Day: September 16, 2022

The Department of Agriculture (DA) expects a boost in the production of quality bananas in Apayao with government support pouring in for the industry.

 

Eleanor Camut, DA-Cordillera’s High-Value Crop Program assistant coordinator, said the School-on-the-Air program on banana farming in Apayao aimed to capacitate the farmers already producing the dollar-earning commodity that is potentially a significant source of income.

 

The program provides farmers training on integrated pest management, value-adding, macro propagation of clean planting materials, and modern techniques and strategies, among others.

 

“Banana is still a lucrative business and Apayao has the potential to produce organically-grown produce, sweeter and better in quality,” she said.

 

DA record shows that in the region, Apayao is the top producer of bananas, yielding 30,523 tons worth PHP38.6 million from 1,123 hectares of plantation in 2021.

 

“Soon, walang mahirap sa Apayao dahil andito na ang resources. Kailangan lang magsimula na i-adopt ang mga napag-aralan (there will be no poor people in Apayao because the resources are here. You just need to start adopting what was taught),” Camut said.

 

She said the DA’s Philippine Rural Development Project (PRDP) has recently turned over the PHP198-million farm-to-market road project that leads to villages identified as producers of high-quality bananas.

 

“We also have integration and processing facilities to support the industry,” she added.

 

Camut said Abra and Apayao are already starting to produce bananas.

 

“We can contribute our production to the international demand for the commodity,” she said.

 

Meanwhile, Roger Pascual, a banana farmer who had been producing at least 2.4 tons of raw bananas every two weeks, said in Ilocano, “The School-on-the-Air provided me with additional knowledge that I can use to boost my production. My farm was visited by the experts and they gave recommendations, which I can adopt because I learned it from the School-on-the-Air.”

 

Pascual said having learned macro-propagation of seedlings, he could plant more using the idle areas in between the plants, as recommended by the experts.

 

He sees a better future for his banana venture upon learning about available sources of nutrients that do not entail expenses.

 

Camut said 80 farmers participated in the School-on-the-Air’s banana program.

 

Source: Philippines News Agency

A sample taken from spring water in Barangay Iglinab in the municipality of Valderrama was found positive for E.coli bacteria.

 

The Integrated Provincial Health Office (IPHO) carried out the laboratory test on Monday and was released on Thursday.

 

The pipes leading to the homes of the residents were not properly laid so these fell into a dirty canal, said Valderrama Sanitary Inspector Joel Castillon in an interview Friday.

 

He said that E.coli bacteria could be due to human or animal feces.

 

Valderrama information officer Eric Espia, in a separate interview, said the Department of Health Western Visayas Center for Health Development (DOH WV CHD) on Friday again took samples from the spring water, which is the main source of the communal water system, for confirmation.

 

“As a result of the laboratory test by the IPHO, the Department of Health also took a water sample today (Friday) in Barangay Iglinab for confirmation,” he said.

 

While waiting for the confirmatory result, he said Mayor Jocelyn Posadas has reiterated her order for residents of Barangay Iglinab to temporarily stop getting their drinking water from the spring.

 

The Municipal Health Office has also been continuously monitoring the situation in the barangay and residents have been provided with Oresol and anti-diarrhea medicines.

 

“From Aug. 30 to Sept. 13, there was a total of 46 individuals who had been provided with medical attention in Valderrama hospital due to diarrhea,” Espia said.

 

However, only four patients were admitted as of Sept. 13 while the 42 others were already discharged.

 

The municipality has also recorded four fatalities; one each from Iglinab and Pandanan villages and another two from San Remigio town from Sept. 5 to 8.

 

The communal water system also supplies adjacent barangays of General Fullon and Banbanan in the municipality of San Remigio where 73 of its residents suffered from diarrhea as reported last Sept. 10.

 

Source: Philippines News Agency

 

President Ferdinand “Bongbong Marcos Jr. wants all bridges already under construction to be completed as soon as possible, according to the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) on Friday.

 

DPWH Secretary Manual Bonoan allayed lawmakers’ concerns over the unfinished bridges in their respective districts during the House Appropriations Committee budget hearing.

 

Bonoan said one of the specific instructions of the President was to complete all started bridges “at the earliest possible time because we recognize actually the importance of the bridges that will cross the major rivers, which will provide efficient transport network.”

 

The bridge program is part of PBBM’s “Build Better More Program” to sustain the administration’s continued push for infrastructure development for “efficient transport and logistics system for goods and services.”

 

Among those in line to be completed is the 3.77-kilometer Panguil Bay Bridge which will connect Tangub City in Misamis Occidental and Tubod town, Lanao del Norte.

 

The bridge, currently at nearly 60-percent completion, is expected to cut travel time between Tangub City and Tubod from two and a half hours to just seven minutes.

 

Bonoan said the DPWH is committed to complete the project by December 2023, including an assurance that President Marcos himself will be present to inaugurate the said bridge.

 

“I will personally convey to the President about this project, and certainly, I will make a representation for the President to actually come to the site. This is going to be the first big project that probably the President will inaugurate,” Bonoan said.

 

Another bridge being eyed for completion is the PHP1.5-billion, 548-meter Las Nieves Bridge in Agusan del Norte that will connect the residents of 11 villages situated on the other side of the Agusan River to the town center.

 

“I can assure that we will attend to the requirements (of the bridge). We will review all the allocations,” Bonoan said.

 

Flood control projects

 

Bonoan also assured that flood control projects will be prioritized under the Marcos administration.

 

The 2023 National Expenditure Program has earmarked PHP168.9 billion for flood control.

 

The DPWH has already completed some of the master plans to “specifically address” major flooding in the country’s 18 major river basins, according to Bonoan.

 

“Some of them are being implemented through official development assistance and through local funds. I think these are some of the big-ticket projects under flood control. But we are also trying to help and address the flooding problems in specific municipalities and cities,” he said.

 

One of the major problems being encountered by the DPWH in flood control is the “outdated and antiquated drainage systems”.

 

“One of the things we have found out is that because of population growth and urban development, most of the urban cities, including Metro Manila for that matter, the absorption capacity for runoff water is no longer there because everything is being paved. So, the water runoff has to go through a drainage system. So, it’s no longer able to convey the runoff water to be discharged to the major rivers,” he said.

 

Nevertheless, Bonoan assured that the DPWH will continue to seek specific solutions to address perennial flooding.

 

Source: Philippines News Agency