LOILO CITY, Iloilo, Philippines (PIA) – Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog is asking Ilonggos to unite in preventing the spread of the dreaded disease, Human Immunodeficiency Virus/Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (HIV-AIDS).

Mabilog said the number of HIV-AIDS cases in the region is alarming.

He cited Department of Health (DoH) statistics pointing to 30 recorded cases in Western Visayas in 2010 against 20 cases for the first quarter of this year.

Vowing to support the city government in this cause, City Councilor Leonie Geroche said, “We must meet the challenge to inform especially our fellow Ilonggos of this terrible and incurable disease and how easy it is to prevent it.”

Negros town gets water project

MOISES PADILLA, Neg. Occ. – (PIA) The Magallon Cadre Irrigation Project in Moises Padilla town, 86 kilometers from Bacolod City, was recently turned over to the Moises Padilla Irrigators Association (MPIA) by Governor Alfredo Maranon, in a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) signing ceremony at the municipal auditorium recently.

The Office of the Provincial Agriculturist and the municipal government will oversee, monitor, and set policies for the irrigation system while the province shall extend technical and institutional building assistance to the MPIA for effective management of the system.

Decade of road safety action

GUIMARAS (PIA) – Guimaras province will launch the Decade of Action for Road Safety Wednesday at the provincial Capitol. The program aims to road safety and injuries prevention.

The launching will be led by World Health Organization (WHO) Representative to the Philippines Dr. John Juliard Co who will read the UN Declaration while Department of Transportation and Communications Assistant Sec. Dante Lantin will present the Philippine Plan of Action for Road Safety 2011-2020 in support of the global campaign to curb road crashes and fatalities.

Metro Cebu taps run dry

CEBU CITY, Cebu (PNA) – Taps in many Metro Cebu households ran dry over the weekend up to 17 hours over the weekend as hot weather triggered an unexpectedly high demand for water.

The Metropolitan Cebu Water District (MCWD) issued an advisory last week that water service in parts of Compostela town, Cebu City and some Lapu-Lapu City barangays would be cut from 9 p.m. last Saturday to 6 a.m. Sunday.

However, some water connections were only restored noon or 2 p.m. Sunday, leaving some households with no water for up to 17 hours.

The service interruption resulted from water supply improvement work, specifically, interconnection of the 1,000-mm diameter transmission mains to a 300-mm diameter pipe on Canduman Road, Mandaue City.

Cebu landslide victims get aid

NAGA CITY, Cebu – The Cebu Provincial Government will extend assistance to families hit by last Sunday’s landslide in Brgy. Bairan that destroyed some four hectares of farmlands here.

At least 11 households were affected in the landslide. Governor Gwendolyn Garcia has ordered the Provincial Social Welfare and Development Office to look into the plight of the families affected, extending to them basic goods and some cash aid. (Mars W. Mosqueda Jr.)