Negros Oriental allocates funds for agri sector

CEBU CITY – Cebuanos may choose not to wear facemasks outdoors following an executive order released by Mayor Mike Rama making it a voluntary act, except in hospitals, clinics and medical facilities. However, immunocompromised ating unti-unting pagbangon people and those mula sa pandemyang dulot ng who are sick or who have Covid-19,” he added. flu-like symptoms are still required Just this year, provincial to wear face masks outdoors, lawmakers backed Gov. Gwendolyn but are directed to stay Garcia’s executive order home if they can. making the use of face masks

Rama said his order was optional in well ventilated and the result of multi-sectoral open spaces in Cebu province. consultation with stakeholders The Provincial Board, presided here, adding that wearing by Vice Governor Hilario face masks will not be obligatory Davide III, also passed and approved but is a measure of individual a law that rationalizes self-preservation and the wearing of face masks within protection. Cebu. The ordinance, authored

Interior Secretary Benjamin by Board member John Ismael Abalos Jr said he will Borgonia, had been certified by discuss the issue with the government’s Garcia as urgent and shall be Inter-agency Task applicable to all individuals, residents Force on Covid-19. “Notwithstanding, and non-residents within I remain firm and the province. steadfast in my commitment The ordinance makes it optional to raise this issue to the IATF for people to wear masks and make Cebu City a pilot in well-ventilated and open city that will help assess the spaces and it is no longer an lifting of masking protocols in offense not to wear face masks outdoor areas and wide open outdoors. spaces,” he said. Cebuanos also hailed the

“Ang DILG ay mananatiling law and Garcia and are strongly kaisa ng bawat sektor, supporting them. The ordinance lalung-lalo na ng mga lokal ratifies Garcia’s Executive Order na pamahalaan sa bansa, sa No. 16 issued on June 8 which pagprotekta sa kalusugan ng makes the wearing of face masks mamamayan at masiguro ang no longer mandatory, but only

DUMAGUETE CITY – The provincial government of Negros Oriental said it has allocated some P400 million to bolster the agricultural sector and help farmers recover from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Oliver Lemence, the provincial government information officer, said the funding is complementary to the proposed P521-million budget that the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) pledged for the province.

NIA has allotted the amount for 2023 and would be used for the repair and rehabilitation of irrigation canals and systems and other projects which were all contained in a resolution that Governor Pryde Henry Teves sponsored during a recent meeting of the Regional Development Council in Cebu City.

Lemence said this funding will further strengthen the increase in rice, corn, fish, and vegetable production in the coming months. He said Teves emphasized the need to subsidize farmers, fishers, and marginalized sectors who were badly affected by the pandemic, noting the prevailing rising cost of food. optional in well-ventilated and open spaces.

Ordinance Under Section 3 of the ordinance, the following guidelines have to be properly observed:

a. Wearing of face masks in air-conditioned/closed spaces. The wearing of face masks shall be required in closed and/or air-conditioned spaces.

b. Wearing of face masks in well-ventilated/open spaces. The use of face masks shall be optional in well-ventilated and open spaces. However, persons are still highly encouraged to continue to wear their masks especially in crowded outdoor areas.

c. Wearing of face masks for persons with Covid-19 symptoms. Persons who are unwell with symptoms of the Covid-19 such as fever, cough, runny nose, are required to wear a mask at all times if they need to leave their homes.

Garcia said the resolutions being issued by the IATF are merely recommendatory in nature, adding even the IATF recognizes that its resolutions are neither equivalent to laws creat

He said a P34,000 subsidy per farmer is also being eyed for land preparation, transplant, and fertilizer support and that Teves asked the NIA to prioritize the irrigation systems in rice production areas like Tanjay City, Sta. Catalina, Siaton, Ayungon, and Tayasan. (Mary Judaline Partlow) ed and passed by Congress nor any executive order.

She also claimed that even June 4 resolution titled the

“Guidelines on the Nationwide Implementation of Alert Level System for Covid-19 Response” does not contain any penalty clause for violators makes it tantamount to (Cebu Examiner, CNN, Arong) that law. Ioannes