Posted on October 23, 2007
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HE Alistair MacDonald, the ambassador of the European Commission to the Philippines, HE Inger Ulvedt, the Swedish ambassador to the Philippines, and Dr. Mario Alberto Bartoli, the Deputy Head of the Italian Embassy to the Philippines graced the final conference of the ecoBudget-Asia Project, which was attended by not less than a hundred participants from the European Union, Sweden, Italy, India, Thailand, and the Philippines on October 15-16, 2007 at the Bohol Beach Club in Panglao, Bohol.
The conference with the theme, “ecoBudget: An Instrument to Good Local Resource Management and Governance,” which was organized by the Provincial Planning and Development Office (PPDO) of the Provincial Government of Bohol, convened the ecoBudget-Asia Project Consurtium comprised of the cities of Bologna (Italy), Guntur, (India), Vaxjo (Sweden), and the Province of Bohol through the municipality of Tubigon. The four cities and municipalities together with international experts on sustainability management tools shared their experiences, achievements, and impacts in using the ecoBudget as a tool for resource management and governance. For the part of Bohol, the Municipality of Tubigon shared their experiences with the program, which started in April 2005 after having been chosen through a consultative meeting involving representatives from 14 municipalities from the Provincial Government of Bohol, Non-Government Organizations, and the Academe.
Among the distinguished guests welcomed by Gov. Erico B. Aumentado during the opening ceremonies include: Mayor Khanna Nagaraju of Guntur, India, Mr. Andrea Burzacchini of ICLEI- Europe, Ms. Pamela Lama, the commissioner of Vaxjo, Sweden, Mr. Anders Franzen, the Development Manager of Vaxjo, Sweden, Mr. Emani Kumar and Mr. Vic Acquitania of ICLEI- Southeast Asia as well as the different mayors and municipal planning and development officers of the different towns in Bohol, which are potential implementors of the ecoBudget.
ecoBudget is an environmental management system developed by the International Council for Local Environment Initiatives or ICLEI- Local Governments for Sustainability and is aimed to be utilized by local governments. The system follows the financial budgeting procedure and allows local authorities to keep track with its environmental spending within an environmental budget. It does not, however, assign monetary value to environment but allows quantitative long term and annual targets that the local council may ratify, which in turn may influence the direction of local environment policies and programs. With an environmental master budget, targets are oriented toward sustainable management of the environmental resources of the municipal territory. The ecoBudget-Asia is a project co-funded by the European Union’s Asia Urbs programme and coordinated by the Municipality of Bologna. It aims to transfer the knowledge and experiences of ecoBudget in European cities and municipalities to their Asian counterparts. (VMOT-PGMA)
Posted on October 19, 2007
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A learning handicapped student of the Special Education (SPED) Center at Tagbilaran City Central Elementary School brought honors not only for the Province of Bohol, but the whole country; when he represented the Philippines in the Track & Field Event.of the 2007 Special Olympics World Summer Games in Shanghai, China.
Jesus Verano Pacaldo of Junction, Bool this city together with his coach and trainer Mr. Frank P. Echalico, a teacher of Manga National High School, were in Shanghai, China on October 2 to 11, this year. There Jess showed his mettle by besting participants coming from one hundred and sixty (160) other countries.
According to his (SPED) teacher Ms. Consuelo L. Arreza and (SPED) principal Ms Rhodora I Tadena, Jess has the body of a man of 20, with a mental level of a 7 year old boy. Nowadays, this mental handicap is not referred to as a disability or retardation as these terms create a negative impression and which may affect the performance of these special children. They are instead given mental level grades designated as gemstones, Jess is an Emerald level student.
Sports has been an anchor in the education of special children such as Jess. This has given them pride and a sense of achievements. SPED students who have progressed are given a chance at a normal life, Jess has started his mainstream studies now as a Grade II pupil, this is a part of the integration process with the hope that, special children like Jess might finally be able to function effectively as an ordinary person in mainstream society.
Jess and his Coach’s trip to China was made possible by the assistance of the Vice Governor Julius Caesar F. Herrera through the intercession of BM Ae. Damalerio.