes.

            Coincidentally, 2021 is the 20th Anniversary of the signing into law of Republic Act (RA) 9003, or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000. Villar has filed a bill to that will amend the law by institutionalizing the practice of Extended Producers Responsibility (EPR). It will mandate companies especially in industries that generate plastic wastes to be responsible “for the proper and effective disposal of their products after they have been sold to and used by consumers with the objectives of reducing waste generation and of improving recyclability or reusability of wastes, which include plastic containers or packaging materials”.

            Villar’s Senate committee also intend to pass a law against single-use plastics. One of the bills that will be consolidated with other bills is Senate Bill No. 333 or the Single-Use Plastic Product Regulation Act of 2019 that she authored. It seeks to regulate the manufacturing, importation, and “single use” of plastic products.

            Moreover, Villar is also asking DENR-EMB to fasttrack also the procurement of the 25 units of equipment that will recycle plastic wastes into school chairs, which will be given to LGUs also. Plastic make up a significant amount of solid wastes and one of the most damaging to the environment.

            “The ultimate goal of our solid waste management efforts and legislations is zero waste and we have to give the people and the LGUs the capability and capacity to really manage their own wastes. We have to get really serious about achieving zero waste,” said Villar. The month of January is also known as Zero Waste Month, as mandated by Presidential Proclamation no. 760, dated May 5, 2014. The theme of this year’s celebration is “Bouncing Back from the Pandemic to a Greener and Healthier Environment”. Zero waste is an advocacy that promotes the designing and managing of products and processes to avoid and eliminate the volume and toxicity of waste and materials.

            The senator also practices what she preaches. She has established barangay-based livelihood enterprises that are models of proper waste management and good examples of how garbage or wastes can be used as raw materials. These are water hyacinths for the waterlily handicraft-weaving enterprise and the handmade paper factory; coconut husks for the coconet-weaving enterprise and the charcoal-making factory; kitchen and garden wastes for the organic fertilizer composting facility; and plastic wastes for the waste plastic recycling factory that produces school chairs. So far, there are over 3,000 of those projects nationwide, which help solve the problem of wastes and provide a source of livelihood, too. ###

             

Linggo, Enero 10, 2021

12-YEAR-OLD GIRL IN THE FOREFRONT OF CORAL REGENERATION


 

:A 12 year old girl has started to raise funds for the restoration of corals in Camiguin province.

According to Sofia Pardo, it began when she was 10, as a graduating student of the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Program. She said she needed a project that she was most passionate about.

“After finishing the project, we would have to present our results at the PYP exhibition, as well as base the project on one of the UN's Sustainable Development Goals. I always loved the sea and the beach, so I chose Sustainable Development Goal 14, Life Under Water. "

Because of this, she collaborated with the Sangkalikasan Producers Cooperative (SPC) through Jose Rodriguez to fund the successful microfragmentation and colony fusion of slow growing massive corals to preserve reef biodiversity. 

Already among those who answered Sofia's fund raising call was the Discovery Leisure Company as well as several private individuals. 

‘Because of their donations, I was able to plant a corral bed under the name of Domuschola Internaitonal School to raise awareness about coral reefs and bleaching,” she added.

The funding raised by Pardo being the now youngest member of the SPC has contributed to the funding requirements needed by the SPC.

Two years ago, SPC directors couple Bunne Gamboa-Santos and Michael Santos travelled to Florida, USA to learn and train under the MOTE Institute which pioneered the coral restoration program. 

They came back then to support and transfer the technology to SPC.

Biyernes, Enero 8, 2021

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Huwebes, Enero 7, 2021

Villar commends the passage of amended Organic Agriculture Act of 2020




 Senator Cynthia Villar expressed gratitude to President Rodrigo Duterte as he has signed into law a measure seeking to strengthen organic agriculture in the Philippines.

Republic Act (RA) 11511, an amendment to RA 10068 or the Organic Agriculture Act of 2010, was signed on December 23 last year,released on Tuesday January 5, 2021, and  will take effect 15 days following its publication.

 

Villar, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Food, and the principal sponsor of the law said; “ Itwill provide for a more affordable system of organic certification, which will allow small farmers to benefit from producing organic products.”

She reiterates that, “The most important feature of this law is that, it will allow small farmers to get certification at P600 to P2000 per year, as against the international certificate of P100,000 per year.” 

 

“The exorbitant cost in the past prevents small farmers from practicing organic farming and also makes organic products expensive for many Filipinos,” Villar added.

VIllar who believes that small farmers constitutes a big chunk of the farming sector and should be given the opportunity to benefit from a more affordable system of organic certification, for without them organic farming will not be developed.

“The law aside from environmental protection, the increased in farmer’s profitability will be a great motivation to promote and develop the organic industry. It promotes the use of natural and farm-based resources and inputs like organic fertilizer, which would yield to less input cost on the part of the farmers.” Villar stressed.

 

The senator has been promoting the composting of kitchen and garden wastes into organic fertilizer that farmers can produce instead of buying in the market.

Accordingly, the new law establishes the Participatory Guarantee System (PGS), which refers to a locally-focused quality assurance system and shall be the mechanisms in which farmer engaged in organic agriculture shall be certified.

 

It also creates the National Organic Agriculture Program-National Program Coordinating Office (NOAP-NPCO) to manage the effective implementation of the National Organic Agriculture Program, and will serve as planning, secretariat and coordinating office of the NOAB.

 

Further, the new law also restructures, strengthens, and empowers the Bureau of Agriculture and Fisheries Standards (BAFS), which will provide technical assistance to the NOAB and the NOAP-NPCO.

 

Senator Cynthia Villar as the principal author, put her high hopes for the proper implementation of the law, and mentioned that, over 165,000 organic farming practitioners would benefit from the Amended Organic Agriculture Law, and will sustain the growth of organic agriculture in the Philippines, as well as environmental  protection.###

Attachments area

Villar sets 10th OFW and Family Summit on Nov. 19

AS a sign of their continuing gratitude to our Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs), Senator Cynthia Villar announced the holding of the 10th OF...