NM, CCAD, BACH bring free 3-day

kiddie book illustration w’shop

TAGBILARAN CITY, Bohol Feb 23 (PIA) –In the National Arts Month, the National Museum of the Philippines in Bohol brings out a free three-day full active workshop on illustrating children’s books.

Organized with the Provincial Government of Bohol through the Center for culture and Arts Development and the Bohol Arts and Cultural Heritage Council the workshop features the mentorship of Felix Mago-Miguel, set on February 20-22.

Anchored on the theme “Ani ng Sining, Bayan ng Malikhain,”the workshop hopes to encourage and spark the creativity opf the children by encouraging them to read books illustrations by creating captivating visuals that bring the stories to life for young readers, according to the NMP in a press statement.

As a renowned artist and book designer, Felix Mago-Miguel and wife Amelia Zubiri, relocated in Bohol with their family some 19 years ago, leaving behind a bustling metropolis which could ably supply their needs.

However, as artists, it could be the simplicity and the vast undisputed natural beauty and the man-made wonders of the province that could be the charm attracting the multi-awarded both locally and internationally acclaimed book artist to pick on the serene over the bustle of the city.

This decision has also allowed them to weave new connections with people who share the same passion for the arts.

Design is a magical realm where imagination takes flight.

In literature, book design is a gateway for readers to connect with the story through the visual and emotional levels. Each stroke of the brush or pencil contributes to the wonder and depth experienced by the readers as they delve into the pages of the book, Miguel said.

In the workshop, Miguel promised he would not just fully and actively facilitate, and he taught artistic techniques and empowered participants to become story tellers themselves, through the craft that impacts in the children’s hearts and minds.

As professional illustrator, he discussed relevance and essentials of storyboarding, basic book structure and format, character development and style.

He is also imparted ethical standards to effectively work with partners in the literary and publishing industry. (PIA Bohol with NMP Bohol)

CHOOSING BOHOL. Nationally renowned children’s books illustrator Felix Mago-Miguel brings to Bohol a free workshop on book illustrations this Feb 20-22, at the NM Bohol. (PIABohol/NM)

FEATURE

Montesuerte gets lucky with

solar powered water system

The goal for the day was get to a cluster of 28 homes of families perched on top of a plateau in the edge of Sitio Mahayahay, Montesuerte, Carmen, where Governor Erico Aristotle Aumentado, assisted by local officials and a non-government organization project director would break ground for a wind powered water pumping system, would give the farm residents families their domestic and irrigation water needs as well as household lighting.

Mahayahay, or Cebuano for comfortable, is an exact opposite of the place accessible only by foot, ascending past heavily rutted sorry-excuse of a barangay road, snaking to the top of a 200 meter high hill.

Accessible largely only by carabao drawn carts supplying the community needs, this contraption is also a bane as this scrapes the dirt road’s top-soil, the erosion exposes slippery boulders, which effectively blocks motor vehicles up their narrow paths.

Walking the 3.8 kilometers from the nearest vehicle passable dirt road proved a decent feat for the uninitiated, and a bone chilling challenge for the four-wheel drive vehicle drivers carrying the officials to the Taytay plateau venue.

After all, the place has been populated by militant pheasant farmers who took over vast estate in the plateau property, many of them active rebels now rebel-returnees and beneficiaries of the government’s assistance package from the campaign to end local communist armed conflict (ELCAC).

“It was an option to drive with bushes scraping the SUV, or courting danger driving too close to the loose soil hanging on the precipice,” shares Capitol driver Jack Asumbrado.

Coming in a few minutes after Carmen Mayor Conchita Toribio arrived, her old and trusted Toyota Prado weaving through the newly plowed field, skidding every now and then before coasting to a stop a few meters from the event venue.

“Not only was it dangerous for accidents, it was also a perfect ambush site,” plainclothes policemen serving as the governor’s advance party added.

As Gov Aumentado arrive, mayor Toribio, Sibol nga Aghan at Teknolohiya (SIBAT) Project director Estrella Catarata, Board Member Nathaniel Binlod and Montesuerte Barangay chairman Michael Belentucas led the community in the ribbon cutting and ceremonial ground breaking of the project.

Adto pa mi mokabo para imnon ug panghugas, diha sa luyo aning bungtod, ang among panguma dinhi, nagkinahanglan og tubig, wala pod mi suga, guba pa gyud ang among karsada. Lisud i-agi kon duna mi mga produkto nga itumod, kinahanglan maayo ang among agi-anan, says Ireneo Pinarejo, 65 years old resident and chairman of the Nagkahiusang Mag-uuma sa Taytay, Montesuerte (NAMATAMO).

We fetch our drinking and washing water from behind that hill, we need water for our plants, we do not have electricity, and our road is dilapidated.

The guests of the village presented to the community the project: second level distribution of potable, domestic and irrigation water, as well as lighting using the excess electricity generated by the 5 kilowatt wind turbine powering a submersible water pump by its 24 volts lithium batteries.

“The drawn water would be stored in an 8 cubic meter elevated water tank filled through 2 horsepower submersible pump and distributed to the households after passing through an ultraviolet disinfection system, explains Catarata,” who is also the local Farmers Development Center (FARDEC) executive director.

The project, she said would be completed as proposed in July.

Aumentado, who admitted they had a rather bumpy ride, said climbing the muddy path was a challenge, that he directed the Provincial engineer’s office to send heavy equipment when the mud dries, to fix the road.

“Di matukib ang akong kalipay,” Pinarejo haltingly said, squinting at the camera flashes directed unto him, “kay mao gyud na ang among gikinahanglan, kinahanglan gyud nga maayo na ang karsada.”

“Nakita nato ang mga produkto dinhi, saging, lagutmon, bolanghoy, kini nagtug-an nato nga duna gyud diay produksyon ug angay lang tabangan,” (we see the products here: bananas, rootcrops, cassava, this tells us that indeed there is food production, and we have to help them) Aumentado, who sets the record as the first highest ranking public official to get to Mahayahay, said.

For SIBAT, he said, he told Catarata now to hesitate and coordinate with Capitol on anything that they can partner with.

We have seen your desire to serve the underserved, we are ready to partner with you, whatever you need, we will support you, he assured.

He also instructed Mayor Toribio to survey the nearest possible road from Mahayahay to Katipunan, where the government funded a multi-million cassava processing plant, something he said could be opened to bring the products to the market as fast and efficient.

For years, Mahayahay and Taytay have been laying as an unproductive wasteland tilled and occupied by militant farmers who have been smeared with the stigma as insurgency supporters if not armed rebels.

With the promised developments, barangay Montesuerte may inch its way to becoming a lucky mountain, home of comfortable and contented farmer families partnering with the government. (PIABohol)

BANE AND BOON. Carabao drawn carts present as the only viable form of transportation here, lugging containers of water fetched from a kilometer away. Unfortunately, these carts also contribute to the fast deterioration of roads, making them impassable especially during rainy days. (PIABohol)

NEVER TOO OLD TO DREAM. In his fading years. Ireneo Pinarejo dreams of seeing light in his hut, potable running water and something they can use to save the crops during droughts, all of these could be answered by the new project which the governor and local officails broke ground. (PIABohol)

FIRST TO SET FOOT. Governor Aris Aumentado establishes the record as the first highest provincial official to enter a community widely populated by militant farmers, some of them now persuaded by the government to lay their arms down and surrender for a peaceful life. With him are Carmen mayor Conchita Toribio, BM Nathaniel Binlod and barangay officials. (PIABohol)

DOLE TAV empowers employers

to comply with labor standards

TAGBILARAN CITY, Bohol Feb 22 (PIA) –It was not just 13th month pay, it also had a bonus in it.

This is what a laundry shop owner here in Tagbilaran City realized after she learned that she has given more than her employee deserved for his 13th month pay.

During the Department of Labor and Employment’s (DOLE) first of the many Technical Advisory Visit in 2024, which was at the Saulog Gym of the City Hall complex February 20, DOLE labor inspector Liezel Hadassah Cadua showed employers how to compute the 13th month pay, something that employer Ma. Luisa Saguirel thought was simply the basic salary.

Cadua’s discussion was among the inputs that DOLE and its allied industry and labor partners dished out during the first DOLE Technical Advisory Visit (TAV) to orient micro, small and medium enterprise (MSMe) employers and business owners of the agency’s task of ensuring effective implementation of the labor standards enforcement framework.

This is so that MSME establishments and workplaces build a culture of voluntary compliance with the labor standards, and protect workers by assuring their safety and just compensation, explains chief Labor and Employment Officer as wel as Bohol Field Office head Maria Eloida Cantona, CPA.

Under Articles 128 and 129 of the Labor Code of the Philippines, the DOLE is mandated to protect the labor force as the pillar of the economy, by ensuring fair and just working conditions, through observance of labor laws and social legislation which bring about safeguarded workers interests.

Top do this, the DOLE as agents of the secretary is mandated to inspect working premises to assess compliance with the labor laws and regulations.

This is further strengthened by DOLE Department Order No 238 series of 2023, assuring high levels of compliance with labor standards, occupational safety and health standards and other applicable legislation to ensure continuity and sustainability of compliance in all work places.

Moreover, to further expand the service, DOLE through Cadua detailed workers benefits which employers need to give, the 13th month pay, among others.

Saguirel, whose family owns a laundry shop along JA Clarin Street, Cogon District in Tagbilaran wanted to get things right as a good employer, that she, along with 55 other business owners employing less than 9 workers, signed up for the TAV held at the Tagbilaran City Hall’s Saulog Gym, February 20.

By law, 13th-month pay is simply an additional compensation given to the employees, one that is usually equivalent to at least 1/12 of an employee’s total basic salary in a year. That is, if he was hired in the entire 12 months, explained Cadua.

Now, I realized I gave more than the worker should have earned in his 13th month, Saguirel said.

She said without the TAV, she would never have known how to compute for the 13th month pay.

“There are workers who whimsically come to work anytime, without regard for business hours, and declare overtime, something I now know, is not allowable, unless the employers approve it,” she shared.

“Maayo ra gyud nga nay TAV,” (It is good that there is this TAV) Saguirel eagerly said.

As to the overpayment, she just laughed it off, adding, “pinaskohan na lang to nako niya,” (ill just consider it as a Christmas gift).

“TAV is a great venue for getting employers informed, we could not blame the government anymore if we are remiss, because we have been given proper and useful information,” also remarks 54 years old Grace Auguis, who keeps a 6 room apartment as her micro business.

At the TAV, employers also learned that they can get incentives for their businesses if they register it under the Barangay Micro Business Enterprise (BMBE) Law, explained John Jescio Liquit, a Department of Trade and Industry business counselor.

Being a BMBE registered MSME, they can avail of income tax exemption for income arising from the operation of the enterprise, for the first two years of operation, exemption from the coverage of the Minimum Wage Law except the same social security and health care benefits as other employees, priority to a special credit window set up specifically for the financing requirements of BMBEs, and technology transfer, production and management training, marketing assistance programs for BMBE beneficiaries, Liquit said. (rahc/PIA-7/Bohol)

CULTURE OF VOLUNTARY COMPLIANCE. To cultivate a culture of employer compliance with the labor standards, DOLE, through Chief LEO Maroa Eloida Cantona guided Cogon District micro entrepreneurs through advisory services and the distribution as well as self-assessment of the checklist on compliance with labor standards so they can be guided on coping up with their non-compliance based on the labor standards checklist. (rahc/PIA-7/Bohol)

NOW WE KNOW. Thanks to DOLE TAV, employers like Grace Auguis, who owns a 6 bedroom apartment now knows how she can get incentives and tax holidays if she registers her business with the BMBE Law. Behind her, line agencies give out advisory services and frontline operations, making the TAV a one stop shop. (PIABohol)

Gov Aumentado orders LGUs:

Comply with Marcos’ EO 41

TAGBILARAN CITY, Bohol, Feb 18 (PIA) –Bohol Governor Erico Aristotle Aumentado issued a Memorandum order for local government units to scrap the collection of pass-through fees from goods and merchandise transporting vehicles plying national roads.

Through Memorandum Order No 2024-0018, the governor assured compliance with the Presidential directive which is often causing undue increase in the price of goods and commodities as these fees are also passed-on to consumers.

This is also in compliance with the Presidential Executive Order No 41 which prohibits local government units from collecting fees and charges upon all motor vehicles transporting goods or merchandise, while passing through any national roads and other roads not constructed and funded by the LGUS.

Signed by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., in September of last year, EO41 aims to ensure the efficient movement of goods across the regions to revitalize local industries.

The move also forms part of the essential steps to reduce the costs of transporting food, which is one among the pillars of the Marcos’ Administration’s 8-point socio-economic agenda.

Citing Marcos’ Memorandum, and in the interest of public welfare, Aumentado ordered all LGUS to stop and suspend themselves from collecting fees and charges upon all motor vehicles transporting goods or merchandise, while passing through any national roads and such other roads not constructed and funded by LGUs pursuant to Section 155 of RA No 7160.

The suspension and discontinuation of collection of fees and charges include toll fees such as but not limited to sticker fees, discharging fees, delivery fees, market fees, entry fees or Mayor’s Permit fees that are imposed upon all motor vehicles transporting goods and passing through any local public roads not constructed and funded by LGUS.

By doing so, Aumentado sets the environment for building a robust and collaborative partnership between National Government and local government that is essential in addressing the impacts of inflation and promoting economic prosperity across all regions. (PIABohol)