ASSESSMENT

ILOILO CITY — The Philippine National Police (PNP) has started to assess hot spot areas in Western Visayas for the 2013 midterm elections. Chief Superintendent Agrimero Cruz Jr., director of Police Regional Office 6 (PRO-6), said that he has already directed police provincial directors to follow the parameters to include areas in the election watch list.  The police chiefs of the provinces of Aklan, Antique, Capiz, Guimaras, Iloilo, and Negros Occidental must take into consideration the history of violence during election period, warring political groups, the statistics of licensed or unlicensed firearms, and the presence of private armies. (Tara Yap)

MARITIME SAFETY

DUMAGUETE CITY (PIA) — A faculty member of Negros Oriental State University (Norsu) represented the Philippines during an international conference discussing maritime safety. Norsu maritime instructor Ralph Cardeño was the lone representative from the Philippines during the four-day conference at the Republic of the Union of Myanmar (Burma) held Oct. 1 to 4, 2012. The conference was co-hosted by the Uniteam Marine Training Center and Myanmar Maritime University.  During the conference, Cardeño presented a paper entitled: "Ensuring Safety of Navigation at Sea: A Linguistic Discourse Analysis" which was co-authored by Norsu President Dr. Don Vicente Real and Prof. Consolacion Unabia.

WARNING SYSTEM

DUMAGUETE CITY (PIA) — A German enterprise assisting the German government in the Philippines is set to install an early warning system, specifically the Local Flood Early Warning System (LFEWS) in the towns of Sibulan and Valencia. Said towns were identified to be most affected by Typhoon Sendong that struck Negros Oriental on Dec. 17, 2011, said Sibulan Information Officer Concepcion Rosales. The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit or GIZ will install the LFEWS in line with disaster preparedness.  A typical LFEWS consists of rain and river level gauges, and an “operations center” that will process and analyze the data received into a warning message that is transmitted to the community level.

RABIES-FREE

KALIBO, Aklan (PIA) — The island of Boracay aims to be rabies-free before the year ends. With 70 percent of its dog population already vaccinated against rabies, documents needed already in place and zero-record rabies infection during two previous years, the province has met some of the prime requirements by evaluators before an area gets declared rabies-free. The national evaluation in Boracay is scheduled this November, to be conducted by representatives from the Department of Health (DOH) and Department of Agriculture (DA), Dr. Ma. Cyrosa Leen Mabel C. Sinel, provincial veterinarian.

DISKWENTO CARAVAN

TACLOBAN CITY, Leyte (PIA) — As part of the observance of Consumer Welfare Month this October, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Leyte spearheaded the conduct of the Diskwento Caravan which was formally opened in the morning of October 18 at the DTI Leyte at Real St., Fatima Village, Tacloban City. The Caravan, which is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., sells various products coming from a number of distributors at low prices. A number of entrepreneurs have participated in said caravan.

The Consumer Welfare Month has been created through Presidential Proclamation No. 1098 dated September 26, 1997 signed by then President Fidel B. Ramos.