Newsbriefs

CITY HALL BONUS

CEBU City Hall employees will receive their midyear bonus and cash gift earlier than usual.

This after the Cebu City Council approved the resolution authored by Councilor Joey Daluz III for the release of the midyear bonus and cash gift tomorrow.

The city government allocated P25 million for the cash gift of its regular and casual employees.

The employees will receive P5,000 as cash gift and half of their 13th-month pay as midyear pay.

“It’s usually given in the month of June. The resolution is only asking the council to have it released earlier so the employees could use it before the school season comes,” Daluz told CDN./Correspondent Edison A. delos Angeles

VISAYAN HARMONY

CEBU Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia is confident that the harmony and cooperation among the three regions in the Visayas will continue under the leadership of Mayor Michael Rama, the newly appointed chairman of the Regional Development Council Committee (RDCom).

Garcia, who is Rama’s predecessor, said she is proud that another Cebuano was chosen to head the committee.

The RDCom head automatically becomes a member of the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) board.
Garcia sent flowers and fruits to Rama’s city hall office yesterday morning as a way of wishing him best on his new task

She is hopeful that with Rama’s leadership, he will continue the unity among 16 provinces in the Visayas that she achieved during her stint.

One of the major projects that she spearheaded was the One Visayas program, a weeklong event aimed at bringing together the 16 provinces in the Visayas to showcase their arts and culture../Correspondent Fe Marie Dumaboc

URBAN POOR LEADER IS NEW DWUP CHIEF

The Division for the Welfare of the Urban Poor (DWUP) will have a new head starting Monday.

Newly appointed DWUP head Collin Rosell assures transparency in the division during his administration. He will replace outgoing DWUP head Danilo Gabiana.

Rosell is the former president of Mahayahay-A. Lopez Homeowners Association and a registered nurse.

An urban poor dweller himself, Rosell promised to hasten all transactions with DWUP and eliminate corruption. He will also implement programs to solve urban poor problems./Fatrick Tabada Correspondent

RESIDENTS QUESTION DENR TEST RESULTS

The result of the air testing that shows Korean Electric Power Corporation- Salcon Power Plant (Kepco-SPC) complied with the air standards set by government is “unacceptable” according to a community organization in Naga said.

Rodien Paca, a representative of the Naganian Awareness Against Pollution Association (NAAPA) in barangay Colon, Naga, said he saw the air testing that the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR-7) conducted last week. He said it showed that the filter used to measure the amount of solid particles in the air was “full of black dust”.

“I was very surprised when they declared that the results are within standards,” Paca told Cebu Daily News in an interview.

The DENR conducted two tests of the Total Suspended Particle (TSP) in the area last week to verify the complaints from the residents that Kepco-SPC released coal dusts to the nearby houses in barangay Colon./Reporter Candeze R. Mongaya