3 Eastern Visayas colleges to use new teaching modules

• |More|

Thursday, October 6, 2011

PALO, Leyte -- Three premier tertiary schools in Eastern Visayas will pilot test this second semester newly developed teaching modules that incorporated the 2011-2016 regional development plan (RDP).

In a recent meeting of the Regional Development Council (RDC), instructors from Leyte Normal University (LNU), Eastern Visayas State University (EVSU), both in Tacloban City; and Visayas State University (VSU) in Baybay City, have formally turned over the teaching modules to the region's highest policy-making body.

Have something to report? Tell us in text, photos or videos.

"State and universities mold the future population of the region. We recognize the vital in regional development made by the academe. This is the only RDC in the country that authorizes this kind of advocacy to be done in schools," said National Economic and Development Authority Regional Director and RDC vice chairman Buenaventura Go-Soco Jr.

The mainstreaming initiative will be piloted to about 1,600 junior college students taking up engineering, tourism, and agribusiness courses.

These three fields of studies are directly related to the 2011-2016 medium term RDP, which are agri-industrial development, ecotourism, and information and communications technology (ICT).

"The initiative will generate support from college students to push through the RDP thrusts. The academe has a crucial role in regional development for two reasons. First, the SCUs instruct, educate, and mold the future population of the region. Second, the SCUs influence the development of the locality and of the region," said Go-Soco during the RDC meeting.

Drafting of the manual was led by teachers of Bachelor of Science (BS) in Agribusiness course of VSU for agri-industrial development, instructors of BS Tourism and Restaurant Management/Hotel and Restaurant Management courses of LNU for ecotourism, and teachers of BS in Information Technology course of EVSU for ICT.

The mainstreaming of RDP in three courses was approved last May 2011 by the RDC through a resolution.

"After the testing, we will evaluate if it is something that really adds to the learning of our students and later we can go to other courses and other schools especially private schools. The target is to educate all students in Eastern Visayas about RDP in the coming years," the official said.

In a brief interview, EVSU president Catalino Beltran said they will uphold the commitment to push through the advocacy of RDP in schools. A memorandum of agreement was earlier signed by RDC and school officials. (Leyte Samar Daily Express)

Leyte named 'Most Friendly Province' for 3rd time

• |More|

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

THE Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) recently named Leyte as the "Most Business Friendly Province," its third since 2008.

The PCCI's Most Business Friendly LGU Award seeks to recognize the outstanding efforts and commendable practices of provinces, municipalities and cities in instituting good governance reforms that will pave way for increased competitiveness of local government units (LGUs) in promoting local trade and investments.

Have something to report? Tell us in text, photos or videos.

Leyte was first declared as Most Business Friendly Province in 2008. The second time was in 2010.

Leyte Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) president Willy Julio said the PCCI recognizes the efforts of the Provincial Government in promoting Leyte as a business destination and the viability of industry and investments by instituting good governance reforms to promote trade and investment in the locality; ensure accountability, transparency and efficiency in the conduct of day-to-day operations; and further competitiveness that will improve the quality of life of the constituents.

PCCI also took cognizance of the province's leadership through Governor Jericho Petilla in promoting trade, investment and tourism in the locality, as well as fostering close relationship among the private sector and LGUs within the province.

The governor himself made the presentation of the province's latest business promotions and policies and personally faced the tough panel that chose this year's Most Business Friendly LGUs.

This year, the province has put in more efforts to encourage the private sector and businessman to put up their investments in Leyte.

The province earned the nod of the private sector for the construction and development of the Leyte IT Development Park in Palo, Leyte. Such a facility is seen to complement the growth of the province as an ICT hub with the existence of the Leyte ICT Park just across it, where already a number of business processing outsourcing (BPO) companies, a call center and small technology-based businesses operate.

Other agriculture related businesses are likewise set in Baybay City while big franchise stores are setting up in bigger municipalities in the province like in Hilongos.

Tourism is also considered as a major economic driver in the province, and Leyte is one of 11 LGUs in the country that have been shortlisted for local economic development assistance with Canadian International Development Agency with tourism as top priority.

Leyte was also stamped by the Department of the Interior and Local Government with the "Seal of Good Housekeeping" for its good performance in internal housekeeping, particularly in the areas of planning, sound fiscal management, transparency and accountability, and valuing performance management, which is in line with PCCI's vision of transparency and good governance among local government units as it gives out the awards.

The awarding ceremonies for the Most Business Friendly LGUs will be held during the culmination of the 37th Philippine Business Conference and Expo on October 14, at the Manila Hotel. (Leyte Samar Daily Express

When in Cebu City, please visit gregmelep.com for your retirement and real estate needs.

Right cause, wrong tack

By: Conrado de Quiros
Philippine Daily Inquirer

 33share148 112

One of the things I heard in the wake of Palea’s wildcat strike at the height of Typhoon “Pedring” was this: “Grabe naman sila, they’ve gotten so spoiled. Didn’t they just get a Christmas gift from the Supreme Court in the form of a ruling ordering PAL to pay them their back wages?”

No, that wasn’t Palea, that was Fasap, or the Flight Attendants and Stewards Association of the Philippines. A couple of months ago, the Supreme Court ruled with finality that PAL’s retrenchment of 1,400 flight attendants in 1998 was illegal. It had already made that ruling some years ago but PAL had blocked it with a couple of motions for reconsideration. In quashing the second one, the Supreme Court said PAL had shown itself “less than honest in its claim.” It said it would no longer entertain further motions for reconsideration and ordered PAL to pay the back wages of the retrenched personnel.

This confusion alone shows the folly of the wildcat strike.

From Palea’s perspective, the strike was well past due. They had been complaining about PAL’s labor policies for some time now, and management hadn’t heeded them. Worse, the labor department agreed that management had the right to retrench them. The retrenchment was imminent: it was to take place last Saturday, Oct. 1. They had no time to lose.

But from the public’s perspective, the strike was sudden and capricious. What the hell did they know of Palea’s problems? If Palea was desperate, only its members knew about it. They themselves, the public, knew nothing, or next to nothing, about it. All they knew was that the airport personnel refused to move their asses at a time that the passengers badly needed them to do it. A storm was raging and they were desperate to quite literally fly to the arms of their loved ones.

It’s not government Palea should be worried about, it’s the public. It’s not government Palea has pissed off, it’s the public. The tack of calling P-Noy an enemy of labor and in league with Lucio Tan doesn’t make things better, it makes things worse. It’s thoroughly unthinking. I don’t particularly care about Mar Roxas, he probably is, on both counts. In fact, it’s not just unthinking, it’s suicidal. Why make an enemy of a potential ally? Why make an enemy of someone who is out to make Tan pay for his sins, not the least of them tax evasion, or fraud? The enemy of my enemy is my friend. Surely even unions know that?

Maybe Palea thinks that by showing this kind of militancy, or by being controversial, it is finally getting some media mileage? Maybe, but unlike show biz where no news is bad news, in union work, some news, particularly bad news, can be the death of you. Controversy about movie stars can only drive people to watch their movies. Controversy about unions can only drive a strike to the ground.

There’s a precedent for this. In June 1998, PAL’s pilots also staged a wildcat strike abandoning their posts during the peak season, when a horde of Filipinos were flying in for the Independence Centennial. The pilots had perfectly valid grievances. But their action did not get them heard, it got them drowned in a roar of public outrage. The strike got little sympathy. The pilots lost the public, and with that lost their strike, lost their jobs, and lost their chance. Thankfully, they did not lose their licenses, many of them finding a better place in other airlines, local and foreign.

A pity if Palea’s strike would meet the same fate because its grievances are perfectly valid as well. By the time this comes out, PAL will have terminated the services of 2,600 regular employees. The problem is not the size, it is that PAL wants to terminate them and rehire them again as contractuals under another service provider at half their wages. Some of the employees have worked for as long as 20 years in the company and were earning P20,000 a month. If they agree to be rehired, they would be doing exactly the same thing they were doing before for only P11,000 now. If you were that employee, wouldn’t you be furious too?

Not surprisingly, only a few desperate souls have agreed to it. What makes it worse is that during Erap’s time Palea agreed to sign a 10-year moratorium on collective bargaining in exchange for certain concessions, among them job security. The strikers have a point when they say that you want to see economic sabotage, don’t look at them, look at the PAL management. What it is doing is economic sabotage in ways that give whole new meanings to the concept. It is sabotaging the dignity of labor, word of honor, and fairness and decency, the cornerstones of a just society.

Contrary to PAL’s claim that it is losing money, which compels it to resort to such oppressive means as this, it is in fact raking billions. It did so last year, according to the calculations of all the unions. PAL is the only company that claims to be losing money that its owner, Lucio Tan, refuses to sell to someone who can run it without hiding behind an Erap, clinging to it instead with the tenaciousness of a leech.

The Supreme Court’s felicitous description of PAL’s retrenchment of the 1,400 flight attendants applies as well, or far more aptly to PAL’s retrenchment of the 2,600 ground crew: “less than honest.” In the one as in the other, there was no lack of alternatives to cutting the workers’ wages by half by that ruse. In the one as in the other, there was only exploitation to justify it.

Unfortunately all this is being lost by Palea’s knee-jerk response to the problem. You want to strike, fine, but first strike at the heart of the public. Get the public to understand your cause, get the public to sympathize with it, get the public to appreciate it.

Otherwise, well, remember the pilots, and despair.