DENR-EMB holds mural painting contest for “Save Diliman Creek” campaign

Some 33 barangays of Diliman Creek and its tributaries will compete for the best mural painting in time for the national celebration of World Environment Day on June 5 and June as Philippine Environment Month, according to a press release issued on May 31, 2011 by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).

According to Environmental Management Bureau Director Juan Miguel Cuna, the activity aims to promote among residents of each barangay on the importance of rehabilitating Diliman Creek and heighten their participation to ensure its tributaries remain free from garbage.

“We have asked each barangay to provide wall space where its residents can easily see the mural painting that their barangay will create. The mural will remind them of their commitment to continue working for the full rehabilitation of Diliman Creek,” Cuna said.

Open to all 33 barangays of Diliman Creek and tributaries, the contest allows only one (1) entry for each barangay. Each barangay team must have a minimum of three (3) members who are bonafide residents of the barangay. A minimum of 3 meters x 5 meters wall space or an area of approximately 15 square meters or more will be provided by the participating barangay. The theme for the contest is “Sama-sama Tayo Tungo sa Malinis na Katubigan at Luntiang Kapaligiran.”

The contest will be conducted from June 1 to June 5, 2011. Judging and awarding ceremonies will be held on June 16, 2011. To award the winners, local officials of the Quezon City government led by Quezon City Mayor Herbert Bautista and Vice Mayor Joy Belmonte are expected to grace the event.

A total of eight (8) winners will be awarded cash prizes of Php 30,000, Php 20,000, and Php 10,000 for the top three spots and 5 consolation prizes of Php 2,000 each. Barangay councils will also receive a portion of the prize money for first, second and third prize winners valued at Php 5,000, Php, 4,000, Php 3,000, respectively.

The competition is an offshoot of the Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) signing for the “Save the Diliman Creek” Program launched last April 19, 2011 during the Earth Day Celebration at SM Megamall.

Among the partners for the said program are the DENR, Quezon City Local Government, the Philippine Mine Safety and Environment Association and Sagip Ilog Pilipinas Movement. The 33 local officials of barangays traversing the creek served as witnesses to the signing of the agreement and showed their support by initiating orchestrated clean-ups of creeks within their area every fourth Sunday of each month.

The Mural Painting Contest is being organized by the DENR through its Environmental Management Bureau (EMB), with support from the Philippine Mine Safety and Environment Association (PMSEA), Sagip-Ilog Pilipinas Movement, and Pacific Paint (Boysen) Philippines, Inc.

Relocation set for QC residents residing in faultline area

QUEZON CITY, May 1 (PIA) - The Quezon City government has ordered the immediate relocation of 42 families whose houses stand on an area transecting the West Valley Fault Line at Gen. del Pilar St. in Barangay Bagong Silangan.

The QC officials directed the QC disaster risk management council to start sending notices to the affected families to advise them to voluntarily vacate the area, which is more vulnerable to ground rupture and potential landslides should there be an earthquake generated by the fault system.

Aside from the notice, the city government will also be preparing waivers for homeowners resisting the order. “Kung ayaw nilang umalis sa kabila ng ating mga panawagan, marapat lamang na papirmahin natin sila ng waiver na walang sagutin sa kanila ang gobyerno,” QC Mayor Herbert Bautista said.

The city government is set to file an application with the National Housing Authority (NHA) for the relocation of the affected families.

Once vacated, the city intends to plant the area with trees to determine ground and soil movements.

The order for the relocation of the 42 families was based on the recommendation made by the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS) during an inspection of the traces of the fault line at Barangays Bagong Silangan and Payatas.

To date, the city has already identified at least 900 property owners residing within the five meter- wide buffer zone recommended by PHIVOLCS.

Given the possible extent of the damage that QC would incur during the movement of the fault system, Mayor Bautista ordered the creation of the West Valley Fault Task Group to ensure public safety within the recommended buffer zone.

Q.C. starts mass relocation of informal settlers

QUEZON CITY, April 22 (PIA) - The Quezon City government’s mass relocation program for informal settlers has started.

Informal settlers whose houses were destroyed during a violent demolition at 6th and 7th Streets in Barangay Mariana last year were the first to be relocated by the city within the National Housing Authority (NHA) housing project at Southville 8 at Barangay San Isidro in Rodriguez, Rizal.

The city government, on orders of Mayor Herbert Bautista, has contracted shuttle buses to transport the relocatees to their new homes.

To make sure that their basic needs are met, the Mayor also gave the assurance that the city government will shoulder payments for the sub-electric meters, which is estimated at P1,000 per family per connection.

As much as possible, the Mayor wanted the city’s informal settlers to be relocated together with their neighbors to the same site so that they will not feel displaced.

QC intends to resettle before the beginning of the new school year in June some 1,500 urban poor families occupying danger zones and high-risk areas.

Informal settlers encroaching on the sidewalks and road right-of-way at Barangays Santol, South Triangle and Central, including waterways along Barangays Damayang Lagi and Tatalon, are offered priority in the relocation program.

Even urban poor families whose houses were razed by fire early this week along BIR Road are also provided relocation slots at the NHA resettlement project.

Prior to the implementation of the city’s mass relocation program, the city’s socialized housing task force headed by secretary to the mayor Tadeo Palma, organized a series of dialogue with QC’s 142 barangays to ensure that the city’s clearing operations will be carried out peacefully.

There is a continuing effort from Mayor Bautista to adopt a meaningful development plan to provide more livable communities for QC residents, especially informal settlers living in danger areas such as sidewalks, roadways, waterways, under transmission lines, and on water pipelines.

To date, the city government has already invited members of the church to a consultative meeting to address concerns on QC’s socialized housing program.

“The problem of poverty and informal settlements in Quezon City is huge. But, we can help make this challenge manageable through the pathways of collaboration and teamwork among ourselves,” the Mayor said.

According to the urban poor affairs office, headed by Ramon Asprer, there are about 28,731 informal settler families living in identified danger areas in QC.

"The Joy of Farming" project gains ground

MANILA, Philippines - Let thousands of vegetable garden bloom.

This is practically the goal of a program launched recently by the Quezon City government through the initiative of Vice Mayor Joy Belmonte with the full support of Mayor Herbert Bautista.

Endearingly called “The Joy of Farming”, the program took root at the Quezon City Memorial Circle in Diliman. It aims to set 50,000 vegetable gardens in the city.

Read the rest here: "The Joy of Farming" project gains ground

December 5 Q.C. Marathon route OK'd

Quezon City (1 December) -- Motorists and commuters read this:

On December 5, 2010, roads leading to the Quezon Memorial Circle, Commonwealth Avenue, C.P. Garcia St., and the University Avenue in Diliman will be closed to vehicular traffic from 12 midnight to 12 noon to give way to the 2nd QC International Marathon.

This early, the city government, on orders of Mayor Herbert Bautista, has started mapping out traffic management plans to ensure the orderly movement of traffic along the race route, which will start and end at the Quezon Memorial Circle.

The city's Department of Public Order and Safety (DPOS) plans to implement a two-way traffic along the southbound lane of Commonwealth Avenue to ease traffic movement in the area.

Some 400 traffic personnel from the DPOS will be fielded during the marathon to complement the traffic management force to be provided by the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) and the QC Police District.

The city government also deputized the barangay public security officers to oversee traffic movement on secondary and inner roads.

Meanwhile, the city will allow free parking at the QC Hall compound but not along major city roads such as Visayas Avenue, Kalayaan Avenue, East Avenue, Commonwealth Avenue and Quezon Avenue to prevent further traffic buildup.

Already, the Mayor ordered the formation of the QC International Marathon organizing committee to oversee the successful staging of the December sports event, which the Mayor said, forms part of the city's wellness, sports, tourism, and health programs.

The Mayor sits as overall chairman of the committee, which was formed by virtue of an executive order.

As provided under the executive order, the city government shall provide the venue for the marathon and assistance in mapping out the marathon route.

Event organizers said all routes have already been certified by the Phil. Amateur Track and Field Association (PATAFA) and given approval by the QC government and MMDA. The marathon route was also given clearance by the University of the Philippines and the La Mesa Eco Park.

The 2nd QC International Marathon offers 5K, 10K, 21K and 42K races. (PIA-MMIO)

Quezon City to field police bike patrols

Quezon City (27 October) -- Quezon City Police District director P/CSupt. Benjardi Mantele launched "Tourist Police Project" at Gateway Mall in Cubao last Friday in accordance with PNP's "Bantay Turista" program.

Sporting blue-collared polo shirts and shorts, Quezon City's young, energetic and medium-built policemen are now seen on bike patrol assignment, in the city's commercial and busy areas, particularly in places being visited by tourists.

Mantele said that an initial batch of 20 policemen, mostly rookie cops from the District Public Safety Battalion (DBSP) and are mostly physically fit and have good stamina, were deployed to man one of the city's busy business centers - the Cubao area.

Cubao area was set as a launching site for the project after the Araneta Business center Association strongly supported the move by donating some of the needed uniforms and equipment needed by bike patrol cops, especially the 20 units of mountain bikes to be utilized for the purpose.

The move, Mantele said, is also in line with the city government plan to develop QC as one of the tourist centers in Metro Manila.

He noted that QC Mayor Herbert Bautista had explicitly said during every Peace & Order Council meeting that tourism is an economic driver, thus the development of tourist police is imperative.

After the Cubao area, the QCPD, in close coordination with the Cultural and Tourism Affairs Office (CTAO), will soon launch other tourist police units at places like La Mesa Eco Park in Fairview, stretches of Katipunan Avenue, Tomas Morato, Timog Avenue, Quezon City Memorial Circle, UP-Ayala Techno Hub and Eastwood Libis.

Tourist assistance centers (TACs) will also be established in every unit or police station in tourist areas where the police could immediately render appropriate security and related public safety services to both foreign and local tourists.

Mayor Bautista is among the guests of honor in the occasion, together with newly-appointed NCRPO Director Nicanor Bartolome and Miss Universe 4th runner-up Venus Raj. Officials Araneta Business Center Association and QCPD also graced the event. (PIA-MMIO)

Q.C. ready for Typhoon Juan - Mayor Herbert Bautista

Quezon City (18 October) -- The City government, on orders of Mayor Herbert Bautista, has placed on alert level status the city's disaster risk reduction management council to ensure the safety and protection of QC residents against any eventuality brought about by typhoon "Juan."

The Mayor ordered families occupying danger zones and other high-risk areas to move to safer grounds to minimize loss of lives and properties, especially during flashfloods.

According to the city's department of public order and safety, families living under the bridge and near waterways are facing greater risks.

"We have to make sure that we are ready against any eventuality," the Mayor said.

The Mayor's directive also covered the rolling of billboards installed along the city's major roads and thoroughfares.

Emergency response teams of the city government were placed on 24/7 standy alert as early as Friday last week in anticipation for typhoon "Juan."

Mobilized were response teams from the department of public order and safety, engineering department, fire department, environmental protection and waste management department and the social services development department, which handles the city's relief assistance program.

While the typhoon may not directly affect Metro Manila, the Mayor cited as imperative the need to undertake precautionary measures to mitigate the ill-effects of calamities and other emergency situations on lives and properties.

To date, the Bautista administration is in the process of strengthening the city's disaster coordinating council in an effort to make it more response to the needs of the people. (PIA-MMIO)