Pamamahagi ng ayuda at programang pang-transportasyon at pangkabuhayan na makatutulong sa paghahanapbuhay ng mga Ilonggo

Wazzup Pilipinas!?

Pinangunahan nina Transportation Secretary Art Tugade at Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III ngayong araw, ika-8 Nobyembere 2021, ang pamamahagi ng ayuda at programang pang-transportasyon at pangkabuhayan na makatutulong sa paghahanapbuhay ng mga Ilonggo at paglago ng probinsya ng Iloilo sa kabila ng pandemya.

Benepisyaryo ng mga programa ang mga transport workers sa probinsya at mga bumalik sa bansa na mga Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs).

Ayon kay Secretary Tugade, ang pagpunta nila ni Secretary Bello sa Iloilo ay upang tuparin ang pangako ni Pangulong Rodrigo Roa Duterte na bigyan ng komportableng pamumuhay ang mga Pilipino at ipakita ang “package of love” ng Pangulo sa mga Ilonggo.

“Naniniwala ako na kung anuman ang Iloilo ngayon, konti lang ‘yan sa kanyang mararating sa kinabukasan. Lalaki at lalago ang pamahalaang Iloilo. Kaya nga ‘ho ang pamahalaang Duterte ay nandidito ngayon upang sa kaniyang modest na paraan ay makatulong sa paglaki at paglago ng Iloilo,” ani Secretary Tugade sa paglunsad ng kabuhayan projects ng Department of Transportation (DOTr) at Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) sa lalawigan.

Kabilang sa mga pinamahagi ng DOTr ang 25 electronic tricyles o E-Trikes sa Provincial Government ng Iloilo matapos pumirma si Secretary Tugade ng Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) kasama si Iloilo Lone District Representative Julienne "Jam" Baronda.

Paliwanag ni Secretary Tugade, layon ng pamimigay ng E-Trikes na mas maraming tao ang makabiyahe at makapunta sa kanilang trabaho, hindi lamang sa pamamagitan ng mga pampublikong transportasyon. Dagdag pa niya, makatutulong din ang mga ito sa pagtitiyak ng kalusugan at kaligtasan ng mga road users, gaya ng mga siklista at riders, para sa kanilang biyahe at paghahanapbuhay.

“Maganda ang pagkakumpuni, maganda ang pagkaayos. Ito ‘ho ay magagamit ninyo sa pagnenegosyo. Ito ay isang handog ng pagmamahal ng Kagawaran ng Transportasyon sa siyudad ng Iloilo, nang sa ganoon makatulong kami sa kagustuhan ng mga taong maghanap-buhay at umangat ang kanilang buhay,” dagdag ni Secretary Tugade.

Magsisimula na rin sa Iloilo ang operasyon ng kauna-unahang cashless payment transaction sa mga pampublikong sasakyan. Ang mga cashless bus ay bibiyahe sa rutang Iloilo-Caticlan, Roxas at Kalibo area.

Samantala, 38 na benepisyaryo ang binigyan ng DOLE ng kabuhayan project na “Bikecination,” at libreng cellphones at load, habang 75 indibidwal naman ang makikinabang sa “Trisikad” Project. Namahagi naman ang Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) ng mga tseke para 40 benepisyaryo ng livelihood projects, habang 17 ang benepisyaryo ng programang “TABANG OFW.”

“Alam niyo po kaya kami nandito ni Secretary Tugade, isa lang ang aming pakay, ang iparating sa inyong mga kababayan namin sa Region 6 ang ayuda ng gobyerno ni Presidente Duterte. Sabi ni Presidente, pera niyo ‘yan kaya basta meron ay ipamigay sa inyo,” ayon kay Secretary Bello.

Nagpasalamat naman ang pamahalaan ng Iloilo kina Secretary Tugade at Secretary Bello sa mga hatid nilang tulong at programa para sa probinsya at sa mga Ilonggo.

Partikular na pinasalamatan ni Iloilo Governor Arthur “Toto” Defensor Jr. si Secretary Tugade para sa mga airport at port projects ng Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) at Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) sa lalawigan.

“Let me extend the thanks of the people of Iloilo. Salamat sa mga oras na ibinibigay ninyo at sa pag-asikaso sa mga port sa Iloilo. Salamat sa ating pagtutulungan at trabaho kasama ang CAAP at PPA. Pasalamatan din natin si President Rodrigo Duterte sa mga proyekto na dumaan sa mga opisina nina Secretary Tugade at Secretary Bello,” ani Governor Defensor.

“We witness these Ilonggo beneficiaries to be given a chance to start over again and to see hope amidst these trying times. All these will not become possible without the love and concern of Secretary Bello and Secretary Tugade,” ayon naman kay Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas.

Inauguration of new Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) District Headquarters in Western Visayas

Wazzup Pilipinas!?

Department of Transportation (DOTr) Secretary Art Tugade led the inauguration of the new Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) District Headquarters in the Western Visayas today, 08 November 2021, to strengthen the presence of the country’s maritime force in the region.
Secretary Tugade expressed his gratitude to former Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Secretary Mark Villar and Iloilo City Rep. Julienne Baronda for the funding, conceptualization and construction of the new PCG district headquarters located in Barrio Obrero, Lapuz, Iloilo City.

“Nagpapasalamat ako sa DPWH, pagkat itong building ito ay naitayo sa pamamagitan ng pondo nila under their convergence program. Maraming salamat po sa tulong niyo sa Philippine Coast Guard. To Congresswoman Jam, it was through her efforts, her prodding and every presentation na pinagtagpo ang pangangailangan ng PCG, kaya natupad itong building na ito,” Secretary Tugade said during the inauguration of the new PCG district headquarters. Also in attendance during the ceremony were Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III, PCG Commandant Vice Admiral Leopoldo Laroya and Iloilo City Rep. Julienne Baronda.

Secretary Tugade said the new PCG regional headquarters in the Western Visayas aims to strengthen and support the PCG workforce in carrying out its mission of safeguarding life and property, marine environment protection, and in conducting humanitarian missions and disaster response and management operations.

Secretary Tugade also revealed that the PCG will organize the Philippine Shore Auxiliary volunteers, who will augment the PCG workforce and man the country’s coastal states.

“Kailangan pangalagaan ‘yung coastal. Hindi lang pinapangalagaan ‘yung hanapbuhay ng fisherfolk, hindi lang nito sinisiguro na mapipigilan ‘yung illegal transport of drugs, hindi lang pinapangalagaan ‘yung safety and security ng bansa sa mga coastal towns,” Secretary Tugade said, adding that when he took over the helm of the DOTr, the PCG personnel only had 6,400 members.

“The Philippine Coast Guard has flown high. We started with merely 6,400 people. Now we are going to 21,000 members. I expect more. I want the PCG to have more members that’s why I want to have auxiliaries,” he said.

Secretary Tugade also instructed Philippine Ports Authority (PAA) General Manager Jay Santiago to construct a pier at the PCG district headquarters to optimize its use.

For her part, Rep. Baronda expressed her gratitude for the PCG for assisting Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) and locally stranded individuals (LSIs) in ferrying them back home to Iloilo.

“Thank you to the Philippine Coast Guard kasi kayo ang unang tumulong sa amin na masagip ang ating mga OFW at mga LSI pauwi ng City of Iloilo,” Rep Baronda said.

Teen talks about “twindemic” in Benilde online art exhibit

Wazzup Pilipinas!

A science high school graduate warns of a “double pandemic” in a short infotainment video from a new digital art exhibition of the De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde (DLS-CSB) Center for Campus Art (CCA).

“To Differ, Digitally 2: Love and Dissent in the Time of Pandemic” explores the digital landscape as a platform to communicate constructive protest based on love and empathy. The show spotlights photographs, graphic design, and illustrations, 2D and 3D models and rigs, animation and live action films, texts, audio, applications, and software. This is the second time CCA, under Architect Gerry Torres, collaborated with the New Media Cluster faculty headed by Associate Dean Maria Sharon Mapa Arriola.

Among the TDD2 projects is “Double Pandemic, Deadly Combination,” where a teenager (Elizah Bacani) talks about the danger of trans fatty acids or trans fats, especially in the time of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The project, which attempts to describe trans fats in simple terms through the visual medium, was originally written by filmmaker and content producer Seymour Sanchez under the “(Un)Covering Trans Fats Media Training and Fellowship Program Cycle 3” by Probe Media Foundation, Inc. and ImagineLaw.

Sanchez’s personal experience, along with his knowledge of the connection between trans fats and cardiovascular disease, inspired the idea. “My father-in-law died last May due to sepsis after getting the virus. He also had heart problems, which forms a deadly combination with COVID-19. I got a severe case of COVID last August and fortunately survived the ordeal despite my comorbidities,” he revealed.

“As a kidney transplant recipient, I am immunocompromised. My condition is a known comorbidity of COVID, which makes me more susceptible to severe symptoms of the disease,” Sanchez explained.

Aside from persons with weakened immune systems, older people and those with underlying medical conditions such as heart disease, high blood pressure and diabetes are also more likely to develop critical COVID.

“We can actually avoid the presence of trans fats in our country. Although greatly reduced, they have yet to be eliminated completely in our food supply. Laws should be enacted to declare that these fats are no longer generally recognized as safe. A deadline must be set for them to be banned,” he added.

Curator Karen Ocampo-Flores explained that TDD2 is “not only a fresh opportunity to deliver messages of social commentary through the digital medium; it is also a timely response to conditions wrought by the present scourge of the COVID-19 virus.”

Apart from “Double Pandemic, Deadly Combination,” Sanchez also wrote and directed “Maria Leonor,” an open letter to Vice President Leni Gerona Robredo – one of the most, if not the most, trolled public officials in the country – after she announced that she is running for president in the coming election.

“Seymour Sanchez presents through the language of documentary video, his own arguments and inquiry into politics and public health,” Flores described the works in the art exhibit found at CCA’s new website (www.benildecampusart.com).

Joining Sanchez at TDD2 is his fellow film educator and writer Jag Garcia (“I, Labyrinth”), animator Benjie Marasigan (“Hall of Heroes”), photographer Jay Javier (“Red Tagged!”), motion graphics artist and designer Yolec Homecillo (“Mga ‘Di Nakikita ng Mata”), multimedia designer Hannah Sison (“Portal”), 3D artist Volty Garcia (working with Sison in “Voltanna”), graphic designers Dino Brucelas (“Ang Bangkay na Marikit sa Panahon ng Pandemic”) and Rafael Liao (“Just Snap!”), visual communicator Vanessa Puente, graphic designer and writer Katrina Juane, visual artist Emily Mones, and writer-designers Ericka Garalde and Brian Bringas (working together with Brucelas in “Sino Ba Kausap Mo?”), event consultant Mito Tubilleja (“Mary and the Machine”), writer and content developer Penny Angeles-Tan (“Lynyrd Paras”), and multidisciplinary artist Teta Tulay (“Veerus”).

For more information about the exhibit and other projects, visit CCA’s social media pages on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/BenildeCampusArt), Twitter (https://twitter.com/csbcampusart), Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/benilde.campusart/) and its YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/c/BenildeCampusArt).