EMB awaiting Kepco Proposal
THE Environmental Management Bureau in Central Visayas (EMB-7) is still waiting for the proposal of the Korean Electric Power Co (Kepco) to build another coal ash facility in their plant site in Tinaan, Naga City.
“Once we receive it, it will undergo feasibility study to determine whether it fully complies with environmental safety standards,” EMB-7 Director Fernando Quililan told Cebu Daily News.
He said the Balili property cannot be used as a coal ash facility since the Mandaue Regional Trial Court (RTC) sustained its decision to ban the dumping of coal ash waste there.
Kepco has a coal stockyard facing the sea which Quililan said was “temporary.”
“They’re still looking for a big area to accommodate the large volume of coal delivered almost daily from Indonesia,” he said.
Quililan said Kepco doesn’t need to build a sanitary landfill based on an agreement with the Capitol in which the coal ash will be bought by Cemex Philippines as an ingredient for their cement. /Correspondent Renan Alangilan
Official told to talk to Magpale
Complaints on work reassignment and other issues should be forwarded to the acting governor’s office for resolution.
Dara Acusar, spokesperson for acting Gov. Agnes Magpale, said this in response to a complaint from former Capitol social welfare and development chief Marivic Garces who was reassigned to the Integrated Provincial Health Office. She was replaced by Evelyn Sinajon.
Garces insisted that she remains the provincial social welfare and development officer since her appointment is protected by civil service rules.
She pointed out that civil service rules require provincial social welfare officers to have five years social work experience while three years experience is required for those in the municipal level.
Acusar said instead of complaining, Garces should ask her superior about her new job assignment. “That’s basically the usual way to an employee to ask his/her superior what is his/her job,” she said. /Correspondent Renan Alangilan
Fire brigades in protected areas
FIRE brigades were designated on protected areas in Central Visayas ahead of next week’s onset of the summer season. Regional Executive Director Isabelo Montejo of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources in Central Visayas (DENR-7) said they also encourage residents in protected areas to dispose off dried leaves to avoid brush fires.
“I have instructed all our field officials to continually monitor and conduct regular patrols in all protected areas in the region in order to prevent forest or bush fire,” Montejo said.
A brush fire at the 630-hectare Buhisan Watershed Forest Reserve (BWFR) in sitio Badiang, barangay Toong, Cebu City razed 400 square meters of land, including 23 teak trees last March 3.
Montejo said lighted cigarette butts and unattended campfires also cause bush fires. There are more than 20 protected areas in the region, among which is the 20,000-hectare Central Cebu Protected Landscape (CCPL). /Correspondent Christine Emily L. Pantaleon
Cebu City Council to be cited by DILG
THE Cebu City Council will be awarded as the Outstanding City Council for Central Visayas in the annual Philippine Councilors League convention to be held at the SMX Convention Center in Pasay City.
Vice Mayor Joy Augustus Young said they were recognized for conducting “paperless sessions covered live in TV and for holding off-site sessions in barangays.”
“I’m confident about it (the award) but still it will all depend on the judges,” Young said.
He said they were informed about the award by the Department Of Interior and Local Governments (DILG).
Last year, the council held off site sessions in the mountain barangay of Guba in the south and the urban barangay of Luz in the north district.
They also televise 30 minutes spots of their sessions with Cebu Catholic TV Network from 7a.m. to 7:30 a.m. on weekdays with replays from 10 p.m. to 10:30pm.
Young said their regional award is already enough to dispute Mayor Michael Rama’s claims that they are a non-performing council. /Correspondent Edison delos Angeles