TACLOBAN CITY, Leyte, Philippines (PIA) — The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) in Eastern Visayas will soon start the rehabilitation of the US-funded 220-kilometer Samar road traversing 15 towns from Paranas in Samar and ending in Guiuan in Eastern Samar.
Completion target is within the first half of 2012. Project funds will total $214.44 million to be sourced from the five-year $434-million Millennium Challenge Corporation grant in the country, according to DPWH 8 regional director Rolando Asis who they are now waiting for the detailed engineering design from the Millennium Challenge Account Philippines (MCAP) to signal project start.
LGUs in Capiz implement PMC
ROXAS CITY, Capiz (PIA) — Local government units (LGUs) in Capiz are strictly implementing pre-marriage counseling (PMC) in compliance with Presidential Decree 965, Article 16 of the Family Code of the Philippines and Section 488 No. 3 of the Local Government Code of 1991.
PMC is a requirement for couple’s who want to apply for a marriage license. Capiz towns municipalities have also put up their own PMC team led by their Municipal Population Officer with representatives from the Municipal Health Office, Municipal Social Welfare and Development Office and and Local Civil Registrar.
Capiz for health and nutrition
ROXAS City, Capiz (PIA) — Breastfeeding support groups and other initiatives are being undertaken by Capiz to ensure good health of children. Capiz Provincial Nutrition Action Officer Salim Biclar said more activities are being pushed by local government units here to improve nutritional status of children in the province.
She said Panitan and Dumarao have already completed their training on Accelerated Hunger Mitigation Program and Promotion on Good Nutrition with participants from barangays composed of a barangay health worker (BHW), barangay nutrition scholar (BNS), mother leader and Sangguniang Bayan member.
Still hopeful
CEBU CITY, Cebu (PIA) — Education and information director of the Associated Labor Unions-Trade Unions Congress of the Philippines (ALU-TUCP) education and information director Joy Lim said the organization is hopeful that the Aquino administration will take notice of the plight of labor despite President Aquino’s "failure" to include a program for workers in his State-of-the-Nation Address (SoNA) last Monday.
She praised the President for reiterating his anti-corruption stance in his second SoNA. This shows, Lim said, “that he is serious in the campaign to rid the bureaucracy of bad elements.”
NGP to benefit poor farmers
CATBALOGAN CITY, Western Samar (PIA) — Farmers stand to gain more incentives once government’s National Greening Program (NGP) takes place. Forester Ramon Baysa, DENR-Provincial Office (DENR-PENRO), this city, was referring to President Benigno Aquino III’s requirement that tree planting not end in planting seedlings only but in ensuring that the sprout grows.
He said, however, that “farmer-watchers” will have to pass requirements to be set by the Provincial Social Welfare Office (PSWD), under their Conditional Cash Transfer program (CCT).