Visayan Business Post Apr. 2014

sayan ost Vi BusinessP P15.00 Nationwide twitter @Visayanbizpost Breaking news in the countryside web page visayanbizpost.com Vol. I, No. 1 10 Sections P12 Tuesday, 1 April 2014 FOREX: US$=P44 UKL=P74 HK$=P5.72 BRUNEI$=P34.90 EURO=P61.65 JAPAN Y=P0.43 AUST$=P40.35 BAHRAIN D=P117.87 SAUDI R=P11.84 UAE DIR=P612.09 SING$=P35.04 Special Report Rex Rapi Staffwriter, VBP TACLOBAN, Leyte – A donor’s forum here has been conducted to help clarify and sort out needed procedures and information related to the status of releases of assistance funds in Haiyan affected towns. The forum sough to accelerate the actual realisation of various rehabilitation and shelter programs of the local governments in areas severely affected by the super typhoon. Attended by representatives and leaders from local government units including that of the Province of Leyte, the donor’s forum was meant “to speed up the recovery efforts of the affected local governments,” according to Marooned. One of the many sea vessels that plowed through houses and lives of the residents of Anibong, Tacloban City during the onslaught of Super Typhoon Haiyan (local name: Yolanda). Photo by Aaron J.P. Almadro Muslim deal signed: will the guns now go away? /3 IMF: Slow Economic Recovery /p4 The Game Vortex experience /p5 Child learner /p7 ‘Needs-match’ for Haiyan towns Rehabilitation: improved coordination sought between fund agencies Dr. Andreas Lange, Chief Adviser and Team Leader of the GIZ reconstruction group working here in Leyte. Among the donor agencies represented in the forum were UNICEFf, World Food Organization, the Red Cross, the United Nation Development Program, Save the Children, OXFAM and the Japanese international cooperation agency JICA. The forum sought to “match the needs” of the Yolandaaffected local governments in Eastern Visayas with what available resources existing donor agencies have at the present in the region. GIZ, which co-sponsored the event with the Leyte provincial government, the United Nation’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, and the Alliance for Safe and Sustainable Reconstruction gave technical support for the various rehabilitation plans of the participating local government units. Meanwhile, explaining the apparent delay of the release of funds for post Haiyan rehabilitation efforts to reporters also invited to the forum, Leyte provincial Governor Leopoldo ‘Mic’ Petilla said that the present national pork barrel issue and the reported substandard construction of bunkhouses has made the national government more careful in the Rehabilitation/p2 Indigenous people support Iloilo water project Jean Mamaspas VBP Leyte ILOILO –– The National Irrigation Administration (NIA) here is positive that the informed consent of indigenous communities needed for the stage 2 im- plementation of the Jalaur River Multi-purppose Project will soon be completed. Project manager Gerardo P. Corsiga confirmed that the P11.212 billion economic assistance program funded by the Korean Export-Import Bank is gaining wide sup- port from indigenous people and other communities who are starting to appreciate the need for potable water, development irrigation and power generation facilities in Panay. Philippine senator Franklin Drilon who helped facilitate the project stressed that the implementation of the project by NIA and its Korean counterparts will not only generate 17,000 jobs in Western Visayas but also augment agricultural production, stimulate agri–industrial activities, and spur the local economy as well Indigenous support/p3 Codilla: Grow your own food 4,604 jobs waiting in Cebu John Alfred Kabalican Staffwriter, VBP City Hall –– Ormoc city Mayor Edward Codilla is working to strengthen the city’s backyard gardening program. The mayor is aiming to achieve faster food sustainability for the city’s almost 200,000 citizens after typhoon Yolanda. The city government is distributing varieties of vegetables and corn seeds, planting materials for root crops, as well as fruit seeds so that these can be grown. Root crops like sweet poGrow your own food/p3 Greggy Jiggs Santos Staffwriter, PIO Cebu Cebu City –– Seventy-one of the companies who joined in the recent Mega Local Job Fair at the Cebu City Sports Development Center have announced the existence of 4,604 job vacancies still wait- ing to be filled up in this city. Mostly call center firms, these potential employers were given the go signal by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) to assist the Cebu City Department of Manpower Development and Placement as it conducted 4,606 jobs/p5 Inside Xiamen Lifestyle, p8 Entertainment, p9 Motoring&Sports, p12 NATO Sees threat from Russia By Michael R. Gordon NYT News Service EUROPE –– Gen. Philip M. Breedlove said Wednesday that the Russian troops near Ukraine were poised to attack on 12 hours’ notice. Brussels top commander said on Wednesday that the 40,000 troops Russia has within striking distance of Ukraine are poised to attack on 12 hours notice and could accomplish their military objectives within three to five days. President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia told Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany on Monday that the Kremlin was beginning to withdraw troops from the border area near Ukraine. But the NATO commander, Gen. Philip M. Breedlove, said in an interview with The New York Times that so far only a single battalion, a force of 400 to 500 troops, was on the move and that NATO intelligence could not say whether it was actually being withdrawn. What we can say now is that we do see a battalionsize unit moving, but what we can’t confirm is that it is leaving the battlefield, said General Breedlove, of the United States Air Force. Whether that movement is aft to a less