‘LGUs should be given leeway in
implementation of projects’

A former Negros Occidental Sangguniang Panlalawigan board member, Enrique Montilla III, is pushing for autonomy of local government units in the implementation of projects and basic services.

LGUs and local chief executives are in a better position to implement projects both from the provincial and national government, Montilla, the Isabela town mayoralty bet of the Nationalist People’s Coalition, said when he met with town officials and barangay captains Thursday, a press release said.

With Montilla was former Isabela Mayor Renato Malabor, who is an NPC bet for SP in the fifth district, the press release also said.

Montilla said local officials should be given the leeway to implement the projects intended for the locality.

Isabela has been noted for its scholarship program, extending not only financial assistance to its thousands of scholars but providing the students boarding houses and rice allowance monthly, the press release added.*

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District Day held in
Silay until Sunday

The 2nd Cong. Albee District Day will be conducted 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. today and tomorrow for residents of Murcia, Talisay, Silay, E.B. Magalona and Victorias, Negros Occidental, at the Silay City public plaza covered court.

Rep. Alfredo Benitez (Neg. Occ., 3rd District) calls on residents who need the services of the Department of Foreign Affairs, Professional Regulation Commission and the National Statistics Office to bring with them all needed requirements before going to the one-stop shop activity, a press release from his office said.

The DFA will conduct passporting services, like application, renewal and releasing; the PRC will serve applicants for license renewal or reproduction, initial registration and application for change of status or correction of name; and the NSO will be working with the Local Civil Registrar to answer queries or applications of birth or marriage certificate, the press release also said.

The Congressional District Office will provide information on the educational assistance program, computer literacy training, and the medical, burial and calamity assistance provided to indigents through the Priority Development Assistance Fund. It will also give information on scholarship grants from various government agencies facilitated through the solon’s office.

For Silaynons, there will be a confirmation of membership of beneficiaries in the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program, or 4Ps, and the enrollment of 1,000 4Ps beneficiaries to the Negros Occidental Comprehensive Health Program.

The first District Day was held May 2011 where thousands of citizens availed of the various government services, the press release added.*

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Kilayko concert tonight
to aid ‘Kariton for Kids’

International pianist Leonor Kilayko will be the solo performer in a concert entitled “An Evening with the Masters” at the Agape House of the  Carmelite Monastery in  Bacolod City  6:30 tonight for the benefit of the Kariton for Kids, a project of St. Scholastica’s Bacolod High School Class ’67.

Admission is free but donations will be most appreciated, Ana Kilayko Gonzaga, SSA Bacolod HS Class ’67 Kariton for Kids project coordinator, said yesterday.

Inspired by the mobile classroom learning project started by 2009 CNN Hero Efren Peñaflorida, the Kariton for Kids was embarked on by SSA Bacolod HS ‘67 to address the plight of out-of-school youth and street children, she said.

The program aims to encourage them to return to the regular school system by educating them, giving them the opportunity to heal their spirits, and helping them develop into good and responsible citizens, she explained.

Peñaflorida's klasrum kariton was designed around five stations: character reformation, literacy classes, play center, food, and clinic; and the Kariton for Kids uses a similar blueprint, Gonzaga said.

A considerable collection of books was donated by Talisay Mayor Eric Saratan.

School supplies, such as chalk, pencils, ballpens, tablets of pad paper, colored paper, crafts paper, crayons and the like, were donated by members of SSA Class ’67 and their friends. The building of the kariton was sponsored by the Bacolod United Football Club, Gonzaga said.

Kariton for Kids will bring its “offer of hope for the street children” initially to the barangays of Taculing, Singcang, 39 and 40 that comprise the San Antonio Abad Parish in Bacolod City  under the vicariate of Fr. Farley Santillan, she added.

It will be officially launched at 11 a.m. today at the San Antonio Abad Parish Church with the celebration of the Holy Mass by Fr. Farley. Classes will begin 1 to 4 p.m., she said.

This is truly a collaboration of communities. The volunteers are comprised of 64 students of La Consolacion College and 13 catechists from San Antonio Abad Parish under the direct supervision of Rose Alegre, a retired LCC educator. Another retired LCC mentor, Lina Hilado, is acting as catalyst and liaison to the groups who provided SSA Bacolod HS '67 with the volunteers to make this project become a reality, she added.

Other parishes have also begun to express interest in seeing the Kariton’s presence in their streets, as well, she said.*CPG

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