Page 8 - VBP Digital Edition 4

Editor aNdy BeVaN editor@visayanbizpost.com
August 2014
8
Visayan Business Post
motoring
Powerful riders, engines dominate Ormoc jet ski tilt
By the VBP sPorTs moNiTor Manila
ORMOC BAY – Chris- tina Alburo led powerful lady riders Erika Larraza- bal and Yvonne Yap to clinch the Ladies Open of the Ormoc City Fiesta 2014 Invitational Jet Ski Com- petition.
Alburo who was second in the 2-Stroke Open cat- egory also came in a strong second in the 4-Stroke Novice category of this year’s spectacular water sports at the historic Or- moc Bay.
Joseph del Socorro mean- while exploited the sheer power of his ride to domi- nate the 2-Stroke Open as well as the 4-Stroke Novice categories. The young Del Socorro flaunted smooth maneuvers even under un- favorable winds that made the 6 lap circuit more dif- ficult to race due to higher than expected waves.
Del Socorro’s sharp but
flawless turns at the corner buoys easily made him a crowd favorite.
Meanwhile, McCoy Lar- razabal was unfazed by Del Socorro’s youthful compe- tence at the Bay to show action–packed command over the waves that would secure him the 4-Stroke Open championship.
McCoy showed experi- ence and class while best- ing Del Socorro who came in a reluctant second with Bimbo Asensi after his heel to gain the third place.
Newcomer Eman Yap got in front early in the 2-Stroke Novice over nov- ices Stephen Bobares and Erika Larrazabal to get the category’s first place after 6 laps around the circuit. Bobares came in second with Larrazabal taking the third.The game’s Execu- tive category was won by experienced rider Allan Del Socorro with Ruben Dahap and Clifford Bensig coming second and third place re- spectively.
speCtAtors to the recently concluded jet ski competition in Ormoc are wowed by the graceful skills of the riders and the sheer power of their rides. Cristina Alburo (TOP RIGHT) easily won the Ladies Open for this competition. (Photo by VBP)
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AnAlysis
1 billion fruit trees for Visayas
from Page 1
Region 8 has submitted to its head office in Manila. The proposal which is part of the government’s Na- tional Greening Program aims to create a productive natural buffer between the sea and inner lands along the region’s entire coast- line.
Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Of- ficer Ricardo Tomol who heads the DENR in South- ern Leyte announced that the program aims to refor- est the 40-meter no build zone limits.
The “no build zone” are currently being imple- mented in an inter-agency effort along the region’s shorelines that have been identified as high risk dis- aster or storm surge areas.
The local governments are at the forefront of the monitoring and deterrence endeavor to make sure that locals are precluded from
building human structures and homes along the disas- ter–prone areas.
“The project is part of the country’s Climate Change Adaptation (CCA) pro- gram”, Tomol said, adding that planting trees has long been proven to mitigate the effects of erratic climatic conditions.
“Trees absorb carbon di- oxide in the air and give off oxygen for people and ani- mals to breathe. They pro- vide shade and act as buffer against winds and waves during bad weather”, the DENR executive stated.
“The program seeks to have private landowners along the coastal roads plant fruit trees. The seed- lings will be provided by the DENR but the land- owners will have to choose which varieties of fruit trees they want to plant”, Tomol clarified.
Tomol revealed that DENR have so far covered more than 4,000 hectares
of timberlands in Southern Leyte where close to 2 mil- lion trees of various species have been planted with the help of People’s Organiza- tions (POs) under the gov- ernment’s National Green- ing Program.
The Philippine govern- ment allotted more than P6 Billion in 2014 for na- tional reforestation which is being implemented na- tionwide by the DENR. If reports are to be believed, as of this writing, the pro- gram has been able to plant over 390 million trees cov- ering less than 700,000 hectares of forest lands in the country.
But the DENR still needs to transparently publish the specific areas covered by these supposedly now reforested lands as well as identify and reveal the capabilities of the various contractors it engaged to perform the tree plantings so that these can be verified independently.
There is a grave concern over where much of the funding for this program has actually gone even as local advocacies insist on the conversion of the Na- tional Greening Program into a livelihood oppor- tunity not only for DENR favored contractors but by local residents in the vari- ous reforestation sites.
The argument gains ground since reforestation would need maintenance and management if the trees planted should be al- lowed to survive.
The proposal to reforest Eastern Visayas’ coastal lands with a billion fruit trees is indeed tantalizing if not mind blowing. See- ing fruit trees in full blos- som along coastal high- ways in the coming future would be a “rosy dream come true” not only for natural environmentalists and organic nutritionists.
But the success of this proposed program must be
Star Fruit. Balimbing (Averrhoa Carambola) is one of the disap- pearing native fruit trees in Eastern Visayas. (Photo by WikipEdia)
viewed in constant evalua- tion of the actual facts sur- rounding the current Na- tional Greening Program itself.
It is notable that land owners to whom these coastal lands belong and whose rights to property use and determination will be affected will have to choose which varieties of fruit trees they want plant- ed on their lands.
The fact that the fruit trees project would also be implemented under the Office of the Presidential
Adviser on Rehabilitation and Reconstruction for Yolanda Areas gives much to think about and brings no additional comfort.
The rehabilitation office is not a permanent feature of the Philippine govern- ment whose actions and expenditures can be sub- jected to the most stringent accounting that would be required for a tricky, expansive and long-term program such as coastal reforestation involving the massive planting of varied fruit tree species.
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