DavSur guv imposes energy saving measures

By Carina L. Cayon

DAVAO CITY, Mar. 13 (PIA) – Governor Douglas Cagas of Davao del Sur has recently issued an order for the provincial government offices to comply with his energy saving measures, in a bid to help address the global energy crisis.

The Governor has released Memorandum Order 197-2012 on March 5, enjoining all the department and division heads, consultants and project managers and coordinators to adopt energy utilization and conservation measures.

Provincial information officer Nilda Aninon said that the first directive pertains to all official travels of officers and employees which should be programmed in advance.

She said the Order specifies that only urgent and/or necessary travels will be allowed, and that official travels using public utility vehicles are encouraged.

In cases that government vehicles are utilized during official travels, personal itineraries should be excluded, Aninon told the Philippine Information Agency.

Aninon said that the governor has also ordered each office not to exceed the allocation of fuel and water as provided in the regular budget, considering that augmentations of budget will not be allowed anymore on cases resulting to overdraft of appropriations.

Personnel of each office should observe time schedules from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm for the usage of air condition units, equipment and other appliances, she stated.

She added that regular monitoring would be implemented for strict enforcement and compliance.

The Order also emphasizes that the use of computers should only be intended for official purposes only, and that playing computer games is strictly prohibited.

Overtime services will not anymore be allowed unless otherwise borne out of extreme necessity and in the exigency of the services, the Order states.

Subsequent to this mandate, the Governor has revoked and cancelled effective immediately all requests for overtime services which he previously approved.

The Order, Aninon said, exempts the Provincial Health Office and Provincial Engineer’s Office specifically on the programming of official travels, strict compliance to budget allocation of fuel and water, and usage of air conditioning units and other facilities.

Aside from addressing energy crisis, Aninon said that the governor’s directive also aims at minimizing adverse effects on the priority programs of the provincial government of Davao del Sur. (PIA-11/Carina L. Cayon)