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Keep blogging...and as we always try to...

LIVE simply and fully,
SPEAK kindly and truthfully,
CARE generously and freely,
LOVE sincerely and deeply

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Public Hearing: Channel Restoration Framework and Dredging Plan of Lower Cagayan River

Greetings!

Please be informed that the Provincial Government of Cagayan will conduct a Public Hearing on the final report of "Channel Restoration Framework and Dredging Plan of Lower Cagayan River" on January 20, 2012 - 10:00 a.m. at the Aparri Public Gymnasium.The said public hearing shall be attended by various stakeholders, community groups and concerned Local Chief Executives in the province of Cagayan.

In view thereof, we are respectfully inviting all concerned Aparrianos to attend the aforementioned public hearing.

Thank you and God bless!

Very truly yours,

ISMAEL V. TUMARU, M.D.
Municipal Mayor

Monday, January 16, 2012

Aparri International, Inc.: Minutes of the Board Meeting (Preliminary)

(Gin Cababa, January 16, 2012)

Date of Meeting:   January 14, 2012
Venue:  Residence of Tarrie Co
President Tarrie Co called the meeting to order at 4:30 p.m.
                        
Attendees: 
Tarrie S. Co and Cecile Co
Loreto “Boysie” Bermejo
Zeny Bermejo
Fe Reyes
Tony & Iris Mallari
Romulo and Alice Co
Romeo Co
Elnora Florendo
Estelita Parel Purina
Daisy Bacquiran Noblejas
Nerina Areola
James & Lisa Acoba
Janette de Rivera
Janine Macatiag
Cesar & Naty Reyes
Dave & Virgie Perez
Evelyn Plata
Mayor & Dra Tumaru & family
Fred Cartagena
Cecilia S. Co
Others (no sign in sheet)


Items of Business:

The reading and review of the minutes of the previous board meeting, the minutes already having been widely disseminated and no corrections suggested, were waived without objection.

President’s Report

Tarrie Co reported that the Christmas party was successfully attended by our membership and their guests. The costs of the party ($650.00) were covered by the Association as the party was the venue for our General Membership Meeting at which we held the elections for the incoming Board. The results of the election are:

President                                    Elnora Florendo
First Vice-President                   Boysie Bermejo
Second Vice-President              Atanacio Cristobal
Secretary                                   Domingo Barga
Treasurer                                   Janet De Rivera
Auditor                                       Fe Reyes
Area Coordinator West             Rey Furigay, Jr.
Area Coordinator East              Ernie Reyes
Area Coordinator Other            Dante Umengan (Canada)

Note: Janet de Rivera noted that the minutes of the Annual Meeting will be published soon.

Tarrie observed that this would be the last meeting over which he would be presiding, and reminded the Board and the association of its existing commitments – that it would hold a Medical Mission in Aparri in 2012 and that it would begin establishment of a self-sustaining community center in Aparri. He charged the incoming board with the tasks of meeting these commitments. He noted that during his tenure, we were very successful in raising funds for our projects and reported that our association has gained funds of $10,000 over the past two years - funds that were raised to meet our commitments. Finally, he re-affirmed that though he will no longer be president, the association can count on his continuing support for our purposes.

He then asked incoming President Elnora Florendo to chair the remainder of the meeting.

Incoming Presidents Comments:

Elnora graciously accepted the chair. She stated that as our first woman president, her goal is to bring a female touch to our purposes and operations. She asked everyone to give her their support as we move forward with our activities and goals. The meeting then continued with the following items of business:

Upcoming Inauguration and Valentines Ball and Membership Meeting:

All arrangements for the venue and music for the Valentine’s Inauguration ball have been made.

Tickets for the event were previously distributed to the membership at the Christmas Party meeting, and will also be distributed to other members at the end of this meeting. Members who have tickets are urged to sell them to other Aparrianos and friends. Zeny Bermejo and Janet DeRivera will coordinate ticket sales and contact ticket distributors at the end of January to determine anticipated attendance so we can make final arrangements with the venue on food service.

Elnora noted off the record that the Medical Mission committee will be meeting on February 4, 2012 to make final plans for the mission, and at that time, the members in attendance at that meeting also will make final preparations for the Valentine’s ball, including 1) appointing a Reception Committee to register attendees and collect payments, 2) appointing an Emcee for the event, and 3) outlining the final program for the event.

Medical Mission

Next, the Board took up the medical mission.

Virgie Valera, the chair of the Medical Mission committee, was in attendance, as were Mayor and Dr. Tumaru who will be assisting the association in Aparri. Virgie and Dr and Dra Tumaru were introduced to each other and established lines of communication.

Mayor Tumaru advised us that LGU Aparri has extensive experience in assisting organizations in conducting medical missions and that they can provide volunteer doctors and dentists and other professional volunteers for the mission as well as non professional support volunteers. They can also advise the association on whom to use as medicine and medical/dental supply providers. In essence, he reassured us that we should not need to worry too much about the logistics, but instead, we should focus on the scope of what we want the mission to cover. After his presentation, the Board recognized that it needed to address two issues: the scope of the mission and the timing of the mission.

The Scope of the Mission: The Board agreed that the mission will be limited to medical and dental care and not include surgery. The Board postponed consideration of the following issues to its next meeting:

1.  Whether to conduct a one day or a two day medical mission;
2.  How much to budget for the medical mission.

In this connection, the Medical Missions committee will hold a meeting at the residence of Virgie Valera on February 4, 2012 commencing at noon to discuss these issues and will report back to the Board at its next meeting with its recommendations. A separate notice of this meeting with the address is included below.

Action Items and Responsibilities

Action                                        Responsibility                          Deadline
Decide Number of Days             Medical Mission Committee    March 4, 2012
Recommend Budget Amount      Medical Mission Committee    March 4, 2012

The Timing of the Mission:

After much discussion, the Board:

Resolved: That the Medical Mission shall take place in May 2012 in conjunction with the annual fiesta of Aparri, between May 1 and May 11, 2012.

Further Resolved: That Incoming President Elnora Florendo is authorized, in her sole discretion, to select the exact date or dates of the mission after coordinating with the Medical Mission committee and LGU Aparri.

Action Items and Responsibilities

Action                                        Responsibility                         Deadline
Decide Date(s) of Mission          Elnora Florendo                      March 4, 2012

Upcoming Meetings Scheduled:

Medical Mission committee meeting:

Date:            February 4, 2012
Time:            12:00 noon
Location:        Residence of Virgie Valera Perez
                     7751 Mary Ellen Avenue
                     North Hollywood, CA 91605
                    (818) 321-3066

Note: The Medical Mission committee is still looking for more members. Anyone who is considering going to Aparri in May is strongly encouraged to attend this meeting, join this committee, and assist in carrying out this mission.

Valentines Inauguration Ball and General Membership Meeting:

Location:        Mayflower Restaurant
                      679 North Spring Street,
                      Los Angeles, California 90012
Tel. No.         (213) 628.0116
Date:             February 11, 2012
Time:             6:00 pm.

Note: If you are interested in attending and have not yet been contacted to obtain tickets, please contact Janet DeRivera by email at jemj52@yahoo.com.

Next meeting of the Board:

Date:            March 4, 2012
Time:            12:00 noon
Location:        Residence of Boysie & Zeny Bermejo
                     3923 Ackerman Dr
                     Los Angeles, CA 90065
                     (323) 256-0887

Thereby nothing else to be taken up, meeting was adjourned.

Prepared by; James David Acoba, acting secretary for the meeting.
                                
Approved by: 

TARRIE S. CO
President, Aparri International, Inc.

Saturday, January 7, 2012

Notable Accomplishments of LGU-Aparri

LGU-Aparri Subsidizes Palay Seeds for Farmers
The Municipal Government of Aparri, Cagayan, Philippines headed by Mayor Ismael V. Tumaru, M.D. subsidized palay seeds distributed to farmers whose rice yields during the first cropping of the 2011-2012 planting season was adversely affected by Typhoons Mina, Quiel and Pedring that struck the locality in 2011.

The seeds partially subsidized were intended to rehabilitate farmer’s losses during the calamity by providing them palay seeds at affordable prices for the 2nd cropping season. It must be noted that rice plants about to be harvested during the 1st cropping were partially or totally damaged due to strong winds, flash floods and prolonged flooding. Particularly devastating was the prolonged flooding caused by the inundation of the heavily silted Cagayan River.

The cost of Hybrid SL-8H is Php4,500.00 per bag while Inbred Certified Seeds costs Php1,200.00 per bag. The Municipal Government of Aparri shouldered Php1,500.00 of the cost per bag for Hybrid variety while Php300.00 was subsidized for Inbred variety. On the other hand, the Provincial Government of Cagayan also shared for the subsidy amounting to Php600.00 per bag for both varieties. As a whole, the farmer’s equity for Hybrid variety is Php2,400.00 per bag instead of paying the whole amount of Php4,500.00

To demonstrate its genuine concern for the welfare of the backbones of our nation and to ensure rice-sufficiency in the community, the municipal government had also extended financial assistance to farmers whose farmlands are not affected by subsidizing 600.00 per bag for Hybrid variety and 300.00 for Inbred variety. Farmer’s equity is 3,900.00 for hybrid and 900.00 for Inbred variety.

As of this writing, the Aparri Office for Agricultural Services had disposed 2,150 bags of Hybrid SL-8H benefiting 1,383 farmers and 880 bags of Inbred Certified Seeds to 884 beneficiaries.


LGU-Aparri Distributes Mosquito Nets to Aparrianos
In line with its intense desire to ensure the health well-being of its constituents, the Municipal Government of Aparri, Cagayan, Philippines distributed long lasting insecticide treated mosquito nets to its constituents. The mosquito repellant amenity was given FREE to families to eradicate the menace of mosquito-borne diseases particularly dengue and malaria.

Mindful of the importance of a healthy citizenry, Mayor Ismael V. Tumaru, who is a medical doctor by profession, initiated the move in 2010 through the generosity of Pilipinas Shell Foundation which donated the mosquito nets. As of this date, the Municipal Government had dispensed a total of 14,482 mosquito nets to each household in practically all the 42 barangays of the municipality including barangay Fuga Island. The municipality is hopeful of the completion of the program early this year with the same distribution of mosquito nets at Barangay Maura.

In addition to this activity was the distribution of "Pregnancy package" in Barangay San Antonio and Barangays Centro 1-15. The pregnancy package composed of ferrous sulfate for pregnant mothers, mother and child booklet and bag.

The distribution activity was facilitated by the Municipal Health Office-Aparri East through Ms. Sheryl C. Sobrevilla, Medical Technologist.