Los Baños Times correspondent Mary Joie C. Cruz sits down with Los Baños Mayor Caesar Perez for the LBTimes Coffee Break sessions.
LBTimes Coffee Break with Mayor Caesar Perez from the los baños times on Vimeo.
by Dianne B. Ubaldo
[NEWS FEATURE] “Makikipagsabayan na tayo sa supermarkets,” this was the statement of Los Baños Mayor Caesar Perez during the inspection of Brgy. Baybayin Public Market on July 21, 2013. Mayor Perez explained that the public market inspection aims to ensure that pathways are not overcrowded with vendors putting premium to the convenience of the customers as well as to ensure fair pricing of goods and the use of accurate and calibrated weighing scales.
Fish vendor Rosanna Baylon already weighed Tilapia on the calibrated weighing scale. Baylon also follows the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) prevailing price.
It is also during the regular public market visits that Task Force Kalinisan (TFK) checks market stalls to ensure that the vendors are complying with the regulations on “No Plastic Policy”, “No Smoking”, and “Tapat Mo, Linis Mo“.
“Sang-ayon ako sa polisiya ng munisipyo kasi mas magandang magdala na lang ng sariling lagayan para mabawasan ang mga plastik na nagdudulot lang ng maraming basura na nagbabara sa mga kanal tuwing may baha,” Renel Lapiz said. On the other hand, Tonio Lanceta explained that “mahirap din naman kung sa papel lang ibabalot ang bigas kasi kapag sumabog talagang nakakapanghinayang.”
While these regulation are met with mixed responses from the customers, these policies are strictly observed by vendors in the Los Baños public markets. “Pabor nga sa aming mga tindera na gamiting pambalot ang mga diyaryo o paper bags kasi mahal ang plastik,”said bread seller Gladys Makiñara. Also, RCC Bienes explained that the vendors following the rules and regulations implemented in the public market because violations result to payment of fines, an additional expense.
The major public markets in Los Baños are located in Brgy. Batong Malake or Crossing and Brgy. Baybayin or Bayan. These public markets have been affected by the increase in number of supermarkets in Los Baños.
Most public market vendors argue that the income they earn is not enough. “Madalang na ang mga mamimili dito sa palengke kaya hirap kaming isampa ang pambayad sa buwis at sana maging maunawain ang munisipyo sa kalagayan naming mga nagtitinda,” said bakery owner Purificacion Regalado.
With the increase in taxes and fees and the increase in number of supermarkets in the municipality; public market vendors are left with greater expenses and decreased sales.
The vendors suggested lower government taxes and fees so they can give lower prices for their goods. Lower prices of goods can encourage more customers to buy in the public markets. RCC Bienes noted that “napahina ang kita ng palengke, kasi ang mga tao naman kapag may bagong bukas na supermarket ay doon sila nagbibilihan pero babalik din naman sa palengke.”
Meat seller Third Escobin suggests that it is better if the local government would lessen the tax they pay so that they could give lower prices to customers.
Currently, some consumers prefer to go to supermarkets for the prices of goods, range of products, and for their convenience as with the case of Neneng Bautista, Toto Osido, and Che Espiritu. “May mga produktong mag-kapresyo sa palengke at supermarket, pero sa supermarket ako namimili kasi komportable at naka-aircon pa,” said Bautista. Osido explained that he frequently shops in supermarkets “kasi may aircon at organisado, hindi katulad sa palengke na maputik at iba’t-iba ang amoy.” Espiritu confirmed that it is easier for her to locate goods and it is more convenient to shop given the carts and the air conditioning in supermarkets.
On the other hand, consumers like Ronnie Pascua explained that “sa palengke ako namimili kasi gusto kong makatipid at mas sariwa pa ang mga paninda kaysa sa mga supermarkets na frozen ang mga karne at isda.” Lea Navarro added that “nakakahingi ako ng diskwento sa mga tindera sa palengke kaya nakakatipid ako at mas maganda pa ang kwalidad ng mga paninda kasi sariwang-sariwa ang mga gulay.” Boy Rodriguez supported that one can get discounts in public markets as well as select better quality vegetables unlike in supermarkets where the good are pre-packed with fixed pricing.
According to the member of the Public Market Vendors’ Association and a coconut milk seller Alex Foster, the 2009 Revenue Code of Los Baños included an increase in the amount of taxes that sellers pay in renting their stalls. The association is negotiating with the Public Market Administrator for the amendment of the 2009 Revenue Code of Los Baños to lessen the amount of taxes. Municipal Councilors Jay Rolusta and Norvin Tamisin are supporting the intent of the Public Market Vendors’ Association in the amendment of the revenue code.
RCC Bienes explained that Mayor Perez and the Sangguniang Bayan are looking for possible solutions to modify the revenue code in order to respond to the petition of the Public Market Vendor’s Association.
Currently, the public markets vendors pay taxes and fees based on the space rented. Included in the taxes and fees are electricity usage, ticket, and business permit. RCC Bienes, stated that the taxes they collect in daily electricity usage is Php 6,000 and tickets roughly worth Php 7,000. The local government also gives deadline extensions, notices, and interests to vendors who were not able to pay their dues on time. Vegetable vendor Merly Yadao said that “maayos at regular ang pamamalakad ng munisipyo sa pagkolekta ng mga buwis sa aming mga tindera.”
by Arron Lucius B. Herbon
The Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) through its Agriculture and Development Seminar Series (ADSS) held a special seminar titled “Biotech Tools for Smarter Agriculture” last September 27, 2013 at the SEARCA Drilon Hall.
Dr. Wayne Parrott, Professor of Crop Science at the University of Georgia, USA, served as the speaker for the seminar.
Dr. Parrott discussed about Genetic Engineering through sharing of his field work experience in the North, South, and Central American, and African areas.
According to him, Genetic Engineering, also known as Genetic Modification, is a product of Biotechnology which involves crossing in desirable traits in the genes of a certain crop so it could gain special properties such as insecticidal, and many others.
He said that it is the fastest adapted technology in the world having been used by over 17 million farmers in about 30 countries around the world over the last 17 years.
“When people ask questions or express concerns about GMO’s, we can actually answer based on real-world experience. We don’t need to be guessing and we need to be speculating about it,” he told.
He compared the growth of the GMO industry to the Organic industry, the second fastest growing sector of agriculture, through which he showed that the latter lags behind the former.
To address the problem of having a large section of the world population having no access to GMO’s, he took commercialized GMO’s and divided them into two categories of origin: the private, and the public sector.
Some of the GMO’s from the private sector include ornamental novel-colored flowers in Australia; virus-resistant squash and herbicide-tolerant rice & soybean from America; Insecticide-resistant Bt crops like cotton & corn; and worm-resistant maize in America and Africa.
While some of the GMO’s from the public sector include the Papaya through University of Hawaii, Cornell University, and US Department of Agriculture (USDA); Brazilian Bean through the Brazilian government; and other crops funded by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) which are to be made available soon which includes the moth-resistant potato, pod-borer resistant cowpea, and many others.
The benefits of GMO’s as tackled by Parrott include decrease in yield losses from insects and diseases, which leads to an increase of income on farmers and their respective countries; decrease in environmental risks brought about by chemical pesticides, and the prevention of food spoilage.
Some issues in terms of safety of GMO’s on environment and food were also tackled. For the environmental safety issue, he focused on the prevention of damages brought about by pesticide abuse to humans and animals. While on the food safety issue, he centered on the safety of GMO’s where he told that it is as safe, but not completely, as their conventional counterparts with emphasis on the regional differences in consumption.
“If it’s been tested in the European Union, or in China, or wherever, and then they haven’t found problems, it’s gonna be safe around the world,” Parrott said.
When it comes to the Philippines, he mentioned that the country is now being a global spotlight for GMO’s through the Golden Rice which could address Vitamin A deficiencies of millions of children worldwide through highlighting its publicity from a petition, up to being an editorial topic in the New York Times.
Prior to Parrott’s talk, Philippine-based Agricultural Counselor of United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Dr. Philip Schull said that the seminar is part of the celebration of the relationship between the Unites States and the Philippines in terms of agriculture .
“We are the number one supplier of food and agricultural products in the Philippines, but we are also the Philippines’ number one market for its exports in our food and agricultural products. In fact, in 2012, the United states took about 30% of Philippine food and agricultural exports,” Schull mentioned.
According to Dr. Arnold Estrada of Pioneer Hi-Bred Seeds, the seminar was informative and he saw that the audience benefited from the information shared during the seminar.
Prescila Pudiquet, SEARCA Biotechnology Trainee from the local government unit of Pupax del Sur, Nueva Vizcaya said that the seminar made her see the benefit of the combination of Genetic Engineering and Organic Agriculture.
“Kung maisusulong natin sa rural communities, it will benefit the rural farm families kasi gaganda yung well-being ng farmers, at the same time, gaganda yung nutritional level ng school at pre-school children,” Pudiquet told.
The seminar was co-organized by SEARCA Biotechnology Center (BIC), Plough Shares Incorporated, US Mission, International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA), and Agricultural Biotechnology Support Project II (ABSPII)
by John Vincent Manglicmot
The University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB) Babaylan conducted a seminar titled “Closing our Ranks: What’s Next for the Gender Rights Movement” on September 26 at the UPLB new College of Arts and Sciences Auditorium. It featured five speakers namely Dr. Gerrighanim Dungan from Kapatid organization, William Villacampa from ProGay, Alek Weber from Pinoy FTM, Kakay Pamaran from Metropolitan Community Churches of Quezon City, and Yvann Zuniga from UPLB Babaylan.
The first speaker, Dungan, discussed their organization’s advocacy to seek for gender equality among all genders. Weber, on the other hand, differentiated transgenders from transsexuals. He also discussed various terminologies about gender and sexuality such as cisgender, gender expression, and sexual orientation.
The third speaker, Zuniga, talked about the goals and activities of UPLB Babaylan as an organization that aims to promote gender diversity and equality among UPLB students. He was followed by Villacampa who discussed the history of LGBT and what LGBT is. According to him, there is nothing wrong with being gay.
Lastly, Pamaran explained how it is to be a part of the LGBT community and at the same time, be a Christian pastor. According to her, being a member of the LGBT community is not a sin, discrimination is.
The seminar aimed to educate its audience about the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) community and the status of gender equality in the Philippines. It was attended mainly by students from the Los Baños National High School.
By Shien C. Maiquez
(NEWS FEATURE) Calamba City’s Special Education for the Employment of Students (SPES) 2013 recorded 559 participants this year. This is according to the report released by the Public Employment Service Office (PESO) in June 2013.
SPES is mandated under the Republic Act 7393 or the act to help poor but deserving students pursue their education by encouraging their employment during summer and/or Christmas vacations. In the Calamba City, PESO is the implementing agency.
PESO Department Head Peter Capitan briefing the 2013 SPES participants on April 29, 2013. Photo courtesy of PESO Calamba.
Calamba was among the first to implement SPES in 1995. The number of annual participants vary with the amount of funds allocated by each municipality. Calamba City is able to accommodate an average of 465 students every summer. Since 1995, SPES Calamba has recorded 8,413 beneficiaries.
SPES 2013 Orientation of applicants at LLC Auditorium on March 8, 2013. Photo courtesy of PESO Calamba.
Calamba PESO Department Head Peter Capitan explained that the program is for students who are of good academic standing and one or both of the student’s parents should unemployed or have no permanent source of income.
Angelo Dy, 17 and a resident of Villa de Calamba, is a student of Laguna College of Business and Arts. Like many students, he lives wanting to help out his parents with the household expenses. His mother manages a store in front of the police station where he would often be and when he heard about SPES he grabbed the opportunity right away.
Students who want to apply for the program are required to submit a report of their family’s net income and student class cards, among other documents to verify their qualifications. Aside from these, the student must also be enrolled for the current semester or for the semester preceding the program.
Participating schools in Calamba City include the University of Perpetual Help, St. John Colleges, Colegio de San Juan de Letran, and The Lyceum of the Philippines. SPES participants can also come from other schools as long as they are residents of Calamba. There have been participants from University of the Philippines Los Baños, Malayan Colleges, and Canossa de San Pablo Colleges.
This year, an additional 398 students was employed through the Department of Labor and Employment’s (DOLE) Community Based Employment Program (CBEP), a complementing program to the SPES. CBEP is a upholds a policy of hiring 50% of unskilled or underskilled workers and 30% skilled workers in local communities. Representative Edgar San Luiz, proposed to DOLE to acquire more funds to accommodate more students this year. Overall, there were an additional 2,000 additional students from the province of Laguna taken in for the summer internship program under the CBEP.
With SPES and CBEP combined, Calamba recorded 957 participants who benefited from the paid summer internship program. These participants underwent job interviews and screenings and were selected to be the most deserving.
Seventeen-year–old Dy emphasizes the importance of perseverance in being accepted to the program. After completing the requirements and passing the interview, Angelo was set for a month long employment. He was excited for the chance to spend his summer gaining experience in the work force. He was put under the task of inventory and filing. Dy completed his first SPES experience in the summer of 2013 and he was satisfied with it. He also recommends joining SPES to his peers.
The local government of Calamba distributes SPES and CBEP participants among the different departments, as each and every department is required to help in the program. SPES participants are given office or clerk work, liaison, computerization and community surveying. There are also opportunities to become tour guides in landmarks like the ancestral house of Jose Rizal.
“The focus of SPES is not only to earn money, but also to serve as a training ground for them to become more competitive when they graduate,” explained Capitan. The PESO department head shared that they were pleasantly surprised to receive words of gratitude from individuals who were part of the SPES. These SPES participants would also update Capitan on their current employment.
Dy said that his experience with the SPES program was able to inspire him to become steadfast and persevering in his work. He learned to work even harder than before. His experience with the people he worked under and the people he worked with was also enjoyable as they were easy to get along with. Dy established his own connections within the municipality through the program. He believes that SPES definitely gave him a big boost and that it increased his chances of making it in the real world.
SPES 2012 participant, Roselle Previlla,18, in in agreement with Dy. “It’s like a training ground. We’re shown that we all have to start at the bottom. We need to work hard even if we have an edge from graduating from a good school.”
Previlla is a student of the University of the Philippines Los Baños and is a resident of Brgy. Majada, Calamba City. She shared that SPES taught her about teamwork and patience. Previlla was assigned in the City Housing and Settlements Department as an encoder and community surveyor.
“Sometimes there are no job openings in the city hall, so students are assigned to departments in barangays instead. Participants must be prepared to do what job is given to them even if it’s not in their field of specialization,” Previlla explained.
Both Dy and Previlla say that given the chance, they would want to participate in SPES in the future. It is good news to know that it is very much likely to happen.
PESO Calamba aims to help SPES and CBEP participants finish their studies and pursue their career. After graduating completion of the summer internship program, the local government of Calamba also helps in finding job openings for the participants.
Participants of SPES receive their wages at the end of the program. Each day they work corresponds to Php 255 or the minimum wage. According to Capitan, the particpants’ wages are given directly to the participants through a payroll system.
By law, 60% of the wages of the students must come from the local government while the remaining 40% is provided by the DOLE. PESO Calamba started releasing the remaining 40% of this years program on September 20.
Although it has been more than three months of waiting for the portion of the DOST, Dy understands that the funds of the national government takes time to be processed. The participants of SPES have been oriented about this problem prior to their working days as it has been a common trend ever since it was first conducted. This year, the remaining 40% wage from DOST had been delayed because of the processing of the additional 2,000 students in Laguna that participated from the CBEP.
According to Dessy Encinas, an employee of PESO Calamba, the portion of DOST is delayed because even if they send the profiles and documents of the participants they have already verified, DOST must then re-asses all documents to ensure that none has been tampered with. Calamba City aims to be able to provide the 60% wage by the end of May to be able to provide support for the student’s enrollment onto the first semester. Over the years, the participants use the portion of the DOST for their second semester expenses.
The Calamba SPES program prioritizes college students with their youngest participants at least in their third year in college. “College students feel the importance of employment more so that somewhat ensures us that they use the funds to finish their studies,” says Encinas.
Upon acceptance into the program, SPES participants are expected to act professionally. Grounds for the removal of a participant from the program include excessive absences, bad work ethics, and destruction of government property. In cases as such, the students will not receive any wage even if they have been employed for several weeks already. However, in cases where absences are justified, the wages they earned in the days they have worked will still be given to them at the end of the program. Such grounds include the participant being sick or having to take care of an immediate family member.
Falsification of documents are an annual problem, according to Encinas. There have been cases of people over the age of 25 wanting to participate. They use falsified birth certificates. Signatures of school registrar’s are also forged usually by students who do not meet the grade requirement of the program of an average 2.5.
“From the start we see who is trust worthy or not. If they cannot be honest with documents, what more when they are placed in their workstations?” said Encinas.
In Calamba, the three million annual budget for the wages of the participants can only cover so much. Department Head Peter Capitan hopes to double the number of beneficiaries given the chance for securing additional budget for the program. He added that there is no problem in finding work for the students to do. PESO has community projects that need all the manpower that it can get.
Capitan also hopes to be able to improve the language and communication skills of his participants, as he believes that the skill is needed for every type of job the students will ever hope to have.
Dy’s advise to SPES applicants is to “do things to the best of your abilities.” Previlla emphasized that, “students should mind the deadlines of requirement and that they should be willing to be placed in any department, in any place.”
Department Head Capitan wants the hopeful applicants to be aware that being in SPES is being in a commitment. He explained that the participants “need to be consistent with their life. They have good grades, good traits, and that we can see their perseverance to study and to finish their studies.”
by Meiji D. Pancho
More than 200 elderly attended the second Los Baños Senior Citizen’s Summit themed “Masaya at Malusog na Buhay Habang Nagkaka-edad” at the UP Los Baños NCAS Auditorium on September 20, 2013.
Despite the cloudy weather, Erma D. Yanoria, who also attended last year’s summit, said that she came because she wanted to exercise and be informed of the conditions that come with old age. For Ernesto Cuenca, a first time attendee, he came for the companionship of his fellow senior citizens.
Yanoria and Cuenca, along with the rest of the participants enjoyed the free health screening after the memory walk. The health screening was composed of several stations that measured the elderly’s blood pressure, pulse rate, height and weight, cholesterol level, and blood sugar.
The health screening was also coupled with nutrition counseling and dementia screening. LRI-Therapharma MSD, Pfizer, SANOFI, MERCK, One Pharma, and the University Health Service (UHS) sponsored the medical services of the event.
With the personal health information they had, the senior citizens evaluated their lifestyle and diet practices through the lecture of Dr. Cheridine Oro-Josef, Chairman of Committee on Geriatrics of the Philippine Academy of Family Physicians (PAFP), on “Malusog na Pamumuhay sa Paglipas ng Panahon.” She discussed with the elderly the problems they would encounter in aging and how they can prevent these problems. The participants also learned about the different needs of their body according to their age classification stage.
Dr. Josef also gave tips on how to choose their food and cleared the common misconceptions in diet practices. Lastly, Dr. Josef encouraged the senior citizens to exercise not only their bodies but also their minds, to practice healthy living, and to continuously gain new knowledge and make new dreams and goals.
In his welcome remarks Dr. Renato V. Torres, program director of the UPLB Elderly Development Program (EDP) said that they want to see the Los Baños senior citizens out and about, making a difference in their respective communities. United Bayanihan Foundation (UBF) retiree Ted Seno, talked about active aging. He encouraged the elderly to “make the rest of your life the best of your life” and gave five ways that the elderly can do to lengthen their healthy lives. Seno stressed the importance of their sector’s contribution to the development of the community and deeply stimulated them to volunteerism.
The senior citizens left with energized bodies through the exercises led by Professor Naomi Enriquez and Quan Minh Phan of the UPLB Department of Human Kinetics and the dance steps and games provided by Skelan.
Eugenio Mercado, one of the participants, said that he learned that people in his age should continue being happy and have a sense of humor, he also added that he was enthused to eat the right foods and maintain the cleanliness of his surroundings since it fosters good health. Arsenia Lantican, also a first time attendee said “Yung hindi ko alam, nalaman ko dito kaya uulit pa ako.”
The United Bayanihan Foundation (UBF), the senior citizens advocacy of UNILAB foundation, primarily sponsored the event. In partnership with the College of Human Ecology, Department of Human and Family Development Studies, UPLB Elderly Development Program (EDP), and the UPLB Office of the Vice Chancellor for Community Affairs. Other main sponsors were Alzheimer’s disease Association of the Philippines Manila Chapter, Skelan, and Ritemed.