A Health Worker Recalls — page 2

Newsbriefs—page 3

Itbayat marks National Day of Independence

CITIZENRY of this town marked the 116th Philippine National Independ-ence Day celebration starting with a civic parade around the Plaza June 12, 2014 culminating in a program in front of the Itbayat Municipal Hall. All the schools had delegations aside from the drum and lyre bands of Central, Mayan and the High School which provided marching music. Town and provincial employees also paraded aside from barangay contingents as others watched and joined the program with the theme “… Pagsunod sa Yapak ng mga Da-kilang Pilipino tungo sa Malawakan at Permanenteng Pagbabago...”

Mayor Reuel C. Ibañ es com-menced by recalling the sacrifices of Rizal, Aguinaldo and martyrs who fell in Bataan. He said that Filipinos par-ticularly Ivatans already had an estab-lished culture before colonizers came. “May it serve as a reminder to us all that freedom is never free — as the blood of martyrs won that freedom for us, so must we — in conscience and with courage both now and in the future— protect, defend and cherish that precious legacy.” INAHS Social Science and Histo-ry Teacher Harvey A. Gutierrez was guest speaker. He said we could nev-er match the heroism of Rizal, Boni-facio or Aguinaldo though we can be heroes in simple ways like reviving the bayanihan spirit in caring for each other in community and for the envi-ronment reliving the heritage and lifestyles of Itbayaten ancestors. There are encroachment attempts as in the Spratly islands while tourism and business are making inroads to Batanes. He challenged those present to cling to the Itbayaten ways and tongue and not be fearful to accept change that confront us as the future unfolds for the coming generation.**

May - June 2014 Vol. I , No. 3 A Publication of the Itbayat Local Government Unit

ITBAYAT

the Land Governance the People

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was headed by Army Colonel Raul C. Vinoya, Chief of the AFP War Plans Division under the Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Plans. The main Survey Team re-mained in Basco while 6 mem-bers headed by Col. Vinoya

KAVAHAYAN DU MAYAN: Itbayat town center shared by four barangays almost looks like an urban sprawl in this aerial photo taken May 08, 2014 by Prof. Otto Lee of the Sun Yat-Sen University in Kaohshiung, Republic of China. Prof. Lee

paid a courtesy call on the municipal government and eventu-ally reposed various aerial photos and video footages with the Mayor’s Office Information and Publications for local government promotion efforts and public purposes.**

A JOINT survey team made up of seven Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) officials and nine personnel from the U. S. Pacific Command (PACOM) visited Batanes May 19-26, 2014 to check on airport, seaport and other facil-ities “to validate and assess the suitability of these areas for humanitarian operations…in

“FOR HUMANITARIAN OPERATIONS”

Island Area 9,290 Has.Island Area 9,290 Has.Island Area 9,290 Has.

% Land Use% Land Use% Land Use******

Forest ZoneForest ZoneForest Zone 35.9135.9135.91 PasturelandPasturelandPastureland 30.5630.5630.56 AgricultureAgricultureAgriculture 28.0028.0028.00 Open Space Open Space Open Space 5.14 5.14 5.14 Parks Parks Parks 0.6600.6600.660 Residential Residential Residential 0.2440.2440.244 Utilities Utilities Utilities 0.0550.0550.055 Institutional Institutional Institutional 0.0070.0070.007 Commercial Commercial Commercial 0.0040.0040.004 Industrial Industrial Industrial 0.0010.0010.001

** per LGU** per LGU** per LGU---HLURB CLUP HLURB CLUP HLURB CLUP plan period ending 2012plan period ending 2012plan period ending 2012

THE PHILIPPINE Councilors League (PCL) Batanes Chapter held their First General Assem-

bly in this town eight months after reorganizing with the entry of newly elected legislators in all

six towns. Forty councilors, some with their re-spective families, came starting May 21 and camped out at Sitio Varayvayan for the assembly which ended May 24, 2014. Eight of the host Itbayat councilors attended to the needs of their visiting coun-terparts. There were 7 councilors from Basco, 6 from Ma-

Congresswoman breezes thru for project inspection

THE LONE Representative for Batanes Congresswoman Henedi-na R. Abad arrived very early on May 30, 2014 via motorbanca public transport going directly to project inspection starting with Paganaman Port. Cong. Abad also visited road concreting and embankment projects from Mayan to Mauyen as well as auxiliary access roads, the Airport runway and its perim-eter fence, the Integrated Area Dev’t Project, the “wet rice” demonstration farms at Sitio Pana, the reforestation area as well as a greenhouse clonal nur-

GREAT OUTDORS: PCL members with their kin leave their “family friendly” Varayvayan camp and climb up the most convenient “group tour vehicle” for a drive-thru and quick visit to Barangay Raele.*

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case of calamities and natural disasters.” The activity was dubbed as the Philippines-US Mutual De-fense Board Contingency Plan-ning (PH-US MDB CONPLAN) Support Area Site Survey with capital town Basco and Itbayat as subject areas for survey and assessment. The PH-US Survey Team

Itbayat hosts Councilors League General Assembly

AFP-USPACOM team surveys Itbayat facilities

> INSIDE <

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Page 2 ITBAYAT IN-FOCUS May - June 2014

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F A C E - T O - F A C E : Mayor Ibañez sits with PH-USPACOM survey team members Lloyd Nishida, Maj. Chris Jones, Col. Vinoya and Allison Jusman in fo-rum on disaster readi-ness and coping capa-bility with Itbayat Mu-nicipal Office Depart-ment Heads.**

AFP-PACOM VISIT: (from Top) Team Leader Col. Vinoya during courtesy call on Mayor Ibañes; the Mayor waits with Sgt. Kyle Kerr, P/Inspector Jhen Tuzon and Navy Logistic planner Allison Jusman at airstrip end while Lt. JG Atilano measures airport dimensions; heading for the water-front, the Mayor explains the Valanga Port situation to Maj. Chris Jones; they reach the water’s edge where waves from west-erly winds carried off a finished port dis-embarkation project in 2012 worth P20M.**

ous diseases of childhood. The RHU and IDH complement each

other in healthcare service delivery—the former preven-tive, the latter curative. The RHU under the municipal government cares for people’s health from womb to tomb. The IDH under the provincial government caters to the sick who come to avail of recuperative hospital services. The RHU is tasked with multifarious programs and activities that they employed the help of Community Volunteer Health Workers (CVHW’s) choosing one for every 20 families as frontline health advocates. As such, they occasionally travel to Basco for trainings and health updates. Sad to note their services are already free, yet they shoulder their own travelling expenses. As a former Department of Health worker, I under-stand their plight. It is in this regard that I request our LGU through SB on Health Chair Hon Federico Robillos, Jr. to support to our CVHW’s by increasing their incentives and allocate for their travel expenses. It is hoped that no major outbreaks will again occur, that all will be well in the future. Health workers now have access to facilities and training that they can surely improve on the achievements and sacrifices of those who served in the past.** “Itbayat In Focus” welcomes this contributed feature article from Ms. Erlinda G. Hammond, a retired nurse formerly with the IDH. Following are two rejoinders to her feature item — 1. These voluntary health advocates are now the Barangay or Community Health Workers(BHW/CHW). True, their services, initially, were free but since 2005, they each receive a per diem of P300 per month. This was withdrawn for sometime but again reinstituted. Also, their travelling expenses are shoul-

IN 1946, a malaria epidemic swept Itbayat which almost wiped out the population. Due to isolation, no hospital, no health personnel and no medicines, people died daily in vast numbers that the church bell hardly stopped ringing announcing the death of individuals. Burying the dead was a problem. Itbayat pioneer nurse, Mrs. Pilar Horbino-Dantes, brought in a doctor and malaria technician Miguel “Mike” Ruiz to diagnose and give medicines. Their timely arrival abated the scourge saving the people from annihilation. In 1973, the Itbayat Emergency Hospital which later became the Itbayat District Hospital (IDH) had an overflow of patients from an epidemic of whoop-ing cough, measles and influenza. Adjacent houses and the “Beatirya” were commissioned to accommo-date the sick. Dr. Felipe Cablay, two nurses and two midwives had to cope with the heavy workload. Late 1980’s, malaria again struck Barangay Raele. Dr. Roel Nicolas and staff hiked to and from Raele to give medicines. Not a single family was spared, every house had patients needing treatment. Most recovered though some died while there were two observed cases with permanent personality disintegration. In 1990, Dr. Francisco “Kiks” Navarro brought from Manila small larvivarous fish and planted these in Raele river. Mosquito nets from DIRFO Cagayan were received by the DOH representatives and dis-tributed free to all families in Raele, Yawran and adjacent sitios. Mass spraying was done and chemo-prophylaxis was given to all barangays. In 1993, the government’s Expanded Program on Immunization against 6 dreadful communicable dis-eases reached Itbayat through the Rural Health Unit (RHU). The diseases are tuberculosis, diphtheria, teta-nus, whooping cough, measles and poliomyelitis. Upon reaching one year old, all children should have received full immunization to be protected against these danger-

After lunchbreak, the team met with various department heads of the Municipal Government inquiring about past calamities and disease outbreaks and how the town coped. The need was raised for a small fire truck, a satellite phone and other possible alternate means of communication in the event of a total failure of power facilities. The survey team then visited the Itbayat District Hospital, PAG-Asa Weather Station and the Paganaman Port before departing for Basco the following day. Asked of reports that USPACOM was looking for a refuelling station or a possible site for the regular Balikatan war games, Maj. Jones said the US already has military bases in Taiwan and Okinawa so there is no need for a refuelling station neither are they looking for a site for war games. “We came upon invitation of the AFP to assess facilities for humanitarian aid in case of disasters which most likely will be done by air. We have been doing this assessment all over the world, and that’s what we came here for; no such hidden plans or anything,” Major Jones said.**

AFP-USPACOM Survey …… From Page 1

sailed for Itbayat early morning May 22, 2014 arriving by motor banca before start of office hours accompanied by Basco-based Philippine Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Allan P. Ber Ado. With Col. Vinoya was Navy Lieutenant Jun-ior Grade Oliver D. Atilano from the Engineer-ing Corps. PACOM Itbayat team senior officer was Air Force Major Christopher S. Jones. With him was US Navy civilian personnel Alli-son L. Jusman and US Air Force civilian per-sonnel Lloyd T. Nishida, all three of them designated as logistics planners. Marine Staff Sergeant Kyle O. Kerr was security escort. Mayor Reuel C. Ibañes and Itbayat Police Chief Inspector Jhen M. Tuzon joined the team as they visited the NaPoCor power house, the NFA warehouse, Valanga Port and the Airport in Raele. It was gathered that the airport runway measured 24 meters in width and had a length of 868 meters. The tarmac taxiing space was 45 by 45 meters and had a thickness of 8 inches. Maj. Jones found the Valanga Port had a better grade and a more gentle slope commenting that Chinapoliran where they disembarked was “... rather slick and steep.”

A HEALTH WORKER RECALLS

Times of Challenge in Itbayat Erlinda G. Hammond

May - June 2014 ITBAYAT IN-FOCUS Page 3

Newsbriefs Newsbriefs Newsbriefs

Local Chief Executive

NOTES

EARLY this May, there was a local government unit (LGU) summit for Batanes towns where Land Bank of the

Philippines offered a window for project loan pack-ages with the proviso that LGU’s availing of such loans will put up a counterpart of 20 % project cost. In consultation with planning and financial offi-cials of the town, we declined to avail of such loan. There is no ready income generating project, there was no way to raise a sizable counterpart fund be-cause the budget has been laid out and municipal funds have been obligated. Relatedly, toward the end of May, this office wrote a general letter on behalf of sitio Yawran resi-dents in connection with the establishment of a pro-posed brick/pottery plant in this town which has been changed to novelty item production. It was pointed out that the would-be proponents are not well informed nor prepared for it. Further, this did not originate from them. Thus, no matter how much we opt to commit our support, if the di-rect beneficiaries cannot commit their full support, the activity will instantly fail and then to the loss and prejudice of the government in general. In these instances, the main concern or prime consideration for decision are the needs and condi-tions of the host or recipient communities. Other than these parameters, the intervention could be an

“How wonderful it is ... for God’s people to live together in harmony… It is like the dew on Mount Hermon… that is where the Lord has promised his blessing – life that never ends.”

Psalm 133

interference and have less than desirable effects. It

is the people in the communities that need interven-tion or development assistance; their acceptance, participation and ownership ensures success. # # # #

SYNERGISM, the concept or idea of working to-gether in a cooperative and directed manner towards accomplishing certain tasks and objectives, is one of the hallmarks of our office. We discussed this again during the Philippine Councilors’ League General Assembly May 22-24 at Varayvayan urging the 40 councilors in attend-ance to be sincere, sympathetic, have a sense of responsibility and work for and in synergy With synergy, the cooperative action of partners or agencies is such that the total effect is greater than the sum of the two or more effects when taken independently. Further, there is an ancient theologi-cal doctrine that with synergy there is cooperation of divine grace and human activity. While we consciously strive for synergy, let us then, like President Quezon, have faith and trust in Divine Providence that guides the destinies of men and nations in order to assure us of a better home-land not just for us but for our children’s children.**

Farm yield . . . From Page 4

Times of Challenge… from Page 2

PCL Assemby - from Page 1

hatao, 7 from Ivana, 7 from Uyugan and 5 from Sabtang town. PCL-Batanes President Councilor Evelyn G. Maduro of Mahatao said they chose Varayvayan as venue for a cool countryside outdoors setting naturally cutting down on air conditioning and electric fan use among others. Councilor Maduro said they plan to pass measures address-ing local needs of host towns. For Itbayat, on hand is a meas-ure for some requisites of the water system. Local PCL Pres-ident Councilor Pablo B. Alca-zar, Jr. said the League will take care of endorsing their resolution to Congresswoman Henedina R. Abad. Next year, PCL-Batanes plans to hold their assembly in Sabtang town.**

dered by the Municipal Government when they attend seminars and offi-cial matters outside Itbayat. Further, an increase in their monthly per diem is being considered upon availability of funds. -Editorial Board Chairman 2. On April 22, 2011, IDH had its first case of Dengue Fever (DF). Prior to this, IDH stockpiled intrave-nous fluids and medicines for sup-portive approach to Dengue manage-ment essential for the recovery of patients. There were info campaigns, clean up drives and spraying in areas where mosquitos thrive. Even planes and motorbancas were advised to spray before coming to Itbayat. The den-gue virus found its way to Itbayat as isolation is no longer a barrier, be-cause like most vector-borne diseas-es, travel and migration has made the world a small place for diseases to come, go and linger. A few days after the first case, the hospital began admitting suspect Dengue cases—as many as 80 per day at the height of the outbreak—overflowing the facility and extend-ing to the RHU and nearby houses. IDH staff showed their dedication working in full-day shifts with no days off if only to contain the out-break which totaled 446 cases. Pa-tients which showed extreme haem-orrhagic type symptoms were re-ferred and transferred to Batanes General Hospital. There were no deaths in the locali-ty. The last patient was reported Sep-tember 7, 2011. Preparedness was the key in preventing deaths and the ever-important education and cleanliness campaign was an integral matter. Itbayat was not spared of the Chikungunya outbreak. IDH saw its first patient May 21, 2013 who trav-elled to Basco coming home with the disease. Chikungunya is, in a way, similar to DF as the virus that causes it is carried by the same Aedes mosquito. Prominent symptom is flu-like pain in the joints but no bleeding. Cleanli-ness and spraying helps prevention. There were 51 cases; the last case reported September 17, 2013.** - Dr. Allan M. Sande, IDH Director

horse, 867 heads of swine, 656 heads of goat, 70 of sheep and 2,107 heads of chicken. Gulaga added that the garlic production of 80 metric tons is a modest estimate considering that for 2013, their office gave out shipping permits for a total of 1,264 sacks of garlic bound for Basco and Manila. Assuming an average of 40 kilos per sack, this would translate to about 63.2 metric tons of garlic that was shipped out last year. She said the 15 metric tons of fish monitored for 2103 came from Paganaman and Chinapoliran only as there are no monitors for other ports where fishing boats dock and unload their catch.**

DILG SALIN-TUBIG: Mayor Reuel Ibañes receives a P1 million cheque from DILG OIC Regional Director Marlo L. Iringan (4th from R) as the initial release from a P2 million fund for barangay Raele waterworks projects under the Interior and Local Governments (DILG) Salin-Tubig program. Others in photo are (L to R) DILG-Batanes Director Ran-dolph F. Tabuso, Itbayat Mun. Engineer Rodolfo Gonzales, OIC Mun. Accountant Noel Velayo, Mayor Ibañes, Dir. Iringan, DILG OIC Asst. Dir. Atty. Odilon Pasaraba and DILG Region 2 officers Consuelo P. Castañeda and Fernando Calabazaron.** Photo by MLGOO Jocelyn H. Gonzales

SIX ROAD MISHAPS NOTED IN 2 MONTHS TIME Six accidents occurred in a 2-month period March 17 to May 18, 2014 five of which involved motorcycles; at least two per-sons were brought to Basco for X-ray and further examination. Three cases were riders in tandem on motorbikes-Eva Salen-gua, 23 on March 17; Jara Denise Garcia, 18 on May 2; and Charles Castillo, 14, on May 18. On May 5, Joel Horiondo, 58, got thrown off a speeding truck as it turned a curb and almost toppled. Horiondo and Castillo were brought to Basco. Two speeding mishaps, Itbayat District Hospital records not-ed, were alcohol-related—both males one is 29 the other is 36 years old which occurred on March 23 and May 2 respectively. Motorists are advised to take extra caution as intermittent rains will render majority of roads to become slippery. **

FIRST AMONG EQUALS: PCL-Batanes President Councilor Evelyn G. Ma-duro of Mahatao town urges her colleagues to put to heart the advice of Mayor Ibañes to work closely with and to serve their constituents with zeal in their May 23, 2104 opening program at Varayvayan, San Rafael.

Sovereignty, self-determination and synergy

Mayor REUEL C. IBAÑES

Page 4 ITBAYAT IN-FOCUS May - June 2014

Itbayat IN FOCUS is a publication of the Local Gov-ernment Unit for transparency and public information. It is aimed primarily to encourage teamwork and peoples par-ticipation in governance and improve public service. Ques-tions, contributions other pertinent matters can be submit-ted to: Office of the Mayor, Municipality of Itbayat, Province of Batanes or please contact Ms. Linda Cultu-ra and/or Ms. Zenas Labrador of the Mayor’s office.*

ITBAYAT

the Land Governance the People

VISION “We envision Itbayat as a progressive production area with

sustainable economic growth with God loving, peaceful, healthy and well informed citizenry committed to preserve its culture and tradition living on a well balanced environment under a decent and progressive leadership.”

MISSION “Towards this end we shall promote the rational use of our natural resources, provide livelihood and economic opportunities, deliver quality basic services, endeavor to preserve its cultural heritage and ensure sustainable ecological security.”

KAVAHAYAN du Raele is also expanding in this aerial photo of Prof. Otto Lee.**

Batanes MPC at 25 years welcomes new members

Staff Box

Editorial Board

Editorial Board Chairman - Mayor Reuel C. Ibañes Editorial Board Members- Vice-Mayor Sabas C. De Sagon; Municipal Counci-lors Pablo B. Alcazar, Jr.; Jonathan Intervalo; Alejandria C. Asa; Federico B. Robillos, Jr.; Ferdinand G. Asa; Alexander V. Valiente, Ernesto A. Castillo, Emerson Valiente, Jonel C. Villa – President, Liga ng Mga Barangay

Contributors – LGU Department Heads and Employees

Information/Publications Coordinator - Nathan E. Alcantara

RECORDS of the Municipal Agriculturists Office (MAO) record showed that a total of 232 heads of live-stock were slaughtered lo-cally while 133 heads of live animals were shipped to capital town Basco for year 2013. Further, local garlic production was esti-mated at 80 metric tons while monitored fish pro-duction from 2 ports was at 15 metric tons. Itbayat Municipal Agri-culturist Donabel V. Gu-laga said the livestock re-port represents an aggregate composed of swine, cattle and goats based on the num-ber of slaughter and ship-ping permits they issued after due payment of re-quired fees with the munic-ipal treasury office. Gulaga said for 2013, there were 130 heads of swine which were given slaughter permits while 77 were shipped out to Basco; 28 carabaos were slaugh-tered in town while 21 were shipped out and there were 57 cattle slaughtered locally while 15 were shipped out.

MAO reports on 2013 farm products yield

Their records did not re-flect any goats covered by slaughter permits but 30 heads of goat were given shipping permits. Notably, there were slaughter per-mits issued for 16 horses but none were shipped out. She added there may be small animals slaughtered locally especially swine, goat and sheep that are slaughtered and not covered by slaughter permits. She plans to enlist the help of barangay officials so that all animals slaugh-tered will be duly covered by permits requesting that their office be notified when there are animals slaugh-tered so they could check with the Treasury if proper permits were secured. Livestock population, Gulaga said, based on their 2013 survey records showed there were 1,214 heads of cattle, 683 heads of carabao, 193 heads of horse, 867 heads of swine,

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PAGANAMAN HUDDLE: Itbayat CDO Head Stephen Labrador and Congreswom-an Henedina Abad (1st and 2nd at R) discuss with (L to R) Mayor Reuel Ibañes, councilors Alexander Va-liente, Alejandria C. Asa, Ernesto A. Castillo and Ferdinand G. Asa at a curve bend landing area (see arrow) before descent to Paganaman port. At left Kag. Castillo, Vice-Mayor De Sagon, Mayor Ibañes,

Kag. Valiente and DPWH OIC Asst. District Engineer Ronald Merin talk about how to improve the water’s edge for docking of fisherfolks’ boats; aerial photo of site by Prof. Otto Lee..**

sery project at ba-rangay Raele and also the Valanga Port access road project. In the evening, Cong. Abad had a private dinner with the five punong barangay of the town discussing local concerns and issues .**

Congresswoman breezes thru……From Page 1

THE BATANES Multi-Purpose Coop-erative (BMPC) which marked its 25th year on April 15 outlined its 2013 ac-complishments in a special assembly June 8, 2014 integrated with a pre-membership education seminar (PMES) as it welcomed 17 members in this island town . Itbayat Mayor Reuel C. Ibañ es wel-comed coop officials and those who joined the assembly. He thanked the coop for serving the needs and fueling the overall progress of Batanes and also this town. BMPC Chairman Charles C. Ibañ es said in a phone interview that the coop started with 38 charter members and initial share capital of P33,000. As of April 2014 on its Silver Anniversary, its membership roster was 553 with a total accumulated share capital of P35 million as of year end 2013 with total assets valued at P131 million. Shipping is BMPC’s primary busi-ness; it is also into trading for house-hold appliances and construction mate-

rials. Chairman Ibañ es said they also have a Membership Savings Opera-tions managing mini-banking ser-vices for savings and time deposits and dispensing loans for members. Aside from the new Itbayat mem-bers, Chairman Ibañ es added there are 15 applicants for a PMES in Bas-co while another PMES for Sabtang set for June 20, 2014 has 25 possible new members. To join, parties can get applica-tion forms from the BMPC office at Abad Street, Kaychanarianan, Basco, pay a refundable membership fee of P100 and attend a PMES. The BMPC Board of directors then reviews and approves membership. One becomes a full member upon full subscription of minimum share capital of P15,000. Other information can be availed of from the BMPC office.**