CSF response teams get anti-Covid jabs
CITY
OF SAN FERNANDO— About 300 members of the Covid-19 response teams of this city received anti-Covid vaccines on Thursday, March 25, 2021, at the Mini-Convention Hall, Heroes Hall.
City Health Office utilized the 940 doses of AstraZeneca and 81 doses of CoronaVac (Sinovac) that the Department of Health handed to the local government unit on March 25.
CHO prioritized the vaccination of the LGU’s Covid-19 response teams including the doctors, nurses, and employees working in the Rural Health Units (RHU); Health and Emergency Management Staff (HEMS); members of the Task Force Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH); Barangay Health Workers (BHW); Barangay Health and
Emergency Response Teams (BHERTS); and response teams of the City Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office (CDRRMO) and City Social Welfare and Development Office ( CSWDO) .
Before their vaccination, Mayor Edwin “EdSa” Santiago thanked the medical frontliners for their heroic role.
“During the surge of Covid-19 in 2020, and even until now, kayo ang naging sundalo at nakikipaglaban sa kalaban. Kayo ang naging sandalan ng siyudad sa napakahirap na sitwasyon kaya nararapat lang na kayo ang unang mabigyan ng proteksyon ngayong naririto na ang bakuna,” Santiago said.
“Ipinagmamalaki ko kayo at ng buong siyudad. Hindi malilimutan ang inyong katapatan at serbisyo sa mga Fernandinos at cabalen. Mabuhay kayong mga bagong bayani ng San Fernando,” the mayor added.
All registered recipients of the vaccine underwent thorough screening and counseling before vaccination to ensure their health and safety. After vaccination, they were monitored in the post-observation area in case adverse reactions or allergies develop.
If no adverse reactions or allergies developed, individuals inoculated with the AstraZeneca will have to come back after eight weeks for their second dose while those who received CoronaVac (Sinovac) shots will have to come back after four weeks to get a second dose.
Dr. Carlos B. Mercado, City Health Officer-in-Charge and one of the Incident Commanders of the Incident Management Team, said there’s nothing to fear about the vaccines as he encouraged the Fernandinos to register for the vaccination program of the LGU.
“Huwag po tayong matakot magpabakuna, ito po ay hindi gamot sa Covid-19 pero ito po ay magbibigay proteksyon sa atin upang maiwasan ang mga kaso ng severe at fatality. Kaya inaanyayahan po namin ang lahat na magpa-rehistro at maki-isa sa programang pagbabakuna ng San Fernando. Rest assured, ang CHO po kasama ang ating medical units ay nakaantabay sa inyo sa entire process ng inyong vaccination,” Mercado ex p l ai n ed .
The local government targets to vaccinate 1,021 frontliners in the LGU until March 28.
In the second week of April, Mercado said, the DOH will give another set of vaccines. These will benefit the rest of the frontliners in private clinics, dental clinics, and other medical laboratories.
(City of San Fernando Information Office)
Commercial species of kawayan tinik (Bambusa blumeana), bayog (Bambusa sp.), kawayan kiling (Bambusa vulgaris) and giant bamboo (Dendrocalamus asper) have long been used in the cottage industries of basket weaving, hut-making and furniture making in the many provinces of the country
"Our country has only 23 percent remaining forest cover and we are thinking of using bamboo as reforestation species to increase our forest cover under the National Greening Program (NGP)," he said.
"If we plant more bamboo, it can be a source of material for lumber using the technology to convert it. It can reduce dependency on wood from forest plantation, thus, allowing more trees to grow and cover our bald mountains," he said.
Bamboo reduces carbon sink. It is otherwise known as a "carbon sequester" as a hectare of bamboo plantation sequesters 12 tons of carbon dioxide each year. As watershed protection, a bamboo plant typically binds six cubic meter of soil. It yields six times more cellulose than the fast growing pine tree.
Bamboo plantations and bamboo desks
Pampanga boasts of one of the biggest efforts in propagating bamboo since 2010.
The bamboos were planted by the then provincial bamboo council and the municipality in coordination with the Pampanga Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Pamcham), which then pushed for bamboo propagation and the use of engineered bamboo as an alternative to commercial lumber.
The bamboos were to be used for the unique line of environment-friendly products developed in the nearby materials recovery facility in Lubao town.
The town, with the help of the Department of Trade and Industry, facilitated the training for the engineering of bamboo slots for the creation of bamboo desks.
The facility was also able to make charcoal briquettes with a very high British Thermal Unit (BTU) and these were produced from shredded shavings and waste from the engineered bamboo furniture.
In 2011, the facility was able to give members of the Magalang Bamboo Growers Association (MBGA) skills and technical knowledge on how to make bamboo slots for furniture and bamboo parquets.
The ultimate objective of the project is a sustainable income for farmers and livelihood for their families and the community, to be achieved by turning bamboo, "the poor man's timber," into a cash crop, not only through pole sales but also through nursery raising, plantation and primary processing for bamboo-based products and for food processing.
Former Pamcham Bamboo Program coordinator Myrna Bituin said the potential of bamboo is limitl ess.
"Just imagine using bamboo in making furniture and even floor parquets. The engineered bamboos are flat and nodes are removed so that the bamboo can be fashioned as slots," Bituin said.
Such products, she stressed, are durable and insectresistant since engineered bamboo-finished products are chemically treated.
Even at present, the Lubao facility has been making bamboo desks. A school desk made of bamboo would cost more than P1,000 compared to the P700 to P800 for a school desk made of wood.
However, desks made of bamboo are sturdier and could last up to five years. Lumber desks can only manage a maximum of two years inside classrooms.
Local efforts and ecotourism
Cimatu visited recently the 610-hectare bamboo plantation in Fort Magsaysay in Nueva Ecija that was established by the 7th Infantry Division of the Philippine Army in his effort to promote the benefits of bamboo species.
The bamboo plantation in Nueva Ecija was established in 2013 under NGP and is now planted with 3,000 species of giant bamboo, kawayan tinik, kawayan kiling and bayog that can be potential sources of engineered bamboo.
Not known to many, bamboo has been termed as "poor man's lumber" and 'green gold" because of its many economical and ecological benefits. But in Lubao town, its bamboo propagation initiative had turned into an ecotourism attraction.
It all started as a long-term response to protect Barangay Sta. Catalina from soil erosion by planting bamboo along the riverbank. But this propagation of more bamboo species for commercial use turned out to be a viable tourism potential for the town.
The Bamboo Hub and Eco Village features 25 fullygrown clumps of bamboo that were planted inside the six-hectare ecological park.
The eco-park attracts an average of 600 people on weekends since the area was developed into a themedecotourism destination.
The property is managed by the Lubao Municipal Government and has become a favorite tourism destination attracting families and health buffs that avail of amenities like covered pathways, bike lanes, and even its own fish spa.
The DENR is now advocating the use of bamboo and its propagation for commercial and environmental purposes.
In Pampanga, some groups are even urging local government units to reinforce dikes and river barriers with trees and bamboo. Bamboo is said to be very effective in preventing slope erosion and barrier breach and with a steady supply of bamboo materials, potential for livelihood development and a bamboo industry is not far behind.
Most promoters of bamboo propagation in the region believe that a sustainable bamboo industry will position the Philippines as the second largest bamboo producer in the world, next only to China whose current market share is about 50 percent.