Gay group organizes Miss World AIDS Day

A gay group calling themselves as "Butterfly Brigade" has organized the first Miss World AIDS Day (WAD) pageant in the country to spread information against HIV/AIDS (human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome) in the province.

Robbie Bastareche, newly elected president of the Butterfly Brigade, said the talent competition was successfully held at the Pastrana Park here November 28. The competition slated were opened to the public for free.

"At least 15 finalists are joining the pageant and the pageant night will be held on December 1 at the NVC gym," said Bastareche, who announced the worldwide celebration of World AIDS Day on December 1.

During the pageant, the organizers asked P15 for the entrance fee with a red ribbon, considered as the symbol of hope for those afflicted with the disease.

"The entrance fee will cover our program against HIV AIDS in the province for the year 2014," said Bastareche.

Prior to the pageant, the organizers brought the finalists to the different schools in the province to campaign for HIV AIDS prevention.

According to the Aklan AIDS Council, the province had already registered 36 cases, eight of them already died.

Aklan SP approves P1.1-B budget for 2014

The Sangguniang Panlalawigan (SP) of Aklan has formally approved the proposed P1.1 billion-budget for the province for the year 2014.

The approval of the budget may have been done earlier but the marathon hearing had been delayed due to the onslaught of typhoon "Yolanda" in the province.

Priorities of the budget are on job generation, agriculture, education and improved health care.

Despite the approval, some minor provisions are still being worked out in the provincial board.

The SP hopes to end the remaining public hearings before Christmas vacation.

Agriculture industry still alive in Western Visayas - DA

The Department of Agriculture (DA) still considers the agriculture industry in Western Visayas as alive and kicking despite the devastation of super typhoon "Yolanda" here recently.

DA regional director Larry Nacionales said that the typhoon brought around P3.16-billion damage on both agriculture facilities and crops in the region.

"It's still good to know that 95 percent of our rice products have been harvested before the typhoon. We only lost around 17 metric tons of rice which are recoverable," Nacionales said.

He said that because of the devastation brought by the typhoon, he hopes that some farmers now would become open minded and learn how to improve their farming methods.

Nacionales was here Sunday together with DA Secretary Proceso Alcala to assess the agricultural impact in the region.

According to the National Food Authority which is an attached agency of the DA, the region still has 77 days of supply of rice enough for the coming Yuletide season and the coming festivals in the region.

"We expect another set of harvests this December. Our only concern is that we may lack milling requirements because several agricultural areas in the region does not yet have power. But we are doing everything to address this," Nacionales said.

The DA also reported that there is a sufficient supply of chicken and meat in the region. However, the DA expects that prices of commodities would still slightly increase due to the high demand during Christmas.

Sources from the DA said that they are planning to hold dialogue in the provinces in the region together with the Department of Trade and Industry, poultry producers, supermarkets and wet vendors market associations to ensure "regulated" prices of agricultural commodities for Christmas.

NHA to support housing concerns in Panay

The National Housing Authority (NHA) is supporting the recovery of the residents of Panay Island who have been affected by typhoon 'Yolanda'.

Kalibo Mayor William Lachica said a team from the NHA came to his office Sunday and explained to him that they are giving housing assistance to the victims.

"They told me that they are willing to provide P5,000 worth of housing materials to those residents whose houses have been partially damaged. They still have to allocate funds for those houses that have been totally destroyed," said Lachica.

Because of this, Lachica said he is planning to ask the municipal council of Kalibo for an urgent need to authorize him to sign the memorandum of agreement with the NHA. The document is one of the requirements for the residents of Kalibo to avail of the housing benefits.

"Once the council has been given me the authority, I will then sign the MOA and will immediately send it to them in their Manila Office," said Lachica.

Aside from the town of Kalibo, the NHA team also had visited certain municipalities and cities in Iloilo, Antique and Capiz to provide similar assistance to the residents.

Aklan government employees urged to abide by fiscal retrenchment policy

The Aklan provincial government is currently implementing a fiscal retrenchment policy in order to allocate limited funds for the repair of damaged facilities devastated by typhoon Yolanda.

Aklan Governor Florencio Miraflores said that the province had incurred P1.4 billion damage thus his issuance of Memorandum Order no. 2013-256.

"It has, therefore, strengthened our resolve to more strictly implement our fiscal retrenchment policy, allocating our resources to the repair of these damaged facilities and other typhoon rehabilitation measures," said Miraflores.

Because of this, all seminar and trainings to be conducted by the provincial departments and offices which involve the use of provincial government funds are to be deferred.

Miraflores said that this will remain until the province has fully recovered from the calamity.

The Aklan governor declared the memorandum order under strict compliance.

Filipino volunteers air drop relief goods in small islands in Panay

Filipino volunteers composed of mountaineers and civic minded groups helped in the distribution of relief goods in the island of Panay affected by super typhoon Yolanda.

Thomas Leonor, team leader said that they first visited small islands in Antique, including Caluya Island through the air drop operation.

"We are thankful that some volunteers had allowed us to use the chopper to air drop the relief goods to areas that were not yet reached by the relief goods provisions. We only need to pay P80,000 worth of fuel per hour for the operation of chopper," Leonor said.

Aside from the airdrop operation, mountaineers had to also climb the hinterlands in Libacao, Aklan just to reach out to the victims.

"We are planning to distribute relief goods to different communities in Panay and hoping we could make a difference," said Leonor.

Leonor gained prominence few years ago through his advocacy of walking long kilometers to gather donations for a cause.

Gov. Miraflores phones President Aquino to ask for help

Aklan Governor Florencio Miraflores on Monday said he made a phone call to President Benigno Aquino III on Saturday to seek relief for his province likewise devastated by super typhoon "Yolanda".

Miraflores said aside from the needed relief goods he also asked President Aquino to speed up restoration of electricity in the province.

As of press time, only Ibajay town and Boracay Island with the several business establishments and government agencies in Kalibo have electric power. Power has yet to be restored in other areas.

"The President said he is willing to support the needed relief of Aklanons," Miraflores said.

Meanwhile, Chito Peralta, general manager of the Aklan Electric Cooperative (AKELCO) said that they are restoring electricity lines in the province in a gradual manner.

"We have to balance the distribution of electricity loads in the province for safety reasons while awaiting connection lines from the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP)," Peralta said, adding that AKELCO personnel are acting double time to restore electricity.

Currently, the AKELCO relies on the 2.5 megawatt of the Global Business Power Corporation both in Nabas and New Washington for power supply.

Politics hampers relief aid?

Politics allegedly has its hands on the distribution of relief goods to thousands of victims of super typhoon “Yolanda” in Aklan.

Some of the victims told said that their barangay officials refused to accommodate them and list them as beneficiaries because they are “not [their] political allies.”

Because of this, they turned to the offices of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) to report their plight.

But DSWD officials advised them to return to their respective barangays, said the victims who refused to be identified. “We do not have a choice but to wait,” one of them said.

Some of the victims in far-flung areas of the province were also unable to receive relief goods because they are far from distribution centers.

They said barangay officials reported to their municipal governments only the damage they saw in villages near the town proper and did not reach out to the hinterlands to provide the necessary aid.

Members of the media in the province are also reeling from the effects of “Yolanda.”

More than 30 of them have lost their homes. One of them is Arnel Vicente of Todo Radyo Informer. Vicente hopes that they could also be given relief goods./

Electric coops from all over the country to speed up electricity distribution

Several electric power cooperatives from all over the country have arrived in Aklan hoping to return electricity in the typhoon-ravaged province.
Chito Peralta, general manager of the Aklan Electric Cooperative (AKELCO), said that electric cooperative personnel coming from the provinces of Batangas 1 and 2; Quezon 2; Laguna 1; Zambales 1 & 2 are already in the province to restore transmission and distribution lines.
"We are also expecting the arrival of personnel from the Oriental Mindoro Electric Cooperative next week. They will stay here as long as there's a need," Peralta said.
They came here under the orders of Malacanang, Department of Energy and the National Electrification Administration (NEA).
Because of this, the AKELO hopes to start the resumption of electricity in the town of Kalibo this weekend.
Earlier report said that typhoon "Yolanda" destroyed 70 percent of the over all electric power poles, wires and other facilities in the province.

Prize freeze now activated in Aklan

The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) is implementing a price freeze order on basic commodities in the province as residents here are reeling from the effects of recent super typhoon 'Yolanda.'

Diosdado Cadena, provincial DTI director, said Thursday that businessmen and traders found increasing their prices outside the standard retail price will face sanctions.

"Based on the monitoring we conducted, some traders have increased prices but they could not be sanctioned because price freeze is only limited to basic commodities. It is now up to consumers whether to patronize certain overpriced goods or not," Cadena said.

For complaints on gasoline and Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), residents can file their concerns with their respective local government units ((LGUs). The LGUs will then forward the complaint to the Department of Energy.

Reports said that a gasoline station in Panay Island is charging its customers to as much as P80 per liter.

Partial Damage Assessment Report

AKELCO hopes to restore electricity in Aklan before Christmas

The Aklan Electric Cooperative (AKELCO) hopes to restore electricity in the province before Christmas or within the next 45 days.

Chito Peralta, general manager of AKELCO, said that typhoon Yolanda toppled electricity distribution lines to as much as 70 percent in the entire province.

Aside from the province, AKELCO also distributes power to Pandan and Libertad towns in Antique and a barangay in Capiz.

"We are also doing our best to energize major areas in Kalibo by November 19. We also hope that the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) will fast track its effort in restoring lines from Iloilo and Negros", Peralta said.

The major areas include the Kalibo International Airport, Metro Kalibo Water District, Dr. Rafael S. Tumbukon Memorial Hospital and neighboring communities.

To augment the electricity, the AKELCO plans to utilize the diesel plant of the Global Business Power Corporation (GBPC) in Barangay Mabilo, New Washington.

Peralta said that the GBPC hopes to power up electricity in the priority areas while awaiting for the connection of the distribution lines from the NGCP.

Yolanda's damage to Aklan's agriculture reaches P20M

The amount of damage caused by super typhoon "Yolanda" to agriculture in Aklan has surpassed the P20-million mark, according to initial reports of the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (PDRRMC).

As of Tuesday morning, data gathered by the different municipal agriculturists in the province show that the damage has already reached P20,023,555. This figure is expected to increase as other towns have yet to submit their reports to the PDRRMC.

The town of Ibajay bore the most agricultural damage which registered at P11.762 million, followed by Kalibo with P5.261 million.

Damage to infrastructure reached P41,300 million while those to public buildings stood at P980,000.

Currently, there are no classes from the primary to tertiary levels. Classes are expected to resume on Nov. 18.

Aklan declared under state of calamity

The Sangguniang Panlalawigan has now declared Aklan under a state of calamity following the onslaught of typhoon "Yolanda".

Data from the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office (PDRMMO) said that at least seven persons were reported dead in Aklan.

PDRMMO officials also reported that at least P5 million worth of crops were damaged in the province while in Kalibo alone, P2 million worth of infrastructure were likewise damaged.

"We are still continuously conducting assessment on the damages brought by the typhoon," said Galo Ibardolasa of the PDRRMO.

Typhoon Yolanda is considered by international experts as the strongest typhoon so far in the world.

Advisory:

Due to limited internet connection and power shortage posts this site will be resumed tonight (Philippine time). For those who would want to help, Aklan residents now badly needs construction and roofing materials to rebuild their homes.

Lezo

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Aklan placed under state of imminent danger due to 'Yolanda'

The province of Aklan has been placed under a state of imminent danger in order to prepare for the worse possible scenario as typhoon "Yolanda" is expected to hit the province Friday.

Aklan Governor Florencio Miraflores said he has to issue the declaration even without the needed legislation in consonance with the chief executives of the local government units in the province.

As of this writing Thursday afternoon, a preemptive evacuation is being done in the coastal towns of New Washington, Tangalan, Kalibo, Numancia, Ibajay and Malay. Friday morning, a forced evacuation of remaining residents will be done.

"We are expecting this typhoon to be stronger than the typhoon 'Frank' in 2008 and we are targeting a zero casualty so we need the cooperation of everyone," Miraflores said.

Meanwhile, the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (PDRRMO) urged the local government units to immediately file initial assessment of damages at least six hours after the typhoon.

"We will be implementing a 'no report no support' policy here wherein a local government who fails to report initially will not be given relief and we will assume that such municipality is not harmed by the typhoon," PDRRMO officials said.