CARAGA Region

[romix]

sumitomo is going to invest P62billion m, the biggest investment in the mining sector so far. the plant will be located in a 670 hectare economic zone in taganito, surigao norte . the output of the nickel-cobalt plant will be purchased by Sumitomo for final processing in its refinery in japan. it will generate an annual export of $318 million.

[regjeex]

time for our region to shine... Taganito is in Claver right? that municipality will enjoy the tax from the said company.

[the_villager]

Muncipality of Claver, Surigao del Norte is the richest municipality man siguro diri sa surigao and with all those mining companies operating in its jurisdiction, this might be a million pesos richer than the so called "new cities?" in caraga region. once mag operate na ang sumitomo, milya milya na ang lamang ani sa uban. i will not be surprise kung mo surpass pa ang income niya kay sa surigao city.

[jpdm]

Originally Posted by regjeex

Siargao is next next top destination in Pinas... Hopefully mag tuloy tuloy na yan... together with the mining companies in Surigao that will boost the economy of the State of Caraga Claver will be benifited among others.

SOAR HIGH CARAGA!

I agree!

I hope local investors will develop Siargao as a prime Philippine tourism destination area!

Maybe another Boracay (sans overdevelopment) in the making?

[regjeex]

Sana nga.... Pero dapat walisin muna ang mga politico na nasa paligid ng Siargao...

[jpdm]

Originally Posted by regjeex

Sana nga.... Pero dapat walisin muna ang mga politico na nasa paligid ng Siargao...

That is the hardest thing to do.

Unless, mismo mga tao mag-people power

[rally]

Already Siargao is the victim of politics. as of now a company of Army soldiers has been dispatched to Siargao ostensibly to gaurd against npa activities because the brother ka oris is running for mayor of dapa.

And the incumbent cong. had the temerity to annnounce that the presence of the army soldiers has resulted to increase in tourism arrivals. ha ha ha mabuang ako.

[regjeex]

Sayangan ko sa Siargao... daku man unta og potential.. pero saon man tungod sa mga atay og jawa nga politico no wonder kung dili jud ma solve na nga issue, mo balik sa uno na isab... ay ay gayod... back to zero na kita ani... dili mawala sa listahan ang poorest province in the country kung naay mga ing ana nga issue.... maajo ini sila dab-daban...

Originally Posted by rally

Already Siargao is the victim of politics. as of now a company of Army soldiers has been dispatched to Siargao ostensibly to gaurd against npa activities because the brother ka oris is running for mayor of dapa.

And the incumbent cong. had the temerity to annnounce that the presence of the army soldiers has resulted to increase in tourism arrivals. ha ha ha mabuang ako.

[romix]

you know the politicians are eyeing siargao because its a dollar earning island, pag nagpuntahan na dyan ang mga australians who love surfing , sigurado akong magtataasanh na presyo ng mga lupa dyan , sirgao is so near to austrlia na kahit private planes pwedeng gamitin , no need to go to manila, direct na sila dyan lalapag kaya mga politicains dyan para ng mga vultures

[rally]

FLASH! FLASH! FLASH!

SUPREME COURT DECLARES UNCONSTITUTIONAL THE CREATION OF THE PROVINCE OF DINAGAT ISLANDS FOR FAILURE TO COMPLY WITH THE AREA AND POPULATION REQUIREMENT.

[SC_00]

Originally Posted by rally

FLASH! FLASH! FLASH!

SUPREME COURT DECLARES UNCONSTITUTIONAL THE CREATION OF THE PROVINCE OF DINAGAT ISLANDS FOR FAILURE TO COMPLY WITH THE AREA AND POPULATION REQUIREMENT.

nabasa ko

[SC_00]

kanus-a pa wow Caraga?

[mike durero]

Lakeside resort to boost Caraga tourism
By MIKE U. CRISMUNDO
February 19, 2010, 5:45pm

Butuan City - The Mainit Kasili Lakeside Resort, a new tourist draw at the side of scenic Lake Mainit, is seen to spur tourism not only in Mainit town in Surigao del Norte province but the entire Caraga region as well, officials said Friday.

The Mainit Kasili Lakeside Resort has 56 fully-airconditioned rooms, three swimming pools, a convention center, two videoke bars, a tennis court, and a restaurant offering dishes made from fish caught in Lake Mainit, one of the largest lakes in Mindanao where the popular "kasili" or electric eel can be found.

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo visited this resort early this week.

Elated over the efforts of the local government unit headed by Mainit Mayor Ramon Mondano, the President made a financial contribution for the resort to establish more facilities for tourists.

“The noble project of the LGU here will surely boost the tourism industry not only in the municipality of Mainit, but the entire Caraga Region as well,” said Press Secretary Crispulo J. Icban, Jr. who accompanied the President here.

The President and her party were able to view the resort facing the majestic Lake Mainit, the fourth largest lake in the country.

Meanwhile, Mondano said Friday among the future plans of the resort is to promote wakeboarding and jet skiing in Lake Mainit to replicate the wakeboarding craze at the Camarines Water Sports Center in Bicol.

"Lake Mainit is a perfect place for wakeboarding and jet skiing because of its calm waves and water current," said Mondano.

"Lake Mainit is a perfect place for wakeboarding and jet skiing because of its calm waves and water current," said Mondano.

In another development, President Arroyo vowed to bring quality education to Filipino youths by establishing and upgrading facilities of all state colleges and universities nationwide.

This is the meat of the President's speech highlighting the Mindanao Agribusiness Tour in this province held at the Engineering Building of Surigao del Norte College of Agriculture and Technology (SNCAT) in Barangay Magpayang here on Tuesday.

[mike durero]

Ilang daan sa Surigao City, ipapasara sa pagsasagawa ng Calagan Festival
at Friday, February 19, 2010

IPAPASARA ang iilang bahagi ng daan sa Surigao City sa nalalapit na Pebrero 23 sa pagsasagawa ng Streetdancing Competition sa Calagan Festival.

Ito ay bilang bahagi ng mga aktibidad sa WOW Caraga na kung saan ang lungsod ang Host ngayong taon.

Ang mga ipapasara na mga daan mula alas 2 hanggang alas 4 ng hapon kinabibilangan ng City Boulevard, P. Reyes-Borromeo, Borromeo-Rizal, City Hall, Rizal St. patungong Provincial Sports Complex.

Ayon kay Roselin Merlin, Senior Tourism Officer ng Surigao City, ibayong preparasyon na ang isinasagawa lalo pa’t espesyal na magiging bisita si Department of Tourism (DOT) Secretary Joseph Ace Durano.

Muling nagpulong naman ang mga opisyal ng Surigao Tourism Council kasama ang Philippine National Police (PNP) upang talakayin ang ilang security measures.

Sa Calagan Festival, ang mga kasali ay mga probinsiya at lungsod ng Caraga Region kagaya ng Bislig, Agusan del Sur, Agusan del Norte, Surigao City, Surigao del Norte at iba pa. (rmn)

[hakz2007]

18 towns in Caraga region eyed as beneficiary of expanded KALAHI-CIDSS 2 program

BUTUAN CITY, Feb. 24 (PNA) -– The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) announced on Tuesday the inclusion of 18 towns in the Caraga region as beneficiary of the expanded “Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan-Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services (KALAHI-CIDSS)" this year.

Region XIII Regional Director Mercedita P. Jabagat made the announcement during the DSWD 59th founding anniversary celebration of the department on Tuesday with the theme “DSWD: Kaagapay at Gabay sa Kinabukasan” at DSWD Caraga Conference Hall here.

Jabagat said these 18 towns are mostly located in the provinces of Agusan del Sur, Surigao del Sur and Surigao del Norte.

She said the negotiations on the additional funding of US$ 104 million from the World Bank and US$ 140 million from the Millennium Challenge Corporation will take place next week, which will help cover additional KALAHI-CIDSS areas nationwide.

Because of the success of the KALAHI-CIDSS program, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo late last year ordered the expansion of the KALAHI-CIDSS areas nationwide.

“We are still continuing evaluating these areas that so far has been identified as beneficiaries of the KALAHI-CIDSS Part 2, Director Jabagat added.

Concurrently, the DSWD Caraga is implementing KALAHI-CIDSS: “Kapangyarihan at Kaunlaran sa Barangay” (KKB) in 20 barangays in Veruela town, Agusan del Sur province and 11 barangays in Cagwait town, Surigao del Norte province.

Since 2003 up to 2009, the KALAHI-CIDSS program-Makamasang Tugon (MT) have already served at least 63,440 household beneficiaries and released total project cost of P340.06 million to the far-flung towns spread all over Caraga region.

KALAHI-CIDSS is one of the Arroyo administration’s flagship poverty alleviation programs implemented by the DSWD.

It is currently being implemented in 184 towns and 42 provinces nationwide. The program is also part of the Medium Term Development Plan which is funded through a loan from the World Bank and from other national and local government funds.

KALAHI-CIDSS specializes in community development where communities are made key decision-makers on livelihood and community projects.

Meanwhile, Jabagat also announced on Tuesday the projected target beneficiaries this year in the Caraga region for the Set 3 program of the “Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program” or 4Ps.

She said at least 6,516 potential household beneficiaries so far had been identified in 17 municipalities and two cities in the Caraga region.

“Identification, evaluation and registration of potential household beneficiaries is already going on,” she added.

4Ps program is another flagship project of the national government on poverty reduction and social development. It provides cash grants to the extremely poor households to improve their health, nutrition and education, particularly children aged zero to 14.

The program also invests in human capital to break the intergenerational cycle of poverty among households.

In the 4Ps Set 1 and Set 2 project in 2009, the DSWD Caraga has already released cash grants to more than P423.4 million, added Jabagat.

In a related development, the DSWD in region 10 has launched early this week the "Project Helpline," a telephone hotline created solely to respond on inquiries on Republic Act 9344 also known as the "Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act of 2006," and to help callers handle cases of children in conflict with the law (CICL).

The aim of the project Helpline is to advocate RA 9344 and to encourage the public in reporting cases of abuse against a child in conflict with the law.

Despite the civic groups' negative comments on RA 9344, the social welfare department has strongly been advocating the law to minimize maltreatments and injustices caused against CICLs whose cases are still in due process.

"There are still children out there who are still placed in jails together with adult offenders thereby exposing them to manipulation, physical, verbal and sexual harassment and abuse," said DSWD 10 Regional Director Atty. Araceli F. Solamillo.

Solamillo added the DSWD is doing everything it can to protect them from the brutal experience.

"Through RA 9344, the children are separated from adult offenders and are given psychosocial interventions such as counseling, skills training, education, and other activities which will enhance his or her psychological, emotional and psycho-social well-being." (PNA)

[aidz]

One municipality converted into a city, sixteen municipalities
reverted back to being cities and two barangays created
in the 4th Quarter of 2009
(PR-201002-PP2-01, Posted 23 February 2010)

Seventeen new cities and two new barangays were added in the Philippine Standard Geographic Code masterlist during the last quarter of 2009. In summary, the following are the changes in the PSGC masterlist for the 4th Quarter 2009:

I. Conversion of the Municipality of Dasmariñas in the Province of Cavite in Region IV-A (CALABARZON) into a Component City pursuant to Republic Act No. 9723 and which was ratified through a plebiscite conducted by the COMELEC on November 25, 2009.

II. On December 21, 2009, the Supreme Court, with a majority vote of 6 to 4, reversed and set aside its November 18, 2008 decision and declared as constitutional the cityhood laws converting the 16 municipalities to cities. This ruling was a reversal of the earlier decision of the Supreme Court that turned them back to municipalities under Entry of Judgment of General Record (G.R.) Nos. 176951 and 177499 which became final and executory on May 21, 2009 as stated in COMELEC Memorandum dated June 3, 2009. The 16 new cities are as follows:
PSGC
Municipality Reverted as City
Province/Region

1 012805000 BATAC Ilocos Norte, Reg. I
2 045647000 TAYABAS Quezon, Reg. IV-A
3 072211000 BOGO Cebu, Reg. VII
4 072214000 CARCAR Cebu, Reg. VII
5 072234000 NAGA Cebu, Reg. VII
6 074611000 GUIHULNGAN Negros Oriental, Reg. VII
7 083708000 BAYBAY Leyte, Reg. VIII
8 086005000 CATBALOGAN Samar (Western Samar), Reg. VIII
9 082604000 BORONGAN Eastern Samar, Reg. VIII
10 104307000 EL SALVADOR Misamis Oriental, Reg. X
11 112509000 MATI Davao Oriental, Reg. XI
12 143213000 TABUK Kalinga, CAR
13 150702000 LAMITAN Basilan, ARMM
14 160203000 CABADBARAN Agusan del Norte, Caraga
15 160301000 BAYUGAN Agusan del Sur, Caraga
16 166819000 TANDAG Surigao del Sur, Caraga

Note: Change from municipality status into a city will not affect and will retain the present municipality code.

The exemption accorded the 16 municipalities is based on the fact that each had pending cityhood bills long before the enactment of RA 9009 that substantially distinguished them from other municipalities aiming for cityhood. On top of this, each of the 16 municipalities also met the PhP 20 million income level exacted under the original provisions of Sec. 450 of the 1991 Local Government Code. (GR No. 176951).

III. Two newly-created barangays, Barangay Macalag (PSGC-153835010) and Barangay Tuntungan (PSGC- 153835011) shall be included in the Municipality of Datu Hoffer Ampatuan, in the province of Maguindanao pursuant to Muslim Mindanao Autonomy (MMA) Act No. 220 and which was ratified through a plebiscite conducted by the COMELEC on July 30, 2009.

The number of cities increased from 120 cities as of September 2009 to 137 cities as of December 2009 while the number of barangays increased from 42,021 in September 2009 to 42,023 in December 2009. Subsequently, the number of municipalities decreased during the period from 1,514 to 1,497. With these updates, the latest number of regions, provinces, cities, municipalities, and barangays as of December 31, 2009 are as follows:

December 31, 2009 September 30, 2009

Regions 17 17
Provinces 80 80
Cities 137 120
Municipalities 1,497 1,514
Barangays 42,023 42,021


LINA V. CASTRO
Officer in Charge
Office of the Secretary General

source

[hakz2007]

New Zealand-UNDP officials set 3-day swing in Caraga region

BUTUAN CITY, Feb. 26 (PNA) –- The Act for Peace Programme New Zealand Ambassador to the Philippines Andrew Matheson along with other officials, together with Country Director of the United Nation Development Program Renaud Meyer, are set to conduct a three-day on site visit to project sites in the peace and development communities program in the Caraga region, it was learned Friday.

The New Zealand and UNDP group will also look for schools of peace, and other programs and projects that will be supported by the New Zealand-AID (NZAID).

Mindanao Super Region Champion and Office of the Presidential Assistant for Mindanao (OPAMIN) Secretary Jesus G. Dureza will accompany the New Zealand and UNDP officials in the visit from March 3 to 5.

Local government unit officials and members of the Regional Development Council and Regional Peace and Order Council will also be present during the visit. (PNA)

[romix]

nice talaga pag may wakeboarding dyan sa lake mainit , tulad ng camsur, imagin 117% percent ang increase ng tourist arrivals doon dahil sa wakeboarding na yan, and to think manmade yong lake nila doon, wakeboarding sa lake mainit, surfing naman sa siargao , dapat magkaroon ng ng feasibility study ang dept of tourism sa potentials ng caraga para may maginvest , paging dir. letty tan ,

[hakz2007]

BIR adopts 10-point strategy to hike tax-take in 2010

BUTUAN CITY, Feb. 27 (PNA) – The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) in Caraga region has launched 10 strategies to increase tax collection for 2010.

Caraga region BIR regional director lawyer Eduardo Bajador ordered Butuan-RD 103, RD 104 -Bayugan, Agusan del Sur; RD 105 Surigao and RD 106 -Tandag, Surigao del Sur, to thoroughly implement 10 strategies to surpass the 2008 and 2009 collections.

The strategies launched Friday included high visibility public awareness campaign on the enforcement and service programs; integrated approach in administering the large taxpayers; re-invigorating the Run After Tax Evaders (RATE) program; enhanced and strategic enforcement approaches; and focus of big ticket items.

The 10-point strategy also included a more rigorous third party matching campaign; expanded linkage with key institutions; effective partnership with taxpayers and tax practitioners; close monitoring and investment incentive programs; and motivating the BIR workforce.

"These directions will help in improving the voluntary compliance of taxpayers as they become aware of the activities of the BIR and more information on the tax compliance requirements," Bajador said.

BIR Caraga has adopted the theme: "Making the Public Know" that aptly reflected the thrust of pursuing a high visibility of communication to all stakeholders of BIR's tax administration activities and initiatives that also highlighted the transparency policy that the BIR would vigorously promote, said Bajador.

The BIR Caraga said that 50.23 percent of its collections came from income tax, followed by revenues on value-added tax at 33.69%. (PNA)

[hakz2007]

100,000 residents of Caraga coastal areas facing the Pacific Ocean flee homes for fear of possible tsunami

SURIGAO CITY, Feb. 28 (PNA) – Fearing a possible tsunami onslaught following the 8.8 magnitude earthquake that hit Chile on Saturday, some 100,000 residents of coastal areas in the twin provinces of Surigao, Surigao City, Siargao and Dinagat Islands have evacuated to safer places.

Initiated by local government unit (LGU) officials in the provinces, cities, towns and barangays facing the Pacific Ocean, the residents sought refuge near the mountains and other higher grounds, schools, churches, day care and health centers and gymnasiums.

The Office of Civil Defense (OCD)-Caraga reported on Sunday morning that the evacuation happened in the coastal towns of Lianga, Barobo, Carrascal and Cortes in Surigao del Sur, island towns in Surigao del Norte and five barangays in Surigao City.

“They started their evacuation since last night,” said OCD Regional Director Blanche T. Gobenciong.

“This is the initiative of our local officials despite that our advisory is only to stay alert,” she said.

Residents living along the coastline of General Luna, Pilar, San Isidro, Burgos, and Dapa in Siargao Island already evacuated to higher grounds following the advisories made by their local chief executives and have decided to do preemptive evacuation, Gobenciong said.

Surigao del Norte Congressmen Francisco T. Matugas and Guillermo Romarate, Surigao del Sur Governor Vicente Pimentel, Surigao del Norte Governor Robert Ace Barbers and Surigao City Mayor Alfonso Casurra already alerted their respective disaster councils for a possible tsunami onslaught.

As this developed, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) in Surigao raised “Tsunami Alert Level 2” in the eastern seaboard coastal areas facing the Pacific Ocean.

Gobenciong said people living along the coastal areas and fishermen are advised to stay away from the shorelines for possible unusual wave activity.

“Those whose houses are very near the coastal areas and shorelines are also advised to go further inland,” she added.

The OCD Caraga and Regional Disaster Coordinating Council (RDCC) directed all disaster councils spread all over the region, specially those in the coastal areas, to implement preparedness measures.

Shipping lines are also advised to ensure that their respective vessels stay away from the possible path of a tsunami.

Meanwhile, thousands of residents in the east coast of Tandag City, Surigao del Sur and Mati City in Davao Oriental have moved to higher grounds as of 10 a.m. Sunday due to the tsunami alert issued by the Phivolcs.

Mati City Mayor Michelle Rabat said many residents, especially those leaving near seas, did not sleep because of the tsunami warning.

She said the city's disaster teams, as well as the Coast Guard, have already been put on alert.

Mayor Rabat added that many residents living along the white sand beaches of the village of Dahican have already moved to higher and safer grounds after noting a rise in the water level in the area.

In Tarragona, a southern tip town of Davao Oriental which also faces the Pacific Ocean, several residents have already evacuated to higher grounds, it was learned. (PNA)