Northern Samar, Philippines

By Ailene N. Diaz

Catarman, Northern Samar (23 May) — In a move to make the Catarman garbage collection more efficient, the town’s Solid Waste and Management Board (SWMB) approved the privatization of garbage collection.

Catarman Mayor Alita Rosales, who presided the meeting calling for the privatization of garbage collection said that the implementation of Republic Act 9003 is long overdue. She also feels embarrassed that the problem on waste management is weak and needs the cooperation of everyone.

Observers say that this move by the Board and the local government unit through Mayor Rosales is a major step in regulating solid waste collection and disposal system. Garbage collection is a perennial problem in this capital town of the province.

The privatization contract would be operational for five (5) years and could be renewed at the option of both contracting parties. It is also stipulated in the contract that the Contractor will provide the equipment and manpower while the Municipality will be responsible in providing the amount of Php 310,000 per barangay per year. Such payment will be on a monthly basis.

It is also stated in the contract that there will be suspension, cancellation and termination of the contract once a violation is made or if there is nonperformance on the part of the contractor.

The municipality of Catarman, through the efforts of Mayor Rosales has from time to time encouraged the 22 poblacion barangays to do their share in garbage segregation and to strictly implement Republic Act 9003. She has likewise urged them to put up a Material Recovery Facilities (MRF) which will help a lot in recycling the town’s collected garbage. (PIA Northern Samar)

An Intensity 4 earthquake rattled Catarman, Northern Samar late Monday night but no damage and injuries were reported, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) said.

Phivolcs director Renato Solidum said the 4.1 magnitude quake struck at 11.01 p.m. with its epicenter traced at four kilometers northeast of Catarman.

Solidum said the tremor, which was tectonic in origin, had a depth of 30 kms.

No aftershocks were recorded, he added.

Tectonic pertains to the structure or movement of the Earth’s crust.

The Philippines lies on the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” where colliding plates in the Earth’s crust cause frequent earthquakes and volcanic activity.

About 20 quakes hit the country every day but only few are felt, Solidum said.  –by  Helen Flores

PhilStar

Closures and retrenchments are unlikely to happen at this time despite the decision to enforce a P20 salary hike for minimum wage workers in Metro Manila, a labor official said.

This was the forecast of Raymundo Agravante, director of the National Capital Region of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), who pointed out that in 2007, the number of companies that cease operations in Metro Manila dropped by 22 percent compared to 2006.

NCR data showed that in 2007, only 402 firms closed compared to the 520 in 2006.

The same data said that companies that laid off their workers dropped to 2000 compared to 2,482 recorded in 2006.

Workers affected by the closures numbered 16,847 last year as compared to the 19,587 posted in 2006 during the same period.

Agravante said that most of the closures were due to “redundancy,” not because of a wage hike.

GMANews.TV

by Fred Padernos

Tacloban City (1 May) — Rice traders in the Province of Biliran will find rice a saucy business these days, as the place is on the top in the rice sufficiency share for the whole region. Because of the reported rice shortage, rice is selling like hot cakes which mean more profit to the small and big rice business operators.

The Department of Agriculture rice sufficiency index show that Biliran has 238 percent share of the region’s rice supply, followed by Leyte province at 171 percent, and third, Southern Leyte with 102 percent share. Other provinces such as Eastern Samar, Samar, and Northern Samar are positioned in the lowest three share based on the index with only 55.3%, 50.8%, and 37.6% respectively.

Very recently the alleged rice shortage created a panic buying effect among consumers that even prompted the national government conduct raids among giant rice warehouses in the national capital region reportedly due to hoarding which they (hoarders) intends to sell later at a blotted price.

In a related story, Robert Hernandez, National President of the Alyansa Ng Industriyang Bigas (ANIB) disclosed that there is no actually rice crisis- but price crisis. He said, the country has enough supply of rice, only that these are commercial rice that are sold from P33.00- P44.00 compared to the NFA rice at P18.25 per kilo or from P1,400-P2,000 per sack depending on the variety and quality. What is in shortage now, he said, is the cheap rice such as NFA , that low income earners could afford to buy on a daily basis. (PIA