BORROMEO-BULAONG REUEL M. OLIVER JASON B. NEOLA JOSE …

A Quarterly Magazine of theCity Government of Naga

Bicol, Philippines

ISSN 2094-9383

JOHN G. BONGATCity Mayor

NELSON S. LEGACIONCity Vice Mayor

Vol. 6, No. 4 | October - December 2014

SIEGLINDE BORROMEO-BULAONG

Editor

JASON B. NEOLASenior Writer

RAFAEL RACSO V. VITAN Layout and Design

ANSELMO B. MAÑOWebsite Administrator

FLORENCIO T. MONGOSO, JR. REUEL M. OLIVEREditorial Consultants

JOSE V. COLLERAXERES RAMON A. GAGERO

SYLRANJELVIC C. VILLAFLORPhotographers

QUAINT AND ALLURING. With its rooftops breezed by the cool morning sun, Naga, then known as Nueva Caceres in the Spanish colonial times, charms visitors with its mixture of an ancient cathedral (right), French-architectured seminary, a university that had been the oldest school for girls in the Far East (foreground, right of center), narrow avenues, and three plazas bounded by modern edifices and endless rows of food chains, department stores and shops, residential houses, inns and hotels.

This magazine is published by the City Government of Naga, thru

the Ciy Publication Office and the City Events, Protocol andPublic Information Office,

with editorial office at City Hall Compound,

J. Miranda Avenue, Naga City 4400 Philippines

Tel: +63 54 472-2136Email: [email protected]: www.naga.gov.ph

JOSE B. PEREZALLEN L. REONDANGA

PAUL JOHN F. BARROSATechnical Advisers

ALDO NIÑO I. RUIVIVARMAUREEN S. ROJO

Staff Assistants

PHOTO BY PAI AGUILAR

The “Naga SMILES to the World” logo is composed of the two baybayin characters, na and ga.

Na, shaped like a mountain, provides a strong foundation for the Narra tree which grew abundantly along the Naga River while a zigzag line denotes the majestic Malabsay Falls.

Ga, shaped like a farmer’s plow, is symbolic of the Nagueño’s agricultural roots and hardworking personality.

The baybayin Naga characters rest on a wave-like element which represents the Naga River and the serpent, which is read in Sanskrit as naga.

This new branding for Naga, launched in 2010 by the dynamic Bongat administration, envisions a more livable city that is world-class.

MAYOR’S MESSAGE

3 Bullish on the Future of Naga

CHRISTMAS PAGE

5 Kamundagan Festival

10 Santa Fun Walk

COVER STORY

11 IT and BPO facilities growing big in Naga

17 Stronger and More Vibrant Naga in 2015

21 Naga’s Promising bus stop

22 Robredo, Bongat dialogue with Entreps

23 Go Negosyo to rise at Naga City People’s Mall

24 BCS: Doing more than Expected

FOREIGN RELATIONS

26 Mayor Bongat dialogues with OFWs on migration concerns in Qatar and Italy

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EDUCATION, CHILDREN AND LITERATURE

31 A harvest of award-winning books

by Bicol writers

1 OCTOBER - DECEMBER 2014

TA B L E O F C O N T E N T S33 Rediscovering Nick Joaquin

35 Nagueña as 2014 Outstanding Teacher of the Philippines

38 Bongat delivers report on State of our Children

40 Naga hosts 1st Regional PWD Summit

SP AND LEGISLATION

41 Making the best better for our children

42 Barangay Budgeting: The way to efficient governance

43 Wastewater Management Ordinance

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The “An Maogmang Lugar“ logo is an attempt to capture Naga as we want it to be – a city that is progressive and yet environment-friendly, where the people freely participate in the day-to-day affairs of the government, and where culture and arts are flourishing.

The stylized design of “NAGA” represents the city’s aggressive march towards modernization and progress. The sky-blue background, the Narra tree, and the Naga River represent our people’s desire for an ecologically-balanced community.

The ring of people surrounding the entire design shows the Nagueños’ participatory mechanism which is part and parcel of the city’s way of doing things. It also shows the people’s concern and unity in everything that is good for the city.

Today, the city, as Maogmang Lugar, aims to portray more than a happy place but a happy people who are the true beneficiaries of everything good that is happening in the city.

OCTOBER - DECEMBER 2014 2

TA B L E O F C O N T E N T S STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT TESTS

53 Greater Gains, Superior Score

CALAMITY ASSISTANCE

55 Tabang sa Tugang

METRO NAGA DEVELOPMENT

57 Big Dreams of MNDC Start Here

58 Investment Forum opens Tourim Circuit for Investors

SPORTS

61 Nagueño Wakeboard Team Shines in Phukit Thailand

63 Naga hosts Luzon Qualifying Leg of Batang Pinoy

46 Appropriations Committee Wraps Up Budget Report

HEALTH

47 CHO expects 100% Child Vaccination Program compliance

48 Dengues Cases in Naga down by 83%

AGRICULTURE AND LIVESTOCK

49 Bicol Corn Program Implementors Honored

50 Ruby Inflicts Naga farmers with P7-M losses in crops

51 Clean Meat for Nagueños

CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT

52 Leni turns over boats, ask fisherfolk to shun illegal nets

Bullish on the Future of NagaMAYOR JOHN G. BONGAT

We have every reason to be bullish in 2015, the year of the Poor for the Catholic Church, and the year of the wooden goat in the lunar calendar. According to the Chinese, 2015 promises to be an abundant year for all of us.

True to our word at the start of my term in 2010 that we will embark on a more aggressive investment promotion campaign to “grow” the local economy, we have been able to nurture local enterprises while forging new economic inroads.

From 2010 to 2014, City Treasury records show that an average of 1,334 new firms, mostly local, had been set up in Naga each year. The Office of the Building Official reports construction of an annual average of 122 new commercial, industrial and institutional buildings during the same period. A conservative total of P6.2B in private investments poured into the local economy over the past 4 years during my first and into my second term as Mayor of Naga.

The country’s top property developers have given us their vote of confidence. Following the lead of SM, Gaisano along Panganiban where a host of new businesses have

risen, is opening in summer.

Robinsons Land of the Gokongwei Group is set to enter the

picture and has drawn

up plans for a mixed-use

development at the corner of Roxas Avenue and Almeda Highway. They will start constructing their 3-storey mall, with state-of-the-art cinemas, 2 hotels and one BPO building, employing thousands from construction to operation. Vista Land is reported to be acquiring the property beside GSIS to put up its own mall just beside its 1,000-unit Camella Homes project in Barangay Del Rosario.

Naga, along with Metro Naga, broke into the “Next Wave Cities” rankings in 2013, emerging as one of the country’s top 10 BPO destinations, paving the way for the entry of the BPO industry in our beloved city. We now have four IT parks/centers, three of them coming over the past two years alone—all developed by local businessmen. These now house IBM which is continuing to expand its non-voice or back office operations, and call centers Concentrix and Stellar.

All this has made us the third Most Competitive City in the Philippines in 2014, sparking the creation of thousands of new jobs for our fellow Nagueños, and the #1 City, out of 144 nationwide, in government efficiency.

To provide more meaningful jobs especially for our semi-skilled workers, we are now in negotiations with a Japanese firm to anchor our first-ever PEZA-accredited industrial park. If the BPO industry in Naga is catering to mostly college graduates or skilled labor force, the export processing zone we are pushing to be developed in Naga will absorb young people, who are unskilled, but will become employable. More jobs mean more income to families, higher purchasing power, higher revenues for local industries, and of course higher revenues for your city.


To complement these exciting developments and mindful of our tenet that “An Maogmang Lugar” ultimately can be measured by the quality of life of our people, the city government has embarked on a P600M capital investment program for 2015. During its December 22 meeting, the City Development Council which I chair greenlighted that spending program, endorsed it to the Sangguniang Panlungsod which approved the same. The package will allow the city government to clean up the Balatas dump, rehabilitate the area and provide a permanent solution to our solid waste disposal problem-- which will result in the more productive use of the surrounding areas that will necessarily accelerate its development. Side by side, we will also establish a new city cemetery that will meet Naga’s needs for the next two decades. These are two of the top urban basic services that my administration has committed itself to address-- so that the next administrations, what I mean is after 2019 because you will be giving me another term of course, can focus their energies in further cementing our leadership in this part of the country.

The national government also continues to do its part. The long overdue expansion of the Bicol Medical Center is now underway, anchored on the construction of its eight-storey 800-bed new hospital building. The Integrated Naga River Revitalization Project (iNRRP), meant not only to preserve the river but also to enhance its tourism and economic value, is starting to fly. DPWH is now working on the project’s flood control component with the assistance of Rep. Leni Gerona-Robredo.

The 2013 4th Quarter meeting of the Regional Development Council (RDC) in Legazpi also brought good tidings. The Investment Coordinating Committee (ICC) and the NEDA Board chaired by President Benigno Aquino III himself has already approved the P4.5-billion Naga Airport Development

Project in Pili, whose approval at the regional level we fought for tooth and nail in previous RDC meetings. Again, with the help of Cong Leni, an initial P600M outlay is provided for in the 2015 budget to fund land acquisition, and detailed engineering and design.

Taken together, we are seeing a more robust and vibrant local economy that will bring about an inclusive economic growth not only for Naga, or Metro Naga, but for the entire region as well. Surely, these are the fruits of the city’s investment in good urban governance that we have cultivated and grown to greater heights. These developments prove that once local and national

leaders get their act together, synergy– where the sum total is greater than its parts, or one plus one is greater than two in plain speak– will happen and become the proverbial rising tide that will lift all boats. The role, therefore, of the city’s leadership is to hold fast and true to its fundamental obligation to bring about social justice, so that those who have less in life can and will benefit from these exciting, positive developments. This is the reason why on top of all these developments and

plans for the future, my administration does not lose sight of its obligation to the less privileged in our community.

Thru a recent Executive Order, I launched a program called “Ginhawang Nagueño” that seeks to address the needs and future of families living in the so called LERCs- who belong to the informal settlers sector, who do not have access to basic necessities like potable water, electricity and sanitation (CR), and whose parent-members do not have stable gainful employment.

We have every reason to be bullish, not only about Naga’s future, but in delivering on that basic governance commitment– because Team Naga which you have always trusted, has been doing precisely that for the last two and half decades since the time of my predecessor, the late Mayor and DILG Secretary Jesse M. Robredo.

Taken together, we are seeing a more robust

and vibrant local economy that

will bring about an inclusive

economic growth not only for Naga,

or Metro Naga, but for the entire

region as well.

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2 0 1 4 K A M U N D A G A N F E S T I VA L :

More sights, activities lined up

By Jason B. Neola

PHOTOS BY JOSE COLLERA & SYLRANJELVIC VILLAFLOR


Rizal’s 34-foot giant Christmas tree and the colorful Christmas Village at the nearby Plaza Quezon to mark the start of the month-long Kamundagan Festival.

Mayor John G. Bongat did not make it to the opening night as he was on official travel in Doha, Qatar and Rome, Italy for a series of dialogues on immigration and development with Filipino Overseas Workers in the two foreign cities.

FL Bongat encouraged the public, especially the children to visit the plaza and enjoy the colors of the fiesta. “Our Christmas village and Christmas tree will be lighted every day from 5 o’clock in the afternoon up to 12 midnight,” the first lady said. The public may also enjoy the various meals and culinary delicacies available at the open food bazaar.

IN FULL RADIANCE. The tall Christmas tree, and giant lanterns at Plaza Rizal and Christmas village at adjacent Plaza Quezon in downtown Naga City are all aglow after the opening ceremony led by First Lady Farah R. Bongat last December 1.

R ESIDENTS and guests received a treat during the merry month of December when the city upped its ante in the celebration of the annual Kamundagan Festival, a colorful celebration of birth and

rebirth during Christmas season. First Lady Farah R. Bongat, chair of the

Kamundagan Festival, was in the forefront of ensuring that there was something for everyone to enjoy - especially the children-- who were overwhelmed by lights and sounds while at the same time understanding the universal message of Christmas, or Christ’s birth (Kamundagan).

On December. 1, the First Lady, along with other city and barangay officials and guests, formally switched on the light at Plaza

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City Councilor Gabriel H. Bordado Jr. thanked the public for their participation, especially the barangay officials who joined the lantern parade and the Parolan sa Barangay Contest. The UP Alumni Association-Camarines Sur Chapter was also part of the Christmas Lantern Parade that preceded the lighting ceremonies and program.

Bordado said the city government has been celebrating the Kamundagan Festival since 1992, during the time of former Mayor and late DILG Secretary Jesse M. Robredo, to mark the birth of Jesus Christ and the rebirth of the city as a progressive and dynamic community in this part of the Bicol region.

Winners of special awards were announced to cap the opening night: Barangay Sabang received P10,000 for having the biggest contingent, Barangay Lerma and Dinaga (P5,000 each) for showing the best group ‘gimik’ and costume, Barangay Concepcion Grande (P5,000) for being the most lighted group, and Barangay Dinaga (P10,000) for being the most decorative group that has also the biggest assembly of yuletide props.

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On December 13, the Santa Fun Walk was held by the Metro Naga Chamber of Commerce and Industry, in collaboration with the City Government. Incoming MNCCI President Gilbert N. Albero, who chairs the Santa Fun Walk, said more schools and barangay officials, and organizations joined the Santa Walk as a fund-raising campaign for the welfare of children.

The walk, with participants wearing red shirts and Santa hat and the children garbed in full Santa costume, started from Panganiban

SANTA WALK. First Lady Farah Bongat (2nd from left of among those seated) presides over the press conference on the upcoming events in the Kamundagan Festival, including the Santa Fun Walk on Dec. 13. With her on the table (from left) are Boogie Gumabao, manager of Honda Pili (CamSur), MNCCI President Beda Priela, Kate Cajurao of Eurotel, and incoming MNCCI Pres. Gilbert Albero. On the rostrum is MNCCI PIO-Director Joe Perez who serves as moderator. The Metro Naga Chamber of Commerce and Industry, along with Eurotel, Honda, and SM City Naga, are co-organizers of the Santa Fun Walk. MNCCI PHOTO



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Avenue (near the Iglesia ni Cristo church, the assembly point, towards the centro (Panganiban, left to Elias Angeles Street, Paseo de Caceres, then right to Gen. Luna, P. Burgos Street, Elias Angeles) and wound up at Plaza Rizal for the program and games. This was immediately followed by the Christmas presentation by students of the Southbridges Learning Center.

Prizes, gift certificates, and other freebies were given away at the plaza for the games. A photo wall was set up for guests and promenader alike.

Honda Pili (Camarines Sur), SM City Naga, and Eurotel were co-sponsors of the Santa Walk.

On December 14, Biggs’ Corporation conducted its Christmas Parade of Lights. Other activities included the Bicol State College of Applied Sciences and Technology (BSCAST) Christmas presentation and Smart/Sun Cellular Caravan on December 19; Senior Citizens Christmas presentation on December 20, and; the Sir Jaymee Music Center presentation at the Plaza Rizal on December 21.

KAMUNDAGAN 2014

santa fun

walk5 P M P A N G A N I B A N D R I V E / P L A Z A R I Z A L

DECEMBER 13, 2014


By Jason B. Neola

PHOTOS BY XERES GAGERO

colonial times. For the past decade and until now, the city, dubbed as the Heart of Bicol, accounts for 21% of the regional economy.

New Wave City

Naga, considered a “Tier 2,” or New Wave City, by the Business Processing Association of the Philippines (BPAP), has had in place for several years now, an investment promotion program targeted towards IT-BPO firms. This largely focuses on firms

expanding their operations outside the major hubs of Metro Manila, Cebu and Clark. It also

capitalizes on the city’s competitive edge over

other Philippine cities and

regions in

IT and BPO facilities growing big in Naga

K EY offices of Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) facilities based in this highly

competitive city are expanding their existing floor space to increase the volume of their operations and effectively respond to the demands of the burgeoning global IT and business product outsourcing market.

The planned construction of additional production rooms and spaces for other facilities by Stellar Philippines, Inc. and the IBM Company would mean hiring of more personnel and, thus, boost employment opportunities and commercial activities because of the relatively higher disposable income earned by BPO employees and agents.

Even before the arrival of IT and multinational BPO (Business Process Outsourcing) companies in the city, Naga has already been acclaimed as the center of finance, trade and commerce in the region, aside from its old title as the center of religion, culture and education since the Spanish and American


NAGA CITY’S BPO COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGES

Highly proficient human resource pool

Extensive modern infrastructure

Amenities and quality of life comparable to other modern cities without the ‘ills’

Cost competitivenessstrong government & private sector support

terms of the quality and size of its human resource pool, quality of infrastructure, lower cost of doing business, availability of first-class amenities in a livable environment, and local government responsiveness.

The city’s promotion efforts have led to investments by small firms in software development, medical transcription and animation/the creatives. However, Naga’s potential to attract large BPO-voice and non-voice firms, has been limited by a gap in suitable and IT-ready real estate to house these firms’ operations.

Addressing this gap, Romar and Sons Estate Development Corporation, a locally-bred enterprise with an extensive track record in property development and other business undertakings came forward to put the proposed Naga City Technology Park (NCTP). Mr.

Eugene Tan, one of Romar’s Directors, will champion and oversee the project. Implementation proceeded in two phases. The first phase, costing P216M, involves the construction of a two-storey building with a 5,200 sqm. floor space in four months’ time. The second phase, with a development time of 14 months and estimated to cost over P542M, covers construction of a five-level IT building and all the other amenities needed in the IT facility/center.

NCTP’s location

The NCTP is located at Central Business District 2 (CBD 2) in Barangay Triangulo.

CBD 2 is among Naga’s growth zones, as defined in

the city’s Investment

Incentives Code. It is termed as the city’s

“Transport Exchange” as it hosts the Bicol Central Station and various public utility jeepney and van (PUJ/PUV) terminals that provide access to other parts of the country, the region and the province.

The site is just a few steps away from SM City-Naga and the Jesse M. Robredo Coliseum— the largest domed coliseum in the Philippines after SMART-Araneta. Within or near CBD 2 are other malls and recreation centers, hotels, hospitals, banking facilities and a residential subdivision. The area is less than one kilometer away from Centro Naga, the city’s traditional commercial district.

The City Government of Naga, through the Naga City Investment Board (NCIB), and Romar and Sons Estate Development Corporation has actually been trying to attract IBM-Global Process Services (IBM-GPS) to locate in Naga City since July 2012. IBM-GPS is the BPO arm of the multinational firm International Business Machines Corporation, with



corporate headquarters in New York. One of the largest and most profitable technology employers in the world, IBM has over 400,000 employees in 170 countries. It is ranked by Business Week as the 2nd Most Valuable Brand in the world.

IBM in the Phil ippines

IBM-GPS started its Philippine operations in 2004. Since then, the company has become one of the fastest-growing BPOs in the country, with more than 15,000 employees. The firm offers globally-delivered business process services (or delivery towers) supporting:

1) Finance and Accounting2) Human Resources3) IT Support4) Supply Chain5) Call Center and Customer Relationship Management

IBM-GPS has been named Top Contact Center Outsourcing Service Provider of the Year for five straight years now, by the Frost and Sullivan Asia-Pacific ICT Awards.

Naga competed with six other cities (Vigan, La Union, Cabanatuan, Balanga-Bataan, Lucena and Tacloban) in attracting IBM-GPS. From July until October 2012, the company conducted several research and field visits to validate these cities’ competitiveness and readiness for the IT-BPO industry. In October 2012, it informed the

NCIB that it short-listed Naga among its choice locations.

IBM’s pool of employees in Naga is expected to grow to 5,000 in the near future. This will solidify Naga’s reputation as an IT-BPO-ready city; and will contribute to the country’s goal of having the industry account for nine per cent of GDP, and generate US$25B in revenues and 1.3 million in employment.

Engr. Roderick Arimado, Facilities Manager of IBM’s Sites A, B, and C in the city, said that initial talks on their plan to expand Site C had already been concluded between IBM officials in Manila and the owner of ALDP building along Roxas Avenue, where the firm’s Site C is presently housed. IBM specializes in business and finance consultancy services.

“We are considering putting up more production rooms at the ground floor, specifically the food court area and the portion occupied by Aljosh Café,” he disclosed. IBM Site C is located at the building’s 2nd floor while Site A maintains offices and production rooms at the Romar building located at the Naga City Technology Park in CBD 2, where the proposed 5-storey building will house Site B.

“Fifty to sixty percent of the human resource complement force working at Sites A and C are Nagueños,” says Arimado who also added that the company

will continually hire talents and other personnel as the company’s operations expand.

“We have on-going local recruitment as we observed that there are many applicants with potential right here in Naga City. Naga is a good site for workforce sourcing,” he added.

Concentrix and Stel lar

The other BPO companies, such as Concentrix Daksh Services Phils. Corp. and Stellar Philippines are both looking forward to hire more talents especially with the bright prospects being shown both by the host city and the IT and BPO industries.

Concentrix Corporation, a California-based global business services company that has its

STELLAR’S STARS Mona Liza Galvez-Yuzon, Administration Site Lead (3rd from left) poses with other supervisors of the Australian call center firm in Naga City. From left to right: Mark Yuzon, IT Site Lead; Denmar Deduque, Human Resource Site Lead; Mona Liza, John Emilio Medina, Operations Manager; Aubrey Rivera, Operations Director, and Narciso Ege, Operations Manager.

PHOTO BY XERES GAGERO

Why Naga?CONCENTRIX CORP. , the global business process services company, is looking at expanding in second tier cities in the Philippines to meet the growing demand from clients, especially after its parent firm acquired IBM’s customer care unit.

“Right now, we have more clients requesting for ‘ramp up’ and so we’re making sure we have enough space for this and the organic growth of our clients,” Concentrix Vice President and General Manager Junar Amador once told reporters in a briefing in Manila.

“Here in the Philippines, there’s a lot of new wave cities being promoted by ITBPAP (Information Technology and Business Process Association of the Philippines) and we’re looking at all those places,” Amador said.

Concentrix currently has offices in Metro Manila, Cagayan de Oro and Davao, while IBM has offices in Metro Manila, Davao, Cebu, Pampanga, Laguna and Naga.

“Naga is one area that we can expand because it is already existing and the human capital pool is really very good,” Amador was quoted as saying.

NEW EDIFICE. The Mayor and First Lady Farah Bongat (2nd from left) share a light moment with Loida Inton (extreme left), IBM Business Services Phil., Center Leader, and Candy Soto (fourth from left), IBM Integrated Delivery Leader, DTI Camarines Sur Provincial Director Edna Tejada (rightmost) and the Tan patriarch Romy Tan (third from right) and his son Eugene Tan, before the formal ground-breaking of the 5-storey building at the Naga Technology Park in the CBD 2. At least two storeys of the building will house the expanded IBM Naga next year.


business office at Central Business District 2 (CBD2) here fronting SM City Naga has upped its human resource with 665 personnel of young college graduates or those in the college level.

Stellar Philippines, an Australian firm, is into sales and customer service which began operating in the city last October 6, 2014. It occupies the entire third level of a building that houses Chevrolet Naga also along the national highway in Barangay Concepcion Grande.

Although the entire floor can accommodate as many as 600 personnel, the company is already planning to set up more operation/production rooms in the building’s fourth floor.

“Expansion does not mean acquiring bigger production rooms alone– we need to hire more competent and dependable workers as the competition shifts to high gear,” says Denmar Deduque, Stellar’s Human Resource Site Lead. He discloses that they are increasing the number of their personnel in preparation for the company’s 24/7 operations.

The demand is also being felt by the Information and Technology (IT) sector or those in the business of software and systems development in the city, of which the number is also growing.

Software and web development

Henri Chevallier, Chief Executive Officer of Extesoft, a French IT company engaged in software and web development, said: “It’s true that we have universities here in Naga which are quite good but a lot of software developers still go straight to Manila after graduation, which makes it quite difficult for us to find talents that we need.”

Extesoft, which started its operation in 2011 and maintains a research and development center at the 4th floor of DECA Corporate Center along Panganiban Drive,

specializes in event correlation software and complex event processing.

The firm has been actively contributing to build the best software that companies may avail of in analyzing their flows of events and transform them into meaningful, empowering business-oriented information.

Chevalier, meanwhile, is ever hopeful that they would not run short of the required number of agents from Naga as “the city has a vast source of talents who are dedicated and committed workers. Ninety percent of our talents are residents of this city.”

Naga City Technology Park

Naga City Cyber Park

ALDP E-Park

IT Park Locations in Naga


NUECA CEO Magno Conag (standing, far right) and his research and development team.

ANR Business Center

HOMEGROWN PLAYER

Magno Edilberto Conag III, a former Ateneo De Naga Professor and now Chief Executive Officer of Nueva Caceres Technology Solutions, Inc. (Nueca) a homegrown software development company, said they were able to hire good developers because of the support that the city government had extended.

“The city had provided us a space where we initially placed our research and development center and free use of electricity, which were a big help considering the limited resources we had then,” he confided.

Founded on September 15, 2011, Nueca started as a service providing company for developing mobile applications. It worked on various projects in the areas of weather disturbance, law enforcement, education, health care, fashion, lifestyle, and real estate.

Its incubation center was first housed inside the Naga City Hall compound where they were provided with office/working spaces for free, including electrical and cable connections, as well as other technical and logistical support. One year after, Nueca engaged in building mobility solutions for the retail industry.

By the end of 2012, Nueca POS-RS (Point of Sale - Retail Solutions) for Apple iPad was developed. POS is designed for restaurants and coffee shops.

“In 2013 nueca POS-RS for iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch were officially launched and gained

popularity in Europe and in the US.

Nueca soon expanded its research and development to include mobility solutions addressing the challenges in the business processes of Philippine retailers.

By mid-2013, Nueca has developed various innovations that enabled retailers facilitate orders, transmit sales and manage inventory, using Wi-Fi and cellular data-enabled smartphones that sync with a proprietary cloud backend, allowing back offices to consolidate data quickly and accurately.

The innovations were put together in a product called Concessio. Today, Concessio is already helping enterprises, particularly those with many remote outlets and roaming sales agents that are spread across the country. Concessio is optimizing their systems and improving their productivity.

Having evolved to become a software product development company, Nueca’s software is now being used by clients based in Europe, US, Canada, and some in Arab nations on subscription basis.


STRONGER AND MORE VIBRANT NAGA IN 2015

G IVEN the impressive economic gains that the city was able to meet in the

year that is about to close, City Mayor John G. Bongat assured local businessmen that the city’s economic dynamism will continue to rise and flourish in 2015 and the years ahead.

Speaking at the 4th quarter general membership meeting and business forum of the Metro Naga Chamber of Commerce and Industry last Dec. 18, the city mayor said that because of the city’s

itself is undergoing a multi-million peso construction program for an expanded medical complex, frontlined by an 8-storey building that is expected to become the biggest and tallest of its kind in Bicol, if not the whole Southern Luzon.

Along the Almeda highway at the corner of Maharlika Diversion Road in Concepcion Pequena will start the construction next year of an expansive Robinson’s Mall, the 5th major shopping center to rise in this city.

Meanwhile, construction of various establishments and edifices continues without

vibrant economic landscape, the city is well on its way to join in two or three year’s time the elite league of cities whose annual revenue is P1B or more.

Bongat said that such outlook is not remote considering the city’s rising financial history during the last two years. He noted that in 2012, the city’s annual income was pegged at P540M. In 2014, or two years hence, it rose to P800M plus, or a leap of over P260M.

The mayor said that early next year the Gaisano Mall will open for business which is currently rushing construction along a one-hectare lot fronting the Bicol Medical Center (BMC). The BMC


STRONGER AND MORE VIBRANT NAGA IN 2015


letup in various parts of the city, highlighting the city’s unstoppable march to economic progress, including bright prospects in real estate, insurance, and hyper-active car sales.

Car sales of leading motor vehicle brands have since sprouted in Naga and the neighboring capital town of Pili, Camarines Sur.

Also to rise at Central Business District 2 (CDB2) near the Concentrix Techno Park is a 5-storey building to be constructed by Romar & Sons Estate Dev’t Corp.,

a development firm of Naga businessman Romy Tan. Expected to be completed in March 2016, at least two storeys of the edifice will be occupied by IBM Philippines Naga, another BPM company.

Already, Naga City is host to three BPO companies, namely: Concentrix, IBM, and Stellar, the latter an Australian company which is housed at the upper floors of Chevrolet Naga building along Concepcion Grande.

A fourth company, Nueva Caceres Technology Solutions, Inc. (Nueca) is

a homegrown one which is engaged in building mobility solutions for the retail industry.

Mayor Bongat said that together, these three multinational BPO companies initially hire a total of 1,500 agents which translates to P22M, more or less, in combined employees’ monthly income.

By Jose B. Perez

PHOTO BY JOSE B. PEREZ

R OB I N SONS P L A C E N A G A

BICOL MEDICAL CENTER

BICOL HEALTH ACESS

NICC DOCTORSH O S P I T A L

ILLUSTRATED BY REY UBALDO

Such personal income, computed at an average of P15,000 per employee, easily transforms into disposable incomes which are expended for home or room rent, food, clothes, transportation, entertainment, and the rest to bank or personal savings, which inevitably go into the city’s money circulation daily. Two years ago, the money in circulation in Naga was estimated at P7B daily.

Local entrepreneurs say that because most of these employees belong to the younger generation, their expenses traditionally would move around malls for clothes, personals and accessories, food chains, cafes and night entertainment.

Bongat said that as an outsourcing hub, the city is expected to host at least 5,000 call center agents in 2015 and 2016, further boosting Naga’s disposable income because of this boom in employment.

About 13 kilometers away is the Sutherland BPO, which is based inside the Provincial Capitol Complex in Pili, Camarines Sur. It presently maintains a personnel base of about 1,000 call center agents.

Bongat estimates that about 50 percent of these call center agents are from Naga, including those working at Sutherland in Pili, while the other half come from other cities and provinces in Bicol, who have to rent rooms and

buy food in Naga, purchase shoes, clothes and other personal items in Naga malls, and keep their savings in the city’s array of commercial and savings banks, whose number is also incomparable anywhere in Bicol, another sign of bubbling financial progress.

Many banks are also reported to be making a heyday in booming auto sales by sales and service centers located in Pili and Naga. The downside, however, is that many of Naga’s major road arteries and narrow streets are now clogged by the latest models of sedans, SUVs, and vans delivered to Naga and Camarines Sur car buyers.

And the Mayor has not discussed yet about the city’s ever-growing student population, from elementary to college, where enrollees do not only come from the city but from other parts of Bicol and other regions as well.


“

From report by the National Economic Development Administration as reported from Bicol Mail

*

Quality employment remains to be a big

challenge for Bicol even as it earned important

milestones in some areas like the regional economic

growth of 9.4 per cent attained in 2013, and

recognition of Naga City and Daet, Camarines Norte as among the

most competitive cities and municipalities, respectively, by the

National Competitive Council.”*

PHOTO BY JASON B. NEOLA

PHOTO BY JOSE B. PEREZPHOTO BY JOSE B. PEREZ

BICOL HEALTH ACESS

NICC DOCTORSH O S P I T A L


C HANCES are that every time I would pass along Elias Angeles Street at the bus stop at Plaza Quezon, I would see young professional workers. At different occasions, I have seen a group of

five or ten. I was too early I guess for my morning exercise. Then one instance at 6 in the morning, I finally chanced upon seeing what they were waiting for. A big air-conditioned bus stopped by at the loading/unloading section.

Roughly, they were more than twenty at that moment: forming a long line, and others from across the street catching up.

Vivid memories of Hollywood films came to mind showing a truck fetching a group of day laborers to work on a field to till the land or to pick fruits and vegetables.

A version of young urban professionals gets off the bus to go home fresh from the night shift, then the new batch gets on the vehicle to be driven to their office at a nearby municipality. They are call center agents working for a Business Process Outsourcing company.

Naga has BPO firms as well. The Philippines is the BPO capital of the world. They first established in Mega Manila but have been distributed across the country in recent years. Fortunately, Naga City is one of the cities that cater to these international companies.

Soon more will follow.

Furthermore, Naga has a vibrant English speaking pool of human resources. The educational institutions here are reputable and provide a good number of qualified graduates. Information technology is one of the courses offered in these colleges and universities. It is very much in demand in the 21st century.

Exposure to western culture through television, radio and movies had shaped these individuals into a savvy, cosmopolitan, and learned workforce. They actually get the Americanisms like cultural jokes in movies. Moreover, the country had been colonized by two western powers: Spain and the United States of America.

It is estimated that at least over a hundred thousand of them work in two to three shifts in rotation. These opportunities give competitive compensation packages to the employees.

Admirably, they help their families have access to basic resources like, shelter, utilities and most especially in order to put food on the table.

That bus stop is showing signs of future success for the locals. The city showcases itself as a promising choice for national and multinational enterprises. Seeing them up close and personal makes one realize the significant open doors that have ushered in positive realities.

Personally, I have only read about them in newspapers and online. It is truly a pivotal change for a much more bullish and progressive stance in positioning Naga in particular, and Bicolandia in general, both nationally and globally towards the forefront of full comprehensive development.

Before the bus left my sight, I felt excited and it deepened my optimism for my fellow Bicolanos. As I went along the street in the opposite direction, I stopped at an intersection where the newly installed traffic lights have been just activated for the day. I stopped for a few seconds of waiting for the red light to turn green. Then I

had 33 seconds to cross the pedestrian lane. Modernization and progress have come to light. A rosier picture is now being lived by people by the thousands, with their hopes and dreams fulfilled.

STELLAR Call Center, an Australian company, formally opens its office in Naga City, the third after IBM and Concentrix to have set up shop in the city in barely two years, with City Mayor John Bongat and his First Lady Farah (behind the mayor’s right) as guests of honor. The mayor said hundreds more of new, young and motivated employees were hired by the third BPO locator in the city. He thanked his co-workers at city hall for helping him entice new, dollar-earning, employment-generating multinational companies to Naga, adjudged as the 3rd most competitive city in the country for 2014.

By James Z. Carpio

Naga’s promising bus stop

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By Bong V. Villacruz

R EP. Leni Robredo (3rd district, Camarines Sur) disclosed that the amount of at least P600M has been

allocated for the initial phase of the proposed revitalization of the Naga River as envisioned by the city government.

To speed up the work and provide focus on the project, the city government created the Naga River Development Council that the congresswoman will chair, with representatives from the different concerned sectors and stakeholders as members.

Speaking as guest of the 3rd quarter general membership meeting and business forum of the Metro Naga Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MNCCI) last October, the solon stressed the need for stakeholders to discuss and map out a comprehensive plan on how to wisely spend the amount so far allocated for the infrastructure requirements of the project, and thus ensure optimum result.

The widow of the late DILG Secretary Jesse M. Robredo also bared that a technical team from the Department of Transportation and Communication (DOTC) had recently conducted an ocular inspection of the Naga Airport following endorsement by the Bicol Regional Development Council of the project evaluation report prepared by the DOTC for the Naga Airport Development Project.

The project calls for the re-orientation of the airport’s runway to accommodate more flights and upgrade its system for night flight capabilities, as well as wide-body jet service from existing turboprop flights.

City Mayor John G. Bongat, who was also guest at the same forum, assured Naga entrepreneurs that various infrastructure projects in the city, including the city-wide drainage system whose multi-million funds were secured by Rep. Robredo, will continue to be pursued as funds come along.

REP. Leni Robredo and Naga City Mayor John Bongat address members of the Metro Naga Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

He explained that his administration has been implementing projects without regard to whether or not it is election year or near election year-- unlike other LGUs that hold off funds until it is near election time--- because the city residents’ need for basic services has to be addressed without delay.

The mayor’s response came when past MNCCI president Emeterio “Boy“ L. Aman lauded the city’s ongoing drainage system construction which he noted to have so far significantly addressed the once perennial flooding problem of the city. “Heavy rains are quick to subside upon hitting the ground because of the storm drainages built by the city government,” he said.

MNCCI Past President Engr. Boy Aman poses question to Mayor Bongat on various ongoing infrastructure projects in the city.

Aman, an engineer and real estate developer, wished that such laudable project and other similar targets must be sustained and expanded in other parts of the city.

The mayor stressed that the city’s burgeoning economic activity, made more pronounced by the ongoing construction boom and the setting up of more call centers, should be met with more vigor and resolve by the city government in delivering basic services. He thanked the business sector, specifically the business chamber, for their role as able partners in the city’s unrelenting drive for inclusive growth and development.

Robredo, Bongat dialogue

with entreps

PHOTOS BY DICK OLARTE


S TRESSING before a crowd of stallholders at the Naga City People’s Mall that one of his legislative concerns is to pass measures that will improve the status of small- and micro- entrepreneurs, Senator Benigno “Bam” Aquino said that

he will work with Mayor John G. Bongat in setting up a Go Negosyo Center in the city.

Aquino was here last November 14, 2014 to grace the blessing and inauguration of the new Market Enterprise and Promotions Office, the newly renovated fresh fish section and the Materials Recovery Facility, all at the Naga City People’s Mall.

The youthful senator said he believes that every small- and micro-entrepreneur will benefit more and improve their lot if a facility would be put up to enable them to do more with regards to their entrepreneurial pursuits.

He lauded Bongat for continuously manifesting similar concern and consideration for the sector which the latter has actualized in his own GrOW Negosyo project for the city’s small- and micro- entrepreneurs.

Aquino assured the stallholders about the establishment of a Go Negosyo Center that will allow targeted entrepreneurs to have links with institutions that will help provide them with financing, marketing, and technology-exchange opportunities, including acquisition of equipment and tools by product manufacturers and processors.

He said he will see to it that this city will be included among the first 100 cities and municipalities prioritized for the establisment of Go Negosyo Center by next year.

Go Negosyo to rise

at Naga City

People’s Mall

By Jason B. Neola

BETTER MALL SERVICE. Sen. Bam Aquino, Mayor John Bongat, NCPM Manager Ramon Florendo and Fr. Philip Bersabe lead the ceremonial cutting of ribbon for the renovated fresh fish section of the Naga City People’s Mall.

PHOTO BY JOSE COLLERA



PHOTO BY JASON B. NEOLA


IF I were to rate– in a scale of 1 to 10-- the way the Bicol Central Station (formerly Naga

Central Bus Terminal) is being run today, I won’t hesitate to give it an eleven or 12.”

This was the instant remark volunteered by jeepney driver Faustino Teoxon, chairman of a transport group plying the Del Rosario-Concepcion route here in Naga City. He emphasized, however, that the rating is not solely about the physical developments that he sees but more on the “determination and zeal shown by the city government to improve the facility’s operations.”

The local bus terminal had been under the management for more than a decade by a private corporation as operator until 2013 when the private operator’s franchise expired and the City Government of Naga decided to take over its administration and operation, and immediately undertook facility repairs, repainting, beautification, and more importantly, operational innovations and reforms.

The “face-lifting” and the improvements introduced were anchored on a 4-pronged mission of the Central Bus Terminal Transition Team-Technical Working Group (CBTTT-TWG) which is headed by City Budget Officer Frank M. Mendoza, which called for the:

• promotion of the riding public’s safety and convenience;

• projection of the positive image of the city;

• provision of livelihood opportunities to Nagueños, and;

• generation of more economic enterprise revenues.

The city government used to receive an annual net revenue of P15-M for its lease agreement with the previous terminal operator. This amount, however, proved to be lower by more than 50% when compared to the gross income of P32-M it obtained on the first year that the terminal was being managed and operated by the city government under Budget Officer Mendoza.

Mendoza said this year’s revenue is expected to increase in 2015 and in the following years, considering the reforms and initiatives being adopted under the guidance of Mayor John G. Bongat.

Teoxon said that aside from the physical developments, strict implementation of new house rules and policies were also observed inside the facility to ensure more convenience, safety and security to the public.

Teresa Bermudo, a stallholder at the Bicol Central Station, said what impresses her most is the security-conscious city hall workers and Public Safety Office (PSO) personnel assigned at the terminal who are working on shifts for a round-the-clock security cover that significantly reduced to the minimum incidents of theft in the premises.

“Before, I cannot just leave my place even for a brief period without my helper taking over, else my store would be attacked by shoplifters and thieves. But now, I can take a nap and relax even during nighttime without

By Jason B. Neola


Doing more than expected

Bicol Central Station:


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closing my store and worrying that something may be lost when I wake up.”

The city government, during the first quarter that it took over the bus terminal’s operation, had also taken the effort of organizing all stallholders into a multipurpose cooperative in the hope that it could help them more through other benefits and windows for loans and financial assistance that they themselves would help establish as micro-entrepreneurs.

Unlike in the past, the stallholders are no longer compelled to purchase beverages and soft-drinks from a supplier favored by the former terminal operator. Stallholders are free to buy supplies and services according to their own choice, breaking off the monopoly that had hounded the purchasing and supply delivery transactions within the terminal for over a decade.

“Mayor Bongat also forwarded the idea of giving the stallholders an across-the-board decrease of 10% from their annual stall rental,” Mendoza disclosed.

Upon Mayor Bongat’s instructions, peddlers and roving vendors were also organized, allowing them to have more voice in airing their concerns to the city managers and officials concerned.

Mendoza further disclosed that the old practice of directing vendors to conduct periodic clean-up operations within the terminal and its perimeter has been discontinued and the P10 fee collected from them daily in plying their trade was lowered to a minimal P5.00.

Jun Lausingco, bus dispatcher, volunteered the following observation: The city government, as terminal operator, has come up with an effective policy on the utilization of parking spaces for buses wherein each company is given a designated place to park its buses. The idea provides a situation that is totally different from what was happening in previous years when buses have to wrestle against each other to secure parking spaces.

The policy also cleared the problem on the distribution of parking spaces between Manila-bound buses and the buses operating within the province or the region, thereby making the utilization of spaces inside the terminal more organized. Aside from that, the CBTTT-TWG also implements a policy that prohibits taxis and other private vehicles from entering the terminal’s interior bay, thereby allowing bus drivers to maneuver their units without unnecessary obstructions.

Lausingco also thanked the city hall personnel assigned in the terminal for their readiness to help resolve complaints against rowdy passengers who have problems with any of the bus companies. He said that in most cases the incidents turn into heated arguments if not acted upon immediately.

Dan Sare, stallholder, has this to say: “I observe the city’s bus terminal now to be more customer-friendly than before; we no longer feel irritated when we have to pay P5.00 every time that we have to use the comfort rooms because now everybody can use it anytime for free with maintenance personnel assigned to keep it clean and orderly.”

Sare, like many others, are magnanimous in commending Mayor Bongat for the terminal’s peace and order situation, clean surroundings, well-lighted areas and strict implementation of policies pertaining to the operations of Manila-bound provincial buses.

Sare said if there’s one thing that the city government has to improve on in the terminal, it is the upgrading of the Internet connections to the satisfaction of stallholders and waiting passengers, especially entrepreneurs and students who can’t live without their computers and other IT gadgets. “May the city government find time to improve the Internet connectivity and coverage para kumpleto na talaga ang improvements,” he said.

Editor’s Note: By the time this magazine comes out, the BCS is expected to be wifi-ready, Mendoza assured.


MAYOR BONGAT SPEAKS AT

RENEWABLE ENERGY CONFERENCE IN USA

W ITH no cost to the government, City Mayor John G. Bongat during the last quarter of the year attended

at least three important conferences and workshops abroad that tackled latest trends and technologies in renewable energy on one hand and workable measures that aim to mainstream migration and development on the other.

Last October 12-14, 2014, Mayor Bongat went to the United States to address the Tennessee Renewable Energy Economic Development Council (TREEDC) International Renewable Energy Conference at Tennessee Tech University.

By Jason B. Neola &Arvy Noleal Osma

MAYOR BONGAT: The reason WHY I CAN RELATE MUCH to the Tennessee Technical University? Because it is the Home of the GOLDEN EAGLES! IT’S ACTUALLY a combination of my being a GOLDEN Knight (Ateneo de Naga HS where I graduated in 1981) and my being a Blue EAGLE (Ateneo de Manila, AB Pol. Sci. 1985).

The 3-day conference featured renewable energy technologies, as well as opportunities and best practices regarding alternative energies before international members of the TREEDC.

Mayor Bongat’s participation has been specifically identified by the council for his keen interest and role as local chief executive in the advancement of renewable energy in

and leads dialogue on Filipino migration concerns

in Qatar and Italy


PART OF THE MAYOR’S SKED was meeting with successful Filipino-American businesswoman Ann C. Seisa at her residence along classy Fountain Avenue in LA, to explore the possibility of her company’s (Solexar Energy Int’l) investing in solar energy generation in Naga.

UNITED NAGUEÑOS. Naga City Mayor John Bongat and local media executive Fred Perdon (5th and 4th from right, both seated) pose with fellow Nagueños in California, USA who welcomed them to a fellowship night. Among those in the photo are hosts Zeny Sabocor, father and son Hernito and Butch San Jose, Norman Avengoza, Aida Valenciano Asuncion, and Eleanor Martires.

the Bicol region which has helped TREEDC grow its International Exchange Programs in the Philippines.

Bongat’s talk was preceded by a TREEDC Overview and Report on Accomplishments and Philippine Partnerships on renewable energy delivered by the University of Tennessee MTAS/TREEDC Director Warren Nevad and TREEDC International Affairs Director Doug Jackson.

Mayor Bongat is the only local executive from the Philippines to have been invited to the conference. With him were six university presidents from Maritime Academy of Asia and the Pacific, University of Pasig City, Technological University of the Philippines, Philippine Normal University, Polytechnic University of the Philippines, and the Central Bicol State University of Agriculture based in Pili,

Camarines Sur. He was accompanied by Dir. Fred Perdon of the Metro Naga Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

On November 26, also this year, Mayor Bongat left for Doha, Qatar to attend a forum in preparation for the forthcoming Third Global Summit of Filipinos in Diaspora, February 2015 in Manila, and the Regional Summit of


In the BOARD ROOM of the

Tennessee Tech University.

Filipinos in the Middle East in 2016.From Doha, where an Ugnayan

Series kicked off for Filipino overseas workers on November 28, Mayor Bongat proceeded to Rome, Italy from November 30 to December 2, 2014 where he addressed a similar series of consultation meetings with the Filipino communities.

In both cities, Bongat was the resource speaker on the topic, “The Transformative Value of Development Assistance to the Local Economy.” In both occasions, the city mayor made a 15-minute

presentation on the initiatives of the Bicol Region and the City of Naga in mobilizing resource (financial and social remittances) of Filipino migrants towards development under the UNDP and EU-supported Joint Migration and Development Initiative (JMDI) Phase II Program.

JMDI II is a 3-year project that started in 2012 aimed at maximizing the potential of migration for local development through the delivery of targeted support to LGUs and private groups, with Naga as anchor LGU under the program, “Mainstreaming Migration and Development of Local Authorities in the Bicol Region.”

The Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO), headed by Secretary Imelda Nicolas, which extended the invitation to Bongat, said that CFO is taking initial steps to gather Filipino associations and groups in the Middle East and Italy through a series of fora and consultation meetings dubbed as the “Ugnayan Series.”

Nicolas said the Ugnayan presents an opportunity for CFO and its partners to reach out to Filipinos in various regions of the world to discuss means of cooperation for diaspora engagement.

“More importantly, we aim to strengthen services for migrants and to help build a strong network among Filipino community organizations, thus empowering them to actively engage in national development efforts with special emphasis towards enterprise,” she explained.

The fora seek to encourage and mobilize Filipino associations to support entrepreneurial activities in the local communities, while at the same time provide them with tools via the Peso Sense Program: The Philippine Financial Freedom Campaign Program. It also aims to enhance personal strategies, skills and knowledge in attaining financial empowerment.

Earlier on November 3-7, City Planning Officer Wilfredo B. Prilles was in Milan, Italy where he was one of the presentors in the 2014 International Metropolis Conference on Migration.

The workshop sought to promote practices and approaches to migration and development established between territories of origin and destination. The objective is to include migration in local development planning and establish strategic partnerships and exchanges between sending and receiving territories or communities.


“ONCE a Fi l ipino, ALWAYS a Fi l ipino! A resounding message from our Overseas Fi l ipinos in Qatar! Thus, our city advocacy sol ic it ing their support for our shortl isted priority programs, including our onl ine/mobile faci l ity for payment of realty taxes, was received by them with open arms.” Mayor John G. Bongat in Doha, Qatar

Overlooking the CONCRETE JUNGLE of DOHA, from the veranda of Mayor John Bongat’s hotel room. Qatar is host to 342,000 OFWs (roughly 20% of the country’s total population of 1.9m as of 2011), the third highest in the Middle East. The Mayor and City Planning Officer Wilfredo B. Prilles Jr., spoke at the Philippine Doha Center before a Filipino audience, who are primarily living and working in Qatar, to promote migration programs, particularly on how local governments can help them and their families back home or how they can help local governments or their respective hometowns. Both Mayor Bongat and Mr. Prilles intoduced to these unsung heroes of modern times Naga’s new project, funded by EU and the Swiss government thru UNDP in collaboration with the CFO, regarding “online/mobile tax payment” and the so called “diaspora philanthropy” and “diaspora investment” projects.

QATARQ

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MEDIA INTERVIEW. The Naga City Mayor is being interviewed by NET 25 Italy during a break at the meeting with Overseas Filipinos in Rome where the pioneering project of Naga on mainstreaming migration in local development was showcased as a model and best practice worth emulating and replicating by other LGUs to better serve the needs and concerns of their fellow Filipinos working abroad.

OVERSEAS Filipinos in Rome eagerly gather to listen to Naga City Mayor John Bongat on what steps their goverment at home is taking to promote and protect their and their families’ welfare.

MAYOR BONGAT with Rome Consul General Leola C. Lora-Santos discussing Philippine Embassy’s role in engaging Overseas Filipinos in local development. Also in the picture are Wilfredo B. Prilles Jr. and CFO officials, Dir. Regina Galias and Senior Emigrant Officer Nico Herrera.

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Last Nov. 22, 2014, Nierva was again given an award and took the Best Book Translated for his “Doros asin mga Anghel (Air and Angels)” which is a collection of Bikol translated poems of John Donne, the 17th century English poet whose immortal lines include “no one is an island” and “for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for thee.”

Donne’s poems that Nierva translated were canonical works and sonnets which reflected the

human passion, both the divine and profane, during the period of exploration and after the Renaissance.

“The true test of language is how its writers enable it to bear the burdens of meaning across time, geography, and states of being. John Donne and his contemporary William Shakespeare made English do just that. Now, Nierva has put it upon himself to make the Bikol language bear the burdens of meaning of John Donne’s English,“

F ive books by Bicol authors romped away with awards in different categories, aside from the books that

made it to the finalists’ list.With works and translations

in Bikol, Filipino, and English, five books by Bicol authors were given the Naitonal Book Award for Best Anthology in Bikol, Best Book of Poetry in Filipino, Best Book of Poetry in Bikol, Best Translated Book, and Juan C. Laya Prize for Best Novel in a Foreign Language.

The book awards to Bicol authors came seven years after the National Book Development Board (NBDB) and the Manila Critics Circle (MCC) cited in 2007 Bicol author Victor Dennis T. Nierva’s “Antisipasyon” for the National Book Award for Poetry.

Every year, NBDB and MCC bestow recognition to books published the previous year for their quality and content, and this year they gave away 21 awards, including the Publisher of the Year award.

“Last year’s best books included for the first time categories in Bikol. Thus, the bounty for Bikol writers. We are quite happy that the national literary scene recognizes the renaissance of Bikol literature happening in Bicol. We should be quite proud of this,” according to Abdon M. Balde, Jr., a National Book Award (NBA) recipient and one of the judges.

33rd NATIONALBOOK AWARDS

A har ve s t o f award-w inn i ng book s byB i co l wr i t e r s


Marne L. Kilates, poet, translator, and another national book judge, stressed.

Kilates said Donne is no ordinary poet whose words and passion are always seeking both the delicate cores and fringes of the sensual and mystical, of worldly and God-knowledge, where the sacred may not be shamed by the profane, and the profane trembles as it becomes sacred.

“So does the Bikol language pass between the domains of faith and the flesh, and between the maps of Bikol and English, in the messengerial task of Nierva’s translations,” he said.

Kristian Sendon Cordero’s “Canticos: Apat na Boses (Canticles: Four Voices)” was awarded the Best Book of Poetry in Bikol and “Labi (Lips)” got the Best Book of Poetry in Filipino.

Cordero, who had been recipient of Palanca awards for his poems and fiction and a one-time filmmaker, wrote the

poems in these two award-winning collections since 2006 with the common themes of mourning, of death, of violence.

“In the two collections, I tried to re-learn, re-write, and re-read a lot of folk songs, folk tales, novenas, liturgical hymns, parables, biblical stories, and tried to weave them altogether to write poetry that I would like to bear witness, to stand as strong defiance against the burden of forgetting, which is my way of singing, a way of trying to reckon with the personal and the political, for the poet must continuously strive and live a life that is filled with ardor and hope,” Cordero said.

Kilates sees Cordero’s “Canticos: Apat na Boses” as “not is it ‘just’ writing poetry but exploring the lesser known territories of poetic composition.”

“With the characteristic opulence of substance and unmistakable sound, Cordero is breaking sacred ground here with the audacious use of the ‘profane’

in poetry that is unfettered by, or almost naked woth the extremes of form – the revealing and revelation of bone and structure, or the strictures that in the end liberate meaning,” Kilates says.

Cordero’s translation of Rainier Maria Rilke’s selected poems entitled “Minatubod Ako sa Diklom (I Have Faith in Darkness)” was also a finalist in the category Best Book Translated, which Nierva won.

“Haging: Mga Osipon (Buzz: The Sories),” edited by Paz Verdades M. Santos and H. Francisco V. Penones Jr. was awarded Best Anthology in Bikol.

Santos said they almost missed to submit their entry in last year’s National Book Awards because it was four days before the deadline that she read in the post that there was a Bikol category.

She added the Bikol category was the recognition of the continuous production of books from Bicol for the past seven years, and last year it was Ilocano books that were recognized.

Merlinda C. Bobis, who hails from Albay, won the Juan C. Laya Prize for Best Novel in a Foreign Language for her novel “Fish-Hair Woman” while Naga-born writer Maryanne Moll’s “Married Women: Short Stories” was finalist in Cirilo F. Bautista for Best Book of Short Fiction in English. Also, another Bicol author, Fr. Wilmer Joseph S. Tria’s translation of Kahlil Gibran’s “The Prophet” was finalist in Best Book Translated. - Bicol Mail


T o say that Nick Joaquin is my idol may well be considered as an understatement.

Ever since I read his Prose and Poems almost half a century ago, I have been virtually worshipping him. For years, I even used a stubby Grade I pencil as a writing instrument and quaffed beer straight from the bottle – until I became a hypertensive. Still, up to now, I can’t write a single phrase which can approximate my idol’s inimitable style.

Writing in a borrowed language is not exactly a picnic. How frustrating is it to scrounge for words while at the same time insuring the integrity of grammar and spelling, among others. One is not even sure if, at this stage, a rule on syntax has been breached.

Yet, Nicomedes Marquez Joaquin (Nick Joaquin’s full name) managed to transcend all these limitations, using the English

language as if it were his own and infusing it with originality, vigor, lushness, urgency, and a streak of mysticism without losing touch of his native roots. Fellow National Artist for Literature F. Sionil Jose considers him as the greatest Filipino writer-- a compliment which must end all the debates and speculations, coming as it does from another giant in Philippine literature in English.

Indeed, no other Filipino literary figure can command as much respect and awe from critics and admirers alike as Nick Joaquin, also known as Quijano de Manila. Unmatched in his mastery of the English language, Joaquin straddled various literary genres– poetry, essay, short story, biography, novel, drama– and invariably emerged triumphant. He also dabbled in journalism and succeeded in elevating the prosaic form of newspaper reportage into an art.

Joaquin freely mingled with his fellow artists and the common people, particularly the students with whom he selflessly shared precious pointers on his craft. Unfortunately, at the end of his life, only a select few knew who Nicomedes Marquez Joaquin really was– as a person, as a doting relative, as a friend, and as an artist of the first order.

REDISCOVERING

NICK JOAQUIN{The author, along with

then Naga City First Lady and now Camarines Sur (3rd District) Representative Maria Leonor Gerona Robredo, established the program “Libro Para Sa Futuro” (Books for the Future) aimed at promoting reading as a tool for self-improvement and for securing the very future of the city.}

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Among them was his oldest nephew, Tony Joaquin, who did the right thing by coming up with a book with a title NICK: A portrait of the Artist Nick Joaquin– obviously a take on the great writer’s famous elegy in three acts.

Co-written by Gloria Kisladi, the book does not pretend to be the definitive biography of Nick Joaquin. According to Tony Joaquin himself, “what the clan wanted in this life story of Tito Onching is the perspective of Nicomedes Marquez Joaquin’s story ‘from within,’ one that can bring out the metamorphosis of the familiar Onching from the shy, exclusive bookworm to Nick Joaquin”. So here goes the book’s synopsis– or what passes for it.

Nicomedes Marquez Joaquin was the fifth of the 10 children of Leocadio Joaquin and Salome Marquez. His father, a colonel in the Philippine Revolutionary Forces, was a highly successful lawyer specializing in land disputes while his mother was an erstwhile teacher. They all lived in relative comfort in a big house built on the then genteel and upper-middle class district of Paco.

Even as a child, Joaquin or “Onching,” as all the members

of the clan fondly called him, was already a voracious reader, preferring to stay in his father’s small library at home rather than engaging in the usual childhood games. At the age of 8, he was gifted by his father with a National Library card, thus opening a whole new world for the budding writer. So enamored was he with the National Library that he decided to drop out altogether from Mapa High School just when he was about to commence his senior year there.

Leocadio’s death in 1937 shattered the almost idyllic set-up in the Joaquin household although by that time, Onching was already living with his eldest brother Ping and sister-in-law Sarah (who would also become a great playwright and stage director).

It turned out that the Joaquin patriarch heavily invested in highly speculative oil exploration deals and ended up as a veritable pauper. His wife Salome did try her best to keep the large Joaquin brood together. But then, another disaster struck— the Second World War.

By dint of hard work and his brother Ping’s connections, Onching and his siblings managed to survive the war years. Ironically, the liberation of Manila– with the rampaging

United States forces pitted against the suicidal Japanese troops– became the darkest moment of his life, leading as it did to the destruction of his beloved Intramuros, the Manila of his “affections,” every nook and cranny of which he had mapped out in his mind. Viewing the rubbles a few weeks later, Nick Joaquin could only let out “a deep, loud groan” and finding a shattered slab, “sat down on it, quiet now, while tears continue to course down his cheek.” His dear Intramuros and the indescribable pain its destruction brought to his innermost being would soon be immortalized in his literary and journalistic masterpieces.

The book also uncovers hitherto hidden facets of Joaquin’s life: his religiosity (he attended Mass and received holy Communion almost every day), his generosity, his shyness despite the awards and accolades (he drank beer to loosen up his tongue and interact with people), his sense of justice and fairness, his compassion, and his humility. He entered St. Albert’s Monastery in Hong Kong and barely a year later, decided that “for as long as he felt it was his mission to write about the past, he was convinced his true vocation was to do just that.”

The decision proved to be providential because Nick Joaquin did not only write about the past but also proceeded to chronicle the present and divine the future: “Listen to me. By your dust, and by the dust of all the generations, I promise to continue, I promise to preserve! ....and this dear city of our affections shall rise again– if only in my song. To remember and to sing: that is my vocation...” For someone constantly struggling with the English language, how he wishes, as wryly noted by a critic, that he could have written such Joaquinesque lines– and life, indeed, would be a bit bearable.

REDISCOVERING

NICK JOAQUINBy Gabriel Hidalgo Bordado jr.

FORMER CITY VICE MAYOR


Photo by: Metrobank Foundation Inc.

By Jason B. Neola

This Ford Foundation scholar is Metrobank 2014 Outstanding Teacher of the Philippines

A Nagueña that we can be proud of

A NOTHER proud Nagueña is one of the 10 winners in the nationwide 2014 Metrobank’s

Search for Outstanding Teachers (SOT).

She is Anna Bella France Abellera, a Grade V classroom teacher at the Naga Central School I.

Belle’s inspiring community service and involvement, impressive credentials in academics, character, and remarkable professional accomplishments propelled her to become one of the recipients of the coveted award– the Metrobank Outstanding Teacher of the Philippines.

The Search for Outstanding Teachers promotes a culture of excellence in education by recognizing the country’s best mentors who can be upheld as models not only for educators but for other community members as well. More than 300 exemplary elementary, high school, and college teachers from all over the country have so far been awarded since its launching in 1985.

Belle comes from humble beginnings. At an early age of 13 years, she was diagnosed to have brain motor seizures which she had miraculously hurdled that made her carry on her dream of becoming a school teacher someday.

She said the illness made her introspective and trusting of God, which made her only stronger to go beyond life’s many bumps and obstacles.

“I may have this illness for another purpose. If this is so, I gladly embrace this kind of life given to me. I realize, He has a purpose for me,” she said without regret in her heart.

She spent her high school and college days in a Catholic school where she was immersed in many outreach programs. “The word of God has been my strength and I live each day-- always having constancy to His promises. My hope never dwindled a bit that the seizures would stop so I can finally land a teaching job,” she said.


“TOUCHING the lives of children with my genuine service.” The teacher happily spends time to grow and learn with her pupils.

“THE TEACHING PROFESSION is love in the guise of work. There may be too many challenges in it but they are coupled with opportunities that give joy as long as there is faith and hard work.” In photo are Teacher Anne’s proud students whom their school aptly describes as achievers, like their teacher. JBN

A brilliant student that she was, Belle obtained her degree for Master of Arts in Education majoring in Reading Education from Ateneo de Manila University as a Ford Foundation scholar. After a year, Belle flew to New York, USA to enroll in an intensive course in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) and Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) and had volunteer teaching stints with foreign professionals employed in the United States.

Call it a product of divine intervention or by her diligence to educate herself about the nature of her illness, her efforts enabled her to control her seizures and Belle after her college graduation seldom experienced the same.

She also had trainings and seminars and cultural immersions in Asian countries like Singapore, Malaysia, Macau, Hong Kong and Indonesia, which further improved her competency and capability as a teacher. Her diligence and courage (as she travelled alone despite her illness) had brought her to succeed in many endeavors.

Indeed, this outstanding educator from Naga City serves as an epitome of what today’s educators should be. The qualities of

compassion, dedication, resourcefulness, and dedication are observed in the way she conducts her day-to-day duties in school.

Reading education is also one area that Ms. Abellera is strongly focusing on. She, with three more teachers from Naga Central School I, developed an award-winning reading

program entitled “LEAP (Love for Extensive Academic Progress through Reading) which aims to increase the number of so-called “independent readers” and graduate from the “frustration and instructional levels”. The program registered a significant result such that reading habits of students have improved, the number of independent readers has


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increased while proficiency in the English subject was upgraded to 9.73%. The program was recognized by the Department of Education and Sa Aklat Sisikat Foundation and was awarded a cash prize of Php 100,000 that funded the production of reading materials for students’ reading program.

Ms. Abellera is also a sought-after speaker, facilitator, and demonstration teacher on Reading Education Training Program (RETP) for Grades 1-6 teachers in the DepEd Division of Naga City. Her

dedication does not only transpire within the four-corners of the classroom as she has also been active in various civic activities in the community.

Among those she has spearheaded include— book donation drives in partnership with the Missionaries of the Poor and the Compassionate Franciscan Sisters, home reading programs for students and their parents, and annual gift-giving and feeding.

“Since I was a child, I wanted all my endeavors to be directed in the

service of humanity. This is why I wanted to become a teacher. The teacher’s life had somewhat intoxicated me,” says the 41-year-old outstanding teacher.

“I am glad that I chose to become a teacher and remained steadfast in spite the illness that I had to confront in my younger years. I realized that it was not an accident. It was a gift wrapped in simple tidings. It made me realize that we all have gifts. Discovering our strength and finding our niche is just something

that we all have to work for,” she concluded.

During the tenure of then City Mayor Jesse M. Robredo, he co-authored and edited the English lesson plans and workbooks published by the city government of Naga thru the Naga City School Board (NCSB) for all public elementary school teachers and students under the Naga City Division Office of the Department of Education.

The production of this compilation of workbooks and lesson plans addresses equity in instruction, ensuring that it caters to all levels of learners while allowing teachers to devote more time in preparing instructional materials and in improving teaching-learning situations.

The Ford Foundation extended the grant to fund the development and production of the compendium (pre-printed lesson plans and workbooks) under the city’s local education reform program. “Teaching is akin to a calling. It is an opportunity to reach out to more people in need. Stepping out of the classroom and applying the same dreams I had with my own students simply gives unparalleled gratification,” says Abellera.

The prestigious Search for Outstanding Teachers (SOT) is being conducted annually by the Metrobank Foundation with nominees coming from various public and private elementary, secondary and tertiary schools across the country.


Bongat delivers report

on state of our

children By Jason B. Neola

ENDING the Children’s Month of October with

his State of Our Children Report to highlight the administration’s impressive achievements for the welfare of children, City Mayor John G. Bongat said the city government has been implementing measures that make the “Maogmang Lugar” a favorite Lakbay-Aral destination when it comes to best practices on child welfare and protection.

Delivering his speech at the Naga City People’s Hall last Friday, October 31, the city mayor assured the children and child-friendly sectors dominating the large crowd that the city government will continue to pass and implement measures that will “allow every child in the city to feel secured and loved.”

Bongat delivers report

on state of our

children

He also lauded the Sangguniang Panlungsod for enacting an ordinance that encourages the children’s sector to send a representative (below 18 years of age) to the Naga City Council for the Welfare and

2014 STATE OF OUR CHILDREN REPORT Revolving around the theme, “Uya kaming Kaakian, Suruga Kami, Tabangi Kami,” Mayor John Bongat delivered this year’s State of Our Children Report. He pointed out that for Naga to be become “An Maogmang Lugar” for every child, the city government must exert all efforts to afford them with the opportunity to feel secured and loved.


FEELING SECURE

HEALTH AND NUTRITION INTERVENTIONS

NUTRITIONAL STATUS, PRE-SCHOOL

• THE CITY HAS MADE SUBSTANTIAL PROGRESS IN ADDRESSING MALNUTRITION PARTICULARLY AMONG PRE-SCHOOLERS.

• AROUND 9 OUT OF 10 HAVE ATTAINED NORMAL NUTRITIONAL STATUS, AS COMPARED TO 3 DECADES AGO.

94.5% 95.0%

20092007

94.7%

2010

94.9%

2011

95%

2012

97.2%

2013

Protection of Children. Bongat also

underscored the twin executive orders he issued in support of the mission and vision of achieving for children prompt health care and nutrition and protection from all forms of neglect and abuse which were characterized under the “feel secure” and “feel loved” advocacies of the city government. 1. Prompt health care and nutrition intervention. Even before the birth of the child, the city government sees to it that this objective shall be fulfilled. Bongat issued an executive order instructing the Office of the Civil Registrar to submit a copy of all marriage certificates to the City Population and Nutrition Office to ensure that parenting seminar should be given to couples immediately after marriage. It is only the city government of Naga which observes

such noble measure in the entire country.2. Protection from all forms of neglect and abuse. The city is giving equal access to quality education to all children regardless their economic status. Bongat also issued an executive order that provides for children to be actually represented in the Naga City Council for the Welfare and Protection of Children. In the entire Philippines, it is only the City Government of Naga that implements this measure.

Under the “Feel Secure” intervention, the children are guided by responsible persons individuals who are committed and mandated to provide the children of their basic needs while under the “Feel Loved” intervention, the city government goes out of its way to make children feel that they are loved not by their own families alone but by the

community as well. The mayor further

disclosed that the city government has also been adjudged as “acknowledged center of excellence in child-friendly programs and advocacies” by the national government and continues to be a role model for other LGUs throughout the country.

The recognition was given when Naga City topped the implementation of programs and projects under the 4 areas of child-oriented governance practices: health and nutrition, child protection and welfare, education (academic and sports development), and inclusivity wherein children are given the privilege to participate in decision-making by those in the city government and private sectors in coming up with projects and programs that promote children’s welfare and protection.


A DISABILITY-INCLUSIVE development program geared towards making the lives of persons with disability (PWDs) easier capped the 2-day 1st Regional PWD Summit held at Eurotel in November.

With focus on inclusive Disaster Risk Reduction and Management (DRRM), participants representing various PWD and Older Person Organizations attended and learned from lectures and added insights on the various laws regarding their rights, specifically practical strategy in implementing the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

This is also contained in the Incheon (Korea) Strategy to “Make the Right Real” for Persons with Disabilities in Asia and the Pacific, particularly citing Goal 7 which focuses on DRRM. It was anchored on the premise that PWDs belong to those vulnerable groups with a higher risk of being injured and neglected during the occurrence of natural calamities and similar catastrophies.

Pursuant to this, agencies with related work on DRRM were invited to share their experiences and programs during the summit. Naga City DRRM Officer Ernesto T. Elcamel was one of the invited resource speakers during the plenary session with the PWDs and older persons. The discussion delved on the Incheon Strategy which aims to make available disability-inclusive disaster reduction plans for the said sectors.

City Mayor John G. Bongat, during his interaction with the group, expressed his full support to the idea of working together to solidify the Region V PWD Federation and vowed to pursue mechanisms that will ensure the implementation of programs and services for the PWDs.

Naga hosts 1st Regional PWD Summit

“The city government of Naga has its full support and backing to all the programs for the PWDs. We have the PDAO office that will cater to their needs and we are slowly renovating our facilities inside the city hall for greater ease and comfort of our PWDs and older persons. Rest assured that the city will continue with these efforts until we become compliant to the accessibility law for this sector,” Bongat stated.

National Council on Disability Affairs (NCDA) Technical Cooperation Division Chief Nelia R. De Jesus lauded the city’s untiring effort in pushing for laws and programs that will lift the PWD and Older Persons sector as one of the priorities.

“Naga is the first LGU to hold the first federation election and we are happy that they already have an organized PWD sector here and are really pushing for the compliance of the laws for our PWDs and older persons. Naga has already reached milestones when it comes to initiatives concerning this sector and this has inspired and motivated the federation to pursue other programs that will lift their way of life towards a better society,” she added. with report from PIA5/CamSur

By Jason B. Neola

ANOTHER MILESTONE. City Mayor John G. Bongat (center, last row) poses with the first set of officers of the newly-organized Bicol Federation of Persons with Disability headed by its newly-elected president, Engr. Jovencio Claveria of Naga City. The city, known for its best practices, continues to share its governance initiatives to empower PWDs throughout the region.

Ph

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Making the best better, this is the commitment of the City Government

of Naga on introducing new mechanisms and streamlining old ones. Even belonging to the Hall of Fame of the Presidential Award for Child-Friendly Municipalities and Cities, the city government does not rest on its laurels and continues to strive harder to protect and promote the rights of children. Another milestone in our programs for children is the enactment of Ordinance No. 2014-068 authored by City Councilor Elmer S. Baldemoro.

Enacted last November 4, 2014 during the 65th Regular Session of the Sangguniang Panlungsod, Ordinance No. 2014-068 institutionalizes the Naga City Council for the Welfare and Protection of Children (NCCWPC) as the policy-making and planning body of the City Government of Naga on programs and activities promoting the welfare of children and protecting their rights. NCCWPC shall also serve as the evaluator of all programs, projects and policies affecting the Nagueño children.

NCCWPC was originally created, through Mayor John G. Bongat’s Executive Order No. 2014-003, as a special body tasked to plan and design a comprehensive program focused on advancing the interest of young Nagueños.

The body’s composition was then widened through issuance of Executive Order Nos. 2014-014-A and 2014-014-B. Executive Order No. 2014-014-B provides that NCCWPC shall be chaired by the City Mayor, co-chaired by the Chairperson of the SP Committee on Children, and comprised by 38 members composed primarily of city department heads, presidents of non-government organizations and chiefs-of-offices of national government agencies and relevant courts stationed in Naga. Said council shall meet once every two months, though the chairperson or

Making the best better for our children

co-chairperson of the NCCWPC may call for a special meeting as s/he may deem necessary.

To aid the NCCWPC and to implement the programs and policies it conceptualized, Ordinance No. 2014-068 also created the Children’s Affairs Office (CAO). Composed of an Executive Director and such number of employees that may be appointed by the Local Chief Executive, the CAO which is under the Office of the City Mayor, shall serve as the secretariat and technical arm of the said council.For a start-up, Ordinance No. 2014-068 allocates not less than One Million Three Hundred Thousand Pesos (P1,300,000.00), against the Naga City Children’s Fund (Kaakian Fund). This means that necessary initial arrangements for setting up the CAO may now be done. Since budget hearings have been completed, the council and the CAO can now effectively implement in 2015 the program budget approved by theSangguniang Panlungsod.

As it is always said, the children are the new stewards and leaders of our society. The protection of their rights and promotion of their welfare are vital in ensuring the sustainable progress of our Maogmang Lugar. Given an office and a council dedicated to such tasks, we can expect that the needs of young Nagueños will be well attended to.

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BaldemoroC I T Y C O U N C I L O R

R evenues are said to be the lifeblood of the government. As

such, for a government to effectively and responsively perform its duties, said lifeblood should be allocated to the whole government system as efficiently and soundly as possible. Delays in its distribution will hinder performance, while misappropriation can damage the integrity of the government body.

Provided the above, the 11th Sangguniang Panlungsod of Naga stresses the vital role of enacting well-timed and well-planned appropriation ordinances in the barangay. In the recently launched book of Vice Mayor Nelson S. Legacion, entitled Barangay Legislation and Good Governance, one chapter was devoted on annual barangay budget to elucidate the guidelines on passage of the same, clarify some issues therein and, ultimately, help the barangay officials proficiently exercise their “power of the purse.”

To further advance the goal of having the barangay budget approved and reviewed on time, as well as making it a true instrument for poverty alleviation and inclusive socio-economic development, the 11th Sangguniang Panlungsod of Naga, in partnership with the Liga ng mga Barangay and Naga City People’s Council, has organized the so-called Barangay Budgeting Seminar. Managed by Councilors Elmer S. Baldemoro and Vidal P. Castillo, the seminar started on November 13 and 14 at the Naga Regent Hotel.

On the first day the role of the punong barangay (PB) in budget preparation was focused on. The highlights were the discussions of DILG Naga City Director Virginia S. Pascual on DILG issuances on barangay budgeting and of City Budget Officer Frank M. Mendoza on the roles of the PB on barangay budgeting. Participants of this event were the 27 PBs in Naga.

On the second day, the forum centered on the technical training of the PBs, barangay kagawad, barangay secretaries, barangay treasurers, and record keepers on budget preparation. City Budget Officer Mendoza underscored the link between planning and budgeting, as well as outlined the different prerequisites in budget preparation. Nicolas C. Motos, Jr., Executive Officer of iServe, also imparted the significance of conducting the Community-Based Monitoring System (CBMS) for gathering baseline data that can serve as basis for focused interventions.

On the other hand, last November 20-22, 28 and 29, the Barangay Budgeting Seminar concentrated on developing

the capabilities of the barangay development councils (BDCs) in preparing the barangay annual budget and barangay development plans. The BDCs are crucial in involving the people in governance processes. No less than the Local Government Code of 1991 empowers them as such.

Rosemarie I. Ciudadano of the City Planning and Development Office and Johann P. dela Rosa of the Naga City People’s Council (NCPC) expounded on the composition, functions, and importance of the BDC. Motos discussed the link between CBMS and barangay development plans, while Mendoza shed light on the responsibilities of the BDCs in the allocation of the economic development fund (EDF) and the barangay disaster risk reduction and management fund (BDRRMF). A workshop, therafther, was facilitated by Renne F. Gumba, Director of the Jesse M. Robredo Governance Institute.

Many may wonder why so much attention is being given to the barangays. The answer is simple— marginalized individuals are at the grass-root level. Enhancing the capacity of the barangays mainstreams distribution of much needed social services which, ultimately, help in trickling down the robust economic growth that Naga and the rest of the Philippines are experiencing.

Barangay Budgeting: The way to efficient

governance

CastilloC I T Y C O U N C I L O R

A n e a g e r P a r t i c i p a n t

MendozaC I T Y B U D G E T O F F I C E R

AbonalC I T Y C O U N C I L O R

PascualD I L G C I T Y D I R E C T O R


Wastewater Management

Ordinance

The City Government of Naga is committed to ensure the universal

accessibility to clean, potable water of Nagueños. Moreover, such a valuable liquid, especially its source, must be guaranteed to remain fresh, safe, and uncontaminated.

With this, the 11th Sangguniang Panlungsod of Naga decided to enact Ordinance No. 2014-076, otherwise known as The Wastewater Management Ordinance of Naga City. It is authored by Councilor Joaquin F. Perez and co-authored by Councilor Mila Raquid-Arroyo. Passed on December 2, 2014, during the 69th Regular Session, Ordinance No. 2014-076 establishes a wastewater management system in Naga and sets guidelines for partnership with the private sector.

The aforementioned ordinance mandates that all houses/buildings in the city should have an approved excreta disposal system for the treatment of domestic sewage. Septic tanks are required to be desludged when the solids fill 50% of the

tank volume or at least once every five (5) years, whichever comes first.

As prescribed in Section 9 of the ordinance, desludging contractor/s should first secure an Environmental Sanitation Certificate from the Department of Health (DOH) and prepare an operations and maintenance plan to make certain that proper health and safety procedures are followed. They shall also prepare a desludging schedule and distribute it to the barangays for proper coordination. Each time a septic tank is desludged, a manifest form shall be filled out and signed by the desludger and septic tank owner. If wastewater of a particular building, however, contains substances of a commercial nature, such as oil or fuel residue, metals or high volumes of fats and grease, Section 12 of the ordinance provides that the owner must develop an appropriate pre- treatment program approved by the City Environment and Natural Resources Office (ENRO).

Similarly, Section 13 of the ordinance orders that new buildings for construction should first have sanitary plumbing and

septic tanks which are ready for desludging. Existing buildings and residences are also obliged to repair or upgrade

their septic tanks, so it can be desludged. As to the specifics of the design of the septic tanks, Section 14 of the ordinance echoes the rules set forth in the Implementing Rules and Regulations of Chapter XVII of the Sanitation Code of the Philippines (PD 856).

For those who fail to comply with the provisions of the ordinance, they shall be meted a penalty of P1,000.00 fine for households or, in the case of commercial establishments such as hotels and hospitals, P5,000.00. Business permits of establishments which violated the law shall also be cancelled, upon recommendation by the Wastewater Management Board (WMB). Owners of the buildings may also be imprisoned for not less than one (1) month but no more than one (1) year, at the discretion of the court.

To better implement the provisions of The Wastewater Management Ordinance of Naga City, it creates the WMB which is composed of representatives from the City ENRO, City Health Office, City Treasurer’s Office, Metropolitan Naga Water District (MNWD), City Legal Office, City Engineer’s Office, and City Planning and Development Office (CPDO). It shall set, after proper consultation with the public, the environmental fee for the use of the Septage Treatment Facility, promote the use of the facility, and respond to complaints and suggestions from stakeholders on the wastewater management system of Naga. The City Government will also apply for inclusion in the National Septage and Sewerage Management Program Mila “Miles”

Raquid-ArroyoCITY COUNCILOR

Joaquin F. PerezCITY COUNCILOR

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By Nelson S. LegacionVICE MAYOR

SP Engage: Heightening

youth participation in

governance

Throughout the first year of our term, we have seen the success and

the value of the Sangguniang Panlungsod Student Participation Program (SP-SPP). Launched on November 19, 2013 with only five universities (UNC, AdeNU, USI, NCF and BISCAST) involved, the overwhelming support of the academe made it possible for SP-SPP to expand its coverage to five more academic institutions (WRI, STI, AMA, PCFC and CCDI) and to run for three semesters now. Aimed at educating students on the legislative processes of the city government and to solicit their comments on various development issues, SP-SPP has involved approximately 950 young individuals in our city’s governance.

This representation believes, however, as the proponent of the program, that SP-SPP can do more. The level of participation and engagement of the youth will still be enhanced by allowing the youth to express their sentiments and opinions on the matters being deliberated by the Sangguniang Panlungsod during our regular sessions. City officials and employees do not have the monopoly of knowledge of what is best for Naga and we should always recognize that great ideas for the Naga’s betterment may come at the least expected venue and from the least expected person.

We are glad that the members of the 11th Sangguniang Panlungsod understand the significance of involving the youth. Introduced by this representation and with the co-sponsorship of Councilor Mila Raquid-Arroyo, we passed Resolution No. 2014-500 establishing another mechanism in SP-SPP, dubbed SP Engage. Enacted on December 19, 2014 during our last regular session, SP Engage bestows the youth a chance to speak their mind during the regular session.

To give time to students to get ready, the Committee on

Rules and Privileges prepare and furnish the concerned

professors of the students a preliminary agenda every Thursday

(NSSMP) of the Department of Public Works and Highways to access grants and other incentive schemes stated in Section 26(C) of R.A. 9275.

The City Government of Naga deems The Wastewater Management Ordinance of Naga City as a vital tool to safeguard the development and health of the Nagueños. As declared in the explanatory note of the ordinance, “untreated wastewater affects health by spreading diseases… threatens biodiversity and reduces the quality of life of our people” and, as studies show, leads to the death of 55 Filipinos every day as a result of acquiring water-borne diseases.Thus, the zealous support and full cooperation of the Nagueños in complying with the provisos of the ordinance are appealed to, and as much as possible, the reporting of non-compliance.


G a b r i e l H i d a l g o B o r d a d o J r .

A fter fifteen budget hearings and a legislative-executive

conference, the Committee on Appropriations of the Sangguniang Panlungsod ng Naga finally completed its reports on the proposed 2015 Annual Budget of the Naga City Government totaling P834,689,694.14 – up by 11% over this year’s P751,377,318.00 budget.

Former City Vice Mayor and now First City Councilor Gabriel H. Bordado Jr., Chairman of the Committee on Appropriations, said that the series of budget hearings (which were open to the public in the name of transparency and accountability) started on November 3 and spanned almost two months.

Bordado requested incumbent Vice Mayor Nelson S. Legacion to facilitate the conduct of a conference on December 12 with the City Councilors and the members of the Management Committee (ManCom) in attendance to iron out kinks and thresh out contentious issues vis-à-vis the proposed 2015 budget submitted by Mayor John G. Bongat.

“As in the past year, the budgeting process proved to be quite rigorous and protracted, with each office being required by the Committee on Appropriations to spell out, in no uncertain terms, the impact of its 2015 budgetary allocation on the lives of the Nagueños”, Bordado, who was the Vice Mayor of the revered Mayor Jesse M. Robredo for two consecutive terms, averred.

The budget reports showed that except for the City Planning and Development Office, City Assessor’s Office, Raul S. Roco Library, and the Naga City Hospital, the proposed 2015 budgets of majority of departments and offices in the City Government of Naga are higher compared to their 2014 budgets.

In the series of budget hearings, Bordado was fully backed up by City Councilors Gregorio Re Abonal, Elmer S. Baldemoro, and Cecilia Veluz-De Asis as well as by Dr. Augusto R. Nieves and Punong Barangay Tomas Ramon A. Sanchez, Jr., representatives of the Naga City People’s Council (NCPC) and Liga ng mga Barangay, respectively.

Gabriel Hidalgo Bordado Jr.FORMER CITY VICE MAYOR

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before the slated regular session. Consequently, the teacher meets their students to brief them about the subject matter of the next regular session, choose from the preliminary agenda which topic the students will participate in determine the students who will serve as the primary spokespersons and alternate student-representatives during the regular session, and, prior to the start of the said session, inform the presiding officer of the city council of the students’ names and topic chosen.

Once the topic chosen for SP Engage is being discussed in the plenary during the regular session, the vice mayor, motu proprio, or by a motion of a member of the Sangguniang Panlungsod, shall suspend the rules of procedure to allow the student-participants to express their sentiments and opinions on the topic. The spokespersons are given five minutes to present their preliminary statement on the topic. Afterwards, the members of the Sangguniang may raise questions on the opinion of the student-representatives which the latter should respond to. If a passed resolution or ordinance by the SP has a portion therein that is culled from the opinions or ideas of the student-participants, same legislative measure should include a reference to the students and the schools where they are enrolled in.

The city has become a Maogmang Lugar due to our people’s active participation in governance. The youth, with its dynamism, untainted principles and fresh views on life and governance, can offer to the city innovative means to look and scrutinize an issue, recommendations on mainstreaming government policies and systems and insights on making our legislative measures responsive and relevant to the changing times. With SP Engage, we look forward to further mainstream our government systems and make our city more competitive in these modern times.


G a b r i e l H i d a l g o B o r d a d o J r .

Abonal conveyed that the departments and offices in the city government should earnestly prepare their respective budgets so as to avoid reversions and supplemental budgets which for him are not good budgeting practices.

Budget Officer Francisco M. Mendoza, Human Resource Management Office (HRMO) Acting Chief Huberto I. Ursua, Acting City Treasurer Gregoria Nilda B. Abonal, and City Accountant Paciencia S.J. Tabinas regularly attended the budget hearings.

It may be recalled that in 2013, Mendoza closely worked with the Committee on Appropriations in crafting the rules further strengthening the budget process.

Prior to the holding of the budget hearings with the Committee on Appropriations, Mendoza articulated that the City Budget Office established a schedule when the departments and offices should submit their proposed budgets for consolidation in the 2015 budget of the city.

As mentioned in Mayor Bongat’s letter (addressed to Vice

Mayor Legacion) transmitting the proposed 2015 annual budget, the said budget was established upon two pecuniary resources: the 2015 internally generated revenue, comprised of tax and non-tax revenues and income from economic enterprises and activities, which is anticipated to be P416.768 million, P69.114 million more than last year’s P347.654 million; and external sources largely derived from the internal revenue allotment (IRA) which will be P416.921 million in 2015, a 13% increase from the 367.723-million-peso IRA received in 2014.

“This year’s budget is unlike past budgets which had beginning balances right upon submission to the Sangguniang Panlungsod”, as stated in the letter of the Mayor. This is because according to Mayor Bongat, “at the time the budget was being prepared, there is yet no surplus declared thus no basis for the recognition of a beginning balance”. Supplemental budgets will just be forwarded for any 2014 budget surplus that will be declared.

Aside from a nonexistent beginning balance, the letter also communicated that two other changes were introduced in the budget presentation to comply with a Department of Budget and Management (DBM) regional office ruling. First, “programs and projects and lump sum appropriations under Special Purpose Appropriations which are clearly within the mandate of particular offices or are properly chargeable against offices were transferred to those offices”. Second, “offices operationalized thru executive orders or by virtue of national issuances but with no ordinance creating them were attached to either the City Mayor’s Office or the Office of the City Administrator”.

The 2015 local expenditure program of the Naga City Government was crafted in such a way that it will facilitate inclusive growth in the city and fulfill the H2ELP Ur CiTy development agenda.

By Lira Serrado

Appropriations Committee Wraps Up 2015 Budget Reports


THE City Health Office (CHO) is expecting a 100% compliance with

the vaccination of children under the Garantisadong Pambata (GP) Program of the Department of Health (DOH).

This, after the team tasked to monitor the implementation of the program in the city’s 27 barangays, placed at 96 percent the initial turnout of children who were given each a shot of Vitamin A, anti-measles, antihelmintics, and ferrous sulfate.

The CHO personnel, barangay midwives, and Barangay Health Workers (BHWs) were commended by Mayor John G. Bongat for their dynamism and zeal in handling the campaign that includes house-to-house visitations.

Dr. Vito C. Borja II, City Health Officer, said the immunization campaign is aimed at reducing mortality among children who are aged 59 months to below 4 years old.

Naga City Health Office

expects 100% child

vaccination program

compliance

By Jason B. Neola

The Garantisadong Pambata Week is a biennial program held in the months of April and October. It seeks to reduce childhood illnesses and deaths by promoting positive child care behaviors.

Borja explained that antihelmintics are drugs that expel parasitic worms from the body by either stunning or killing them and without causing significant damage to the host, while Vitamin A plays an important role in vision and bone growth and helps the immune system fight infections. Ferrous sulfate, on the other hand, is an iron supplement.

The program, which was started in 1999, is the DOH’s response to the call of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) to fight child morbidity and mortality.

GP is being implemented in all health centers, municipal health offices, barangay health stations, and government hospitals throughout the country.


By Juan Escandor Jr.

D ENGUE cases in this city have notably decreased by 83 percent compared to last year’s eight-month period which the City Health Officer credits to

the continuing anti-dengue campaign bythe city government.

Dr. Vito C. Borja II, City Health Officer of Naga City, said that from the period January-August 2014 only 89 dengue cases were recorded compared to last year’s 515 cases for the same period.

Borja said dengue cases were monitored in the city’s ‘sentinel hospitals’ in the city which include Mother Seton Hospital, St. John Hospital, and the Bicol Medical Center.

“This is the effect of intensified campaign against dengue which started in January and the mobilization of barangay health workers in partnership with local government units at the barangay level to clean up the surroundings in their respective areas of jurisdiction,” he said.

Borja said they have activated the so-called Dengue Brigade in schools and the timely conduct of fogging operations in identified areas where cases of dengue were reported.

He said there’s no mortality so far. Records show that of the 27 barangays

in Naga, five of them were on top in terms of the number of cases noted. These are Liboton, Bagumbayan Norte, San Francisco, Panicuason, and Peñafrancia.

According to Borja, a great improvement in the prevention of dengue cases in Barangays Dayangdang and Concepcion Pequeña, the top two in the number of cases in previous years, was observed when they went down to 6th and 7th places, respectively.

Indeed, this year’s 89 dengue cases in the last eight months posted the most significant decrease from 2008-2014.

The highest number of cases at 1,018 were recorded in 2012 for the eight-month period from Jan,-Aug., while last 2013’s record for the same period had gone down to 515 cases, though they were still considered as high.

In 2008, the dengue cases recorded was relatively lower at 155, from Jan.-Aug. It went up to 264 in 2009, and 265 in 2010, until it doubled at 421 cases in 2011.

Dengue cases

in Naga down by 83

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C AGAYAN DE ORO CITY- Corn, considered as the champion crop in 2015, and key players in the corn industry took center stage once again during the 10th Philippine National Corn Congress.

Held at Limketkai Center in this city on November 19 to 21, 2014, the corn congress was graced by top offcicials of the Department of Agriculture led by Undersecretary for Operations Atty. Emerson U. Palad, Undersecretary for Administration and Finance Antonio A. Fleta, Assistant Secretary for Field Operations and National Rice and Corn Program Coordinator Edilberto M. de Luna, Assistant Secretary for Finance Ophelia P. Agawin, DA R10 Regional Executive Director Lealyn A. Ramos, and PhilMaize President Roger V. Navarro.

The highlight of the 3-day activity was the recognition of the country’s outstanding corn program implementers which included 5 provinces, 25 municipalities and cities, 3 provincial agriculturists, 5 provincial corn coordinators, 20 municipal /city agriculturists, 18 municipal/city coordinators and 100 agricultural extension workers.

Bicol Region bagged five awards for outstanding municipalities/cities namely: Naga City, Baao, Calabanga, and Tigaon, in Camarines Sur, and Ligao City in Albay which received a project grant worth P1M each plus trophy.

The municipal /city agriculturists of the said LGUs except Tigaon were also awarded a cash prize of P30,000 each. They are: Ramon B. Bitao of Baao, Camarines Sur who topped the list of winners under this category, Ma. Edna B. Bongalonta of Naga City, Cesar D. Sodsod of Ligao City, and Gil Gabriel H. Bordado III of Calabanga.

B icol corn program implementors honored in national corn congress

CHAMPIONS. The awardees from Naga City, namely: Menandro U. Calingacion (2nd from left), Outstanding Corn Coordinator; Maria Edna B. Bongalonta, (4th from left), Outstanding City Agriculturist; and Benedicto C. Heraldo (5th from left), Outstanding Extension Worker, as they take center stage during the awarding rites at the National Corn Congress. They are joined in photo by DA top officials led by Edilberto de Luna (at extreme left), DA Assistant Secretary for Field Operation who also serves as National Corn Program Coordinator.

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Lea M. Beltran and Menandro U. Calingacion of Naga City were honored as Outstanding Municipal/City Coordinators and received P25,000 and trophy each.

Seventeen Bicolano Corn technicians were also awarded P20,000 cash prize and trophy each. They are: Jonafel A. Taduran, Elena N. Salvamante, Marly L. Corporal, Carlos C. Samar, Lourdes A. Ibarbia, Noel G. Manaog, Amelita O. Palacio, Dely B. Nocos, Elsa N. Bonagua, Magdalena P. Pobocan, Santiago B. Enrique, Victor B. Cortez, Felicisima M. Obiasca, Joshua T. Ipo, Teresita A. Barce, Lilibeth O. Patoc, and Benedicto C. Heraldo of Naga City.

The big event gathered the country’s corn industry players and stakeholders, corn farmers, business groups, agri-input suppliers, and representatives from the government, private sector and academe.

The occasion also served as an avenue to provide updates on the recent developments and technologies in the corn industry and showcase the latest farm machineries.

Usec. Fleta read the message of Secretary Proceso J. Alcala who was not able to make it because of an urgent meeting in the Cordillera Administrative Region. In his message, Alcala cited the unprecedented growth of the corn industry over the past years attaining a 92% self-sufficiency level for yellow corn and 100% for white corn in 2013.

Production losses due to wastage have also significantly decreased from 12% to 7% with the provision of more post-harvest facilities.

The DA Secretary also announced that the Philippines is now exporting corn silage to Busan, South Korea which totals to about 282 metric tons. With these significant accomplishments, Alcala said the DA is all set to promote corn as the champion crop for 2015.


Ruby inflicts Naga farmers with P7-M

losses in crops

Regarding corn, Menandro U. Calingacion, CAO Corn Coordinator, found production losses amounting to P1.9-M which involved 798.3 metric tons of planted corn that were either in their seedling, reproductive, or maturity stages when typhoon Ruby hit Bicol.

For corn in seedling stage, the farmers recorded 595 hectares of such crop as having the “chance to recover” where 90 hectares were for those in reproductive stage and 25 hectares for those in the maturity stage.

CAO registered at least 283 corn farmers as directly affected. “Production loss for corn was placed at P1.9M, says Corn Technician Benedicto Heraldo. This translates to 798.83 metric tons of corn lost due to the typhoon.

Out of the 486.2 hectares planted with rice, which could have brought an estimated harvest amounting to P20-M this cropping season (including those not affected), at least some P5M in production losses were reported due to damage wrought by the same typhoon.

By Jason B. Neola

V EGETABLE, corn and rice farmers in Naga City suffered heavy losses on crops amounting to more than P7M due to Typhoon Ruby that hit the Bicol Region last

Dec. 6, reports gathered by the City Agriculture Office (CAO) revealed.

On vegetables alone, the CAO registered losses amounting to P787,500 involving 3.75 hectares of high value crops and other crops which the office found to have “no chance for recovery.” “The crops (including the ones not affected) could have provided the local farmhands with gross estimated income this cropping season of not less than P4-M,” said Agricultural Technologist Alvin Alvaro.

Among the identified products that were badly affected by the typhoon were ampalaya, 0.5 ha; tomato, 1 ha; eggplant, 0.25 ha; hot pepper, 0.5 ha; snap beans, 0.5 ha; banana, 0.5 ha and cassava, 0.5 ha.

RUBY’S RAGE devastated this corn in tasseling (flowering, 45-55 days old) stage planted in a 4-ha farmland owned by Ricky Añes of Zone 4 in Barangay Carolina. In lower photo, rows of corn in seedling (1-19 days old) in a 2-ha lot owned by farmer Gregorio Morada of Zone 6 suffered the same fate. Both were declared by the City Agriculture Office to be “of no chance for recovery.”


THE Naga City Veterinary Office (CVO) is taking three approaches to ensure that

consumers are protected from contaminated meat products.

The scheme is being strictly enforced especially on occasions like the Christmas season when large volumes of meat products are traditionally transported to the city because of the holidays.

The first step concerns the close examination by the CVO meat inspection service personnel of the animal due to be slaughtered at the Naga City Abattoir. This will immediately prevent the animal from being sold in the market if found unfit human consumption.

Under this process, the animals are examined for condemnable diseases like hog cholera, rabies, swine erysipelas, and tetanus for swine; tetanus and rabies for cattle, and caprine arthritis encephalitis for goat.

Also included in the animal’s condemnable diseases is septicemia, a bacterium in the blood that often occurs with severe infections. The disease is a fatal infection that gets worse very quickly. It can arise from infections throughout the body, including infections in the lungs, abdomen, and urinary tract. It may come before or at the same time as infections of the bone, central nervous system, heart, and other tissues.

Partial condemnation is strongly recommended for the animal that is positive for pneumonia and other diseases that affect its digestive and reproductive systems. Partial condemnation is being conducted by way of removing the affected part of the animal’s body.

Once the animal is cleared of any disease and declared fit for human consumption, it is allowed to rest for 6 to 8 hours before being butchered. The breather is necessary to acquire good quality meat.

Veterinary physician Junios Elad Jr., CVO head, said after the animal is butchered, the second approach, the post-mortem inspection, will be conducted “because there are diseases that are traceable only after the animals have been butchered.”

The third is step is the post-abattoir inspection of the meat products where they are being sold, specifically at the Naga City People’s Mall (NCPM), and at the different satellite markets and areas in the barangays.

He said the third inspection would enable them to identify and segregate the clean meat products from those coming from backyard butchering and other slaughterhouses outside the city. “This is because meat products coming outside of the city abattoir are treated as hot meat and unclean unless they come from ‘Double A’ abattoirs that are fully equipped with tools, facilities and human resource skills in handling meat delivery.

Elad explained that the post-abattoir inspection activity is important “as there are unscrupulous vendors who mix safe and quality meat products with contaminated ones and sell them to unsuspecting buyers.”

The CVO chief also warned errant meat vendors to stop from plying their nefarious trade, else they will be fined and/or slapped with appropriate charges under RA 9296, the Meat Inspection Code of the Philippines and City Ordinance 2002-065, which both prescribe the ante mortem and

post mortem inspection fees for all livestock and poultry and prohibit the sale of “hot meat.” The city ordinance was authored by Mayor John G. Bongat when he was still city councilor.

Section 5 of the ordinance said: “Only meat slaughtered at the Naga City Abattoir and in any other slaughterhouse accredited by the National Meat Inspection Commission (NMIC), which had made prior coordination with the Naga City Government, may be sold for public consumption in Naga City.”

The ordinance provides under its penalty provision that: “Any person found violating Section 5 of this ordinance shall be meted with the following penalties; 1st offense– a fine of not less than P2,000 but not more than P3,000 or an imprisonment of not less than 1 month but not more than 3 months or both such fine and imprisonment at the discretion of the court; 2nd offense– a fine of not less than P3,000 but not more than P4,000 or an imprisonment of not less than 3 months but not more than 6 months or both such fine and imprisonment at the discretion of the court; 3rd offense– a fine of not less than P4,000 but not more than P5,000 or an imprisonment of not less than 6 months but not more than 1 year or both such fine and imprisonment at the discretion of the court.”

The CVO, which so far has apprehended 25 violators of RA 9296 this year, is pushing for the ratification of a proposed ordinance which will require all owners of livestock and meat transport vehicles to secure accreditation from the city government. This way, accredited meat traders can easily be identified while transporting meat to the city by meat inspectors fielded on the streets.

By Jason B. Neola

Naga City Veterinary Office:

Clean meat for Nagueños

PHOTOS BY JOSE B. PEREZ


Photos by Allan Rey Camata

CAMARINES SUR Third District Rep. Leni Gerona-Robredo last November 9 distributed twelve motorized fiberglass

boats to 24 fisherfolk in three barangays situated along the Bicol River and San Miguel Bay in Calabanga, Camarines Sur.

The turnover of the fishing vessels came with the condition that the beneficiaries would refrain from using biakos or fine-meshed nets propped by stationary structures.

The boats were donated by the Negrense Volunteers for Change, a non-government organization based in Bacolod City, to the Jesse M. Robredo Foundation.

“This is a conscious effort to protect our ecosystems and the livelihood of our communities in the long run,” Robredo said before some 56 fishers and biakos operators in the barangays of Punta Tarawal, Balongay, and Balatasan.

Communities in the three villages depend heavily on fishing as source of livelihood.The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) earlier this month ordered the dismantling of biakos on the river and the bay, citing a law that says the illegal structures threaten marine life by killing small fish. The law also points out the obstructive nature of the structures.

The distribution of boats followed a public consultation with Rep. Robredo, BFAR, the Municipal Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Management Council, and fisherfolks and barangay officials.

FISHING BOATS. Camarines Sur 3rd District Rep. Leni Robredo sits on a port step as she oversees the distribution of fishing boats in Calabanga, Camarines Sur.

Leni turns over boats, asks fisherfolk to shun illegal nets By Allan Rey Camata


GREATER GAINS, SUPERIOR SCORES



A S one of the direct interventions toward better performance of the City’s elementary and

secondary schools in the 2015 National Achievement Test, the Naga City School Board and the Department of Education Division of City Schools conducted a conference-workshop for all principals and lead teachers last September 3, 4 and 5 after the Division Office received the results of the previous year’s NAT.

Councilor Esteban Greg Abonal III, Sanggunian Chair of the Committee on Education, and Mrs. Francia Regulto, Supervisor for Values Education and Research, designed the conference workshop for wider

interaction of small groups of participants. Thus the first day was for the 28 government e l e m e n t a r y schools; the second for the 20 non-government e l e m e n t a r y schools; and, the third for all the 20 secondary schools.

In all three settings, Ms. Regulto presented the highlights of the 2014 NAT results for Naga City. She reported that the city schools over the 2013 performance improved overall Mean Percentage Scores (MPS) by +1.25 in the secondary level

and by +4.19 in the elementary level. Modest improvements but improvements, nevertheless. She added that this time seven elementary schools hurdled the 75.00 MPS, better than 2013’s only two schools.

For his part, Councilor Abonal stressed the importance of DepEd’s minimum learning competencies (MLC) being themselves the very content of the NAT examinations for the basic subjects. He emphasized that preparation for the NAT truly begins at Grade I for elementary and at Grade 7 for the secondary. He added that adherence to the MLC’s assures every teacher that he/she is truly contributing effectively to the mounting academic preparation of the students.

He then led the participants through the workshops where school groups shared by districts or by clusters best practices in preparing for the NAT. Thereupon, the groups identified strategies for improving the performance of their schools in the next NAT. Councilor Abonal pushed for no longer modest but significant improvement, hence, the battle cry—GREATER GAINS. In calling attention to the other half of the battle cry—SUPERIOR SCORES, he presented DepEd’s structure of the NAT scores. The Percentile Distribution of Scores Descriptive Equivalent (PDSDE) marks Superior Scores at 75-100%. The Standard Based Distribution of Scores (SBDS), however, requires Superior Scores at 90-100%.

Even, therefore, as he proposed the SBDS superior scores for the Naga City schools on the long term five-year goal, he haggled with the participants to aim at least for the PDSDE superior scores for this school year.

In all three settings, Division supervisors and staff of the School Board facilitated the proceedings. Assistant Superintendent Mrs. Dolores Mapusao was always on hand to orient the participants to the overall program. Mayor John G. Bongat and Vice Mayor Nelson S. Legacion both addressed the participants and announced the City Government’s facilitative efforts for more effective education in the City.

MENTORS.Coming together to improve students’ performance in National Achievement Test.


W HEN it appeared that the threat

of the Mayon Volcano eruption was not just an overnight alarm but a protracted terror, the Sangguniang Panlungsod dispatched to Albay a team from the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (CDRRMO) to assess the situation at the evacuation centers and touch base with government and non-government organizations overseeing the centers. Upon the team’s return, CDRRMO Head Mr. Ernesto T. Elcamel reported at the October 7 Sanggunian

regular session that there were in all 78 evacuation centers with over 58,000 evacuees, mostly children.

The volunteer organizers at the evacuation centers expressed the need for, among others, water and sanitation kits for the children. Thus, the Presiding Officer, Vice-Mayor Nelson S. Legacion directed a request for the Metro Naga Water District to lend lorries to augment water deliveries in the evacuation centers. And knowing the children’s need for the sanitation and hygiene kits and seeing

the opportunity for the children of Naga to reach out to the beleaguered children of Albay, Councilor Esteban Greg Abonal III volunteered to rally support from the schools of Naga City.

The rest of that week, and even after Sir Greg and his son, Gil Gregorio “Bocks” Abonal, in fair or foul weather—mostly, foul—almost “singlehandedly” drove from school to school. They appealed personally to the school heads and principals to encourage their pupils and students to bring sanitation and hygiene items like bath soap, laundry soap,

tooth brush, toothpaste, sanitary pads, etc. Sir Greg stressed two reasons for this: to provide children in the evacuation centers in Albay supply to keep themselves clean, and to give the children in Naga the opportunity for charity, extending help for their fellows in the neighboring province.

After that weekend, when the students returned to school, boxes and boxes of donations were either delivered to City Hall or were picked up by the staff of the Naga City School Board. City scholar-volunteers took

NAGA City Schools

aid teens and children

at Albay evacuation

centers. TABANG sa TUGANG


Naga Parochial School, Southbridges Learning Center, St. Joseph School, and University of Nueva Caceres.

Resolution 2014-420 expressed the same commendation and gratitude to Blessed Light International Christian Academy, Camarines Sur National High School, Cararayan National High School, Carolina National High School, Concepcion Pequeña National High School, Don Leon Q. Mercado National High School, Gracian Montessori, Inc., Mariane Montessori, Montessori Children’s House of Learning, Naga City School of Arts and Trades, Naga Hope Christian School, Naga Seventh Day Adventist Elementary School, Naga View Adventist College, The Mary Bree Village Montessori, Tinago National High School, and Universidad de Sta. Isabel.

Again, father and son, drove back from school to school personally delivering these resolutions to the school heads or at school assemblies to manifest the City Government’s appreciation. Likewise, at one City Hall Monday morning flag ceremony, Councilor Abonal publicly expressed gratitude to these schools and all City Hall employees for their assistance. He expressed hope that when similar needs arise in the future not only schools but groups and institutions could be mobilized for relief fast enough.

two days to segregate and then repack the goods, and they were ready to go.

Early morning of October 23, two trucks of relief goods accompanied by a City Hall team left for the Albay town of Guinobatan to which Naga City assistance was directed because its 17 evacuation centers had been the least attended to. School Board Administrator Mr. Ernani B. Suron, led the team, joined by Bocks Abonal and the School Board staff,

as well as city scholars and the drivers from the Motor Pool and the Public Safety Office that provided the trucks and staff cars.

In Guinobatan, they

were met and ushered by Mr. Oscar William Tino, himself a former student of Sir Greg at the Ateneo de Naga High School now a special project officer of Guinobatan. They trekked from one evacuation center to another, from Guinobatan West Elementary School to Doña Mercedes Elementary School some 15 kilometers from the poblacion. They covered among others the barangay evacuation centers in Mauraro, Iraya, Poblacion, Travesia, Binogsacan where the evacuees, adults and children alike, welcomed them gratefully and made for orderly distribution of the kits.

Back home, Councilor Abonal authored Resolutions

No. 2014-390 and No. 2014-420 both stating that “such gesture of generosity for those in need and of solidarity with those in peril manifested by school communities—pupils and students and their families, administrators, teachers, and staff members, deserves sincere appreciation and gratefulness.”

Resolution 2014-390 expressed commendation and gratitude to Arborvitae Plains Montessori, Inc., Ateneo de Naga University High School, Naga City Montessori, Naga City Science High School, Naga College Foundation,


By Michael Francis I. Calara

P UTTING things into action so that dreams can turn to reality” – Camaligan Mayor Marilou M. Hirose

The inauguration and blessing of the Camaligan Wharf last December 15, 2014 in Brgy. Sto. Domingo, Camaligan, Camarines Sur, is the initial step to realize a dream. This introduced a port of entry to an exciting experience of a river cruise promoting a dream to improve the quality of life of the Camaligueños.

Big dreams of MNDC start here

The wharf in the town’s “Tourism Park” welcomes tourists in what is to become the Bicol River Cruise through Camaligan, Gainza, Canaman, and Magarao, soon to set sail in the summer of 2015.

The cruise shall start at the Camaligan Tourism Park where tourists embark on a floating restaurant. There will be on-board entertainment and various choices of local cuisine. Likewise, there will be shops and stalls in the Tourism Park where local delicacies and souvenirs, specially made by women micro-entrepreneurs, will be offered. This is expected to generate income for the municipality and help the local micro and small enterprises in the area. This initiative is included in the Metro Naga Development Council’s (MNDC’s) “Tooling-Up for Tourism” Project.

The occasion last December 15 was led by the Fr. Abundio Q. Nopre, Jr. and Camaligan Mayor Marilou Marquez-Hirose, together with Vice Mayor Rolando C. Eduardo, and the members of the local Sangguniang Bayan. Mayors Emmanuel S. Requejo and William A. Abilay of Canaman and Gainza, respectively, and MNDC Executive Director Sieglinde B. Bulaong were among the stakeholders who also graced the affair.

VARIOUS STAKEHOLDERS attended the Camaligan Wharf Inauguration and Blessing. Mayor Marilou M. Hirose (3rd from left, middle picture), assisted by Vice Mayor Rolando C. Eduardo, cut the ceremonial ribbon.


A FTER a series of consultations, research and business planning, tourism officers representing member-LGUs of the Metro Naga

Development Council (MNDC) presented seven project briefs to around twenty potential local investors during the Investment Forum held last December 4, 2014.

These project briefs, previously approved by the MNDC Executive Committee and the Local Governance Support Program - Local Economic Development (LGSP-LED), outline new sites and destinations in Metro Naga composing a tourism circuit that showcases the natural wonders and, thus,

promotes inclusive local economic growth in the area.

The Investment Forum was made possible through the joint cooperation of the MNDC and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), along with the Metro Naga Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MNCCI), and the Department of Tourism (DOT). The forum aimed to promote the aforementioned projects, as well as match these projects to potential investors. It was capped by an ocular of the Bicol River to give the investors a piece of what Metro Naga has to offer.

Investment Forum opens

Tourism Circuit for investors

By Kaye M. SabenianoNAGA City Mayor John G. Bongat, MNDC Chairman, welcomes tourism officers and stakeholders from member-LGUs of the MNDC to the Investment Forum. Lower photos shows participant getting ready for the Bicol River Cruise.

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Anchored on the Pili-administered section of the Mount Isarog Natural Park, this project intends to develop an eco-trail, a resort and events venue, a camp site, team building facilities and tour packages.

The municipalities of Camaligan, Gainza, Canaman and Magarao will collectively establish itself as the downstream of the Bicol river cruising experience, which aims to provide tourists with a greater appreciation of the regional culture and history.

AGRI-TOURISM CORRIDOR

A renewal of Pasacao’s age-old identity as Camarines Sur’s Summer Capital, this project aims to establish and develop a tourism enterprise zone where businesses such as spring resorts and spas, tours and souvenir shops, bars and restaurants, and many more, can operate.

DOWNSTREAM BICOL RIVER CRUISE

PASACAO COASTTOURISM CIRCUIT

CURRY NATURALRESERVE TOURISM CIRCUIT

The development of Naga as an agri-tourism destination includes assisting the Isarog Highland Leisure Farm in completing its bed and breakfast service, and developing and promoting the Delos Santos Integrated Farm and the Naga City Goat Farm, as priorities.

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Libmanan is eyeing to be the Northern Camarines Sur’s cultural heritage destination, with two initial components: the Handiong Expedition River Cruise through the Libmanan River, as well as inland tourism.

This joint effort of Milaor and Minalabac aims to push through the rehabilitation of the upstream Bicol River and the establishment of a river cruise focusing on the province’s colonial history.

The dragon boat training camp aims to become Bicol’s community-based, non-motorized watersports destination.

LIBMANAN CULTURAL HERITAGE TOURISM CIRCUIT

MILAMINA COLONIAL CRUISE

CANAMAN DRAGON BOAT CAMP

PHOTO BY XERES GAGERO/CEPPIO

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NAGUEÑO WAKEBOARD TEAM WINS 3RD IN PHUKET

A NGELO Louise L. Linao, 17 years old, of Naga City, along with his Philippine

Wakeboard teammates, bagged the Bronze medal when they competed in the 4th Asian Beach Games in Phuket, Thailand last Nov. 14-23, 2014.

The team placed third in the Wakeboard Event. Thailand placed first out of 37 countries that competed. The host country also topped the overall standing in the games defeating 74 other countries that joined the Beach Games.

These included events such as beach volleyball,

JuJitsu, Windsurfing, Triathlon, Muay Thai,

Wakeskating.Overall, Team

Philippines bagged 3 gold

medals, 2 silvers, and 7 bronzes.

Annie Ramirez, Ju-jitsu

Women’s – 60kg,

Maybelline Masuda, Ju-jitsu

Women’s -50kg, and Geylord Coveta, Windsurfing Men’s RS are the gold medalists.

Silver medalists are Susan Madelene Larsson, Water Ski Women’s Cable WakeSkate and Phillip

ANOTHER FEAT FOR A NAGUEÑO AND A FILIPINO. Representing the Philippines, Gelo Linao bagged the 2nd Place in the recently-concluded 2014 Lotus Cup Cable Wakeboard Open. The competition was participated in by champion wakeboarders from Taipei, Korea, Czech Republic, Japan, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, New Zealand and the Philippines. It was held at the Lotus Wakepark in Kaohsiung, Taiwan from Oct 24-26, 2014.

ANGELO

LOUISE L. LIN

AO


NAGUEÑO WAKEBOARD TEAM WINS 3RD IN PHUKET

ANGELO LINAO, 17, shows off the bronze medal he earned in the 4th Asian Beach Games in Thailand.

By Sarah C. Imperial

gets to practice Behind-the-Boat Wakeboarding, either. In spite of the hurdles, they are happy they were able to land third in their event.

Gelo made it to the Semi-finals of the Wakeboard (behind the boat), but unfortunately didn’t make it to the finals.

Team Philippines placed 14th in the final tally, tied with Hongkong, and placed 4th among Southeast Asian countries.

The young Gelo Linao is the son of Ronnie and Rachel Linao of Barangay Balatas, Naga City. Gelo is one of the ambassadors of Stoked, Inc. He trains at the DecaWakepark in Clark and has joined wakeboarding competitions in Singapore, Malaysia, and Taiwan.

The Philippine Sports Commission has assured him of a slot in the next SEA Games.

Delarmino, Muaythai Men’s 54kg Bantamweight. Bronze medalists are:1. John Baylon, Ju-jitsu

Men’s 80kg2. Robeno Javier,

Triathlon Men’s Duathlon

3. Jose Vicente Cembrano, Water Ski Men’s Cable WakeSkate

4. Philippine Wake Team (Symon Cantos, Susan Larsson, Andrea Tanjangco, Samantha Bermudez, Obi Cembrano, and Angelo Linao), Water Ski Mixed Cable Team Overall

5. Alvin Berto, Muaythai Men’s 60kg Lightweight

6. Joel Zaspa, Muaythai Men’s 75kg Middleweight

7. Manuel Delos Reyes, Muaythai Men’s 51kg Flyweight

The Wakeboard Team participated both in the Cable Wakeboard and Wakeboard Behind the Boat events.

Angelo, who started wakeboarding when he was 8 years old, said they only had three days to practice in Phuket. The wakeparks here are pulled counterclockwise while in Phuket, the pull is clockwise. The team hardly


Naga CENTRALS SCHOOL 1

RONDALLA renders an

intermission number during the opening

program.

BATANG PINOY

BATANG PINOY

BATANG PINOY

WINNING NAGA ATHLETES. Victorious young athletes from Naga City in the recently-concluded 2014 Batang Pinoy Luzon Qualilfying Leg that Naga hosted last Nov. 11-15 were honored during the flag ceremony at the Naga City Hall Complex. The athletes who came from different schools in Naga garnered 7 golds, 29 silvers, and 47 bronze medals in various sports events. They will vie in the national finals, to be held in Baguio City early next year. City Councilors Greg R. Abonal III and Jose A. Tuason are seen congratulating the young athletes.

BATANG PINOYL U Z O N Q U A L I F Y I N G L E G


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