DOST-XI announces scholarships for junior college students

 DAVAO CITY, July 25 – Here’s another chance to become a Department of Science and Technology (DOST) scholar.  DOST is offering scholarships for junior college students.

 The scholarship is open to 3rd year college students who are pursuing S&T fields of study in basic sciences, engineering and other applied sciences and science teaching.

There are two (2) scholarship programs being offered: one is RA 7687, otherwise known as the S&T Scholarship Act of 1994, which is awarded to talented and deserving students coming from poor families.

The other scholarship program, called DOST-SEI Merit Scholarship is granted to deserving students regardless of the family’s socio-economic status.

To qualify for the scholarship programs, a student must possess the following qualifications:

1. Natural-born Filipino citizen;

2. Currently enrolled in any State Colleges and Universities and CHED Center of Excellence/ Development under any of the identified priority S&T fields of study;

3. Regular THIRD YEAR college student during the Academic Year 2012-2013;

4. have a General Weighted Average (GWA) of 83% or higher and NO FAILING GRADE during 1st Year and 2nd Year;

5. Not a recipient of any other government or private scholarship except supplementary scholarship which is administered by the university;

6. No pending application as immigrant in any foreign country; and

7. Resident of the municipality in the last four (4) years.

 Qualified applicants will be awarded tuition fees (not to exceed P6,000.00/semester), book and uniform allowances, monthly stipend and insurance.

 Deadline of application is on August 24, 2012 while the examination date is on September 22, 2012.

Application forms can be downloaded online thru www.sei.dost.gov.ph and www.science-scholarships.ph or applicants can visit DOST-XI Regional Office at corners Dumanlas-Friendship Roads, Bajada, Davao City.

Interested and qualified students outside Davao City can go to Provincial Science and Technology Centers in Davao del Sur, Compostela Valley Province, Davao Oriental, and Davao del Norte. 

Applicants may also contact Ramel L. Salon or Rexor Glenn C. Singco at tel. no. (082) 2215428. (DOST-XI)

YMCA gears up for World Challenge 2012

We created basketball.

October 13, 2012 will mark the day when Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) Davao chapter, along with other local chapters across the globe, will live up to this theme in an attempt to set a Guinness Book of World Record for the most people who shot basketballs in one day.

YMCA’s World Challenge 2012 is geared not only at setting the world record but about maximizing collective potential particularly of the organization’s members from around the globe. It is the association’s  goal as well to raise awareness and visibility of YMCA around the globe.

More than just a song by the Village People, a known music icon of the 70’s, YMCA is a worldwide organization of millions of members from 125 national federations. It is the organization’s mission to put Christian principles into practice through physical, mental and spiritual wellness.

YMCA set sail to the Philippine shores by way of the American invasion in the early 1900s. Years later, YMCA slowly grew into a national movement of 24 active local chapters and thousands of members ranging from retired-but-never-tired civil servants down to the younger generations of students coming from different schools.

It was in this organization where Dr. James Naismith, a PE instructor at the International YMCA Training School (now Springfield College) in Massachusetts, invented basketball. History was, thus, created.

And this history will be re-stamped and recreated as YMCA embarks on a worldwide effort of making the people know about the Movement.

On October 13, 2012,  YMCA members around the world will simultaneously hold events, with basketball event as the highlight. YMCA Davao Chapter will hold an event dubbed as Dula 2012, a Larong Lahi-themed activity.

Davao YMCA is still currently on its preparation phase and is set to release details in the coming weeks. YMCA of Davao President Atty. Antonio B. Partoza, backed up by his co-Directors, Gen. Sec. Sylvia L. Piedad and a core group of youth volunteers, eyes to make a mark in Davao City and to revive the once-glorious days of the local association. (pr)

Photo-essay contest on “Matters of the Heart” set in Davao City

DAVAO CITY, July 25 (PIA) – The Handicap International-Philippines is urging college students in the city to join in a photo-essay contest dubbed as “Matters of the Heart,” a preliminary endeavor for the observance of World Heart Day on September 29.

This activity aims to raise awareness on cardiovascular disease (CVD) by telling the stories of persons with diabetes, hypertension and persons with disability due to CVD complications like stroke, amputation or visual impairment.

The stories of these people must speak of how HI CVD Project and the Davao City’s CVD Program have changed their lives for the better, said Erolle Linus T. Miranda, CVD Project communication officer of HI-Philippines program.

Miranda said in a press statement that guidelines and mechanics of the photo-essary competition can be downloaded from www.handicapinternational.ph.

He added that closing of applications is on August 3, 2012 (Friday).

Interested college students can inquire for more details through email address: diabetes_communication@handicapinternational.ph, or contact Miranda through telephone numbers 2217857 and mobile numbers  0933-5698143. 

HI-Philippines is implementing the CVD Project in partnership with the City Government and the City Health Office, Department of Health-Davao Region and Southern Philippines Medical Center.

Miranda stated that the CVD Project aims to empower relevant stakeholders through capacity building to implement integrated cardiovascular disease risk management (diabetes and hypertension as entry-points) and to coordinate their actions in order to increase access to health services.

HI is an independent international aid organization working in situations of poverty and exclusion, conflict and disaster, he said. (PIA-11/Carina L. Cayon)

Culture of cooperation strong in Davao del Norte

TAGUM CITY - The culture of cooperation in government, which President Benigno S. Aquino III alluded to in his 3rd State of the Nation Address as the “Convergence” of agencies, is very much alive in the province.

Governor Rodolfo P. del Rosario, who just arrived after attending the president's SONA, said the Province of Davao del Norte has utterly aligned its programs with the administration’s thrust of engaging the age-old Filipino spirit of communal unity called ‘Bayanihan’, to ensure government services reach far-flung barangays.

“Ginagawa na natin yan” (We are doing that) the governor said, referring  to the Convergence for Peace and Development Program that the province has launched last year, with the various line offices of Capitol rolling out community social and medical services to remote barangays, with the help of the armed forces, the police, and the private sector.

During the development program DavNor Karon at the PIO Studio, which was aired live on Tuesday over radio stations in Tagum City, del Rosario expressed his satisfaction on the great turn out of people eager to avail of the services.

He said most of them were in awe of the abundance of basic services that were never before brought at their own doorsteps.

“We want to show to the people in the far-flung barangays that the provincial government . . . is there to serve them,” he said. 

Now on its 16th leg this year, the convergence initiative, which holds outreaches every Friday has already benefitted close to 20,000 indigents in depressed villages.(Noel Baguio-PGO Info DavNor)

SSS reaches P1-B OFW collection in five months

The Social Security System (SSS) collected a total of P1.07 billion in contributions of overseas Filipino workers during the first five months of this year, up by 13 percent from its P944.75 million collection for the same period in 2011.

SSS President and Chief Executive Officer Emilio de Quiros, Jr. noted that key to the agency’s coverage and collection drive in the OFW sector is providing overseas-based members easy access to their membership records and SSS services despite being employed abroad.

"Recent SSS initiatives such as enhancing our range of website services, opening a 16-hour SSS call center, uploading instructional YouTube videos and starting an official SSS Facebook page to address member concerns were all created with OFWs in mind," he said.

Members can check their contributions, loans and benefits at the SSS website (www.sss.gov.ph) or via the SSS call center (920-6446 to 55). They can also view SSS videos or contact SSS by looking up "Philippine Social Security System" at Facebook and YouTube.

The SSS also bared the list of winners under its Member-Get-Member (MGM) promo, which serves as its banner program this year for promoting active SSS membership of OFWs. The OFW sector is among the most vulnerable labor groups in terms of social security protection as OFWs are often not covered by the social security institutions of their host countries.

The state-run institution has a total of 45 winners from its monthly MGM raffle draws since January 2012. The winners will receive a cash prize of P10,000 each, which they can claim at the SSS main office in Quezon City or through their designated bank account.

De Quiros said nine MGM raffle winners are drawn every month for January to June 2012. The latest batch of winners include Aileen Barbosa and Divina Pagaduan, who are both from Hong Kong; and Vitaliana Hara Hernando from Singapore.

MGM winners from the Middle East were Auricel Tolentino and Pensees Dawny Figueroa from Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates; and Felipa Sanchez from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

"We currently have four repeat winners who have shown impressive initiative in encouraging their fellow OFWs to become active SSS members. Two of them, Ms. Barbosa and Mr. Figueroa, won thrice so far because of their dozens of successful referrals," de Quiros said.

Rounding up the list of May winners from Europe and the rest of the world are Demetrio Joven from Milan, Italy; Catalina Dizon and Karen Perpetua Blas, who are both based in London, United Kingdom.

The OFW with the highest number of referred nominees will receive a cash prize of P50,000 and a plaque of appreciation during the MGM grand raffle draw in September 2012. The Grand Prize is a trip back to the Philippines and a vacation package for two in Boracay Island. (pr)

More NPA rebels ready to surrender in DavNor

TAGUM CITY – Six more rebels have signified their intention to the come to the fold of the law after years of waging war against the government.

Governor Rodolfo P. del Rosario revealed during the live development program DavNor Karon that the insurgents are all set to lay down their arms in the province.

“I just got a report today na anim na naman ang gustong magbalik-loob sa ating pamahalaan,” he said at the broadcast program produced at the PIO Studio, which was aired live on Tuesday over radio stations in Tagum City.

He said he will immediately arrange with the Office of the Presidential Assistant on the Peace Process (OPAPP) the facilitation of the livelihood assistance to rebel returnees.

“We will give them the necessary financial and livelihood assistance that they need to start a new life”, he said.

The impending surrender will boost the province's position as having the biggest number of returnees in the Davao region. Of the 190 rebel returnees documented in Region XI, 73 come from the Province of Davao del Norte.

The Governor has attributed this success to the massive peace and development outreach program of the armed forces, which is now being boosted by the on-going extensive implementation of the Davao del Norte Convergence for Peace and Development program.

As Chair of the Regional Peace and Order Council, del Rosario has urged other LGUs in the Davao region to adopt the program in order to encourage the active involvement of the LGUs in the collaborative process to attain the government's goal on peace and security. (Noel Baguio-PGO Info DavNor)

DENR eyes new technology to protect forests

DAVAO CITY July 25 (PIA)-- From drones to hand-held x-ray machines, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources  is looking at new technologies in protecting the nation’s forests.

Newly designated DENR-XI Regional Executive Director Joselin Marcus Fragada said that they are eyeing the introduction of these high-tech equipment in the region.

Foremost among the list is the Walleye imaging system which is capable of seeing into and through solid objects.

Fragada said that the Walleye could be used in examining container vans particularly if the Department is not allowed to open the vans.

Last June 29, P16-million worth of hotlogs coming from Davao laden in container vans were confiscated in Manila’s Pier 16. This led to the relief of  DENR-XU including Regional Executive director Jim Sampulna, Regional Techinical Director Hardinado Patnugot and Forest Resources Conservation Division Chief Claudio Jumao-as.

Fragada said that they are expecting two of these walleyes to be deployed in Davao if these are acquired.

The Walleye portable x-ray imaging technology utilizes scattered x-ray reflections to create images of concealed objects and is a perfect tool for border and maritime inspections particularly in detecting concealed contraband.

Meanwhile another technology the DENR is eyeing would be the use of drones to watch over forests. The drones could fly over remote forests and take pictures or images if they had detected illegal logging activities.

Fragada said that images taken from drones are a lot clearer since they are more nearer to the target as compared to using satellites for imaging.

Meanwhile Eriberto Barriga, Executive Vice President of ICT Davao, an umbrella group of Information Communication Technology industry stakeholders in the city said that there are numerous IT applications which can help the DENR in their mission to stop illegal logging.

Among them is the use of Google Earth technology which can be used for image analysis. In the province of  Laguna, provincial police using Google earth were able to locate illegal logging sites. Logging activities would appear as white spots in Google Earth maps enabling police to pinpoint the exact location of the loggers.

Barriga said that aside Google Earth there are other applications which could help the DENR and there are developers in Davao which can develop various programs and applications.

One such application he recommends is requiring loggers and logging companies to tag RFIDs (Radio Frequency Identification) in young trees. This way the DENR can monitor if the trees were prematurely cut or there was excessive cutting of allowed volume. (PIA 11 /RG Alama)