DAGUPAN CITY, Philippines — High ranking officials of the Vietnam Government headed by Vice Minister Ho Xuan Hung from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development were in the city recently to learn the organization of the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (CDRRMC) including its Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) programs and projects.

Mayor Benjamin S. Lim welcomed the delegation at the Daungan sa Dawel, and later for a boat ride on the city’s river cruise. (Liezle Basa Inigo)

Safety measures small-scale mining

BAGUIO CITY — With the increasing cases of accidents involving small-scale mining especially this rainy season, Department of Environment and Natural Resources-Mines and Geo-science Bureau (DENR-MGB) Regional Technical Director Orlando Pineda Sr., is pushing for the regulation of small-scale mining activity by the local government units (LGUs) in order to minimize life-threatening activities inside mine tunnels in the different mining communities in the Cordillera.

In a recent media forum over the weekend, Pineda, who as MGB head also chairs the different Provincial Mining Regulatory Boards, stressed that they have been trying their best to regulate and legalize small-scale mining operations. (Dexter A. See)

Livelihood program

IBA, ZAMBALES — A livelihood program recently launched by the Zambales Provincial Jail (ZPJ) would help “boarders” financially while awaiting the court’s decision inside penitentiary. According to Col. Celestino Malungcut Jr., provincial warden, the ZPJ is asking help from the Provincial Veterinarian’s Office (PVO) to conduct trainings for the “boarders” on how to properly raise pigs and chicken.

As part of their dispersal program, PVO is also giving five suckling pigs to the inmates as a starter for their new trade. “Boarders” according to Malungcut, is the term used for people who are detained at the ZPJ whose cases are still pending in court. (Jonas Reyes)

Corn production boom in Kalinga

TABUK CITY, Kalinga — Corn production in the province is expected to boom with full support from both national and local governments which will be instrumental in uplifting the living condition of farmers and providing alternative sources of income for agriculture industry stakeholders.

With more farmers shifting to corn farming, wide tracks of idle lands in the province are cultivated for the second staple food under the Agri-PNoy corn program. (Dexter A. See)

Road safety

Senior Superintendent John C. Bulalacao, officer-in-charge (OIC) of Cavite Police Provincial Office (CPPO), said he would recommend action on the series of road accidents involving trailer trucks in the province.

Bulalacao made the move after another trailer truck killed two persons in an accident late Sunday night in Barangay Lalaan, Silang. It was the second accident in Silang in four days and the third in the province’s upland district in three weeks.

A total of eight persons died and seven others were seriously injured in the three accidents alone. The Silang police identified one of the two fatalities in the latest accident as Oscar Havan Banega. The other remained unidentified as of press time. (Anthony Giron)