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Sunday, September 03, 2006
Social workers off to Guimaras
THE Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Field Office-Western Visayas is sending social workers and Project Development Officers in Guimaras to immediately implement alternative livelihood activities.
"We are deploying them to conduct social preparation for other Cash for Work program and alternative livelihood that will be implemented in Guimaras province," stressed OIC Regional Director Teresita S. Rosales of the DSWD Field Office-Western Visayas.
A total of 16 personnel, all pulled out from other provinces, were recalled at the Regional Office and ordered to be assigned in Guimaras effective September 4, 2006. If distributed by town, eight will be assigned at Nueva Valencia; four in Sibunag and four in San Lorenzo.
Initially, it is planned that at least two Tindahan Natin outlets will be established in two strategic areas greatly affected by the Solar Oil Spill.
Aside from this, DSWD is considering other Cash for Work scheme aside from clearing-up operations such as cleaning evacuation center and other means that could provide livelihood to the victims. The DSWD has allotted P2 million for this and other rehabilitation purposes to rebuild the lives of the victims.
"The personnel will be there to assess available resources, provide technical assistance for possible alternative livelihood, conduct social preparation and community organizing and immediately implement the alternative livelihood," said Mary Ann Masculino, Regional Project Evaluation Officer of DSWD.
The social workers would specialize in social preparation and community organizing. On the other hand, the PDOs, who have been experienced in the implementation of DSWD's Self-Employment Assistance-Kaunlaran (SEA-K), will be maximized on the livelihood aspect. SEA-K is DSWD's livelihood program for groups with entrepreneurial skills.
The DSWD will be working closely with the Department of Trade and Industry, National Food Authority and the Department of Labor and Employment to help the victims of the Solar Oil Spill.
Unified assistance
Unified assistance was solicited from various government agencies and Local Government Units (LGUs) in Iloilo Friday through the leading efforts of the Civil Service Commission (CSC).
In line with its 106th Anniversary, the CSC has embarked in seeking the personal contribution of the LGU departments and government agencies in Panay, to the affected families in the Island of Guimaras in the form of "Pag-ulikid sa Guimaras" project.
The launch of the Project where relief assistance was turned over to the Provincial Guimaras was the kick-off activity of the Commission's anniversary.
Not more than a week of implementing its program, the CSC has gathered 98 sacks of rice coming from various LGU departments and government agencies in Iloilo, 320 boxes of assorted goods (noodles, sardines etc.), 13 plastic bags of assorted goods, one sack of sugar, one plastic bag of human hair and P1,988.75 from a National High School.
Human Resource and Management Office Chief Alma Ravena, said these were collected from the 43 municipalities, Iloilo Rehabilitation Center (human hair), academe, hospitals and water districts in the Province in a span of three days.
Ravena said LGUs of Capiz and Aklan have sent its partial contributions too in the form of cash and checks. The rest will reach here soon.
CSC Regional Director Imelda G. Abueg lauded the immediate response of the government agencies here.
"I'm impressed with the tremendous response of the agencies here in Western Visayas."
Provincial Administrator of Guimaras-Elmer Ganancial, representative of the Governor during the turnover ceremony, said that the aid would help them rise from the environmental catastrophe that they were experiencing after the sunken M/T Solar 1 accidentally spilled its bunker fuel in their Province in August 11.
Task Force
Meanwhile, the Regional Task Force on the Solar Oil Spill (SOS) has strengthened its public information group as part of its efforts to ensure timely and accurate retrieval and flow of information to the public.
Presidential Adviser for Western Visayas Rafael Coscolluela, Regional Task Force on the SOS Incident Commander disclosed in Friday's press briefing held at Camp Delgado, in this city, that he was asked by Secretary Avelino Cruz, Chairman of the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) to give particular focus to this aspect.
Coscolluela said they have noted many confusing and inconsistent figures that came out which may have been gathered from speculative statements made by many persons.
To address the situation, Coscolluela said, measures have been set up by the public information group composed of the Office of the Presidential Adviser for Regional Development (OPARD), Philippine Information Agency (PIA), Office of the Civil Defense (OCD), Department of Health (DOH) and the other members of the Task Force.
These measures include the scheduled press briefing every Tuesday and Friday at 1:00 p.m. where members of the media will be updated with complete and relevant information by the members of the Regional Task Force on the SOS.
The public information group has also prepared a list of identified spokespersons of concerned agencies authorized to give accurate information related to their activities and concerns.
Coscolluela said five groups were also identified to give assessment on the damage being caused in affected areas. The groups called "Sniffer Task Groups" are presently going around in the affected areas.
The task groups were identified as the following: Sniffer 1 Task Group is under the DOH tasked to assess the quality of drinking water; Sniffer 2 Task Group is with DENR for the coastal water; Sniffer 3 Task Group is also manned by DENR for the ambiant air; Sniffer 4 Task Group is under the DA for soil sampling; and Sniffer 5 Task Group is headed by Bfar for sampling of fish and marine products.
As to the containment and recovery operations of the oil spill, Coscolluela said the lead agency to give information on this is the Philippine Coast Guard.
During the press briefing, Philippine Coast Guard-Iloilo Station Commander Harold Jarder presented to the media the initial video footages of the sunken MT Solar 1 taken by the Remote Operated Vehicle of the Japanese survey ship MT Shin Sei Maru. (Lory Ann Bilbao/May Castillo/PIA)
(September 2, 2006 issue)
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