SAN JOSE, Antique, Philippines – The rice allocation to preschoolers and grade school pupils will soon resume in the province of Antique following the signing of the Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) between the National Food Authority (NFA) and the Department of Education (DepEd).

At least 55,576 school children will benefit from the project, which was launched as part of the government’s hunger mitigation program and also to address the rising malnutrition cases among public school children.

NFA Antique manager Gil Ibarra said his office has committed to make available some 274,550 kilograms of rice for the said program and a delivery team that will be assigned to distribute the rice around the province.

Iron-Fortified Rice will be distributed in compliance to Republic Act (RA) 8976 or the Iron Fortification Act to lessen the malnutrition problem in the country.

“Not only the hunger of the pupils will be addressed by this program but also the nutrition need by giving out Iron-Fortified Rice which can satisfy the daily requirement of iron for the body,” said Ibarra. (Mars Mosqueda Jr.)

D.O.H. CALLS FOR SANITATION DRIVE

ALEGRIA, Cebu, Philippines – After a number of residents from the two towns of Cebu province suffered from typhoid fever and cholera, the Region 7 office of the Department of Health (DoH 7) has reiterated its call for local government units (LGUs) to maintain environment sanitation.

It can be recalled that more than 600 people in this town were reported to have suffered from typhoid fever due to lack of water sanitation in its water facilities, while Danao also have over 300 cases of cholera.

Of the 650 cases in this town, two casualties were already recorded. Both cases were attributed to the problem of water sanitation.

Meanwhile, DoH 7 Director Susana Madarieta disclosed that the agency is expected to send letters to local officials to remind them of their reasonability to provide safety water to the public.

“We are going to write letters to the mayors to instruct their sanitary inspectors to conduct a regular water analysis to prevent possible contamination in the future,” she said.

Madarieta explained that conduct of regular water analysis is important so that the LGU can determine if there is a possible outbreak, while earlier detection can also help reduce the number of victims as warnings will be immediately posted.

Earlier, DoH 7 officials announced that based on their findings, the two towns lacked chlorination in their water system making it vulnerable for contamination. (Phoebe Jen Indino)

CEBU COPS SEAL OFF FIREARMS

CEBU CITY, Philippines – Starting Friday, firearms issued to policemen under the Cebu Provincial Police Office (CPPO) were sealed off to ensure that these do not get used indiscriminately during the holidays.

CPPO Director Erson Digal said the sealing off of the muzzle of the firearms does not mean that policemen will no longer use their guns against criminals as he stressed that police officers can use their weapons when the need arises.

Digal said Friday that sealing of muzzles should serve as warning to policemen against firing their guns indiscriminately during Christmas and New Year. He also appealed to private gun owners not to fire their guns. Digal warned the policemen that those caught firing their service or personal firearms will be facing administrative charges.

The rest of the policemen assigned in the various police stations around the province will have their guns taped too and will be countersigned by their respective station commanders or a representative from the CPPO headquarters.

Under the Philippine National Police (PNP) directive, masking tape will be placed on the muzzle of the firearms of the police officers. The tape will then be signed by the policemen's immediate superiors and will serve as a seal on the guns. (Mars Mosqueda Jr.)