RIZAL PROVINCE, Philippines — The provincial government here has lauded the achievements of one of the engineering district office of the province following the recent citation given by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).

This developed after Rizal’s second engineering district was awarded recently the “District Engineering Office of the Year” plum by the DPWH Central Office for its effective management and implementation of infrastructure projects in the province’s second political district.

In a letter to Rizal Gov. Jun Ynares, DPWH District Engineer Mercedes Santos informed the governor of the award received by the district as the District Engineering Office of the Year and expressed their gratitude to the chief executive for being an active partner in the infrastructure development in the second district of Rizal.

Last year, the same engineering district was also cited for having the best road network in the whole country, an award shared by the agency with the provincial government. (Nel Andrade)

ARMY WORMS ATTACK ANEW

ILAGAN, Isabela, Philippines — At least 1,473.5 hectares of corn plantations were attacked and ravaged by the dreaded Army worms in this capital town and the nearby town of Tumaoini over the past several days, raising concern among local agriculture stakeholders.

A report from the provincial agriculturist’s office showed thousands of Army worms, which usually feast on the laves of corn plants during the night, have rendered vast tracks of plants in the town thereby depriving thousands of farmers the opportunity to recover from the recent wrath of super typhoon “Juan” and the flooding caused by monsoon rains last October and November.

To prevent more corn plantations from being ravaged by the Army worms, local agriculturists advised farmers to spray their plants with chemicals during the late afternoon in order to prevent the worms from attacking during the night which will result to greater damages on corn that are on their flowering stage.

Experts disclosed that Army worms multiply fast considering that one worm lays thousands of eggs that immediately mature, thus, the damage that they cause to the corn plants are too big and could result to loss of income on the part of the farmers who rely on corn production as their main source of livelihood. (Dexter See)

CAVITE GRASS FIRES BAFFLE OFFICIALS

IMUS, Cavite, Philippines — Despite the cold weather, grass fires are prevalent in Cavite. Just last Tuesday, fire of still unknown origin razed through grassy lands in four towns of the province in just a span of nine hours.

The Cavite Bureau of Fire Protection-Central Fire Station has yet to explain the cool season fire phenomena as grass fires or wildfires usually take place during the summer months.

FO2 Warlock Bautista reported that fire razed through a grass land in Molino Boulevard in Bacoor town, Langkaan II in Dasmariñas City, Timalan in Naic, and San Francisco in General Trias last Tuesday.

Bautista said that although there were no injuries in the four fires, several fire trucks responded to contain the flames. Many people are wondering why grass fires are common in Cavite or elsewhere even during the cool season when grass or other plants are moistened or wet.

During the last few Christmas seasons, there were also a number of grass fires in Cavite in a single day, fire officials said. The explanation of the officials varies when asked about the causes of grass fires during the cold season. (Anthony Giron)