METROPOST


AUG. 5 - AUG. 11, 2018


NEWS and UPDATES 3 CAMPUS NEWS


Students sign up for environment quiz


provinces of Negros Oriental and Negros Occidental have signed up for this year’s environmental quiz bee, dubbed “Positive Energy Battle of the Brains Junior and Senior High”.


Some 50 schools in Negros Island comprising the


A delegation of local officials and business leaders from the City of Dumaguete, led by Mayor Felipe Antonio Remollo, present the City’s token of appreciation to Director Song Yu of the Beijing Tourism Development Bureau, at the conclusion of their meeting to explore a sister-city relationship with Beijing and Jingzhou. With Mayor Remollo are (from left) Philippine Chamber of Commerce & Industry Regional Gov. Edward Du, Negros Oriental Chamber of Commerce Executive Director John Jalandoni, Councilors Lilani Ramon and Joe Kenneth Arbas, Asst. Provincial Administrator Froilan Pinili, businesswoman Elsie Lee, and Councilor Manuel Arbon.


Ayungon mayor closes mining port


The conflict between the Municipal Mayor of Ayungon and haulers of a Silica Mining Co. has become more serious after Mayor Edsel Enardecido padlocked the port of the Goodyield Resources & Development Inc. in barangay Tampocon. In an order dated July 26, Mayor Enardecido ordered GRDI President Joseph Lo cease operations for not having a Business Permit. “My basis for the closure


Perdices St. ‘discipline zone’ put on hold


What was illegal in the last two months is back to being legal again this week, as it had been since 2002. The City has placed the implementation of the Discipline Zone for Perdices St. on hold. The Discipline Zone,


later expanded to Perdices St.


where motorists are fined P50 for illegal parking, was initially implemented along Real St. from the North City Limit near the Sibulan Airport upto the South City Limit at the boundary of Bacong, and which was


Volunteers from the City issued parking tickets for those parking along Perdices St. until it was met with some objections from affected businesses, and the riding public, who pointed to a 2002 law that allowed parking in selected areas along Perdices St.


still in effect. Danny Atillo of the Traffic Management Office, said he has received instructions from the Discipline Zone officials to allow parking along Perdices St. Eddie Oira of the TMO


Ordinance 22, otherwise known as the Comprehensive Traffic Adjustment Scheme of 2002, had not been repealed by the City, and is, therefore,


order is the absence of a business permit. I have not also issued a business permit because they also do not have the permits from national agencies to operate the port,” he explained. The July 26 closure order also noted that a previous Notice of Closure Order dated May 8, 2018 was served to GRDI and was received by a company representative on May 28. “They continue to load at the port despite the closure order being served,” he said,


added that the situation is complicated because while GRDI is the principal mining company, it has contracted Pilipinas Eco Friendly Mining Corp. as


TO PAGE 10


proper calibration


representatives of local and national government units, sugar and coconut milling companies, and large shopping centers in the Province participated in a two-day training on weighing scale calibration on July 24-25 at the Negros Oriental Technology & Livelihood Development Center in Daro.


Close to 40


DOST trains on


Mayor Enardecido


Motorists sign up for ‘Clean Rider’


National Police’s Clean Rider Campaign during Wednesday’s launching in Dumaguete.


PNP Provincial Director Sr. Supt. Raul Tacaca disclosed at the launching, done simultaneously nationwide, that “the main purpose [of the Clean Rider campaign] is to address criminality perpetrated by riding-in-tandem suspects.”


by suspects on board motorcycles, who managed to flee before authorities arrived at the crime scene, he said. In the absence of information such as the color or make of motorcycles used in crimes, investigators usually have a hard time identifying the suspects.


Under the Clean Rider campaign, it is hoped that all the motorcycles here are accounted for, including their respective owners to be encoded in the motorcycle riders’ registration database system.


Records show that most shooting incidents are staged Hundreds of motorists signed up for the Philippine


also said he has received a directive from Mayor Felipe Antonio Remollo that the Discipline Zone enforcement along Perdices St. should only be “limited to the information dissemination level”. (With reports from Juancho Gallarde)


Province mulls new CT scan


Tacaca also enjoined motorcycle clubs in the city to make their presence felt in the anti-criminality campaign as force multipliers.


TO PAGE 14


It happened several times in Dumaguete that while uniformed PNP personnel were enforcing Oplan Sita on foot, a group of motor riders on board big bikes came to


Governor of Negros Oriental is allocating a budget for the purchase of one computed tomography (CT) scan machine to be approved by the Provincial Board in next year’s budget. Gov. Roel Degamo said this is in line with the provincial government’s dream of establishing a diagnostic center complete with sophisticated medical equipment, including a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machine. The Governor’s plan includes the training of local doctors who are products of the provincial government’s scholarship


TO PAGE 8 The Office of the


Frances Ariola, Corporate Communications specialist of the Energy Development Corp., said the event intends to spread awareness on the importance of renewable energy and fighting climate change because it is important for our future generations to know this and to know that they can do something. The participants, the contestants and even the audience will learn something from the Battle of the Brains contest, she said.


in Negros Island and it’s still for both Negros Oriental and Negros Occidental but we hope to get more schools this year,” Ariola said.


“This is already our 3rd year for the Battle of the Brains


“They just need to send in the names of the schools and two students (each); it is open to junior and senior high school students, and they have to have a coach,” she explained. There will be five semi-finals this August for Bacolod City and nearby towns, Bago City and nearby areas, Kabankalan area, Dumaguete-Valencia area, and Bais City area and nearby towns.


qualify for the grand finals, which will be held at the Foundation University in Dumaguete City on September 14.


receive P30,000, and a cash award as well for the coach and a trophy for the school.


This year, the winning school in the grand finals will


The judges for this year’s contest would include a representative from the Department of Energy-Visayas, Climate Reality Philippines, and two environmentalists as panel experts. (Judy F. Partlow/PNA)


EDC scholars push for renewable energy


More than 100 scholars of geothermal power leader Energy Development Corp. from different colleges and universities in the country are pushing for renewable energy for their future and for the coming generations. The scholars, coming from EDC’s four geothermal sites in the country, completed over the weekend the solidarity building and enrichment workshop held at the Negros Oriental Convention Center in Dumaguete City, the provincial capital of Negros Oriental. One of the scholars, Jamaica Escosa, a graduating student taking up BS Geology at UP-Diliman, noted in an interview that geothermal energy and other forms of renewable energy are sustainable unlike coal which has harmful effects on the environment. When asked about the role of the youth in the protection of the environment, she stressed that since social media is now the more popular medium, “by just sharing and posting advocacies about geothermal and renewable energy resources, we can give the youth information about these so they would learn about RE and not stick to coal which adds to greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, and contributes to global warming and climate change.” For her part, 19-year old Karla Laspiñas from Bacong, Negros Oriental, taking up BS Geology at the Negros Oriental State University in Dumaguete, emphasized that renewable energy is the way to go because of climate change, adding that protecting the environment begins with one’s self. “You can start with yourself, and when you realize it is the right thing to do and it is good, then you can tell your friends about RE,” she pointed out. “And in school, you can organize tree planting activities,” she added. Escosa, 20 years old, from Bago City, Negros Occidental, is one of the hundreds of EDC scholars chosen under the company’s College Admission Review and Readiness (CAREERS) program and had finished her elementary and high school in her hometown. According to her, since her elementary days, EDC


had been giving school supplies to students of the Mailom Elementary School, which is situated close to the company’s Northern Negros Geothermal Project. She said she first passed the UP College Admission Test and studied at UP-Iloilo, taking up BS Management but later transferred to UP-Diliman to study Geology. Laspiñas, meanwhile, started out as a scholar of EDC during her second year in college and hopes that what she had learned these past days during the CAREERS skills training will be applied in her profession. She is one of the many local scholars of EDC who benefit from the support given them to tide them over their other expenses despite the free tuition they are enjoying in the different government schools. It is a privilege to be an EDC scholar, according to both


Escosa and Laspiñas, who were among the 102 scholars who completed the recent CAREERS workshop here. During the workshop, they also had the opportunity to


Organized by the Department of Science & Technology-Negros Oriental Provincial S&T Center, the training Engr. Roberto Edra teaches the participants on the correct procedure for calibration and adjustment of weighing scales that are commonly used in the market.


TO PAGE 12


visit EDC’s Southern Negros Geothermal Project in nearby Valencia town and visited the company’s state of the art Vegetative Material Reproduction nursery. Laspiñas also shared her experience, having witnessed the processes of harnessing the earth’s geothermal energy and turning it into electricity during their visit to the geothermal power plants in Valencia. The CAREERS scholars are from the EDC’s geothermal sites in Negros Island, Leyte, Bicol, and Kidapawan. Norreen Bautista, head of EDC’S Community Partnerships, External Relations & Watershed Management Group for Negros Island, was earlier quoted as saying: “Through CAREERS, we empower our scholars so they can turn mirrors into windows of opportunities for their bright future.” (Judy F. Partlow/PNA)


The top two winning schools per area will automatically


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14