NYC to Philip Morris: Education Alone Will Not Curb Youth Smoking

Higher cost of cigarettes is the immediate deterrent. “Kapag mahal, ang sigarilyo, mas mapipigilan sa pagyoyosi ang kabataang Pilipino.”

This was stressed by the National Youth Commission (NYC) today in reaction to the claims of Chita Herce, spokesperson of Philip Morris Fortune Tobacco Corporation Inc. (PMFTC), the top tobacco manufacturer in the country, that education and not additional taxes will prevent young people from smoking.

Education is vital in curbing youth smoking but it must be reinforced by  mechanisms that will make tobacco inaccessible, NYC Chairperson Leon Flores said. For the past years, the dangers of tobacco smoking have been taught in schools and have been part of wellness campaigns. However, the percentage of youth smokers continues to increase despite the education drive as well as the advertisement ban on tobacco products.

According to the 2007 Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS), 69.6% young people had been taught in class during the past year about the dangers of smoking.  Moreover, 69.3% had been taught in class the effects of tobacco use. These numbers did not have any effect in decreasing smoking prevalence among the youth. In 2011, already 2 out of 5 teens aged 13-15 smoked.

The Philippines has some of the cheapest cigarettes in Asia and one of the cheapest cigarettes in the world. Parallel to these data are the alarming smoking rates in the country: The Philippines ranks 9th in the adult male population and 16th in the adult female smoking population in the world.

NYC Commissioner Perci Cendaña said that raising taxes right now is the most viable option to decrease the number of young smokers. “Kapag nagtaas ng presyo ang sigarilyo, maraming kabataan ang hindi na maninigarilyo.” The recent study by the University of the Philippines Communication Research Society with the support of Health Justice supports this claim. According to it, that 60% of the sample population will quit smoking if cigarettes will be priced at 5 pesos per stick.

NYC as the voice and advocate of the youth calls on the immediate passage of House Bill 5727 that will restructure the excise tax on tobacco and alcohol. The Commission firmly stands that we must maximize all means to protect the health and wellness of our nation’s youth.(NYC Press release)

Taiwan needs more OFWs

Raymond Wang, TECO Representative to PHL

MALOLOS CITY—Good news for over seas Filipino workers (OFW)!

The Taiwanese government announced on Thursday that they are hoping that more Filipinos will work in Taiwan.

This came as Raymond Wang, the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (TECO Representative to the Philippines said they are eyeing for closer bilateral relations with the country.

“We are hoping to import more workers and hire OFWs to Taiwan,” said Wang in an interview with the STAR on Thursday night after the ceremonial turn over of 800 tons of rice donated to flood victims in Bulacan.

Wang said that there are at least 90,000 OFWs working with Taiwan, and they have greatly helped their economic.

He also said that Taiwan-based OFWs has contributed a total of $650-Million for the Philippine foreign reserves last year.

“They helped our economy moving, they are also helping yours through their remittances which sent children to schools,” Wang said.

Aside from inviting more OFWs to Taiwan, Wand stressed that they are also working to bring more investment to the country especially in Bulacan.

20 Years of NIPAS Law Implementation Reviewed

Marble slide at the mineral reservation are of the Biak-na-Bato National Park in 2006.

MANILA- On March 15, 2012, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources-Protected Areas and Wildlife Bureau (DENR-PAWB) in cooperation with the Deutsche Gesellschaft Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH and Silliman University launched the ““An In-depth Review of NIPAS and Related Statues on the establishment and management of Protected Areas in the Philippines”.

The National Integrated Protected Areas System Act of 1992 (Republic Act No. 7586), commonly known as the NIPAS Act was enacted primarily for biodiversity conservation.

This law provides the legal and developmental framework for the establishment and management of protected areas (PAs) in the Philippines. The review is aimed to identify which of the law’s provisions should be amended to improve its ability to provide stronger legal and policy backstops for multi-scale Protected Area (PA) management in the Philippines.

The Philippines adopted the Protected Area Management system as an approach for protecting and maintaining the natural biological and physical diversities of the environment notably on areas with biologically unique features to sustain human life and development, as well as plant and animal life through the legislation of RA 7586 or the National Integrated Protected Areas System (NIPAS Act).

However, the implementation of NIPAS Act remains a challenge because of its certain provisions which are in conflict with other environment laws.

There were 202 identified initial components of the NIPAS comprising of proclaimed national parks, game refuge and wildlife sanctuaries, nature reserves, wilderness areas, mangrove reserves, watershed reservations, fish sanctuaries, protected landscapes and seascapes, among others.

Thus far, of the 202 initial components, there are 112 protected areas formally proclaimed by the President under the System covering 3.54 million hectares. However, only 13 protected areas have been officially declared by law as part of the NIPAS.

The Study critically assessed nine legislations namely: National Integrated Protected Areas System, Revised Forestry Code of the Philippines, Wildlife Resources Conservation and Protection Act, Philippine Fisheries Code, Agriculture and Fisheries Modernization Act, Philippine Mining Act, Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Act, Local Government code of 1991 and the Convention on Biological Diversity.

It builds on the experiences of the study team in the implementation of various environmental projects in the Philippines. Complementing the policy study is the management effectiveness assessment conducted by the joint Philippine-German team in identified six sites representing terrestrial and marine ecosystems.

The Philippine Development Plan (PDP) 2011-2016 duly acknowledged that the implementation of various laws and policies are confused by overlapping and conflicting policies and mandates.

Thus, the need for an in-depth review and harmonizing a number of conflicting relevant laws and policies affecting natural resources was undertaken.

“We are very appreciative of GIZ for providing financial assistance in order to conduct a review of the NIPAS Act and Other Related Laws on the Establishment and Management of Protected Areas in the Philippines.

The results of the Study and its accompanying recommendations will indeed be valuable for the Protected Area and Wildlife Sector to further improve our policy on the management of protected areas in the Philippines.

 The results of the Study may also be used as basis to further the advocacies on protected area management,” a statement from Dir. Theresita Mundita S. Lim of DENR- PAWB.

The recommendations of this study will hopefully be used to clarify and ultimately resolve conflicting areas in the implementation of the NIPAS and the other legislations.

***

GIZ is a federally-owned enterprise that supports the German government in the

field of international development cooperation. For more than 30 years now, GIZ has

been cooperating with Philippine partners in strengthening the capacity of people

and institutions to improve the lives of Filipinos in this generation and generations to

come. Together we work to balance economic, social and ecological interests through multi-stakeholder dialogue, participation and collaboration.

Most of its activities are commissioned by the German Federal Ministry for Economic

Cooperation and Development (BMZ). GIZ also operates on behalf of other German

ministries – in particular the Federal Foreign Office, the Federal Environment

Ministry and the Federal Ministry of Education and Research – as well as German

federal states and municipalities, and public and private sector clients both in

Germany and abroad. These include the governments of other countries, the

European Commission, the United Nations and the World Bank.

25-M Pinoys now enrolled in PhilHealth

MALOLOS CITY—About 25-Million poorest Filipinos are now enrolled under the Universal Health Care Program (UHCP) of the government, Health Secretary Enrique Ona disclosed yesterday.

Ona’s disclosure came as he led the inauguration of new facilities of the Bulacan Medical Center (BMC) here which he described as the best health facility in the country operated by a provincial government.

“This year, almost all poorest Filipino families are enrolled in PhilHealth,: he said noting that said number is easily equivalent  23-M to 25-M individuals.

Ona said that the national government is paying P12-Billion a year for the premium of health insurance of poorest families.

“It only shows na hindi lang slogan yung Universal Health Care program ni Pangulong Aquino,’ he said and added that the President is really sincere in improving health care system in the country.

Ona said the key in the UHCP is the increasing enrollment of Filipinos to Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (Philhealth), which is he said is one of the examples of public private partnership.

SLIDESHOW: Albay in my Mind

Albay in my Mind Slideshow Slideshow: TripAdvisor™ TripWow ★ Albay in my Mind Slideshow Slideshow ★ to Bacacay (near Sorsogon) and Legaspi City (near Donsol). Stunning free travel slideshows on TripAdvisor

Crime-prone places in Bulacan

This is based on the latest date released by Bulacan PNP on March 5.

Bulakenyo car crash victim to be repatriated next week?

MALOLOS CITY—Jeamelle Mangonon and her children were ready to go to Canada to join her husband Joey.

That dream was wiped away when Joey along with three other overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) died in a road mishap on late Sunday night.

The news was devastating for Jeamelle that the only words she was able to utter in an interview on Wednesday was “please help us.”

Those words were directed to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) as a request to hasten the repatriation of the bodies of the victims.

In another interview yesterday, Jeamelle repeated the same to Radyo Bulacan, but noted that Joey’s remains might be repatriated by next week.

“It might be next week, we don’t know yet, please help us,” she said in vernacular during a phone patch interview.

A resident of Barangay Bambang in Bocaue town, Jeamelle said she still do not know what to do.  She had four children with Joey.

Joey is a member of the housekeeping staff of the Coast Edmonton Plaza Hotel in Edmonton City, Alberta, Canada.

On Sunday, Joey along with fellow hotel workers Anthony Castillon, Josefina Velarde, and another unidentified Filipina died in a mishap along the Queen Elizabeth II Highway in Innisfail, some 120 kilometers north of Calgary.

Another Filipina identified as Josephine Tamondong suffered serious injuries and was rushed to Alberta Hospital.

The CBC News website said that Tyler James Stevens, the driver of the Range Rover that slammed to the victim’s Dogde Journey van is now facing multiple charges including impaired driving causing death.

It was also reported that some motorists along the Queen Elizabeth III Highway were almost hit by Steven’s vehicle who was driving northbound on a the southbound lane.