How a Bohol village saved

its residents from dengue

With 58 dengue cases recorded in 2017, residents of Brgy. Salvador in the town of Cortes, Bohol decided they had enough. Prodded by the strong political will exercised by their barangay leaders, the barangay turned their situation into probably Bohol's most successful story yet in the anti-dengue drive - reporting zero dengue cases in 2019.

Considered by many as a scourge to communities especially in rural areas where breeding places are just about everywhere, dengue, a mosquito-borne illness that manifests in high fevers leading to hemorrhaging and death, was also a top concern for barangay officials led by Chairman Jessa Renegado-Bibat.

"Daghan ta og kaso sa dengue adtong 2017-2018, medyo naulaw gani ta nga gianhi na ta sa mga tinugyanan sa lungsod ug Probinsya, aron matabangan ta nila sa pagsumpo niini (We had many dengue cases in 2017 and 2018, and it was a bit embarrassing to have been visited by municipal and provincial health officials who promised to help us to stop this)," Bibat shared. 

After their brief orientation and information campaign, she gathered the Sanggunian and generated commitments which led to the creation of the Barangay Anti-Dengue Campaign Committee and the Barangay Anti-Dengue Task Force in September 2018.

"We figured out that our residents are not all well-off and hospitalization was out of the equation, so we had to do what we can on the prevention side," she added.

"With the ordinance, we pushed for educating constituents on the importance of community sanitation and other practical means of dengue prevention," Bibat said.

Then the council created the Aksyon Barangay Kontra Dengue Task Force in Salvador Cortes, a move patterned from the provincial ordinance. 

The task force, co-chaired by the Barangay Kagawad Chair on Health and Sanitation Nemesia Hubac, has all kagawads and Barangay Health Workers, Day Care Workers, private sector, and religious representatives intent on not just swatting the pesky problem but exterminating it just as well.

The task force's focus was to educate and urge residents to join the campaign, establish vector control and surveillance unit, coordinate with town dengue campaign committee, and specifically inspect and identify dengue high-risk puroks and designate a purok point person tasked to designate purok dengue brigade in their respective puroks.

The dengue brigades surveyed, drew maps of location and types of potential breeding sites. Out of these, the municipal health officer and dengue vector surveillance officer conducted baseline entomological survey in the high risk puroks accompanied by barangay officials.

The survey results form as the proof for the ensuing purok mobilization, which the ordinance also provides further action.

The dengue brigades roam around the purok and check on the compliance on secure water storage, emptied flower vases, properly stowed discarded tires, illegal sewage discharge that creates ponds potential for breeding mosquitoes, and other measures.

"We also encouraged households to actively participate in cleaning of surroundings and to put up a fixed date for massive clean up days and search and destroy operations," she added.

These formed the baseline where maintenance activities could easily stand.

"And then, we issued Executive order No. 14, series of 2018 which implemented the four o’clock Stop, Look and Listen habit as implemented by the Department of Health in its Anti-Dengue Campaigns," the chairman said.

She also acknowledged critical help from her team of barangay kagawads, health workers, day care center workers, and even barangay tanods in the mobilization.

The ordinance pegs a fine of P2,500 and imprisonment of not more than six months. "If we could put up penalties for not attending barangay assemblies, where the risk of life and limb is not as dire, this is dengue and the inaction of one could lead to the death of many," she commented. 

The barangay also put up a Cleanliness Covenant Signing in the Oplan Layas Kitikiti, Goodbye Dengue, and supplemented by community mobilizations and massive purok clean-ups through their Purok Dengue Brigades, Bibat continued.

Oplan Layas Kitikiti is a barangay-wide, three-day purok mobilization to ensure that potential breeding sites for mosquitoes are eliminated, anti-larval solution is poured into big bodies of stagnant water, and receptacles that collect water are overturned. 

The barangay also tasked the Purok Brigades to submit mobilization plans, including areas covered by the clean-up, one which the cluster of houses assigned would be bound to maintain all throughout the year. 

This plan every household leader commits to do during the covenant signing, Bibat proudly shared.

As to the succeeding weeks, the Barangay Task Force conduct home visitations and occasionally identifies potential areas for clean-up to discourage mosquitoes.

"Malipay pod ta nga nakita nato nga ang tanan, naghiusa gyud, naa pay nanglibre os snacks samtang ang uban nanglimpyo sa mga datag-datag, mga hugasan, wala nay balihay kon kinsang yuta ang gitrabaho, basta mapalayas ang lamok (We were happy to see that everyone united, there were some families who cooked snacks while clean up teams raided ponds, kitchen dumps without counting anymore who owns the lot, as long as we could drive the mosquitoes away)," she shared.

The following year, Brgy. Salvador recorded zero dengue cases, one it hopes to maintain all throughout.

"We thought starting it was the hardest part, now we realize it is maintaining it that is tough, with people tending to be complacent after a huge success," Bibat said. (rahc/PIA-7/Bohol)

OPLAN LAYAS KITIKITI, GOODBYE DENGUE. Purok residents of Salvador Cortes came out in droves to join in the massive three-day barangay clean-up and search and destroy operations which has led to zero dengue case in the area in the succeeding years. (File photo from Salvador Cortes)

AS LONG AS ITS DAMP AND DIRTY, HERE MOSQUITOES STAY. Residents join in the clean-up drive against dengue, not really minding if the identified dengue breeding lot is privately owned as long as it hosts the deadly virus vector. (Barangay Salvador contributed photo)

MAINTAIN ASSIGNED HIGH RISK AREAS. Residents taking part in the mission by owning portions of high-risk areas for dengue and maintaining it year-round, as the barangay declares annual massive clean-ups and community mobilizations in search and destroy operations. (File photo/PIA Bohol/Barangay Salvador) 

YOUNG AND OLD. With the problem shared by all ages, committing for its solution has been Brgy. Salvador's advantage in its fight against dengue. (PIA Bohol/Barangay Salvador) 

SUSTAINABILITY CHALLENGE. Brgy. Salvador chairperson Jessa Renegado-Bibat admits the issue of sustainability is real as residents tend to be complacent especially during the dry season when they think mosquitoes have no places to breed. (File photo/PIA Bohol/Barangay Salvador) 

Bohol env't officials push for 

extension of agri free patents law 

CORTES, Bohol, June 29 (PIA) -- At a moment when the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) is again set to launch a program that picks up where it left off in its free land titling program, if the law is not remedied countless Boholano farmers would miss their singular chance to security of tenure to the untitled farmlands they have tilled for years.

This as Section 41 of the Public Land Act of the Philippines ruled that any native of the Philippine Islands who is not the owner of more than 24 hectares, and who since July 4, 1907, or prior thereto, has continuously occupied and cultivated, either by himself or through his predecessors in interest, a tract or tracts of agricultural public lands subject to disposition, shall be entitled to have a free patent issued to him for a tract or tracts of such land not to exceed 24 hectares.

But then the law also provides the fixing of proclamation period within which applications for free patents may be filed in the district, province, town or region, and upon the expiration of the period.

Just as the DENR is set to conduct integrated titling operations, the law on Agricultural Free Patents is set to expire by the last day of December 2020.

This means applications of agricultural free patents can only happen before the government closes the window of opportunity, said Bohol Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Officer (PENRO) Charlie Fabre during the recent Kukabildo sa Kalikopan.

Kukabildo sa Kalikopan, a web streaming interaction offered by DENR Central Visayas for the Environment Month, discussed Rapid Land Tenure Appraisal, a management tool which the DENR in Bohol will use to conduct massive land titling operations.

The operations would have a team from the DENR issuing titles to public lands.

Land titles, Fabre explained, are the most important heirlooms one can give to one’s offspring as this assures them security of tenure in their occupied lands with the official documents to show for it.

Land titles are also important investment tools as government financial institutions would rather look for land titles as collaterals when one borrows money for development purposes, he continued.

DENR may be granting homestead titles for agricultural lands which are only for agricultural purposes, these kinds of titles state that the tract of land under it can not be sold at least until a decade of ownership.

DENR can also facilitate the granting of Agricultural Free Patents, which is now a reformed law under the Agricultural Free Patent Reform Act of 2019 which removes the restrictions on selling and encumbrances and the previous owner’s right to repurchase.

Then there is the Residential Free Patent, special patents for government installations and areas set for development and Sales patent.

As for the Agricultural Free Patent, which has been an easy way for farmers to officially claim public lands set as alienable and disposable, as long as they have been cultivating the land, the filing of applications which have been extended over the years until Dec. 30, 2020 would be closed.

This unless legislators in the House of Representatives and the Senate agree to pass an extension which would allow land settlers to lay claim through a title for their lots, Fabre added.

On this, DENR is now appealing to Bohol solons to sponsor a law that would further extend the government’s acceptance in the filing of Agricultural Free Patents. (rahc/PIA-7/Bohol)

EXTEND FARM FREE PATENT GRANTS. DENR officials in Bohol appealing to legislators to file for an extension of the law that fixed the granting of Agricultural Free Patents until December 2020 to allow farmers and their families who have been cultivating untitled public lands for three decades to finally own their cultivated tracts and be secured in their occupation of the land. Photo shows Bohol PENRO Charlie Fabre (center), CENRO Ariel Rica (extreme right) and RLTA Bohol focal person Glicerita Racho (extreme left) during the Kukabildo sa Kalikopan. (rahc/PIA-7/Bohol)

UNLESS EXTENDED ANEW. Bohol farmers cultivating alienable and disposable public lands could now lose their chance to be granted land titles when the law which fixed the government’s acceptance to Agricultural Free Patents expires in December 2020, said PENRO Bohol Charlie Fabre during the Kukabildo sa Kalikopan recently. (rahc/PIA-7/Bohol) 

Gov’t troops clash with NPAS in Bohol

CORTES, Bohol, June 28 (PIA) -- Foraging in the hinterland barangays near the borders of Bilar, Batuan, Balilihan and Catigbian where the thick forests of Loboc watershed provide protection and harbor and pushed by hunger pangs and the easy life of extortion using their weapons to instill fear, an undetermined group tried the proven fear factor in Brgy. Bayawahan, Sevilla town on June 26, 2020 to a dismal failure.

Having had enough of the fear, residents were not cowered in fear and found a way to slip out reports to internal security operators about the armed men forcefully asking for food and threatening those who refused to give in. 

A report from the Philippine Army through Civil Military Operations and Information Officer, First Lieutenant Elma Grace Remonde, bared that troops of 47th Infantry Battalion, while conducting security operations and confirmation of the presence of the extortionists, encountered an undetermined number of the New People's Army at 5:45 p.m. in the forested parts of the barangay. 

The elements of 47th Infantry (Katapatan) Battalion were directed to verify the numerous reports from the civilian populace regarding the presence of armed men in the area who were forcefully asking for food and threatening those who refused to provide, she said. 

The government troops then engaged the rebels in a ten-minute gunfight, as the rebels retreated to the thick forests.

At the army clearing operations, the government troops recovered one caliber 45 pistol, two caliber 45 magazines, one rifle grenade ammunition, three cell phones, two solar panels, personal belongings, and subversive documents.

Troops also discovered a harboring area with two posts and bunkers that can accommodate 20 persons. 

Lt. Col. Allan J. Tabudlo, the Commanding Officer of 47th Infantry Battalion, expressed his disgust over the terroristic activities of the NPAs in Bohol.

"I'm sorry to know that despite our current pandemics of COVID-19, they still threaten our countrymen, forcibly demanding food despite the present misery of the people. It is sad to think that we still have fellow citizens who believe in them instead of being with their loved ones in times of crisis," said Tabudlo.

Said to be the third armed encounter in Bohol since the island province was declared “Insurgency-Free” in 2010, the encounter proved that the rebels have resorted to extortion, knowing that Boholanos this time are not anymore as hospitable to the terrorists.

"I call upon our fellow Filipinos in the mountains who still believed in that fraud ideology to come down and return to the community to live in peace with their families," Tabudlo added. 

Tabudlo's call is consistent with the Presidential directive to end local communist armed conflict for a peaceful Philippines. 

In a radio interview, Remonde shared that there were reports of residents evacuating the area for fear they could be caught in the crossfire.

She also confirmed that locals are strongly supporting the campaign for genuine and lasting peace in the island of Bohol by reporting the presence of the rebels, something which would have been unthinkable in the past years.

As the Army continues mapping up pursuit operations, officials assured that the Army would remain responsive to the call of the people to be their able partners in securing Bohol and the Boholanos. (rahc/PIA-7/Bohol with Lt. Remonde)

ENDEARING THEMSELVES TO COMMUNITIES. 1Lt. Elma Grace Remonde-Arbulencia (right) talks to army troops prior to a Civil Military Operations as the Army continues to foster strong trust in communities to empower them to report sightings of armed men like what happened to NPAs in Bayawahan Sevilla. (PIA Bohol/47IB fotos) 

Bohol health authorities

sound alarm on dengue

TAGBILARAN CITY, Bohol, June 27 (PIA) -- Provincial Health authorities here have sounded the alarm on dengue as a total of 2,481 cases were recorded in Bohol in the first six months of this year.

Cases recorded from January to June 13 are already at 37.83 percent higher over the data recorded in the same period last year, shared Bohol dengue campaign focal person Leonidas Saniel during the recent Kapihan sa PIA on dengue. 

“Although we only have 13 deaths or .05 percent case fatality rate this year compared to the 17 death or .09 case fatality rate last year, the figure is very alarming,” Saniel said.

Dengue, which is a kind of fever that can be caused by mosquito bites especially those from aedes aegypti and aedes albopictus, has been a persisent health issue that local government units face. 

Those with dengue often manifest it by high and recurring high fever, headache, pain behind the eyes, vomiting, muscle and joint pains, low back pain and possible skin rashes, health authorities said. 

Dengue, which is also called dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF), is a specific syndrome that tends to affect children, but disease reporting units in Bohol records an age range from two months old to 94 years old, according to Center for Health and Development Regional Surveillance Unit (RESU) 7. 

Dengue complication causes abdominal pain, hemorrhaging and circulatory collapse which make it fatal in this stage, but this can happen long after a patient has been infected, according to research data.

As to how dengue cases rose despite the Bohol cascading its programs to the towns, barangays and puroks, Saniel shared that in their monitoring activities, still people miss the early consultation which is critical in fever that lasts over two days. 

"You miss the early consultaion, you run the risk of bringing in a severy dehydrated and sometimes haemorrhaging patient," Saniel said. 

Health authorities in the dengue campaign have put the emphasis on dengue prevention and called on residents to implement the enhanced strategies in their households: Search and destroy mosquito-breeding sites; Employ self-protection measures such as wearing of long pants and long sleeved shirts, and use mosquito repellents; Seek early consultation for those with fever; Support fogging/spraying only in hotspot areas where increase in cases is registered for two consecutive weeks, to prevent an impending outbreak.

In a table shown by Saniel reflecting the RESU-7 disease reporting unit admissions and consultations in Bohol, it showed that Talibon topped in admissions and consultations but still they have four deaths.

The data did not tell if the admission happened in the early stage of the disease.

Dengue remains on the rise due to behavioral problems in the barangay, he said.

He also cited some people who surrendered to fate saying dengue cannot be beaten.

“People are still very lazy to do the 4S, and people just do not care if people help in the campaign or not, often missing medical help kay gapahilot lang (went for a massage),” Saniel said.

“Most of those who died came to the hospitals too late. Fever for a day or two, one must bring the patient to a health facility immediately,” he urged.

While authorities evaluating the program noticed that dengue campaign was left out by the COVID-19 campaign, Saniel urged local officials to integrate the dengue campaign with COVID-19 campaign "so we can put an end to this problem," said Saniel. (rahc/PIA-7/Bohol)

4 CASES LESS. Although Bohol records 4 deaths less this time, from January to June compared to last year, Saniel, at the Kapihan sa PIA said one death is one too many already, knowing that no one is supposed to die of dengue now. (PIABohol)

IT CAN BE DONE, IT HAS BEEN TESTED. Bohol's dengue campaign focal person Leonidas Saniel said beating dengue can be done if people will cooperate. (PIA Bohol)

Talibon, Tubigon, Tagbilaran record 

highest dengue cases in Bohol 

TAGBILARAN CITY, Bohol, June 27 (PIA) -- The populous towns of Talibon, Tubigon, and Tagbilaran City sidled to the list of top three local government units (LGUs) in Bohol with the highest number of dengue cases and deaths this year. 

This year, dengue cases in the province rose by 37.83 percent, according to Provincial Health Office Anti-Dengue focal person and nurse Leonidas Saniel.

From January to June 13, 2020, Saniel reported that based on the Provincial Health Office's (PHO) data, Talibon, which used to rank 4th in 2019, now records 376 cases and four deaths.

Tubigon, which ranked sixth in 2019, now climbed to second in the list with 194 cases and a single casualty. 

Tagbilaran City retained is position as third in the list of highest dengue cases in both 2019 and 2020.

In 2019, the city had 153 cases and four deaths, while this year, Tagbilaran recorded 159 cases and no deaths.

There was no information, however, if those patients were really city residents, considering that people in the towns would rather go for admission in the city hospitals. 

Clarin, which used to be 8th in 2019, ranks 4th this year with 114 dengue cases and zero deaths.

Barging into the list this year is Ubay town with 99 cases and two deaths.

Getafe town, which was not in the top ten in 2019, ranked 6th with 97 cases and one death.

Loon, which ranked 5th in 2019, went down to 7th this year with 91 cases and no deaths.

The remaining LGUs in the top ten list are Anda, with 87 cases, no deaths; Alicla with 79 cases and zero deaths; and Bien Unido with 72 cases and two deaths. (rahc/PIA-7/Bohol)

NOT WITHOUT THE COMMUNITY'S SUPPORT. PHO Bohol dengue campaign coordinator Leonidas Saniel (left) said a barangay in Bohol has successfully showed beating dengue can be done with everyone working. He called on LGUs to mobilize their people using political will to make dengue a problem of the past. (PIA Bohol)