TACLOBAN CITY – The regional Commission on Higher Education (CHED) has called on students anew to take priority courses for them to get scholarship aid and increase their chance of employment after college. CHED Regional Director Maura Consolacion Cristobal also encouraged higher learning institutions (HEIs) to offer the recommended field of studies to address labor mismatch and spur economic growth.

“Those who will take these courses starting this school year until 2018 have a big chance to avail of scholarship grants from the government,” Cristobal said.
The CHED has allocated P172 million for scholarship grants this academic year for 14,000 college students out of the 20,000 applicants in the region.
The commission’s budget for scholarship significantly increased following the diversion of priority development assistance fund (PDAF) of the congressmen to CHED’s coffer.

For academic years, starting 2014 – 2015 up to 2017-2018, CHED has listed in-demand college courses (with corresponding share of scholarship funds) related to agriculture (15 percent), engineering (15 percent), science and mathematics (13 percent), information technology (10 percent), teacher education (10 percent), health sciences (10 percent), arts and humanities (5 percent), social and behavioral sciences (5 percent), business administration and related courses (5 percent), architecture (5 percent), maritime (2 percent), and communication (2 percent).

Cristobal said that listed priority courses are still within the thrust of the Regional Development Plan until 2016 that tagged agriculture, information and communication technology, and eco-tourism as major economic growth driver. “We urge schools to offer these courses and students to consider taking these fields of studies since these were identified by CHED through consultations with the Philippine Association of Universities and Colleges, National Economic Development and Department of Labor and Employment,” Cristobal added. (SARWELL Q.MENIANO)

TACLOBAN CITY–KATIG Writers Inc., an organization of writers in Eastern Visayas, and the Institute for Climate Change and Sustainable Cities (iCSC) on June 28 launched its book entitled “Agam: Filipino Narratives on Uncertainty and Climate Change” at the Multi-Purpose Building, University of the Philippine- Visayas Tacloban College.

“Agam reflects the confrontation between climate change and diverse cultures across the country. It combines original new works in prose, verse, and photographs and depicts uncertainty–and tenacity–from the Filipino perspective,” said Janis Claire Salvacion, president of KATIG Writers, Inc.

The book is composed of creative narratives in eight languages–crafted by twenty-four writers representing a broad array of disciplines–poets, journalists, anthropologists, the country’s godfather of climate science, and an indie erotic artist working with twenty-five images from the lens of the photojournalist Jose Enrique Soriano,” added Salvacion, who is also the regional coordinator of the National Committee on Literary Arts-National Commission on Culture and the Arts (NCCA).
In an emailed letter to reporters, Salvacion said the book launch in Tacloban “holds a special significance for all of us, who experienced firsthand the impacts of climate change.”

This event becomes part of our reflection and rebuilding for a better community, added Salvacion. iCSC, a non-profit group working on sustainable energy solutions and fair climate policy, is the publisher of the book. According to the organizers, the full price of the book is at P1,600 though it was offered at a discounted price of P1,200 during the launching. Proceeds of the book sales will be given to iCSC’s RE-Charge Tacloban, wherein a fleet of electric jeepneys (e-jeepneys) will serve the commuters of Tacloban and will be powered by a solar photovoltaic (PV) facility, and combined with training programs for local drivers, dispatchers, operators, administrators and technicians in the maintenance and servicing of operations, the organizer said.

“As our community rebuilds after Typhoon Haiyan/Yolanda, we seek to be more responsible to our environment, and utilize a sustainable transport fleet composed of electric vehicles is significant response in that direction while answering the needs of the public transport system,” added Salvacion.(RONALD O.REYES)

ORMOC CITY- Media practitioners attended a seminar on disaster risk emergency preparedness spearheaded by the Energy Development Corporation (EDC) which aims to better equip them when a disaster strikes in their areas and not just a mere “story tellers.”

Ted Esguerra of the EDC who was also a member of the first Mt. Everest Philippine Team, said that the seminar is intended for the media practitioners not only to have awareness but more specially be prepared on what should be done before and after a disaster happened on their respective areas.

The seminar, held on June 26, was attended by members of the media from Tacloban and Ormoc cities. When super typhoon Yolanda hit on November 8, 2013, almost all media practitioners from these cities failed for a time to work being victims of the disaster themselves.

Esguerra also added that media men should have this knowledge, since they are always the first in line to come during a disaster. He also emphasized that media should not only take stories but at the same time should also be a rescuer.

“When you try to value life, you value everything, you value the culture, you value the environment and you value humanity, so it’s not only how to do CPR, try to educate, and try to fire your gun but it has something to do with honouring the environment,” he said in an interview.

The seminar was also attended by the EDC’s vice president for corporate affairs, John Arnaldo who stated that they have started the seminar for local media who have experienced the super typhoon Yolanda and still in recovery so that they would now be better prepared for a possible next disaster.

EDC will also conduct seminars to the local government units and partner communities in the province for the coming months on the same topic. (KAYE ANNE ORALLER, LNU Intern)

GOVERNMENT CENTER, PALO, Leyte- The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) donated two units of saw mills to the Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) here in the region.

The sawmills donated by the UNDP will be a great help to their effort to rehabilitate and recover the coconut industry, said PCA’s officer-in-charge Joel Pilapil. The simple turn-over rites was held on June 10 at the PCA-8 office here witnessed by top officials of both agencies. Present were UNDP senior recovery coordinator, Dennis Curry, Eden Garde, Yolanda response project manager, Dario Cubelo, northwestern Leyte hub coordinator and senior technical adviser Adam Marlatt.

Long-time PCA-8 regional manager, Edilberto Nierva and other personnel of the said government agency, witnessed the turn-over of the two sawmill units. Pilapil, in his welcome message, narrated how the PCA and the UNDP started their collaboration. According to him, he was still the provincial coconut manager for western Leyte when he met Cubelo just a month after Yolanda hit Leyte.

Their meeting led to their effort to conduct clearing operations in the area of debris with the UNDP providing the needed funds. The PCA provided the chainsaws while a non-government organization, AFFIRE, assumed the logistical and personnel requirements. The success of this initial collaboration for the UNDP to donate sawmills to the PCA.

Curry expressed his hope that their donation of the sawmills will help hasten the campaign of the PCA to rehabilitate and recover the coconut industry which was among the most seriously affected sectors due to Yolanda.(JAM CASTANEDA/PR)