Prepare for disaster, recovery after calamity, PHIVOLCS urges broadcast media

QUEZON CITY--- Broadcast media must have their own disaster recovery plans.

During a press conference at the Sabin Resort Hotel in Ormoc City---one of the worst hit areas in the wake of monster typhoon Yolanda---Director Renato U. Solidum of the Department of Science and Technology-Philippine Volcanology and Seismology Institute (DOST-PHIVOLCS) urged broadcast stations  prepare their own recovery response plans for severe disasters like Yolanda in order to remain intact and thus able to disseminate accurate information to the public, including calamity victims.

Broadcast systems should be resilient,” Director Solidum said. “Even if technology is all around us, in the remote areas, they are familiar with only television and radio.”

Director Solidum said journalists sometimes assume that the public will understand the words they say in their broadcasts.

What is important, Director Solidum said, in weather information is a complete and clear description.

“In the case of a storm surge for example, the information should let people picture in their minds the consequence. That should be one of the improvements,” he suggested.

DOST Region 8 Director Edgardo M. Esperancilla echoed Solidum’s statements, underscoring the possibility of hampered delivery of information due to telecommunications equipment getting bogged down as a consequence of a strong typhoon or earthquake.

Director Esperanilla related that Yolanda left a terrible trail of destruction in the region that only a small portion of Tacloban City had signal.

“It took a few days before text messages can get through. Before this, the locals did not know what was happening. This is the reason why a lot of the survivors began leaving Tacloban five days after the super typhoon left the Philippines. They had no TV, no radio. They were misinformed. Mere hearsay was floating around,” Director Esperancilla explained.

The presscon was part of the DOST’s nationwide information campaign called “Iba Na Ang Panahon (INAP) : Science for Safer Communities,”which features the latest science-based information, tools and technologies to identify and understand the possible impact of hazards in communities. Tools in INAP included 3D hazard maps, flood models, Project NOAH website, mobile applications and others. #

 (S&T Media Service, DOST-STII)

Carvalho: Support needed for 64,000 people displaced in Zamboanga

SUPPORT NEEDED FOR 64,000 PEOPLE DISPLACED IN ZAMBOANGA

Eight months after 120,000 people fled fighting in the west of Zamboanga City,

more than half remain displaced and in need of continued humanitarian support.

(Manila, 21 May 2014): Eight months after fighting broke out between a faction of the Moro National Liberation Front and the Armed Forces of the Philippines in Zamboanga City on 9 September, more than 64,000 people who fled the fighting remain displaced within the city and in need of humanitarian support.

“Almost 17,000 people are still living in extremely difficult conditions in overcrowded evacuation centres with inadequate sanitation at the Cawa-Cawa shoreline and in and around Zamboanga’s nearby sports complex,” said the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for the Philippines, Luiza Carvalho.

“These people remain most vulnerable to disease and exploitation, while other families now living in temporary housing in transition sites or being hosted by relatives or friends also require humanitarian support,” she said.

With more than 10,000 homes destroyed or damaged in the fighting in September, the Government does not expect to complete the return or permanent relocation of the people still displaced within Zamboanga until mid-2015.

Humanitarian organizations have a critical role to play in the interim to help ensure that the displaced families continue receiving the support they need. In consultation with local and national authorities, humanitarians have revised their Zamboanga Action Plan to address the needs of the 64,600 displaced people through the end of August.

 “Donor support for the emergency phase of the response helped to alleviate the worst suffering and save lives. However, very little funding has been received since October. Without more funds, humanitarians will not be able to implement the critical programming needed now to ensure the still fragile humanitarian situation for displaced people in Zamboanga improves rather than deteriorates,” said Carvalho.

“We need an additional $7.4 million in funding to support families that lost everything. People who have suffered the dual trauma of conflict and the marginal life as a displaced person need help to obtain life’s basic necessities, to live again safely and in dignity and to recover the means to earn a living.”

The $5.2 million that donors provided at the start of the crisis, including $3 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund and $1.6 million from Japan, made it possible for humanitarians to provide urgently needed assistance, including food for almost 120,000 people in the first three months of the crisis. Hundreds of latrines have been built as part of efforts to improve water and sanitation conditions in the evacuation centres and transition sites, while disease surveillance has helped to prevent outbreaks and healthcare has been provided, including through mobile teams.

For further information and to download the full Zamboanga Action Plan, please visit: http://www.unocha.org/cap/appeals/philippines-revision-zamboanga-action-plan-2014-october-2013-august-2014

Office of the United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in the Philippines

For further information, please contact OCHA Philippines Public Information:

Russell Geekie at geekie@un.org, or +63 9175977219

Anne Skatvedt at skatvedt@un.org or +63 927 6334287

DOST exhibit shows learning science and environment can be fun

There are fun ways to help kids appreciate science and understand the environment. Check out the exhibit sponsored by the Department of Science and Technology – Philippine Council for Industry, Energy and Emerging Technology (DOST-PCIEERD) at the SCIENCE CENTRUM, in shoe country Marikina.

BATTLE OF THE BULBS.  A curator shares tips in choosing bulbs with a visitor. The exhibit demonstrate the advantages of  Incandescent, halogen, compact fluorescent lamp (CFL), and light-emitting diode (LED) bulbs in terms of brightness, life span, electric consumption, and amount of heat generated. For those wanted the bulb with the brightest light, longest life span and least power consumption, the LED bulb is highly recommended.

Turn the knobs to see what new products can be made from steel cans, plastic containers and paper.

RECYCLING. Yes, there are materials in the garbage that can actually be processed back into their original, raw form and used in making the same material or other products.

E-WASTE. Recycling electronic wastes are best left to the pros because backyard recyclers are exposed to health risks when they extract valuable materials from electronic devices. People with these kinds of burden can still make money because there are companies that  are willing to pay for old computer units and other devices.

BIOGAS. Biodegradable wastes produce methane gas that can be used as fuel for the kitchen stove. A digester tank, filled with biodegradable wastes, will produce bubbles on the other tank filled with water. Methane, produced by microorganisms breaking down the wastes, causes the bubbling. Some countries are getting their Methane directly from the dumps. 

TRASH TIMELINE. Garbage in your trash crash do not decompose at the same time, some may not decompose at all. Newspapers decompose within a year while plywood in eight years. Tin cans need more than 50 years while glass bottles and styrofoams may not decompose at all (undetermined). But styrofoams can be reprocessed into construction materials that are tough and solid as rocks and marbles.

DUAL FLUSH TOILET. Water-less or water-free toilet bowls are now common in malls. But the Dual Flush Toilet, a bit traditional, will show how much water are used in flushing wastes. Push  half of the button for liquid waste and the full button for solid waste. Three liters of water are needed to flush down liquid wastes and six liters for the solid ones.  

SURFACE RUN-OFF. The mountain on the left has no vegetation while the one on the right has plenty.  Pressing the button in front releases the "rain". A run-off cascades from the barren mountain and flooding the valley. Lowlands at the foot of bare mountains get easily flooded during a heavy rainfall compared with lowlands at the foot of mountains full of trees and vegetation. It is because water is absorbed by the trees and vegetation, preventing floods and other risks.

MERALCO has a machine that computes how much electricity a certain household device consumes. This machine, on the other hand, shows how much water is used in some activities and how can be saved by trying other alternatives. For example, car washing using a garden hose makes you spend 122 liters of water but when you use a pail, you only spend 35 liters. Bathing under a shower uses up to 148 liters of water but using a tabo (dipper) to pour water (from a pail) is much more economical at 30 liters.

The Science Centrum, located at Marikina's Riverbanks Center,  is open Mondays to Saturdays, 8 am to 5 pm.   (S&T Media Service)

Workers' brown bag sessions seen to boost HIV and AIDS prevention campaigns in factories

In a tough environment to sustain workers’ awareness about the growing number of HIV and AIDS incidence in the country, a labor federation has found brown bag session during union break meetings an effective way of helping curb the spread of the disease in their workplace and community.

More than a hundred officers and members of Mondelez (formerly Kraft Philippines) workers’ union were taught that it’s okay to share spoons, forks even shirts with or kiss people living with HIV and AIDS during their union break held last Saturday in Sucat, Paranaque factory.

The one-hour learning session was organized by the Associated Labor Unions-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (ALU-TUCP) and designed by the Shell Foundation as their shared commitment in battling the spread of HIV and AIDS. The activity coincided with the universal commemoration of 2014 International AIDS Candlelight Memorial and Mobilization held the same day.

“At the end of the session, we learned that HIV and AIDS can be acquired through contaminated blood transfusion, drinking of contaminated breast milk and unprotected anal sex. But we also discovered that it’s okay sharing a spoon or a fork, drinking glass, and wearing shirts worn by people living with HIV or with AIDS. Timely and factual information like these enables us with an informed choice when we are confronted by a situation in either the community or in the workplace. The information shared with us also freed ourselves from the myths and falsehoods surrounding the disease,” said Allan Abena, president of the Mondelez employees union.

He added that union members also learned that it is unlawful for companies or employers to discriminate workers with HIV and AIDS from employment or promotion serve as a basis for firing employees as he urged other unions and companies to do the same.

The ALU, with the help of Shell Foundation, is planning to hold more brown-bag sessions or union breaks discussion about HIV and AIDS issues inside factories, offices and other workplaces to help curb the spread of HIV and AIDS.

“In sustaining the focus on HIV, we are re-introducing this very basic but concise, factual information about HIV and AIDS to our union members and try to create a significant series of break in the cycle of stigma and discrimination about the disease. In order for the information to stick in their minds, we try to connect the issue with their simple everyday objects, experience or personal habits,” said Alan Tanjusay, ALU policy advocacy officer and spokesman for the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP).

The ALU is the biggest affiliate of labor center TUCP and the largest labor federation in the country today. While it manages the most number of Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBAs) of unions in various public and private industry unions, it also represents workers’ voice in various tripartite policy discussions on many important national issues. ###

FOR MORE INFORMATION OR INTERVIEWS, CONTACT:

 
Alan A. Tanjusay,  spokesman & OIC-Media and Public Information Department, TUCP& Policy Advocacy Officer, ALU
Mobile Phone: +63.906.410.2134  / Landline: (63-2) 922.5575 local 122 / Email: associatedlaborunions@gmail.com
Office Address: TUCP-PGEA Compound  Maharlika corner Masaya Streets, UP Village Diliman, Quezon City, Philippines

Philippine Information Agency (PIA)-Mimaropa had a recent interview with Dr. FERCHITO AVELINO, Executive Director, Philippine National AIDS Council Secretariat, when he conducted an re-orientation at the PIA Central Office.

The interview, conducted in Filipino, discussed basic information on HIV and AIDS as well as its prevention and treatment. 

Watch them all at these links: http://bit.ly/1vP2cKA, http://bit.ly/1hey55H and http://bit.ly/1gV7ujB.

Although there were technologies reported to have shown potentials to treat HIV and AIDS, there is still no cure (as of this writing) and prevention remains the best way to arrest the spread of disease.    

DOST’s LiDAR technology sets sights on Davao Oriental

Davao Oriental province in Region 11 is one of the next priority areas for 3D-flood mapping via the Department of Science and Technology’s (DOST) and UP’s DREAM-LiDAR program which seeks to generate detailed flood hazard maps and inundation models for early weather information.

Mapping will start in August 2014 and may be completed by September, according to Dr. Enrico C. Paringit, program leader of DREAM which stands for Disaster Risk Exposure Assessment for Mitigation.

Paringit shared this development during the recent Region 11 leg of DOST’s Iba Na ang Panahon (INAP): Science for Safer Communities information campaign held at the Grand Regal Hotel in Davao City recently and attended by local officials and disaster risk reduction managers.

“We realized that these areas really need a lot of attention in terms of trying to update the current set of hazard information that we have,” revealed Paringit. “Because we thought it’s no longer about landslides. It’s not just a matter of saying how resilient your house is against strong winds; it also matters where the house or the structure is located.”

He related that when Davao Oriental was hit by typhoon Pablo in 2012, the major concerns were the strong winds and landslides. However, when typhoon Agaton slammed the province in January 2014, flooding became the main problem. Boston, Baganga, and Cateel municipalities experienced massive flooding leaving some residents homeless. In fact, houses that survived Pablo did not escape the wrath of Agaton this time.

“Ironically, it led to two things. One, those that were previously identified to be safe areas or resettlements, were hit by the flooding. Second, infrastructure which were built to rehabilitate these areas after Pablo, such as the bridges, were also damaged,” Paringit said.

In addition, the changing topography of Davao Oriental which will eventually affect other communities, needs finer-scale topographic mapping using LiDAR technology. This change in topography happened in the aftermath of Pablo as landslide materials coursed through the river systems as additional debris, thus causing the water to find other routes.

Paringit also added that finer-scale mapping will produce hazard information that will be useful for setting parameters of building design that can better withstand fierce calamities like Yolanda and Agaton.

“If you’re data limited, you’re also process limited. But if you’re data rich, you’re also process rich,” Paringit stressed.

INAP, a nationwide campaign,  is a collaboration between DOST, the Department of the Interior and Local Government, and the Office of Civil Defense. The Region 11 leg gathered regional provinces as well as two provinces from the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao. Aside from local officials and DRRMs, INAP Region 11 was also attended by member agencies from the academic and private sectors.  (S&T Media Service, DOST-STII) 

-- 

For your information and dissemination please.

Thank you.

Ma. Lilibeth P. Padilla

Public Affairs Unit, Communication Resources and Production Division

Science and Technology Information Institute

Department of Science and Technology (DOST-STII)

Blue Gene to help Philippines get better, earlier weather forecasts

QUEZON CITY, May 17 ---- Stars are falling in the Philippines.

A replica of IBM Blue Gene
https://www.facebook.com/lyndon.plantilla

 Vin Diesel and Sarah Jessica Parker were here. 

So did Aerosmith, Modern English and Alarm.

But is the country ready to roll out the carpet for a  supercomputer?

It is not a Korean pop-band: it's Blue Gene, International Business Machine (IBM)'s  powerful computing machine in the whole of South East Asia to date.

And the machine will take up its residence at the University of the Philippines-Diliman (UP-Diliman)-National Science Complex probably the same time around when the  Indiana Pacers battle the Houston Rockets in the Phillippines' first NBA  showdown in October down Southern Mega Manila.

"As IBM Blue Gene takes local research to the realm of high complex, scientific computing...we can use advance weather modeling software that will assimilate data from satellite, Doppler RADARS and other advanced weather tools and sensors, including DOST-ASTI automated weather stations, water-level monitoring sensors, and rain gauges all over the country," said Science and Technology Secretary Mario Montejo during the ceremonial turn-over of the Supercomputer Thursday afternoon.

Secretary Montejo said IBM Blue Gene can help extend the country's weather forecasting period from three days to seven days.

"Weather information will be more site-specific or area specific. Using climate change modeling software will come up with better seasonal forecasts--information very important to our farmers---and for better water resource management. We can come with improved climate change scenarios, again, information that is very important to policy-decision makers, " said Secretary Montejo.

In the Age of Big Data, Montejo said IBM Blue Gene can process voluminous data available and harness its potential benefits in terms of information which are applicable to agriculture, healthcare and bioformatics.

  

Science and Technology Secretary Mario Montejo (third from the left) flanked by UP President Alfredo Pascual and IBM Country Manager Mariels Almeda Winhoffer  pose with Blue Gene behind them.

    "The amount of uncertainty will be reduced because of the tools and the data that will be processed by this Supercomputer," said Montejo, " this is really poverty alleviation because the hardest hit by climate change are the poor."

For her part, IBM Philippines President and Country Manager Mariels Almeda Winhoffer said "this is a direct result from the agreement between the DOST and IBM in May 2012 to jointly build a Philippine System and Technology Research and Development Lab to help accelerate national economic growth."

Winhoffer added that the collaboration is " IBM's response to President Aquino's call for help to support research and development projects to enable transformation and progress in the country."

The first priority of IBM and DOST is to figure out how the IBM Blue Gene will complement the National Operational Assessment of Hazards (Project NOAH), the country's integrated information system for disaster mitigation and climate change. 

Pamahalaan ng Pilipinas, dibdiban ang pagpapalago ng mga negosyo

Hinikayat ng pamahalaan ang mga mamamayan na magnegosyo sa halip na mamasukan.

Kung mapapalago ang mga negosyong bulilit, lalaki din ang mga oportunidad sa trabaho sa bansa.

“Maraming tayong programa dyan, isa na rito ang SME (Small and Medium Enterprises)Caravan…iniikot natin sa bansa yan at nagbibigay tayo ng libreng seminar,”ayon kay ni Trade and Industry Secretary Gregory Domingo, “tinuturuan natin kung paano magnegosyo, kung ano ang inenegosyo at mayroon pang technical skills training.

Kaya sa pagbubukas ng SME Week, panawagan ni Secretary Domingo sa madla ay lumahok sa mga libreng enterpreneurship briefing sessions sa iba’t-ibang panig ng bansa.

Sa mga taga-Mega Manila, maaring magsadya sa Philippine Trade Training Center sa Biernes at sa Sabado para sa maghapong pakikiniig at panonood ng mga talakayan.

Ang skedyul sa biernes mula alas-8 ng umaga hanggang alas-12 ng tanghali: (1) paano mag-negosyo; (2) ang pagpapaliwanag sa Barangay Micro Business Enterprises (BMBE) Law; (3) Product Standards Law (o mga pamantayan sa produkto); (4) karapatan at proteksyon sa mamimili; (5) paano makakakuha ng Food and Drug Authority Certificate; (6) Paano magagamit ang internet sa pagnenegosyo; (7) paano magtatayo ng laundry business o pagnenegosyo sa pamamagitan ng paglalaba;(8) paggawa ng pabango; (9) paggawa ng herbal soap; (10) meat processing o paggawa ng tosino, longganisa at luncheon meat; at (11) paggawa ng mga kwintas at iba pang accessories gamit ang beads.

Pagdating ng hapon, ang mga sumusunod naman ang mga pag-uusapan mula ala-una hanggang alas-5 ng hapon : (1) integrated business licensing;(2) seminar sa Halal certification o pagsesertipika ng mga produktong Halal; (3) cleaner production; (4) packaging design at labeling; (5) product design awareness;(6) pagrerehistro ng patents, trademarks and trade names; (7) laundry and cleaning aids; (8) paggawa ng siomai at iba pang meat processing products; at (9) gift-wrapping.

Bukod sa mga nabanggit na paksa, tatalakayin din buong maghapon ang paghilot at kung ano ang mga hakbang para makinabang nang husto sa paghihilot.

Sabado, ika-9 ng Hulyo, ang maghapong pag-uusapan sa briefing session ay ang basic photography at flips-flops (sandals) making.

Naka-iskedyul din sa umaga mula alas-8 hanggang alas-12 ng tanghali, ang mga sumusunod: (1) pagpapatakbo ng money-changing shop; (2) mga programa sa pag-pagpopondo at pagpapautang para sa negosyo; (3) paano magsimula ng negosyo; (4) food safety o pagtiyak ng kalinisan sa pagkain at kaligtasan ng mamimili; (5) paggawa ng siopao at dimsum; (6) paggawa ng mga cakes na hindi na kailangan lutuin (No-Bake); at (7) paggawa ng polvoron at pastillas.

Sa hapon, pag-uusapan naman ay ang mga sumusunod: (1) pagbili ng prankisa (o negosyong pinaprankisa gaya ng mga fastfood); (2) pagpapa-upa ng apartment o puwesto; (3) paggawa ng pabango; (4) paggawa ng mga produktong gamit ang bead; (5) mga cleaning aid; (pag-aayos o arrangement ng bulaklak at lobo); at (6) paggawa ng empanada at pizza roll.

Maaring magbago ang skedyul, kaya pinapayuhan ang lahat ng mga interesadong matuto sa briefing session na tumawag sa DTI-Bureau of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprise Development (DTI-BMSMED) sa numerong 897-1693 at 751-5076.

Bago ang mga briefing session, magkakaroon muna ng SME Summit sa Huwebes kung saan ang ‘mga small and medium enterprises ay magpupulong-pulong para makagawa ng plano at makita kung saan pa ang mga kinakailangan’.

kabilang sa pag-uusapan sa SME Summit ay ang SME Development Plan mula taong 2011 hanggang 2016.

Hinggil naman sa One Town, One Product (OTOP) program, tiniyak ni Secretary Domingo na palaban ang mga pangunahing produkto ng bawat lalawigan.

Inihalimbawa ng kalihim ang banig.

Marami ngang gumagawa ng banig, pero sabi ni Secretary Domingo na malilito ang mga mamimili sa dami ng disensyong pagpipilian.

Anang kalihim, maraming banig ang pwedeng isabit sa dingding tulad ng painting.

Ang konsepto ng OTOP ay kamukha ng programang ipinatupad sa Thailand kung saan nangapital ang pamahalaan para palawakin ang mga negosyo sa iba’t ibang rehiyon ng monarkiyang bansa.

Para sa karagdagan impormasyon sa pagnenegosyo, panoorin ang talakayan nina Secretary Domingo at Albay Governor Joey Salceda sa "Pilipinas Natin" (Pindutin ang kuneksyong ito: http://bit.ly/q5T5Pl ).

Reference:
Lyndon Plantilla, 09212745592
Philippine Information Agency
opspia2004@yahoo.com