Christmas Cheers Now on 25th Year - CT

The annual Christmas Cheers begins marking its 25th year this December 16, making it probably the longest running privately-organized Yuletide extravaganza in Bicol region since Mons. Jose "Ping" Molina began the show in 1985 in response to the gloom following a typhoon.

Last week, the organizing committee chaired by DPWH District Engineer Ignacio T. Odiaman finalized the activities and the required budget for the 13-night series of shows at the Virac town plaza. The theme for the `09 Cheers is "Ang Kapaributan sa Pangpang ning Atbong" or roughly translated ‘The Environment on the Brink of Destruction."

The opening ceremony on Dec. 16 will be kicked off by a torch parade featuring ati-atihan dancers, at least six Santa Clauses, the Jollibee mascot and the 2008 Little Ms. Christmas Cheers. Sponsored by the Rotaract Club of Virac, the parade will start at the capitol grounds at 6:30 P.M. and end at Plaza Rizal for the official start of the program featuring a five-minute fireworks display and the ceremonial switch-on of the two giant Christmas trees.

Here’s the rest of the schedule: Dec. 16 (Wednesday) – Hablon Dawani; Dec. 17 (Thursday) – CSC Laboratory High School/Elementary; Dec. 18 (Friday) – Taytay Elementary School/Philippine National Red Cross; Dec. 19 (Saturday) – Virac Pilot Elementary School; Dec. 20 (Sunday) – Buyo/Calatagan/Palt; Dec. 21 (Monday) – Catanduanes National High School; Dec. 22 (Tuesday) – JMAMES and Catanduanes Colleges; Dec. 23 (Wednesday) – Virac Central Elementary School/Antipolo/Igang; Dec. 24 and 25 – Christmas break; Dec. 26 (Saturday) – Musical Extravaganza featuring Music Avenue Band; Dec. 27 (Sunday) – Starkids; Dec. 28 (Monday) – Search for Little Ms. Christmas Cheers 2009; Dec. 29 (Tuesday) – Provincial Government of Catanduanes; and, Dec. 30 (Wednesday) – Congressional District Office.

This year’s edition is sponsored by the Immaculate Conception Cathedral Parish, Congressional District Office, the Provincial Government of Catanduanes, Virac Municipal Government, DPWH Catanduanes Engineering District, Marriage Encounterers, Catanduanes Tribune, Catanduanes Contractors Association, Mountain Care and Hikers Association, Abuab Auto Supply and General Merchandise, First Catanduanes Electric Cooperative, Rotaract Club of Virac, and Catanduanes Tulungan Club.

Source: Catanduanes Tribune - 12 December 2009

RELATED LINKS:

• Churches in Catanduanes - Catanduanes is composed of 11 municipalities, but there are 18 parishes distributed island wide.
• Catandungan Festival 2009 Winners - Winners of this year's Catandungan Festival held at Virac Catanduanes last October 22-24.

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Real Change Is But A Change of Hearts Away

As we watched four typhoons devastate the Philippines in recent weeks we witnessed love and compassion in action among our citizens. It was very heart warming to see people helping people. The thousands of different scenarios that unfolded through the news media, Youtube and other sources, showed the world how we take care of disasters and each other.Without a lot of grumblings. Terrible as the situations were, and yes, we lost a lot of lives in the process, our countrymen almost without exception took things as they came with humble acceptance. We are indeed a nation of a lot of humble people. And life goes on after every disaster. The citizens of the Philippines have weathered all the beatings that nature can bring. We have learned how to submit ourselves to a lot of punishment whether it is by a natural disaster or whether it is man-made.

This is where our story as a nation of humble and submissive citizens turns sour. Our ability to handle unpleasant events and situations with ease has become our Achilles heels. Indeed it makes us wonder if it is total indifference and helplessness that make us or allow us to be submissive even to the perennial abuses and mismanagement of many of our elected officials.

The four typhoons did not dampen the drums beaten by Presidents-and-Vice Presidents-to-be and company. As we speak, the drumbeat is getting louder. Every one of these would-be Presidents or Vice Presidents have got a package and promises to sell to voters. But a lot of questions continue to haunt us. Will any of these candidates bring us the needed leadership, honesty and integrity to pull us out of the political, financial and social quagmires that we have been in all these decades? These quagmires are hundreds of times worse than all the floods of Manila and the northern Philippines put together. I KID YOU NOT!

While these floods devastated lives, homes and crops, they only lasted a few days or weeks. Compare that to the devastation, the constant destruction brought on by your corrupt, inept, dishonest and crooked politicians in many places all around the nation. See, they are widespread and their destructive effects cover the whole of the Philippines everyday! They are in our midst to continue the devastation 24 hours a day 7 days a week! At least typhoons leave, they don’t!

They are like termites deeply entrenched in all the nooks and crannies of our society. They continue to swallow, nibble and eat away at what belongs to the communities. They eat the walls of our nation, the columns of our democracy, the foundation of our economy. And we think we are a free nation! No siree! We have lost our freedom many many years ago!! This is when we as people surrendered our values to these crocodiles in our society. Our freedom to be a nation with a decent economy has long ago flown out of our windows. Our freedom to enjoy a life with relative abundance and comfort has long been taken away by these losers! When we lost our dignity by selling our values and ignoring corruption practices that stare us in our eyes day in and day out, we have lost our freedom! When we lose our dignity we don’t have much else left to lose! Yes, we have some more freedom left. The freedom to be an impoverished nation, the freedom to export our men and women for work because there is nothing left in their country for them, the freedom to be looked down upon and laughed at by our more progressive Asian neighbors, the freedom to be a third world nation forever, the freedom to be at the bottom of the food chain , the freedom to have NO true freedom at all!

And we in the Philippines think that we are a Christian nation. If so, how is it that we are ranked as one of the most corrupt nation in the world? The math does not tie up well. Eighty to eighty five percent Christianity, as claimed, cannot result in a nation being ranked very close to the top of world corruption! Are we missing something here?

Our perception of having these many ‘Christians’ or followers of Christ within our midst is total hogwash. Our definition of a Christian, it seems, is one who goes to church, makes the sign of the cross on Sunday, then goes to work and be corrupt from Monday to Friday. We all know that most of our corrupt officials do go to church on Sundays. We are indeed a nation of churchgoers. But a true Christian is one who is a follower of Jesus Christ. If we have as many churchgoers as we have followers of Christ, then corruption will NOT be what it is in our country! That is a fact! Our erring brothers and sisters in government think that going to church alone will be enough to cover for their sins. There is a seeming comfort zone in their beliefs that attending church alone cleanses them of their rottenness. Forgiveness only comes with true repentance whether you go to church or not. And true repentance comes from deep within our hearts and is accompanied by a permanent transformation or conversion from being an evildoer or a thief to a righteous person. So going to church and asking for forgiveness for our sins and followed by going back to the same old sin during the week is not going to cut it. You remain a thief!

The desired transformation is but a change of hearts away. The change that we so desire for our nation lies in the hands and hearts of you who sit in that office in government, big position or small. The change that we desire lies also in the hands of the citizens who will NOT tolerate corrupt practices of elected officials.

It does not matter how many more elections we have in the Philippines or who gets elected. Until hearts change, you who are corrupt will continue to saddle your country with your greed. Until hearts change, we will remain a nation that is an eternal basket case that no one can hardly be proud of! The unity that we exhibited during the typhoons can be replicated and applied to our challenges in corruption. The choice is indeed very clear!

Joe Joson, USA
24 December 2009

RELATED LINKS:

• "Chicken a la Carte" - Bicol Film on Hunger Draws 12M Hits - This short film shows a forgotten portion of the society. The people who lives on the refuse of men to survive.
• Promoting Good Governance - Bicolanos believe that good governance can help fight poverty, says the 2006 poverty mapping results of the BCDI.

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Mayon Recorded Eruptions

Mayon has had forty-nine eruptions in recorded history. The first recorded major eruption was in 1616, the weakest eruption ceased on October 1, 2006, although a lahar followed on November 30, 2006. A further summit eruption occurred on August 10, 2008. The volcano is weakly erupting now and may be building up to a large eruption.

The most destructive eruption of Mayon occurred on February 1, 1814. Lava flowed but not as much compared to the 1766 eruption. Instead, the volcano was belching dark ash and eventually bombarding the town with tephra that buried the town of Cagsawa—only the bell tower of the town's church remained above the new surface. Trees were burned; rivers were certainly damaged. Proximate areas were also devastated by the eruption with ash accumulating to 9 m (30 ft) in depth. 2,200 Albay locals perished in what is considered to be the most lethal eruption in Mayon's history.

Mayon Volcano's longest uninterrupted eruption occurred on June 23, 1897 which lasted for seven days of raining fire. Lava once again flowed down to civilization. Seven miles eastward, the village of Bacacay was buried 15 m (49 ft) beneath the lava. In Libon 100 people were declared dead—incinerated by steam and falling debris or hot rocks. Other villages like San Roque, Misericordia and Santo Niño became deathtraps. Ash was carried in black clouds as far as 160 km (100 mi) from the catastrophic event. More than 400 people were killed.

Samuel Kneeland, a professor and a geologist had observed the volcanic activity five months before the eruption. Kneeland was amazed with the beauty of Mayon:

At night the scene was truly magnificent and unique. At the date of my visit the volcano had poured out...a stream of lava on the Legaspi side from the very summit. The viscid mass bubbled quietly but grandly, and overran the border of the crater, descending several hundred feet in a glowing wave, like red-hot iron. Gradually, fading as the upper surface cooled, it changed to a thousand sparkling rills among the crevices, and, as it passed beyond the line of complete vision behind the woods near the base, the fires twinkled like stars, or the scintillions of a dying conflagration. More than half of the mountain height was thus illuminated.

No casualties were recorded from the 1984 eruption after more than 73,000 people were evacuated from the danger zones as recommended by PHILVOCS scientists.

Pyroclastic flows killed 77 people, mainly farmers, in Mayon’s fatal eruption of 1993.

Photo Credit: NASA Earth Observatory
Source: Wikipedia

RELATED LINKS:

• Albay to Evacuate 47,000 Around Mayon - Albay Governor Salceda has recommended the immediate evacuation of 47,285 residents.

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Nebres Reelected BCCA President

Rafael Nebres, General Manager of Action-Honda, was reelected President of the Bicol Canada Community Association in an election held last November 22 (Sunday) at the Quiapo Restaurant, No. 2 Principal Road, Scarborough, which was presided by BCCA past president Joseph Redoblado.

Nebres will be serving for another two years, 2010-2011. He announced the BCCA major project which is tne putting-up of a housing project in the Bicol Region in support of the ANCOP-GAWAD KALINGA HOUSING PROGRAM.

Aside from Rodoblado, the other past presidents of the BCCA include journalist Jess Cabrias and businessman Bobby Achacon.

The Bicol Canada Community Association (BCCA) is composed of Bicolanos coming from the provinces of Camarines Sur, Camarines Norte, Albay, Sorsogon, Catanduanes and Masbate who are now residing in Ontario, Canada.

Aside from Nebres, the other officers and members of the Board of Directors of Bicol Canada Community Association are: Ignacio L. Manlangit, Vice-president for Government Relations; Leon Javier Aureus, Jr., Vice-president for Public Relations; and Noli Aquino, Vice-president for Internal Management; Lorna Achacon, Secretary; Arlene Martirez, Assistant-secretary; Jose Gutierrez, Treasurer; and Eusebio Ortega, Assistant-treasurer; Floro Alvarez Dabu, Jr., Auditor; Jess Cabrias and Willie Nabus, Peace officers.

The members of the Board of Directors are Bobby Achacon, Ely Torrenueva, Tony Cecilio, Juliet Casaya, Edison Bantayan, Edgar Recon, Alex Guerina, Nonoy Disuanco, Felix Reyes, and Ely Olayon.

(PRESS RELEASE)
Source: The Philippine Reporter - 17 December 2009

RELATED LINKS:

• Top Officials of Catanduanes Attend Grand Reunion - Two top officials of the province of Catanduanes flew to New York to attend the 16th Anniversary and 7th grand reunion of the Catanduanes International Association.
• New Catandungan Association Will Be Formed says Manlangit - The New Catandungan Association Canada - Ontario (CACO) will be formed according to Ignacio Lopez Manlangit.

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Catanduanes Shifts from Pig to Tilapia - BM

VIRAC, Catanduanes—Instead of pigs that entail expensive food, Catanduanes now plans to raise tilapia to ensure food security in the island province.

The island province, under its Livelihood Vehicle for Job Regeneration Program, used to maintain a hog-breeding station that produced quality stocks for medium-scale and backyard piggery projects. These piggeries were put up by families and individuals who invested in the production of meat, but abandoned several years ago when these local businessmen incurred financial losses due to the high cost of maintenance.

“Later on, we experimented on tilapia-raising using the abandoned hog-raising project. We found it more feasible and effective in job generation and food production. Now, we are bent on pursuing this newfound food-production venture,” provincial agriculturist Herbert Evangelista told the BusinessMirror over the weekend.

Evangelista said the province’s tilapia-production project enjoys the support of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) that provided the provincial government last week with a P500,000 fund for the establishment of a hatchery in the province.

The amount, which was turned over by Dennis del Socorro, BFAR regional director for Bicol, to Gov. Joseph Cua would be used for the acquisition of tilapia seed stock, maintenance and other requirements for the putting up of the hatchery, Evangelista said.

The fund grant, which according to del Socorro is part of the BFAR’s food-sufficiency and antipoverty programs designed for the Bicol fisherfolk communities, is covered by a memorandum of agreement that provides for a P250,000 counterpart of the province to shoulder labor, electricity, supplies and tilapia feeds.

“We are undertaking this kind of program for the development of the region’s mariculture zones where tilapia and other freshwater fish production is being given attention not only for food security, but also as an alternative source of income for fisherfolk,” the BFAR regional chief said.

Del Socorro said the successful implementation of the project shall make the island of Catanduanes self-sufficient in tilapia and liberate itself from its dependence on supplies coming from the Bicol mainland.

The tilapia hatchery, which the provincial government is set to establish at a vast area within its former hog-breeding facility in barangay Simamla here, would serve later as a source of fingerlings that would be made available to local mariculture project operators as well as backyard raisers, Evangelista said.

It will initially make use of the 12 abandoned pig pens as tilapia ponds. Each pen will be seeded with 500 fingerlings every month to address the expected demand, he said.

“The project will later on be expanded to include grow-out ponds. The need for commercial feeds would be partly addressed by an effort to utilize other materials through feed conversion, a new technology being adopted by BFAR,” Evangelista said. The hatchery complex would also be planted to abaca and fruit trees and accommodate other food animals such as goats, sheep and carabaos, he added.

“As a province prone to calamities like typhoons, floods and landslides, we are impressed with the attention being accorded us by the BFAR and other government agencies as well as non-government organizations (NGOs),” Cua said.

The province had received grants from the national government for improved medical services, including proper accommodations of members by the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) in its Eastern Bicol Medical Center.

Earlier, the governor said, the Fiber Industry Development Authority provided the province modern abaca-stripping machines that enhance production of abaca fiber, the main local industry that has made the province the No. 1 abaca producer and exporter in the country.

The Agencia Española de Cooperation Ingternational para Desarollo and the United Nations Fund for Population Activities were among the international NGOs that have contributed significantly to the island’s desire to remain on its feet despite the repeated disasters rendered by recent typhoons, he said.

Written by Danny O. Calleja / Correspondent
Sunday, 20 December 2009 17:23
Source: Business Mirror

RELATED LINKS:

• PAFC Catanduanes Wins Nat’l Gawad Saka Award - The Provincial Agricultural and Fishery Council (PAFC) of Catanduanes has been adjudged as this year’s National Gawad Saka Outstanding PAFC, entitling it to receive a project grant of P250,000.00.>
• Tourism: The Catandungan Way - At this time of year would be a good start to review our tourism goals of promoting Catanduanes as an alternative destination.
• An Island Without Salt - One of the pressing concern of our province is the issue of food security.

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P48-M Codon RORO Port Project Begins Next Month

The Department of Transportation and Communication is set to award the contract for the Codon Port Development Project costing some P48-million to an Albay-based contractor in preparation for the projected start date of January 2010.

DOTC Assistant Secretary Cesar V. Sarmiento, who has been keeping a close eye on the vital project, informed the Tribune that the DOTC Bids and Awards Committee was supposed to approve the resolution of award to Hi-Tone Construction and Development Corporation last Dec. 4, 2009.

Hi-Tone won the Nov. 6 bidding with a bid of P48,022,427.76 for the project, which would consist of the widening of the existing 80-meter rock causeway and its extension by 180 meters. The construction firm is a subsidiary of the Sunwest Group of Companies controlled by Elizalde Co, whose Sunwest Water & Electricity Co. is building three mini-hydroelectric power plants in San Miguel and Caramoran towns.

The same company also won the bidding for the Caramoan Port Development Project funded by DOTC in Camarines Sur. The Caramoan project involves the construction of a 70-meter rock causeway that once completed would become San Vicente Port, which will be linked by roll-on-roll-off ships to Codon on the other side of the Lagonoy Gulf. The same project costing P47,997,624.98 was won by Hi-Tone during the bidding held on the same day as the Codon project.

Still awaiting the release of funds is the construction of the RORO facility itself at Codon, which an official of the Department of Public Works and Highways will cost no less than P50 million.

The San Vicente-Codon RORO link has been one of the priority projects pushed by Caramoan-born Bishop Manolo delos Santos of the Diocese of Virac, aside from the upgrading of the existing Lagonoy-Presentacion-Garchitorena-Caramoan-Guijalo national road and the completion of the opening and construction of Presentacion-Caramoan coastal road.

Once the RORO link is completed and the coastal road link to the national highway in Camarines Sur, ferry service between San Vicente and Codon will reduce travel time to Manila by at least two hours and open a potentially lucrative route to Catanduanes for tourists who will flock to the Caramoan isles.

Source: Catanduanes Tribune - 19 December 2009

RELATED LINKS:

• P25M for the Construction of the Codon Port - A reliable source has confirmed that the national government has approved the release of P25 million for the construction of the Codon port and P50 million for the San Vicente port in Caramoan, Camarines Sur.
• Viga-Pandan Circumferential Road Project Awaits NEDA Okay - Though still years away from implementation, the second phase of the improvement of the Catanduanes Cirfumferential Road project has nonetheless moved forward...

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In With the New, Out with the Old? - CT

The New Year is supposed to bring in the new and kick out the old. However, judging from the official list of candidates for the 2010 local elections, the electorate probably will have to make do with recycled leaders.

Former Governor Leandro Verceles Jr. is back to try to win a new stint in congress, against indefatigable loser Araceli Wong, former Vice Governor and now DOTC Assec. Cesar Sarmiento, and the largely unknown but reportedly loaded Manolo Sanchez.

Congressman Joseph Santiago tries to extend a nine-year stay in Congress to another nine-year stint in 2013, by using the governorship as a launch pad but he breaks up a friendship with Governor Joseph Cua in the process. Talk has it that the solon dreams of passing on the torch to his son, who is still in high school.

Of course, there are new faces in the Sangguniang Panlalawigan slates, councilors who have outgrown their towns, retirees out to break new ground, a son of Senator Kit Tatad trying his hand at local politics, and former board members trying to regain lost glory.

At least there is hope in the municipal races, except in Virac (highly qualified but partyless Idoy Tablizo is not given much of a chance in the battle between elephants named Alberto and Zafe). In the other 10 towns, we have a new crop of dreamers and plain businessmen aching for more power than their money can bring.

But, taking it all in, the New Year is not bound to bring great changes in this lonely island. The same kind of people will reign although a few will rise up from the stink and, with the help of effective leadership, come up smelling like roses . (Those who protest should prove it by winning and then by trying their best not to steal from the public coffers to reimburse themselves for the votes they bought.) The new board members and councilors will promptly start studying to be contractors. The same kind of stagnant governance will prevail. And we will all go back to sighing, "Ano nang pagtios ini…"

Source: 12 December 2009, Editorial, Catanduanes Tribune

RELATED LINKS:

• Ako Bicol Group Seeks Catanduanes Votes - The partylist group Ako Bicol launched its bid to corner a sizeable share of the partylist votes in the province of Catanduanes in the coming 2010 national and local elections.
• Top Officials of Catanduanes Attend Grand Reunion - Two top officials of the province of Catanduanes flew to New York to attend the 16th Anniversary and 7th grand reunion of the Catanduanes International Association (CIA).
• A Trek to Remember IV - K.I.D.S. Foundation - K.I.D.S will conduct a medical mission to two (2) clustered coastal barangays of Baras Catanduanes: Ginitligan, Benticayan, Agban, JMA, Abihao, Guinsaanan, Puraran and San Miguel. Serving more or less, 2,000 children ages from 0-17.

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Albay to Evacuate 47,000 Around Mayon

LEGAZPI CITY, Albay, Philippines— (UPDATE 3) Albay Governor Salceda has recommended the immediate evacuation of 47,285 residents (9,946 families) from 45 villages around Mayon Volcano on Tuesday morning after Mayon's alert level was raised from 2 to 3 Monday night.

The preemptive evacuation will cover Tabaco City, and the towns of Malilipot, Daraga, Camalig, Guinobatan and Ligao, Office of Civil Defense-5 director Raffy Alejandro said in a phone interview.

The figure comes from a total of 20 villages composed of 2,728 families or 12,803 people within the six-kilometer permanent danger zone, said Cristina Ador, statistician of the Albay Public Safety and Emergency Management Office.

By Rey M. Nasol
Source: Inquirer Southern Luzon
First Posted 00:57:00 12/15/2009

RELATED LINKS:

• Ako Bicol Group Seeks Catanduanes Votes - The partylist group Ako Bicol launched its bid to corner a sizeable share of the partylist votes in the province of Catanduanes in the coming 2010 national and local elections.

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Ako Bicol Group Seeks Catanduanes Votes - CT

The partylist group Ako Bicol launched its bid to corner a sizeable share of the partylist votes in the province of Catanduanes in the coming 2010 national and local elections.

Last Saturday, the group’s deputy secretary general for media affairs, Albay broadcaster Joshua Martinez Jr., met with members of the local media to explain the party’s mission, vision and objectives in joining the polls. Also present were officials of the Sunwest Group of Companies, whose chief executive officer Elizaldy Co is widely held as Ako Bicol prime mover and expected to be one of the nominees as partylist representative should it win the required number of votes.

Martinez said his group needs to win at least 900,000 votes out of the 3 million votes in Bicol, to be added to the votes of Bicolanos elsewhere in the country, to garner three seats in the House of Representatives. The problem, he said, is that Bicolano voters have yet to realize the importance of the partylist system, noting that in the 2007 elections, only 30 percent voted in partylist groups. Records show that in the same elections in Catanduanes, only 37 percent, or 41,286, of the voter turnout filled in the blank for the partylist group. The race here was topped by Buhay Hayaang Yumabong of religious leader Mike Velarde and Bayan Muna.

On the question of its nominees, Martines disclosed that the Ako Bicol Movement’s executive council chaired by Zaldy Co will decide the matter before the March 2010 deadline set by the Commission on Elections. He added that while Co may indeed be one of the nominees as House representative, the businessman is not keen on joining Congress as he only wants to expand his business empire to the rest of Bicol in order to generate employment and livelihood opportunities.

The movement, headed by Atty. Rodel Batocabe as president, was founded by ordinary people, businessmen and professionals who played a role in helping Albay get back on its feet after the devastation of typhoon Reming in 2006. The movement’s many activities, from calamity relief projects to medical missions, feeding programs and scholarships, has elicited support from NGOs and other groups and soon expanded its presence across the region.

"If successful in 2010, the Ako Bicol partylist representatives would be able to assist the movement in financing its humanitarian activities," Martinez declared. Aside from funding programs in health, education and infrastructure development, the partylist solons would add to the Bicolano bloc in Congress that represents all sectors of the region.

Ako Bicol was accredited as a regional political party last July 24, 2009 and has already filed its manifestation to participate in the 2010 partylist polls. Pressed by the Tribune, Martinez refused to name who represents Catanduanes in the Ako Bicol executive council.

Source: Catanduanes Tribune - 12 December 2009

RELATED LINKS:

• PCARRD Project to Develop Model for Abaca Supply Chain - Researchers from the Bicol University Research and Development Center are aiming o develop a business support model of coordination among chain actors in the abaca supply chain.
• Bicol Poised to Draft Charter, Sees Autonomy as Way Out of Poverty - In the hopes of licking poverty and increasing investments, the Bicol region is in the process of drafting a charter that will turn all of Region 5 into another autonomous region.
• Promoting Good Governance - Bicolanos believe that good governance can help fight poverty, says the 2006 poverty mapping results of the BCDI.

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PCARRD Project to Develop Model for Abaca Supply Chain - CT

Researchers from the Bicol University Research and Development Center are aiming o develop a business support model of coordination among chain actors in the abaca supply chain.

The endeavor, funded by the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resources Research and Development (PCARRD), is the second phase of the project dubbed "Supply Chain Improvement for the Abaca Industry in the Bicol Region" that originally covered Catanduanes, Albay, and Camarines Sur.

The first phase – Evaluation Research – was completed in 2008 and analyzed the supply chain of abaca fiber, pulp, cordage, and yarn products from abaca, resulting in a supply chain map showing the flow of products, information and payment and determining the efficiency, flexibility and overall responsiveness of a particular supply chain.

Director Arnulfo Mascariñas of the BU R&D Center, said the second phase, which will have Catanduanes as pilot area, targets the sustained application of product grades and standards to improve the efficiency of the abaca supply chain.

Last week, the research team met with supply chain actors to explain the findings of the phase one study and to gather issues and concerns that could affect the implementation of the pilot study.

Source: Catanduanes Tribune - 12 December 2009

RELATED LINKS:

• Short Supply of Nuts Threatens Pili Exports - A scarcity of pili nuts threatens a rapidly growing export industry.
• International Year of Natural Fibres, 2009 - UN General Assembly resolution declaring 2009 as the Year of Natural Fibers.
• Kudos to CSC - Catanduanes State Colleges took the challenge of spearheading the research and development of abaca.

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Opinion: A Brief Relief

The oil price freeze of the GMA Administration via EO 839 gave some relief to the transport sector and car owners devastated by typhoons and floods particularly in Luzon.

With a strong clamor from the business sector including her economic adviser from Albay for its termination, that initiative ended just like that a brief relief from the continuing increase of oil prices. That EO could have defined the truth behind oil pricing in the country which seems to be operating as a cartel.

The period under price cap could have been used to really determine the true components and costs within the pump price of oil and attain transparency in pricing. While the price of crude oil in the world market is dictated by market conditions and the unnumbered law of supply and demand (Could we hope the soon-to-be Congressman Pacman would initiate an amendment to this law?), the pump price of gasoline can be made more transparent.

The costs that the government may have a say on the operations of these oil companies include foreign currency exchange costs, refining and distribution costs, marketing costs, taxes and duties and profit margin. Unfortunately, nothing was done so we’re back to zero, with the transport sector rallying at the corporate offices of these big oil companies and threatening nationwide transport strikes. Obviously, the oil price cap is anti-market and not good for the economy in the long run, but doing something within the period of oil price cap is the best for the transport sector and motorists, but not necessary to those at the Department of Energy.

Source: Bird's Eye View - Catanduanes Tribune - 06 December 2009

RELATED LINKS:

• Viga-Pandan Circumferential Road Project Awaits NEDA Okay - Though still years away from implementation, the second phase of the improvement of the Catanduanes Cirfumferential Road project has nonetheless moved forward.
• The Road Going to North - Although there are some visible damages along the stretch of the new circumferential road caused by flooding and landslide, but the view is still, simply awesome.
• Respite from Typhoons a Time for PDCC to Plan and Prepare - The province of Catanduanes has yet to be hit by a big storm this year, with "Lupit" detouring to the north and the previous two storms just slipping by, leaving only minor flooding and easily removed landslides.

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Short Supply of Nuts Threatens Pili Exports - Malaya

NAGA CITY – A scarcity of pili nuts threatens a rapidly growing export industry.

A pili tree.

"The scant supply is due to the decreasing number of pili trees," said Lydia Lomibao who, together with her husband Joseph, turned a backyard business with an initial capital of P500 in 1997 into a P10 million business today.

The Lomibaos own and manage J. Emmanuel Pastries and source their nuts from the 105-hectare Hacienda de Naga. But they are worried enough to plant seven hectares of their own land to pili trees.

"Raw material supply is dwindling because farmers have little knowledge of the value and potential of pili-based products," she told Malaya Business Insight. "I am confident, however, that we can still manage the volume of raw materials for our present needs, which is about 120 kilos of raw nuts a day."

Lomibao said there are only two companies, one being J. Emmanuel Pastries, currently exporting pili products. J. Emmanuel Pastries sells its products to the United States, Japan, China, Canada and Guam.

Its product line includes roasted pili nut and pili coated with honey or garlic. Aggressive marketing in malls has expanded its three outlets to 30 in Southern Luzon, Cebu and Metro Manila, boosting sales by 30 percent and accounting for half of gross sales. Sales in airport and hotel outlets account for 10 percent.

"It took us one year before getting our first order in 2008 from the US, only to suffer during the recession there. Orders stopped last September and were renewed only this March," she said.

"Pili has been there all the time, but it’s only now that we are seeing substantial exports," said Lomibao. "When we started we had zero technology, until we turned to the SET-UP program of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) to upgrade our equipment and bring our processes up to standard."

SET-UP stands for Small Enterprise Technology Upgrading Program that encourages and assists small and medium enterprises to adopt technology innovations and improve their operations and boost productivity and competitiveness.

The program enables small firms to address technical problems through technology transfer and interventions and improve productivity through better product quality, human resources development, cost minimization and waste management.

Six priority areas are covered by SET-UP: food processing; furniture; gifts, decors and handicrafts; marine and aquatic resources; horticulture (cut flowers, fruits and high-value crops); and metals and engineering.

"They availed of P310,000 in SET-UP loans for processing and packaging equipment, with free training on good manufacturing practices, including cleaner production technology," said engineer Ernesto Reyes Jr., a senior science specialist at the DOST Camarines Sur office.

The "clean" technology was the gasifier combuster designed by the DOST Industrial Technology Development Institute. The combuster, instead of using rice hull it was designed for, burns and converts pili shells and stela (skin) into an LPG-like gas which heats the oven used to cook pili pastries.

"Because of the combuster, they have zero waste in processing," Reyes said, adding that the loan availed in 2004 was fully paid by 2007.

The pili tree is abundant and wild in southern Luzon, particularly in Bicol, and in parts of the Visayas and Mindanao. A 300 hectare farm in Negros Occidental, for example, is planted to 60,000 pili trees.

The trees, which are difficult to propagate, are collected from natural stands. They are harvested in Albay (3,750 hectares), Camarines Norte (150 hectares), Camarines Sur (600 hectares), Catanduanes (150 hectares) and Sorsogon (350 hectares).

While pili is indigenous to Southeast Asia, the Philippines has a monopoly in the world market because it is the only one which processes the nut commercially. In other countries, the tree is an ornamental.

This year, the Department of Agriculture (DA) budgeted P150 million for marketing, research and development and the replanting of seven pili varieties in Bicol, which accounts for 80 percent of national production. A Pili Research and Training Center is based in Guinobatan, Albay.

The DA expects the number pili trees to increase three-fold when over 600,000 seedlings distributed since 2000 for the establishment of pili orchards bear fruit. Areas planted for pili rose 29.3 percent to 7,046.5 hectares in July 2006 from 5,449 hectares in July 2000.

Pili provides income to some 13,435 farmers who own at least 10 trees as well as laborers hired as harvesters. The nut does not require costly storage treatment and, when properly dried, can be stored for one year under ordinary room conditions.

By Paul M. Icamina
Source: Business Insight, Malaya - 01 December 2009

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