PHIL INT'L TRADE CENTER PLEDGES MEDICINES, EQUIPMENT FOR NEGROS OCC.
MANILA, February 22, 2005 (STAR) THE SOUTHERN BEAT By Rolly Espina - It’s a Christmas gift in February, not a Valentine’s Day gift.Philippine International Trade Center (PITC) chair Obet Pagdanganan promised Negros Occidental Gov. Joseph Marañon some P50-million worth of medicines and medical equipment for the province’s local government units. This will, at least, mean 50 percent cheaper drugs and medical equipment, which will help generate major savings for the provincial government and local government units.
Gov. Marañon said he will submit to the PITC a list of items needed by government hospitals in the province. Pagdanganan’s pledge will also help remove delays in the purchase of medicines and medical equipment and assures provincial authorities quality low cost medicine and supplies.
Prosthesis machine
The Rotary Club of Bacolod Central, headed by president Roseo Depra, received a pleasant surprise yesterday – the Rotary Centennial Artificial Limb center from rotarian Veakatesan Chowdhury of the Rotary Club of Coimbatore East (Rotary International District 3200) of India.
Actually, this will be formally turned over to the Philippine General Hospital in Manila on Feb. 25 at 8 p.m.
Chowdhury, who arrived here Sunday, was given a tour of Negros Occidental, including the Nambucal Resort. Unfortunately, he slipped on the First Fall, and suffered a long gash in the leg. But he proceeded with the rest of his official schedule.
Saturday night, Chowdhury inked a sisterhood agreement with Bacolod Central. Actually, the Bacolod Central is the second club in the Philippines the Coimbatore East of India had signed up for sisterhood. The first was the Rotary Club of Makati West.
Depra said the artificial limb center may be endorsed by the Rotary club to the Negros Occidental provincial hospital in Silay City.
The center will churn out lightweight artificial limbs, which India is famous for. I had personally seen several of these fitted on Filipinos who had lost their limbs. Some of the recipients, including one from Fabrica, Sagay City, have learned not only to run but also to jump using the artificial limbs.
These cheap but highly flexible prosthesis may prove a boon to disabled persons in the province and the Western Visayas region if installed at the Dr. Jose Locsin Memorial provincial hospital.
That’s one gift from India worth applauding.
I was surprised yesterday when, while about to meet my sister Yolanda Espina-Clavora based in San Diego at the airport, I stumbled into a big group of medical professionals belonging to the Florida Medical Mission getting off from the Philippine Airlines flight from Manila.
That group is just part of the steady stream of medical missions from abroad arriving in the province to reach out to indigent patients in Negros Occidental.
Biotechnology assures food security
The shift to biotechnological agricultural products is a big boost to the country’s long-term food security campaign. This was the claim of Dr. Baguio Focat Peczon, head of the Biotechnology Coalition of the Philippines, during a media forum held at the Iloilo Grand Hotel recently.
According to Pecson, food security can be assured, especially the supply of rice, the country’s prime staple.
The group is pushing for the responsible use of biotechnology to ward off possible food shortage in the Philippines within the next three decades.
Biotechnology is a modern technique in agriculture that use microorganisms, parts and products of plants and animals to make or improve materials such as food, medicines, and chemicals.
Peczon explained that the new technology can reduce costly importations of food products and pesticides used in agricultural production.
The use of living organisms to perform a desirable function or to manufacture a product in a predictable and controllable way involves the transfer of genetic materials from one organism to another in order to transmit the desired trait.
BCP is a broad-based multi-sectoral coalition of advocates of safe and responsible use and advancement of modern biotechnology in the Philippines.
The Catholic Bishops Conference of Philippines has made a stand against biotechnology, especially in food, which it said may pose possible health hazards.
Still, despite the CBCP position, the Philippines now ranks 14th in the list of countries producing biotech products.
According to Dr. Saturnina Halos, the Department of Agriculture-Biotechnology Advisory Unit does risk assessments on biotechnology and genetically modified plant and products before they are allowed to be commercialized. This strict regulatory system is a big factor in attaining our level of accomplishment and international recognition in the area of biotechnology.
Some countries which use biotechnology include the United States, Canada, Argentina, Spain, Germany, Columbia, Australia, Romania, Uruguay, Mexico, India, Paraguay, and South Africa as well as Brazil and China.
Perimeter ordinance woes
Implementation of the Perimeter ordinance of Iloilo City started off with a lot of problems that challenged the patience of Mayor Jerry Trenas. On the first day of its implementation, there were a lot of grumblings by commuters and several transport organizations.
Mayor Trenas, however, assured the public that the hitches will ultimately be solved as he visited transport terminals around Iloilo City.
Vegetable vendors and food producers in various terminals protested against the difficulties they encountered in having their produce dumped in terminals located at the city’s periphery.
Vendors at the Aleosan terminal in Mandurias, for one, threatened to dump their produce in the streets.
The most vocal of these groups was the Pumiluyo Kontra PBO (Citizens against the PBO) who claimed that the ordinance merely advances the interests of a few private operators of terminals.
They pointed out that there is a need to repeal the ordinance as it is just an additional burden to students, parents, businessmen and employers.
The PBO was enacted to ban or control the issuance of franchises for city vehicles and regulate the entry of vehicles from Laganes, Pavia, Sta. Barbara and San Miguel to ease the traffic congestion in Iloilo City.
Armed with a court order to implement the PBO, Trenas finds out that anything new encounters resistance and can even swell in the coming days. Initial woes disappears though as soon as people realize the good side of an ordinance.
PNP tracks down ‘wire robbers’
The police claimed to have broken up a robbery gang involved in stealing cable copper wires belonging to various telecommunication companies in Negros Occidental with the arrest of three suspects in Victorias City.
A police team, led by SPO2 Eduardo Jamadre, arrested Jose Balladares, Marcelito Combalester and Jimmy Espinar in an entrapment operation.
Superintendent Modesto Samson said police recovered from Balladares and Espinar about 60 kilos of copper wire strands.
These were reportedly taken by the suspects from hanging cable wires of PLDT, Islacom, Globelines and NAPOCOR.
Police immediately filed charges against the three suspects before the Victorias City Prosecutor’s Office.
Balladares, incidentally, has a pending criminal complaint before the Escalante City Prosecutor’s Office.
There has been a noted increase in the activities of wire thieves in Bacolod City. At one time, a long strand of telephone lines of PLDT along Capital Heights was taken by thieves.
Balladares said the suspects buried their stolen items near the Victorias Milling Company Sugar mill to avoid detection.
The three were brought to the Escalante City police for further investigation in connection with several similar incidents in the city.
Reported by: Sol Jose Vanzi
© Copyright, 2005
by PHILIPPINE HEADLINE NEWS ONLINE
All rights reserved