PAGADIAN CITY, Zamboanga del Sur, Philippines – The Department of Education (DepEd), through its Bureau of Alternative Learning System (BALS) – formerly known as the Bureau of Non-Formal Education – has deployed a total of 69 mobile teachers in Western Mindanao even as it has designated 113 BALS full-time coordinators in as many school districts in the Muslim-Christian region.

 DepEd Region 9 BALS division chief Virginia C. Amiruddin said that a mobile teacher is assigned to a remote mountain village whose local school-age children and young adults could not enroll in a regular elementary school owing to the far distance of their homes from a regular elementary school. (Tony Pe. Rimando)

Village project

KIDAPAWAN CITY – Some 2,000 residents of Barangay Cabangbangan in President Roxas, North Cotabato, would benefit from the P1 million box culvert that wild be constructed under the poverty alleviation program of the Region 12 office of the Department of Social Welfare and Development.

Gemma Rivera, project manager of the Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan-Comprehensive Integrated Delivery of Social Services, said the construction of a 4.60-linear meter box culvert is expected to provide safe and reliable year-round access to the remotest villages of President Roxas. (Malu Cadelina Manar)

Bamboo trade

BUTUAN CITY – Noting a lucrative business from bamboo and its vital contribution to mitigate the effects of global warming and climate change, a partnership between government line agencies, local government units (LGUs), and bamboo growers was formalized to strengthen mass bamboo tree planting and mass production.

 The strengthening of the bamboo industry was organized by the Region 13 office of the Department of Trade and Industry in collaboration with the Cottage Industry Technology Center, LGUs, farmers, furniture makers, and concerned entrepreneurs. (Mike Crismundo)

Veggie program

ROXAS, Zamboanga del Norte – A mountain high school in this town served as the launching site of the Western Mindanao “Agrikulturang Pilipino Gulayan sa Paaralan (AgriPinoy-GSP) program in Western Mindanao of the Department of Agriculture (DA) in partnership with the Department of Education (DepEd), National Nutrition Council (NNC) and Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).

 Langatian National High School Principal Arnulfo Subebe said some 500 square meters in their three-hectare school compound were utilized for the “Gulayan sa Paaralan” that the DA, in cooperation with other government agencies, initiated to provide school children with fresh vegetables to help improve their nutritional condition. (Tony P. Rimando)

Health drive

TUBOD, Lanao del Norte – The provincial government of Lanao del Norte launched a province-wide supplemental immunization for women aged 15 to 40 years old, in an effort to combat the deadly effect of tetanus infection.

Dubbed “Maternal and Neonatal Tetanus Elimination” or MNTE, the health intervention of the provincial government and implemented by its health office is supported by the Department of Health (DoH), World Health Organization (WHO), and the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF). (Mike Crismundo)