ILOILO CITY – This southern city’s calamity fund of more than P46 million or 5 percent of the annual budget of P930 million this year is expected to increase by 10 percent in five years starting this year.

This was arrived at after the Senate Committee on Finance approved this week the P8 billion Paglaum Fund for rehabilitation of Typhoon Frank-affected areas in Western Visayas.

The Senate approval showed that “notwithstanding the provision of section 324 (d) of Republic Act 7160 or the Local Government Code of 1991, the budget of local government units covered under this act, for unforeseen expenditure arising from the occurrence of calamities shall be increased to 10 percent of the estimated revenue from regular sources. The said rate shall automatically revert to 5 percent as provided under RA 7160 after the expiration of the term of the Region 6 Rehabilitation and Development Commission.” Read more »

ILOILO CITY – The approval of the P8 billion Paglaum Fund for the rehabilitation of typhoon ravaged areas in Western Visayas brings hope to the city government here which long wanted to dredge up the 3.5 kilometer stretch of Dungon Creek from Manduriao to La Paz district out to the Iloilo River.

City Mayor Jerry P. Treñas disclosed that he went to Manila on Monday, April 27 to observe the Senate deliberation and eventual approval of the Fund sponsored by Senator Edgardo Angara, chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance.

House Bill 5604 earlier introduced by Iloilo Cong. Arthur Defensor, House Speaker Prospero Nograles and Antique Cong. Exequiel Javier was ably supported by Senate Bill 2457 introduced by Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri and Senate Bill 2622 introduced by Senator Mar Roxas in realizing the rehabilitation fund for damaged agricultural areas, infrastructures and education facilities in the region amounting to P14 billion. Read more »

ILOILO CITY – The city’s rehabilitation project to be funded from the government’s Paglaum Fund is expected to commence by June 2009 by dredging the Dungon Creek up to Magsaysay Village spanning from Mandurriao to La Paz districts.

The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) has programmed the dredging project with some P50 million funding share from the downscaled P8 billion typhoon-affected rehabilitation fund for Western Visayas.

City Mayor Jerry P. Treñas, however, said some 615 families living along the Dungon Creek up to Magsaysay village will be affected and most of them are soon to be relocated at the San Isidro relocation site in Jaro district. Read more »

ILOILO CITY – Two major development infrastructure projects for Iloilo City and Guimaras are upcoming after feasibility studies conducted by consultants of the ADB/GTZ/SIDA – assisted Cities Development Initiative for Asia (CDIA) were presented this week to city mayor Jerry P. Treñas and other city officials with the studies covering the proposed Guimaras-Iloilo Ferry Terminal System (GIFTS) and the downtown Central Business District (CBD) revitalization projects.

The city chief executive, also chairman of the Metro Iloilo-Guimaras Economic Development Council (MIGEDC) said an additional grant of US$80,000 for the studies was granted by CDIA and Asian Development Bank to further upgrade the studies. Read more »

ILOILO CITY – The Australian ambassador to the Philippines, His Excellency Rod Smith will personally lead in the turn-over ceremonies on Thursday, April 16, 2009 of 10 brand-new computers to students of the Jaro National High School in Jaro district as a show of concern of the Australian people to victims of super typhoon Frank last June that devastated the city and the school in particular.

City mayor Jerry P. Treñas said the Aussie ambassador made the commitment of assistance to the city government after being informed of the gargantuan devastation left by the typhoon in public infrastructures such as schools, health centers, hospitals, residences, livelihood opportunities and access to social services.

Treñas said the Australian embassy based in Metro Manila had contacted his office for the computer donation as the Australians little help to alleviate the plight of public high school students severely affected by the typhoon. Read more »

Call for Proposals: Dialogue on Governance: Strategic Projects Facility (SPF 2)

Reference: DCI-ASIE/126814/L/ACT/P

Dialogue on Governance: Strategic Projects Facility (SPF 2)

Call for Proposals

Reference: DCI-ASIE/126814/L/ACT/PH

The European Commission is seeking proposals for projects in the Philippines which might receive grant assistance from the EC-funded “Dialogue on Governance: Strategic Projects Facility” (SPF 2).

The overall objective of the SPF2 is to contribute to improving governance as underlying condition for reaching the MDGs. The project purpose is to catalyze actions of stakeholders to improve the quality of local governance.

Objective of this call for proposals

The SPF2 will support projects that showcase innovative models for partnerships that will build on complementary capacities of different stakeholders in local governance, in order to increase efficiency and effectiveness, and reinforce accountability of local government units, for them to provide public goods that respond to the needs of all sections of the community, including the poor. Applications can come from LGUs, NGOs, and other stakeholders in local governance.

Priorities of this call for proposals

Proposals submitted under this call for proposals should be designed to feature both cross-cutting themes, and should focus on at least one of the sectoral themes listed below. Read more »

Public Safety and Security

• Information Dissemination

A.I Fire Prevention Month Celebration
A.2 National Disaster Consciousness Month Celebration
A.3 Crime Prevention Week Celebration (preparation of flyers, posters, etc.)

• Improve Technical Capabilities

B. Services improvement
B.1 Radio communications training attended by committee member agency
B.2 Conduct seminar on Writ of Amparo

• Improve community participation

C.1 Best practices/models in Public Safety and Security (Search for the Best of the year

• Improve Coordination and Networking

D. Coordination and Administration
D.1 Quarterly meetings

Environmental Management Committee

• Creation of LGU’s Environment and Natural Resources Office (MENRO)

Meetings
Trainings/capacity-building for MENRO-designates
Establishment of MENRO as permanent positions Read more »

Urban Partnerships Program-Philippines (UPP-Philippines) Leadership Series.

Download UPPP’s Leadership Series, a learning tool for policy makers to promote understanding of pressing urban issues and encourage policy actions for urban sustainability.

Leadership Series No. 10: Bioregional planning
Leadership Series No. 9: Furnishing the Streets
Leadership Series No. 8: When Public Becomes Private
Leadership Series No. 7: Spokes in the City
Leadership Series No. 6: Urban Waterfronts: The Wave of the Future
Leadership Series No. 5: Breaking Free From the Concrete Prison
Leadership Series No. 4: Walking into a Greener Future
Leadership Series No. 3: The Gospel of Bioregionalism
Leadership Series No. 2: The Evolution of the Jeepney and Transit in Metro Iloilo
Leadership Series No. 1: The New Public Realm and the Sustainable City

Read more »

PROCESSING of business permits and related documents at the Iloilo City Hall improved a lot, according to the assessment report of the German Technical Cooperation (GTZ).

The improvement was attributed to the implementation of the business permit and licensing system (BPLS) streamlining supported by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and the GTZ, both of which are implementing partners of the Private Sector Promotion (SMEDSEP) program.

The initiative began in January 2007. It resulted to the increase in the number of renewed business permits by about 53 percent compared to last year. Read more »

THE Metro Iloilo-Guimaras Development Council (MIGEDC) expressed gratitude to various Overseas Development Assistance (ODA) agency-partners for helping the council with some of its crucial projects.

One donor group which significantly helped is the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID).

Aside from these ODA partners, projects are also funded by annual fund contributions from its members. Read more »