Cebu City (PNA) – The Philippine Solar Car Challenge Society, Inc. launched its second Philippine-made solar car aptly named “SIKAT” on December 19, 2009. This year, the group aims to engage the youth in taking part in the Solar Car story as “SIKAT” makes a tour around the nation’s top universities, in key cities of the country.

With each stop, and each public event, “SIKAT” will highlight ingenuity, the will to lead, and commitment on the use of clean, renewable energy. “We wish to invite you to join us on the Iligan leg of the road show on February 2 at the University of San Carlos, Cebu. There will be a motorcade,
program, and exhibit, and a program from 9 a.m. onwards,” said Karla B. Tecson, SIKAT representative.

The solar car will also be displayed to the public on February 3 at the SM Cebu. Tecson will get in touch with those who would wish to confirm their participation. The “SIKAT” tour goes beyond showcasing a Philippine-made solar car.

It is meant to generate great pride for the Philippines, and our inherent technical talent, to highlight the rich potential for solar energy applications in our country. And it challenges our youth to be the vanguard of technological innovation and environmental stewardship, particularly through the use of renewable energy.

P500-M Eastern Samar Project

Tacloban CIty – The controversial R500 million road rehabilitation project in Eastern Samar, which was sub-divided into 12 smaller projects, is now covered by law.

Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Acting Secretary Victor Domingo said some parties want to consolidate the projects so that the DPWH national office could implement them. However the project was sub-divided as contained under the General Appropriations Act. Domingo said their policy is that projects worth P50 million and below can be handled by the district office, beyond P50 million up to P200 million the regional office, and beyond P200 million projects will be implemented by the national office.

The subject of controversy is the P500 million construction of the 20-kilometer Wright-Taft-Borongan-
Guiuan Road network, which have been divided into 12 smaller packages or projects.

Regional Director Agelito Twaño said this is already a law in the sense that the congressman of the district has the right to request for that particular distribution, and even in terms of re-alignment and other things that happens to an infra project, it is the congressman who has the extreme authority to re-align, to approve or disapprove certain allocations for projects intended to his corresponding district. According to Twaño, the regional office has no hand in the project because it was a direct request at the Congress. (Jack Gadaingan)

Banking pushed on students ANKING PUSHED ON STUDENTS

CEBU CITY – The Philippine Deposit Insurance Corporation (PDIC) is now intensifying its advocacy on wise and responsible banking among college students in this city, in a move to help recover the confidence of the depositing public, especially to the rural banking industry.

PDIC, led by its president Jose C. Nograles, and officials of the Philippine Rural Bankers Association of the Philippines (RBAP), as well as members of the Bangko Sentral Ng Pilipinas (BSP), were in this city last January 27 for the second leg of the “Be a Wise Saver” campaign, which gathered over a thousand students from the University of San Jose Recoletos (USJ-R), and the University of San Carlos (USC).

“The key to protect people from being victims of scams is financial literacy. We have tapped the students for this campaign because they are the initial savers. They represent the small depositors and when they go out of school they would represent the new breed of savers in the country,” Nograles told a press conference following the event. The “Be a Wise Saver” campaign promotes the seven habits of a wise saver which aims to protect savers from fraudulent
schemes.

The seven habits are: Know your bank; Know your bank products; Know your bank’s services and fees; Keep your bank records safe and updated; Transact only inside the bank with authorized bank personnel; Be informed about PDIC deposit insurance, and Be cautious.