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Benguet malaria-free

BAGUIO CITY (Apr. 17) — Pres. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo reiterated that Benguet is malaria-free in the inauguration rites of P600 million 5-storey building of the Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center (BGHMC), here.

Of the six Cordillera provinces, only Benguet has been declared malaria-free. Aside from Apayao, human carriers and malaria-infected mosquitoes are also noted in Kalinga, and Abra, and some cases are recorded in Ifugao and Mountain Province.
Benguet is the 14th province declared as malaria-free in the past two decades.

Dr. Jean Marc Olive, the World Health Organization (WHO) Philippine representative in town for the declaration, hailed the Department of Health (DOH) strategy to declare some areas disease-free.

A place is malaria-free if there are no cases in a three-year surveillance, according to DOH. Benguet registered zero in the last 14 years.

However, the province of Apayao reported the highest malaria cases in Luzon and is fourth nationwide with Palawan, Tawi-tawi and Sulu in the top.

Malaria in the Cordillera is caused by the anopheles flavierostris, night-biting mosquito specie, said Dr. Yolanda Oliveros, director of the DOH National Center for Disease Prevention and Control.

Olive said there are around one million worldwide of around 500 million reported cases die of malaria. He said 70% of these are in Africa, 28% in Asia. Last year DOH recorded 40,000 confirmed cases nationwide.

DOH now focuses on treating patients and encouraging the use of medicated bed nets. # Lyn V. Ramo for NORDIS

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DOLE offers training scholarships

BAGUIO CITY (Apr. 26) — The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) and Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) offered 300 training scholarships for the Cordillera during the weekly Kapihan sa Baguio this week.

The said scholarships are part of the launching of the 100,000 PGMA Training for Work Scholarships in the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) industry. The Philippine Long Distance Telephone (PLDT), Informatics, and Client Logic also joined the said project. The government has allocated P500 million for 100,000 scholars for this project.

According to Atty. Jalilo O. Dela Torre, Regional Director, DoLE-CAR, the scholarships will be offered to job-seekers in call centers, medical and legal transcription, animation, software development; and other industries with critical skills requirements.

Informatics revealed that of the 400 trained in 2005 only 74 were hired by the Client Logic.

TESDA advised applicants to register at the nearest DoLE or TESDA Regional or Provincial Office before May 1. # Marie Conie A. Duerme and Reymund Valentin/MMSU Interns for NORDIS

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Public support sought for PWD rehab

BAGUIO CITY (Apr. 27) — Government officials asked the public to help in the effective rehabilitation of people with disabilities (PWDs) last April 20, here.

National Council for the Welfare of Disabled Persons (NCWPD) Executive Director Catalina Fermin said the community could contribute much to the rehabilitation of PWDs. Especially that research shows that many disabilities could be prevented if proper information is disseminated to the community, she added.

According to the National Statistics Office (NSO) 2000 population census, 942,098 or about 1.23% of 76.5 million Filipinos have disabilities, of which a large number live in rural areas where health and related services are limited or even totally absent.

Complying with Republic Act 7277, or the 1999 Magna Carta for PWDs, government agencies such as the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE), Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), Department of Health (DOH) implemented programs for the promotion and protection of PWD rights to employment, health services and social welfare.

Also in 2005, Executive Order No. 437 was passed to encourage the implementation of community-based rehabilitation (CBR) for PWDs to alleviate their plight. # Adela Ragual/MMSU Intern for NORDIS

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Consumers opt for Stock Coop

BAGUIO CITY (April 25) — Dividends and patronage refunds may be distributed to the more than 100,000 members of the Benguet Electric Cooperative (Beneco) if it is converted into a stock cooperative registered with the Cooperatives Development Authority (CDA), a group proposing such conversion said.

Peter Dumaguing, Baguio-Benguet Coalition of Electric Consumers (BBCEC) vice-chairman said consumers will benefit more because it offers lower electricity cost if it becomes a full-fledged stock cooperative due to an expected exemption from real property tax and franchise tax.

“Beneco members are presently paying for loans and its interest that Beneco made from different banks to purchase electric poles,” Dumaguing added.

Also, he said that the present 13 Beneco board members receive P345,000 each in honoraria, but if Beneco will be converted into a stock cooperative the honorarium will decrease to P200,000 and will have only nine board members.

“Beneco is still registered with the National Electric Administration (NEA), where it is provided that the board is elected by the general membership and therefore prone to being controlled by the stronger political leadership in the locality,” a Beneco paper earlier released to the media read.

Manager Eduardo Brilliantes of Beneco Human Resources Management and Development Department said, Benguet excluding Baguio City is taxing Beneco P54 million to pay for this it is added to the electricity cost every month”.

“These two options offer a lot but as the consumers, we can correct the mistakes of the past Beneco. In the future, we can see more opportunities or more business for the welfare of the members,” Dumaguing said. # Rohmalyne Gamponia/MMSU Intern for NORDIS

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