As it prepares for New Island Region Negros Oriental marks gains in 2015

DUMAGUETE CITY, Philippines – The provincial government of Negros Oriental, under the leadership of Governor Roel Degamo, had endeavored to meet its challenges in 2015, marking gains that significantly improved its posture to the benefit of its constituents.

Such achievements also prepared the province as it trod through the transition period toward the unification of Negros Oriental and Negros Occidental into Region 18, or the Negros Island Region. Last December, some regional offices have opened their doors at temporary locations in this capital city of Oriental, similarly with those located in Bacolod City in Occidental.

Degamo outlined his administration’s accomplishments in 2015, during his yearend report and press conference at the Capitol two weeks ago.

“In spite of all the challenges, we were and are still able to achieve major accomplishments, thanks to the vast majority of the people and the different sectors and the stakeholders in the province, who are always supportive of the provincial government’s continued quest to attain a maximum development in the province in order to uplift the quality of life of each and every Negrense,” he said.

The governor highlighted in his report that he would face the challenges as promised in the previous year, despite the obstacles that he had to face, most especially from his political detractors.

Degamo reported on the awards the province had received in 2015: the Seal of Good Housekeeping and the Seal of Good Local Governance, both given by the Department of Interior and Local Government. “These awards are testaments of the provincial government’s efforts to bring government services to the people and most importantly transparency in the various government transactions.”

The monetary reward for both projects, totaling P14 million, will be used for the improvement of the Bonawon to Calangag Road and construction of the flood control project along the Banica River in Dumaguete City, he said.

Health is wealth

Degamo, citing health as his administration’s primary concern, said one of his accomplishments was getting the Department of Health’s official declaration of the province as filariasis-free, after years of fighting the parasitic disease.

He also reported the construction of the four-storey Central Block Building of the Negros Oriental Provincial Hospital is now in its finishing touches, and will soon be ready for use early this year. This project was earlier marred with controversy from other officials who questioned the P350-million loan of the provincial government to bankroll the construction, but Degamo was unfazed by all this and pursued it.

Another health program criticized by some quarters but Degamo continued to carry out was his administration’s medical/dental/surgical missions, which totaled to 54 and benefitted at least 60,000 people in the province, almost double in number than in 2014.

The provincial government also included the animal welfare mission by the Provincial Veterinary Office, providing services such as deworming, vaccinations and artificial insemination of animals. This was done in tandem with Degamo’s animal dispersal program, specifically native animals, such as chickens and goats for livelihood of his constituents.

Education for all

Degamo also reported his administration’s endeavors to make education available to all—“rich or poor, young and old”— such as the Capitol’s scholarship program — which was expanded to include poor and deserving students after it was only made available in the past for high school valedictorians and salutatorians.

As of 2015, a total of 1,038 beneficiaries of the Magdegamo Scholarship Program were enrolled in the different campuses of the Negros Oriental State University.

The Capitol also maintained its scholarship program for those who want to pursue medical studies at the Silliman University School of Medicine. There are now 30 scholars enrolled, while six had graduated and are now serving at the provincial government’s hospitals.

Degamo also mentioned the province had supplied support and assistance to the different public schools, such as computers, printers, projects, tables and chairs, and even kitchen utensils.

Livelihood  opportunities

Providing livelihood opportunities and skills training were also part of Degamo’s program to enable them to get better jobs and improve their standards of living.

In 2015, the Provincial Integrated Skills Training Center recorded a total of 679 graduates from the regular training modules, such as automotive servicing National Certificate I and II, welding NC I and II, electrical and installation maintenance NCII, machining NC I and driving NC II courses.

The PISTC also produced 114 graduates from various Training for Work Scholarship Programs, funded by the Technical Education Skills and Development Authority, in welding, electrical and installation maintenance, and swine raising, said the governor.

Around 386 graduates had also benefited from 17 livelihood training programs, conducted by the Technology and Livelihood Development Center (TLDC), in dressmaking, fish, meat and poultry processing, commercial baking and cosmetology, among others.

Food  security

Degamo reported gains in agriculture, with palay production increased by 556 metric tons or 2.4 percent compared to 2014’s first semester production although corn production decreased by three percent. Vegetable and fruit production also increased by 9.35 percent and 2.20 percent, respectively, despite unpredictable weather conditions this year, he said.

The governor acknowledged the personnel of the Provincial Agriculturist’s Office for working hard to “provide trainings and assistance to mitigate the effects of the El Niño phenomenon on agriculture.”

The Environment and Natural Resources Division sustained 30 agro-forestry sites in its reforestation efforts and planted 48,000 assorted fruit and forest trees covering an area of around 56 hectares, he said.

Disaster mitigation, prevention, response

Amid mounting global concerns on climate change, the provincial government had implemented, adopted and designed measures to help save lives and prevent destruction to property in times of calamity and other forms of disaster.

Negros Oriental has been among the few local government units that completed the ladderized course on Incident Command System, said Degamo. “It is considered a rare feat – considering that we mainly used our local funds with the technical assistance of the office of Civil Defense-Region 7. ”

Other accomplishments in this area for 2015 was the strengthening of efforts for disaster risk reduction through the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, funding of trainings and activities on search and rescue, scuba diving and contingency planning for flood, among others.

The provincial government also adopted disaster management and response in the development projects to become disaster resilient and geo-hazard compliant, toward achieving zero casualty during emergencies.

Peace efforts vs crimes, insurgency

The province has continued to maintain its posture of being conflict-manageable and development-ready in terms of insurgency problems. Military sources said the peace initiative for an insurgency-free Negros Oriental is nearing its goal, resulting in the surrender of five New People’s Army rebels, who were in turn provided with livelihood and financial assistance for them to have a fresh start in the mainstream society.

On criminality, Degamo said he signed Executive Order 15-10 last year for the security forces to run after all forms of illegal activities and criminalities in the province. He commended the Philippine National Police and other law enforcement agencies for “eliminating key personalities,” allegedly members of armed groups in the province.

Tourism market

Negros Oriental continued to rank number 2, after Cebu, in Central Visayas’s 2015 tourist arrivals, with a total of 516,122 visitors, marking a growth of 19.79 percent compared to 430,863 in 2014.

“We continue to attract local and foreign tourists—through the major tourism activities in the province—such as the Buglasan Festival in October and the Pasko sa Kapitolyo in December, said Degamo. The Pasko sa Kapitolyo, already in its 5th year in 2015, is “the provincial government’s gift to the Negrenses so that families will have a place to enjoy during the Christmas holidays,” he said.

What lies ahead with NIR

Degamo believed that the province faces this year 2016 a huge challenge to be successful in economic growth and social development, especially with the NIR, or Region 18, created last year by President Benigno Aquino III.

For this new region, Degamo was designated the first chairman of the Regional Peace and Order Council-18, while Negros Occidental Gov. Alfredo Marañon was named chair of the Regional Development Council-18.

The year 2015 had ended and Negros Oriental’s accomplishments will help the province as it transitions to a new region, said Degamo, adding that peace and development could not be accomplished by one sector alone.

This goal has been guided by particular sets of directions contained in Degamo’s program of government—Sa Probinsya Ta, MagDegamo—focusing on his centerpiece H-E-L-P (Health, Education, Livelihood programs and projects).

“It is my humble belief that if these three crucial components are made available to our constituents, our goal of having a peaceful and progressive community can be achieved,” he said during his yearend report, while thanking the people of the provincial government “for their tireless efforts in extending the best quality of service to the Negrenses.” (FREEMAN)