Twelve employees from various companies in this premier free port made it to the list of the 10 Outstanding Freeport Workers for 2018, joining the growing body of awardees who made their mark in their respective workplaces year after year.

Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) Chairman and Administrator Wilma T. Eisma, along with other SBMA officials, presented the awards during a recognition ceremony on Nov. 23 at the Subic Bay Exhibition and Convention Center here.

Winners of the 10 Outstanding Freeport Workers Award show their trophies during the recognition rites at the Subic Bay Exhibition and Convention Center. (MPD-SBMA)

“It never fails to amaze me how we have gone such a long way,” Eisma said in her message, referring to the 26 years that the Subic Freeport existed and recalling the services of the more than 8,000 volunteers who helped establish Subic during its infancy.

“We are honoring 12 outstanding Freeport workers today and it only shows that excellence and malasakit continue to live with us here,” Eisma added.

The SBMA chief also thanked the awardees, as well as all stakeholders in the Subic Freeport “who had given that dedication to Subic to move us forward, so that investors continue to come by providing them a safe and clean place for their business.”

Lawyer Severo Pastor Jr., who heads the SBMA Labor Department and also serves as president of the Subic Bay Workers Development Foundation (SBWDF), which organizes the annual event, said the awards started out 17 years ago with “an urgent need to celebrate and recognize those who have excelled in their companies while continuing to thrive in their service to the community.”

Pastor explained that out of the more than 300 nominees this year, the board of judges selected 10 candidates whose score ranged between 90% and 98%. However, four candidates garnered the same scores in two spots so that 12 winners emerged, he added.

SBMA Chairman and Administrator Wilma T. Eisma joins the winners of the 10 Outstanding Freeport Workers Award along with (L-R) DA for Administration Ruel John Kabigting, OIC-DA for Legal Mike Quintos, and DA for Port Rani Cruz. (MPD-SBMA)

This year’s outstanding workers are: Maximo Bello, Jr. of FBM Systems and Electronics, Inc., Maria Lorena Aguania (Nicera Phils.), Gary Manglicmot (Pacific Ocean Underwater Solution, Corp.), Roberto Duran, Jr. (Phil. Coastal Storage and Pipelines Corp.), Marilyn Mae Martinez (PayAsia PA Support Subic Ltd.), Jefrene Sarmiento (PTT Phils. Trading Corp.); Simeon Carlos, Jr. (Nicera Phils. Inc.), Arnel Faminialan (Phil. Coastal Storage and Pipelines Corp.), Menandro Magcale (SBMA Media Production Department), Alfredo Cerezo (Subic Enerzone Corp.), Dominica Cureg (Subic Water and Sewerage Corp.), and Ruffy Gonzalez (Wistron Infocomm Phils. Corp.).

For her part, Olongapo City Police Office Superintendent Avelina De Guzman, who headed the board of judges, reminded the awardees that while they may experience disappointments in work, these should only help them grow.

“Brace yourselves for the many challenges ahead, and remember to learn from them,” she said. “Continue to work towards your dream, be proud of your accomplishments and be especially proud that you were awarded as top workers of the year.”

Meanwhile, two other activities organized for the benefit of local residents were simultaneously held at the Harbor Point mall here to coincide with the 26th SBMA anniversary celebration on Nov. 23-24: a mobile passport processing and a job fair.

Thousands of jobseekers lined up for the job fair that offered some 4,500 openings in various locator-businesses in the Subic Bay Freeport. (MPD-SBMA)

Source: subicnewslink.blogspot.com

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BATAAN. Police operatives join the three Grade 4 students who went missing in Limay, Bataan on November 23, 2018 after their successful rescue. (Photo courtesy of PRO-Central Luzon PIO)

CAMP OLIVAS, Pampanga- Police authorities have located the three Grade 4 students who went missing in Limay, Bataan on November 23.

Based on reports and accounts of the children’s parents, the said children aged 10 and 9, all students of Carbon Elementary School in the said town went to school in the afternoon of Friday but failed to return home.

Operatives of the Limay Municipal Police Station together with members of the local government unit (LGU) of Bataan conducted non-stop search and rescue operations and found the missing minors at Sitio Aradia, near the mountainous area of Limay, Bataan on Sunday, November 25.

Police Regional Office-Central Luzon acting Regional Director Police Chief Superintendent Joel Napoleon Coronel said the children went on a stroll and were not aware that they were already at the foot of the mountain.

He said the children were scared to go back because it was already dark.

“Through the concerted efforts of our police and members of the Limay LGU, the missing children were located and we are fortunate to have found them alive,” Coronel said.

Source: sunstar.com.ph

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Photo Credit: update.ph

Senator Richard Gordon wants all Filipino citizens, at least 18 years of age and had completed the basic military training, to form part of the citizens’ service corps.

He supports the earlier call of President Rodrigo Duterte to revive the revival of the Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC).

Gordon filed in May 2017 Senate Bill No. 1417, or the Citizen Service Act of 2017 which calls for the revival of the Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC).

He filed the measure “to foster patriotism and nationalism among the youth.”

SBN 1417 requires all college students and those of technical vocational (tech-voc) courses to undergo basic citizen service training.

It provides that full time basic citizen service training (Basic Training) for at least six weeks will be encouraged of all Filipino citizens and mandatory for all Filipino students, male and female, enrolled in baccalaureate degree courses or technical vocational courses.

Gordon said it seeks “to inculcate in the youth patriotism and nationalism, and encourage their involvement in public and civic affairs.”

“The Constitution recognizes the vital role of the youth in nation building and seeks to promote and protect their physical, moral, spiritual, intellectual, and social well-being,” he said.

Likewise, noting that the country faces a “buffet of disasters,” both natural and man-made, he stressed the importance of having an army of reserved officers who could be called upon and mobilized to assist in matters of external and territorial defense, internal security and peace and order, and disaster risk reduction and management.

“It is the prime duty of the government to serve and protect the people,” the senator from Olongapo said.

He said the Constitution empowers the government to call upon the people to defend the State and render personal military or civil service.

“To provide implementing legislation to these basic tenets in the Constitution, this bill proposes to require basic citizen service training, establish the citizen service corps, and creates the citizen service commission for this purpose,” he said.

SBN 1417 proposes to require basic citizen service training, establish the citizen service corps, and create the citizen service commission to create a pool of trained members of the Corps who can render personal military or civil service in times of war, lawlessness, and calamities and disasters.

Source: su.edu.ph

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The P11-billion Bohol Panglao International Airport, the country’s first eco-airport, was inaugurated today, November 27, 2018.

Effective today, November 27 at 6:00 P.M. Tagbilaran Airport was closed as all operations were transferred to the new Bohol Panglao International Airport.

The New Bohol (Panglao) Airport is the country’s first eco-airport and dubbed as the “Green Gateway to the World”, environment-friendly and sustainable structures are used, along with solar panels to be installed on the Passenger Terminal Building’s roof to cover around 1/3 of the airport’s energy requirement. The airport’s terminal can accommodate up to two million passengers in its opening year alone from 800,000 passengers currently being accommodated by the Tagbilaran airport.

Check out the videos and photos during the inauguration.

The country’s first eco-airport can accommodate seven (7) aircraft at one time, including large aircraft for international flights, and is expected to accommodate two (2) million passengers in its opening year.

Spanning 13,337 square meters, the new airport initially has a 2,500-meter runway which can facilitate seven aircraft at a time, including long-range commercial planes for more international routes.

Source: projectlupad.com

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By Jonathan L. Mayuga
Bantay Pawikan volunteers teach children to help save endangered marine turtles

In Photo: An olive ridley hatchling struggles to the shore in Barangay Nagbalayong, Morong, Bataan, upon release by visiting tourism students from PLT College on November 15; This rescued injured pawikan is an added attraction in the Pawikan Conservation Center.

‘Marine turtles are important. Why do we need them? Because they help maintain ecological balance. Do you know that marine turtles eat jellyfish? Without marine turtles, there will be plenty of jellyfish, and you cannot swim in the ocean because the jellyfish will get to you and sting you,” a jolly Manolo Ibias told a group of young students on November 15.

Ibias, more popularly known as Mang Manolo, is not a teacher. He is one of the Bantay Pawikan volunteers who run the Pawikan Conservation Center in Barangay Nagbalayong, Morong, Bataan, while the students were from the Learning Links Academy, a school based in Silang, Cavite. They were on a four-day “Bataan Immersion” in Morong, Bataan.

Mang Manolo shows visiting students the newly hatched olive ridley turtles during a briefing before releasing them back into the wild.

All eyes and ears were fixed on Mang Manolo, the chairman of the group Bantay Pawikan, as he gives lessons that are not normally taught inside the classroom.

Aided by a small projector and graphic illustration of the life cycle of a pawikan, Mang Manolo has been teaching young students visiting their small facility that was established to help save the endangered marine turtles.

Among his “students” that day were some parents who volunteered to join the immersion as they accompanied their children.
Jojie Sastrillo, 48, said the students, as well as their parents, were being taught about the value of marine turtles and why it is important to prevent their extinction.

She said she was happy to see her 11-year-old son, Lance, learn from the activity.

“What did you learn about jellyfish and marine turtles?” she asked Lance.

“Marine turtles are important because they eat jellyfish. Without marine turtles, you cannot swim in the ocean because there will be too many jellyfish in the ocean,” the boy replied.

Asked what he liked about the visit, Lance said: “I like the experience releasing the turtles. We were taught about the common mistakes in releasing turtles. It’s fun!” he said in mixed English and Filipino.

Bantay Pawikan
Teaching young students like Lance is almost a daily routine for the 66-year old Mang Manolo and his crew of 17, mostly senior citizens who operate the Pawikan Conservation Center as part of their sworn duty to protect and conserve the endangered pawikan and their natural habitat.

In Morong, they are known as Bantay Pawikan, the provincial government of Bataan’s first line of defense against all forms of threat against the endangered marine turtles and their habitats, including ocean pollution, destructive fishing, poaching, and harvesting eggs, or simply not caring enough to help rescue injured marine turtles.

As members of Bantay Pawikan, their life’s mission is to prevent the extinction of the endangered marine turtles.

Established in 1999, the Pawikan Conservation Center has become a beacon of hope for the endangered pawikan in Morong, Bataan, the global population of which has dramatically gone down, mainly because of the illegal wildlife trade.

Marine turtles are hunted for their meat, shells, tails, including eggs that are harvested in known nesting grounds, such as in Bataan province.

The Bantay Pawikan was organized by the coastal communities of Morong with the help of by the provincial government of Bataan and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to address the rampant hunting of marine turtles and harvesting of eggs in the coastal communities for the longest time.

Former predators
“Before, we were predators of marine turtles. Now, we are their protectors. We harvested eggs and eat them. That was before the government talked to us and told us to stop doing it because the pawikan population has gone down,” Mang Manolo admits.

The 1,500 square meter Pawikan Conservation Center was then established in 1999, the same year their group was organized. It has a small hatchery, and a lodging house, the income from which fuels the operation of the facility.

“Our job is mainly to guard the marine turtles to prevent poaching. When we see them lay the eggs, we collect the eggs and transfer them to our hatchery,” he said.

Mang Manolo said, that before the Bantay Pawikan was organized, the eggs were harvested and sold secretly at P3 to P4 each.

Today, he said some “hardheaded” poachers harvest eggs when the Bantay are not around, and sell three eggs for P20.

Through the facility, which is frequented by students from various schools in the country, the members of Bantay Pawikan help send the message across about the serious threats to, and vulnerabilities that can lead to the extinction of these amazing creatures of the sea.

“Teaching them on-site, with real pawikan or even colorful photos, is effective. It is always better to start teaching about the importance of wildlife while they are still young,” Mang Manolo said, noting that the Center’s visitors are sometimes students in high school and college, who, unlike the younger ones, are not always able to absorb the all-important lessons.

On the same day, when students of Learning Links Academy visited the Pawikan Conservation Center, some tourism students of the PLT College based in Nueva Vizcaya were there to learn from Mang Manolo and his fellow Bantay Pawikan.

Some of them were given the opportunity to release a few of the newly hatched olive ridley turtles.

Together with those released by the Learning Links Academy students on the eve of November 14, a total of 42 olive ridley hatchlings were released. As of November 15, there were 40 nests in the hatchery.

“That is about 4,000 eggs. But in one season we get to secure 200,000 eggs,” Mang Manolo said.

He said about 73 percent of the eggs are hatched and released back to the ocean.

“Owing to the many threats, it was assessed that only 1 percent or even less will survive and, hopefully, return here to lay eggs,” he said.

That is the reason, he explained, marine turtles are highly vulnerable and can become extinct if not cared for.

Migratory turtles
Five of the known seven highly migratory marine turtles are known to visit the Philippines, which hosts a number of important nesting sites, such as the Turtle Islands in Tawi-Tawi province, the biggest marine turtle sanctuary in Southeast Asia, and the province of Bataan, which hosts several nesting grounds, including sanctuaries or hatcheries where the eggs are transferred and secured.

Sometimes, turtle eggs are reported and transferred to the hatcheries with the help of “enlightened” members of coastal communities, which were attributed to the effective awareness campaign of the DENR, the provincial government, and various local government units (LGUs) of Bataan, said Edgar D. Laggui, Community Environment and Natural Resource Officer (Cenro) in Bagac.

Volunteerism
Laggui told the BusinessMirror in an interview on November 15 that volunteerism is key to protecting the coastal and marine environment, including threatened species.

“Our volunteers here in Pawikan Conservation Center do not receive a salary. They only get allowances. They patrol the coastal areas and help protect the marine turtles,” he said.

There are five marine turtle hatcheries in Bataan. Besides the hatchery inside the Pawikan Conservation Center in Morong, there are three more in Mariveles, Bataan and one in Bagac, which is being managed by Montemar Beach Resort in Bagac.

Adela M. Lunca, of Cenro Bagac Park Maintenance who is also detailed in the DENR-Bataan’s Biodiversity Management Sector, added that because of the strong collaboration between the DENR, the provincial government, Morong-LGU and the communities, the trading of turtle eggs has stopped in Morong.

“Now, even the communities are turning over the eggs they discover. They are now fully aware of the importance of those eggs,” she said.

Pawikan Festival
The strong commitment of the provincial government in protecting and conserving marine turtles is demonstrated by the holding of the Pawikan Festival every December 1 and 2.

In a telephone interview on November 14, Raul Mamac, Bataan Provincial Environment and Natural Resource officer, said the Center is a nesting site of marine turtles.

During the festival, people from all over Bataan, including visitors from other provinces, congregate in the area to join the festivities.

The DENR, he said, has partnered with the provincial government to ensure the protection and conservation of Bataan’s mangrove forests.

“We have around a 10 kilometer stretch of thick mangrove forest from Organi to Samal and Abucay, including our wetland [in Bagac],” he added.

Mamac underscored the importance of maintaining the health of the coastal and marine environment, as well as its forests, to the people in the province, who continue to rely on the terrestrial and coastal resources.

‘1M 4 1B’ program
Demonstrating Bataan’s pro-environment stance, he said various stakeholders are being rallied behind the “1M 4 1B” program, which stands for “1 million trees for 1 Bataan Challenge,” a massive tree-planting program, “conceptualized to empower environmental responsiveness through crowdsourcing to encourage everyone to take action in this responsibility.”

Protecting and conserving the marine turtles is part of the Integrated Coastal Management (ICM) of Bataan province, said Engr. Victor Ubaldo, the Provincial Government Environment and Natural Resources Office chief of Bataan. The ICM in Bataan was strengthened by the partnership of the provincial government, the DENR and the Partnerships in Environmental Management for the Seas of East Asia (Pemsea).

“As much as possible, because of industrialization, we try to strike a balance between economic growth and protecting the environment, particularly our coastal areas,” Ubaldo said.

Bataan is at the forefront of the country’s socioeconomic growth boasting of a robust agriculture fishery, and manufacturing sectors, according to the official web site of Pemsea.

Among the ongoing ICM activities in Bataan are coastal strategy development, beach clean-ups, public-awareness campaigns, mangrove rehabilitation and fish/turtle sanctuary establishment.

“If you will notice, here in Bataan, we have several seaports. We also have some private seaports. But as much as possible, we try to conserve our mangrove forests and we also do rehabilitation,” Ubaldo added.

Incidentally, Pemsea will showcase ICM sites in the Philippines as it plays host to the East Asian Seas (EAS) Congress 2018 from November 27 to 30 in Iloilo City.

Bataan, Ubaldo said, will be sending two delegations—one for the Congress and another delegation for the Fifth EAS Youth Forum, which will be held parallel to the EAS Congress 2018.

Source: businessmirror.com.ph

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