Rights Group Worried About Aids in The Philippines

Rights group, worried about HIV, urges Philippines action

By TERESA CEROJANO Associated Press

TEXT SIZE

0

EMAIL

PRINT

MORE

MANILA, Philippines — A human rights watchdog says the Philippines is facing one of the fastest growing epidemics of HIV in the Asia Pacific, fueled by government policies that restrict intervention, including access to condoms by men who have sex with men.

Human Rights Watch said in a report released Thursday that HIV prevalence among men who have sex with men has increased tenfold in the last five years, but the government has failed to adequately target prevention measures on that population.

It said HIV prevention education in Philippine schools is woefully inadequate, commercial marketing of condoms is nonexistent, and barriers to condom access and HIV testing — particularly those below 18 who are required by law to have parental consent— have contributed to the worsening epidemic.

The report said the problems found in national and local government policies are compounded by longstanding resistance of the Roman Catholic church to contraceptives. More than 80 percent of Filipinos are Catholic.

Peter Mosende, a country officer of the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS or UNAIDS, said the Philippines has the highest rate of new HIV infections in the Asia-Pacific region, with new cases increasing by more than 100 percent from 2001 to 2015.

The Department of Health said it recorded 38,114 cases of HIV, or human immunodeficiency virus, from January 1984 to October 2016 — less than 1 percent of a population of more than 100 million. But the rate of increase has been alarming, with 32,099 of the cases recorded from 2011 to 2016. Officials estimate there could 55,000 cases by the end of 2016.

For the first 10 months of this year, 7,756 new HIV cases were recorded. From one new case a day in 2008, today 26 new infections are recorded daily.

Beginning in 2010, the transmission trend shifted from male-female sex to male-to-male sex, which this year accounts for 87 percent of new infections, the health department said. More than half of those infected men are 25 to 34 years old, and nearly 30 percent are aged 15 to 24.

"The government had a pretty good track record of fighting HIV-AIDS, but basically they are fighting the last war," Phelim Kine, HRW deputy director for asia, said in an interview. "They are still focusing on female sex workers and their clients when actually the epidemic has changed, but the government's approach is not changing and it needs to or else this will really get out of control."

He said while President Rodrigo Duterte has earned criticism for his bloody war on drugs, government action on the HIV problem is "something we can reasonably hope for" given Duterte's expressed support for public health and rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.

Health Secretary Paulyn Ubial last week said her department plans to distribute condoms in schools after coordination with the education department and school authorities. She said her office is considering making HIV self-testing kits available to the public.

Carlos Conde, HRW's Philippines researcher, welcomed Ubial's announcement, but said the government needs to overcome expected opposition from the church, Catholic schools, and parents.

The report is based on field research between February and October, and interviews with 82 people across eight cities, including two where officials have prohibited the sale or distribution of condoms and other contraceptives.

The research found that young gay men have been subjected to ridicule when they buy condoms from drug stores and have faced stigma when they go to social hygiene clinics that provide free condoms to sex workers.

The report recommended abolishing legal restrictions that bar youth under 18 years of age from buying condoms or getting HIV tests without parental consent, better sex education in schools, and imposing penalties on municipalities that refuse to comply with the laws that guarantee the public distribution of contraceptives, including condoms.

Paper power

TUE, DECEMBER 6, 2016 BY THE MINDANAO DAILY MIRROR LEAVE A COMMENT

IN MY OPINIONKlaus Doring

Paper still matters, as I could learn from fellow Philippine Daily Inquirer staff writer Phyllis Korkki. Yes, paper still matters. The frequent whirring of printers in offices – despite the Internet, Microsoft Word, social media (I love Facebook and Twitter), scanners, smart phones applications and many much more – attest to that.

I am very much old fashioned in many things. I was still typing on an old manual typewriter, when my colleagues in different publishing houses used already electric units. I loved my antique typewriter. I love it till today. Yes, it’s still here in my office in Davao City. I can’t use it anymore, because no more ribbons are available in the Philippines. It’s okay. My electric typewriter is also here. Just beside the manual unite. Those were the days, my love… .

It has been sometimes at the end of the 1990's. I worked in an international publishing house in Berlin with branches in Amsterdam and New York. I still used one of those wonderful electric type writers – and tried to avoid vehemently a personal computer. Already during that time I needed to hold paper in my hands. Paper, says the productivity expert David Allen, is “in your face”. I strongly agree with David. He said, “Its physical presence can be a goal to completing tasks, whereas computer files can easily be hidden and thus forgotten. I am also returning to paper planners for this very reason. Please, don’t laugh at me, my dear readers!

David Allen, the author of “Getting Things Done”, does much of his writing on a computer. So I do meanwhile. But, there are still times when writing with a fountain pen on a notepad. It allows “us” to get “our” heads in the right place. When I tried to learn more from David Allen, I really got surprised, that we have many things in common. Old fashioned or not? I don’t care. Here are some facts:

Paper printouts serve an important function. For long texts, a print out can allow a reader to better understand relationships between sections and writings. Paper hand-outs are still a presence at meetings partly be-cause they are useful for taking notes. Reading a long document on paper rather than on a computer screen helps people “better understand the geography of the argument contained within, “said Richard H.R. Harper, a principal researcher for Microsoft in Cambridge/England and co-author with Abigail J. Sellen of “The Myth of the Paperless Office,” published already in 2001.

I also strongly agree with Sellen, saying, that using more than one computer screen can be helpful for all this cognitive juggling. But when workers are going back and forth between points in a longer document, it can be more efficient to read on paper.

How about “e-reading a book”? A novel, a drama, whatever? What do you prefer, my dear reader? You wanna know my opinion? I am sure, you can imagine. Yes guys, I still need a book in my hands for my leisure reading. I need to feel the book as well as I need to smell a fresh-printed newspaper. Environment savers might start jelling at me now, though I am one of them. So, where is the edge and borderline?

Paper can be indeed a luscious and beautiful thing – the way we savor fine food and wine, as Steve Leveen, co-founder and CEO of Levenger, said. People complain that writing by hand is slow (yes I am really!), BUT that can be good for thinking and creating! Here we are again!

Yes, it matters still: in defense of the power of paper! What do you think, my dear readers, while holding this newspaper right now in your hands?

A fourth term?

SAT, DECEMBER 3, 2016 BY THE MINDANAO DAILY MIRROR LEAVE A COMMENT

IN MY OPINIONKlaus Doring

Since the Britains will  be leaving the European Union, Germany seems to become the richest and leading European country. Poll data published last Friday (November 25, 2016) shows that Germans welcome Chancellor Angela Merkel’s decision to run for a fourth term. SPD leader and Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel, however, has less to smile about. Why? Later in this column.

I was not much surprised learning that around two-thirds of Germans say they welcome Chancellor Angela Merkel’s decision to stand for a fourth term as chancellor in next year’s election, according to a poll published. The “Politbarometer” poll, commissioned by the German broadcaster ZDF, found that 64 percent backed the chancellor’s decision, compared to 33 percent who opposed it. Among registered supporters of the center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party, Merkel’s approval rate was as high as 89 percent.

Why nobody is not surprised any more? Who else could become German chancellor?

The poll also showed also that if the election were held this Sunday, Merkel’s conservative Union bloc – the CDU and their Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU) –  would take around 36 percent of the vote, retaining their spot as the leading party. The Social Democratic Party (SPD), by contrast, would only win 21 percent. As “Politbarometer” points out, this would likely be enough for the Union parties to form a coalition with the Greens and centrist Free Democratic Party. It would not, however, be enough for Germany’s left-leaning parties to form a so-called red-red-green coalition, consisting of the SPD, the Left Party and Greens.

I mentioned before Sigmar Gabriel.The poll results also shed light on who voters would prefer to see leading the SDP, with current European Parliament President Martin Schulz significantly outranking the current party head Sigmar Gabriel. Some 51 percent of respondents said they would favor Schulz to be the SPD’s candidate for chancellor, compared to 29 percent who said they preferred Gabriel. Among registered SPD supporters, Schulz’s approval rating to lead the party into the elections rose to 64 percent, while Gabriel’s sank to 27 percent.

Schulz has not declared that he will run for the chancellorship. How-ever, he announced on Thursday that he will stand down from his EU post as president of the EU Parliament to return to German politics. The SPD is expected to announce their candidate for the chancellorship by the end of January. Martin Schulz read his announcement in Brussels in three languages: German, English and French. Little things like this demonstrate that, for Social Democrats, Europe was and remains very dear to their hearts.

Schulz’s decision to leave now also has to do with the fact that he cannot continue in office as president of the European Parliament. According to an agreement to which all parliamentary parties have subscribed, a representative of the conservative EVP must take over the position in 2017. So Schulz is now keen to exert his influence from Berlin – and not just as an ordinary member of parliament. For someone like him, there are two positions that suggest themselves: the office of foreign minister, or the SPD’s chancellor candidate in next year’s election.

So far, Martin Schulz has not commented on which of the two he’s aiming for, or whether he’s aiming for both at once. There’s little or nothing to be heard from the SPD on the subject, either. But that’s no bad thing – on the contrary. The SPD doesn’t want to decide on its chancellor candidate until January. Until then, it’s presenting itself as a party with at least two political heavyweights to offer: Martin Schulz on the one hand; and on the other, of course, the party’s current leader and Germany’s incumbent vice chancellor and economics minister, Sigmar Gabriel.

However, come to the decision that his friend Schulz would be the better candidate, the latter would be given the field. Schulz is up to both election campaigning and the job of foreign minister. From the SPD’s point of view, Schulz would also be a good choice for foreign minister. He’s experienced in the diplomatic arena, has excellent contacts, and is also accepted outside his own ranks. He’s made a name for himself as someone who speaks frankly. That would certainly make an agreeable change from Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who is more careful and deliberate. It would also be a counterpoint to Chancellor Merkel’s line, which focuses more on quiet tones and working behind the scenes.

Anyway, global politics will become more and more thrilling and exciting. A totally global change of restructuring might be possible. After elections in the U.S.,  Europe will face several national elections – also in Germany.

New U.S. Ambassador to Philippines Aims to Strengthen Ties

New U.S. ambassador to PH aims to 'strengthen' ties

spaceplay / pause

 

qunload | stop

 

ffullscreen

↑↓volume

 

mmute

←→seek

 

 . seek to previous

12… 6 seek to 10%, 20% … 60%

Metro Manila (CNN Philippines) — The new U.S. ambassador to the Philippines says he looks forward to working with the Philippine government "to strengthen" the "very important partnership" between the two countries.

U.S. Ambassador-Designate to the Philippines Sung Kim arrived in Manila past 10 p.m. Thursday, and told reporters he was "thrilled" to be able to contribute to one of his country's "most important" and "most special" partnership.

"But for me, the most meaningful or most fundamental is the deep bond and the extraordinary warmth between the peoples of the two countries," he added.

According to his figures, there are about 4 million Filipino-Americans residing in the U.S., and 250,000 Americans living and working in the Philippines.

Despite the long flight from Washington D.C. to Manila, Kim pointed out he "didn't get any sleep" on the plane because of his excitement. "I have, for a long time, for many years, have wanted to serve in Manila."

Kim was one of seven individuals nominated by U.S. President Barack Obama to key administration posts in May. He was sworn in by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on November 3.

In his acceptance speech, Kim also called the Philippines the U.S.' "oldest ally in Asia" and reiterated continued friendship.

He listed the U.S. as one of the Philippines' "top trading partners" and reaffirmed a "common history of shared sacrifice, values, and interests" as well as "an ironclad mutual defense treaty."

Fresh start?

Kim will drop the "Designate" label after he presents his credentials to, and is received by President Rodrigo Duterte. The President has been vocal about his misgivings on relations with the U.S.

The President also insulted Kim's predecessor, Philip Goldberg, during a televised speech in Cebu City earlier this year.

"Kaya nga sabi ko noong si (U.S. Secretary of State John) Kerry, kasama kami ni(incoming Philippine National Defense) Secretary, si Delfin (Lorenzana), kausap namin si Kerry. Okay naman siya kasi, nag-away kami ng ambassador niya (Philip Goldberg). Iyong ambassador niyang bakla, p*****i**, buwisit ako diyan.  Nakikisali doon sa election, giving [a] statement. You're not supposed to do that."

[Translation:I was with (incoming Philippine National Defense Secretary) Delfin (Lorenzana). We talked to (U.S. Secretary of State) John Kerry, he was actually okay because I had a fight with his ambassador. I told him: your ambassador is a gay, son of a b**** I was pissed at him, for interfering in the elections, giving statements here and there. He wasn't supposed to do that.]

Duterte said Goldberg should not have "interfered" during the last presidential election, when the then ambassador reacted to Duterte's comments on the rape of an Australian missionary.

Foreign service career

Kim is a career member of the U.S. Foreign Service, class of Minister-Counselor. He is also a Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of East Asia and Pacific Affairs at the Department of State.

His prior experience includes serving as U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Korea from 2011 to 2014. He was also the special representative for North Korea policy and the deputy assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs.

A graduate of University of Pennsylvania, Kim earned a juris doctor degree from Loyola University Law School in Los Angeles. He also has a master of laws degree from the London School of Economics and Political Science.

CNN Philippines' JC Gotinga contributed to this report.

Cayetano Blasts De Lima for Malicious Accusations

Office of the Senator

Alan Peter S. Cayetano

Rm. 602 GSIS Complex Senate of the Philippines Roxas Blvd Pasay City

         

PRESS RELEASE

2 December 2016

Cayetano blasts De Lima for malicious accusations vs SAP Bong Go

Senator Alan Peter Cayetano today lambasted Senator Leila De Lima for maliciously accusing Special Assistant to the President Christopher "Bong" Go of allegedly asking the head of the Philippine National Police to reinstate Supt. Marvin Marcos and his group to the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) Region 8. 

Cayetano said De Lima should instead face allegations that she herself is involved in the illegal drug trade.

"Senator De Lima seems to be resorting to squid tactics as a strategy to get the attention away from the accusations in which she herself is involved," Cayetano said.

"Instead of facing allegations of her involvement in the illegal drug trade, Sen. De Lima found it more fitting to file a case against the President of the country. Now, she is targeting Special Assistant to the President Sec. Bong Go with baseless accusations," he added.

Cayetano hit De Lima for targeting the administration and making assumptions based only on pure hearsay. He called on the senator to refrain from deflecting the real issue and instead face allegations thrown against her head on. 

"Secretary Go is a professional, he doesn't insert his own agenda in his professional duties. He is a soldier who follows his commander-in-chief's directives. He should not be dragged in controversy especially when there is no clear proof," Cayetano said.

"These new intrigues are merely part of Senator De Lima's and her shadowy allies' plan to replace the President with their own," the senator further claimed.

Cayetano meanwhile expressed his unrelenting support for the Duterte administration's ongoing campaign against illegal drugs, saying he would continue to assist the President in cleansing the government of rogue officials trying to get in the way of their fight for more genuine reforms and real change.

"The President has started the war against illegal drugs, and is committed to clean our government of narco politicians and other drug protectors. But many people are still trying to cover the truth through different cloaks of disguise. We will not allow them to win," Cayetano said. #

Why is airline food so bad?

My column in Mindanao Daily Mirror, Saturday November 26, 2016

I am frequent flyer around the globe since my 21st birthday. 1974 my first international flight took me from Germany to Norway. 3 hours. Not a big deal. But, I remember, I  just peeled back the plastic off a freshly-delivered tray right off my airplane’s trolley cart and the mess looking back at you is a grim one. The fault may not lie with the chef, though, but in the plane’s design. Everything is reheated. Sure.

The very nature of air travel, as well as how the plane is built and how it adjusts to high altitudes, make food preparation fundamentally more difficult. There are some technical limitations to being high in the air that make it far simpler to just reheat pre-made food, rather than attempt to actually cook from scratch — particularly in the pressurised air of the plane’s cabin.

Although planes routinely cruise at altitudes of around 40,000 feet, the pressure of the cabin is brought back down to more comfortable altitudes of between six and nine thousand feet above sea level. Even those lowered altitudes, though, are still enough to slow down cook times considerably.

It’s not just the difficulties of cooking, though. Even the food service encourages heat-and-serve style meals. The preference in hot airline meals is for pre-cut, reheated meats, usually swimming in sauce, like boeuf bourguignon - actually one of my favorite dishes. In part, the sauce works to counteract the dryness of the pressurised air cabin. But both the sauce and the slow reheat time also suit today’s blunt-edged airline cutlery sets, which have either no knife or an unsharpened one. Because it's been so overcooked, you can cut it with a fork.

“Airlines have discovered that, if you also pre-cut the meat, you practically don’t need a knife,” says Guillaume de Syon, a professor at Albright College in the US state of Pennsylvania who studies the history of technology, particularly aviation. "Because it's been so overcooked, you can cut it with a fork." Perhaps the biggest consideration, though, is simply available space.

Within the years, I traveled to Asia and the U.S. Yes sure: more passengers, bigger planes, less attention to individual meals. Please keep in mind, I haven't be a First Class Passenger. That's another story, isn't it?

Anyway, today’s passenger planes are designed to carry well over 300  passengers, all of whom expect to be fed on roughly the same schedule. Before the popularisation of the jet in the 1960's, though, let's note that passenger manifests were small, usually fewer than 50 people, giving flight attendants time to devote attention to each passenger’s meal service.

Some of those early hot options would seem unrecognisably lavish to today’s travellers, with menus that featured cooked-to-order omelettes, or mobile carving stations wheeled from seat-to-seat by an attendant. With hundreds to serve instead of dozens, though, today’s flight attendants simply no longer have the time to prep individual trays. Instead, the trays need to arrive ready to go.

The large array of food options on offer to airplane passengers in the '60s and '70s simply doesn’t exist in most air travel anymore. But, that doesn’t mean the menu has completely disappeared. It’s just been replaced by menus of another sort. Free unlimited wine, champagne and liquors? Once upon a time ... ! I remember a flight from Berlin to Moscow in 1979: bottomless Wodka. Heaven forbid!

In the last decade, the number of entertainment options aboard the average aeorplane have exploded — and the design of the seats and cabin have changed to reflect this. Nowadays it's designed for your entertainment — not for your food.
Passengers are offered music, often WIFI, and, most importantly, a large menu of films and TV options served up on demand on personalised screens installed in their seat, instead of a single large screen up front. The installation of personalised screens has taken a lot of focus away from the food service, allowing airlines to cut back on food
.
Today, though, ticket cost is the primary measure of competition and cutting out a meal or two can either add to the airline’s bottom line, or give it a little extra room to undercut a competitor’s price. Profits [could be] gained from chopping the kitchen out of the plane almost entirely. "Nowadays airlines are breaking out the expenses and leaving it up to consumers to choose what they want,” said Bob van der Linden, who is the air transportation curator at the US National Air & Space Museum. “It’s the market. This is pure economics. After deregulation in ’78, airlines are free to compete anyway that they want — and they found the best way to compete is low prices."

The shrinking space for food doesn’t, however, mean that airline meals are completely disappearing. But, as airlines look for ways to trim budgets and save space, they’re turning back to those same ground-prepped cold snacks and sandwiches that airlines began their food service with decades ago.“We’re moving back to the box lunches that we started with in the US during the late ‘30s, early 40s. Something that can be easily transported. Nothing terribly perishable, basically a box lunch, a picnic lunch,” said van der Linden.

Happy trip guys! See you abroad!

Cayetano: People Support PNP's Efforts to Rid Country of Drugs and Contain Criminality

Cayetano: People support PNP’s efforts to rid country of drugs and contain criminality

Senator Alan Peter Cayetano expressed confidence that the nation supports PNP Chief Director General Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa and the PNP leadership in their efforts to reform the country’s police force, and to make it more effective in the war against drugs and criminality. 

"Do not despair, the people are critical but are behind you," Cayetano told Dela Rosa.

Cayetano said while he has asked Congress to act and improve the salary and benefits of the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), Congress has been and should be critical of the scalawags in the organization. 

“Nonetheless, it is still Congress’ duty to at least provide uniformed personnel with an amount that covers the cost of living, and to provide orphaned families of those killed or wounded in action with enough to make ends meet and send dependents to good schools,” he said.

Cayetano also urged the citizenry to continue to support the efforts of the PNP leadership to cleanse its ranks of rogue policemen and scalawags by helping identify the corrupt officers involved in criminal activities, particularly in the illegal drug trade. 

“We trust in the leadership of the PNP and we will do all to support his efforts and initiatives to reform the organization with the same intensity as Senator Panfilo Lacson did when he was Chief PNP,” Cayetano said. 

He lamented that there are still those who are part of the organization who continue to use their uniform for criminal activities, protecting drug operations and illegal gambling. 

“DG Dela Rosa’s efforts  to cleanse the ranks of PNP belie the administration’s critics that the government tolerates extrajudicial killings and corruption,” he added. 

The senator said he believes the government will not rest until the PNP has been effectively reformed, to help the President win in his fight to suppress crime and illegal drugs, problems that continue to plague our nation.#

CAPTION:

Senator Alan Peter Cayetano consoles PNP Chief Director General Ronald "Bato" Dela Rosa, as he expressed his confidence that the people continue to trust and support the PNP leadership's ability to reform the police force and to make it more effective in the government's campaign against crime and illegal drugs.

Marce to hit Cebu today

 (The Freeman) | Updated November 25, 2016 - 12:00am

 0  0 googleplus0  0 

It was not fog that hung over the skies of Cebu yesterday, but thick clouds brought on by tropical depression Marce, according to the state weather bureau. Storm signal number 1 was raised over Cebu City yesterday leaving hundreds of passengers stranded in the different seaports. Aldo Nelbert Banaynal

CEBU, Philippines - After causing thousands to be stranded yesterday, tropical depression Marce is expected to make landfall in Cebu early this morning.

PAGASA-Visayas weather specialist Bolivar Artiaga said Marce will continue to bring more rains and people in landslide-prone areas should be watchful.

"Magbantay g’yud ta labi na kadtong mga landslide-prone areas kay posible mag landslide tungod aning sige og uwan-uwan," said Artiaga.

He also said that yesterday almost the entire Cebu sky was engulfed by thick clouds that lowered visibility, it was not fog as many thought.

Close Ad X

"Di to siya fog. Tungod lang gyud to sa uwan nga niubos ang visibility. Unya dag-um sad kaayo ang Cebu," Artiaga said.

Based on the PAGASA weather bulletin as of 8 p.m. last night, Marce made landfall in Siargao Island, Surigao del Norte. The estimated rainfall amount is from moderate to heavy within the 300 kilometers of the tropical depression.

Freeman ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch:

Signal no. 1 is still in effect in Biliran, Southern Samar, Eastern Samar, Leyte, Southern Leyte, Bohol, Cebu including Bantayan and Camotes Islands, Siquijor, Negros Oriental, Negros Occidental, Iloilo, Capiz, Aklan, Antique and Guimaras in the Visayas.

Marce is expected to be out of the country by Monday afternoon.

A total of 52 vessels, 17 motorbancas and 81 cargo vessels were not allowed to travel from Cebu to other provinces due to unfavorable weather brought about by tropical depression Marce yesterday.

Paul Alcances, duty officer of the Philippine Coast Guard Cebu Station said that as of 8 p.m. last night, 2,522 passengers were stranded after vessels plying Leyte,  Bohol, Camotes,  Cagayan de Oro, Masbate, Sta. Fe in Bantayan Island,  San Carlos  City, Escalante in Negros Oriental and Dipolog routes were barred from travelling.

In the Mactan-Cebu International Airport, four flights plying the Cebu-Surigao/Surigao-Cebu routes were cancelled due to the bad weather, said MCIA corporate communication junior manager Malou Mozo.

Education is priority

Despite the tropical depression, some schools in the city will have classes today as Mayor Tomas Osmeña did not order to suspend the classes.

Saying education is his priority, Osmeña said he does not see the need to hit the panic button.

“There’s classes. The only exception would be in certain schools which are exposed to slides, the children cannot go home, or if they will have to cross the river like Barangay Buot,” he said, adding schools in barangays Busay and Sapangdaku should also suspend classes.

However, he clarified that school principals have the discretion to suspend the classes depending on the situation of the schools today.

“I have the responsibility of not hitting the panic button. If there’s a real danger, there’s always a danger, but if you talk about lesser danger, you don’t need to give many instructions because people will get confused,” he said.

Cebu City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council head Nagiel Bañacia said the suspension of classes shall be treated on a case-to-case basis depending on the situation.

With this, Bañacia encouraged the public to be alert, saying there are 19 upland barangays prone to landslides while five urban barangays are prone to flooding.

The mountain barangays that are highly susceptible of landslides are Lusaran, Binaliw, Guba, Budlaan, Malubog, Buot, Busay, Sirao, Taptap, Adlaon, Tagba-o, Tabunan, Pung-ol Sibugay, Sudlon 1, Sudlon 2, Sinsin, Buhisan, Pamutan, and Sapangdaku.

The urban barangays that are highly susceptible to flood are Bonbon, Labangon, Kasambagan, Kinasang-an, and Mabolo.

He said responders are on standby to respond to any eventualities while contractor’s association has committed to deploy their heavy equipment in case of landslides in the upland barangays.

For emergencies, he said the public may call numbers: 032-2621424 and 0923-5248222.

Mandaue City Mayor Gabriel Luigi Quisumbing yesterday declared suspension of classes in all public elementary schools due to the bad weather.

"In light of the impending landfall of TS Marce in Surigao this afternoon which is expected to bring heavy rains to Cebu, afternoon classes in Elementary Public Schools in Mandaue City are hereby cancelled," Quisumbing said.

In Talisay, the city also declared class suspension yesterday and today for all levels.

The tropical depression may bring heavy rains and the city government said this might affect Barangay Manipis which is prone to landslide, and other barangays that are prone to flooding.

Code red

The Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office placed the whole province of Cebu under Code Red: Charlie.

“Base sa protocol, naa man gitawag sa alpha, bravo, charlie. Charlie naa ta, Code Red: Alert Charlie. Naa ta sa gitawag nga minimum critical preparation,” PDRRMO head Baltazar Tribunalo said.

With the storm signal, the Cebu provincial government suspended classes in all levels in public schools throughout the province yesterday and today.

Private schools, on the other hand, were advised to dismiss classes, especially in areas prone to flashfloods and/or landslides.

The Cebu provincial government fielded all heavy equipment units in the northern and southern parts of Cebu for immediate response in case of landslides. The PDRRMO also warned coastal residents of possible storm surges.

Church refuge

Meanwhile, Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma yesterday asked churches and chapels throughout the province to accommodate any evacuees who may be displaced or seeking safety from landslides or floods. — Mitchelle L. Palaubsanon, Kristine B. Quintas, Le Phyllis F. Antojado, Jean Marvette A. Demecillo, Garry B. Lao, Iris Mariani B. Algabre (FREEMAN)