Published July 28, 2020 10:26pm

by DONA MAGSINO, GMA News

Published from: https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/nation/748903/villar-confident-coco-levy-will-not-be-vetoed-this-time/story/?fbclid=IwAR1vg6PMQfZP8UlGvlDIiV6CUO_Kgjhx-cy7egILLsa7ePSAB3Vu3ReNJ6A

Senator Cynthia Villar on Tuesday expressed confidence that the coco levy bill would finally get President Rodrigo Duterte’s signature this time after the latter urged Congress to prioritize it during his 5th State of the Nation Address (SONA).

“We are confident that it will already be enacted into law, given the President’s support,” Villar, chair of the Senate committee on agriculture, said in a statement.

She said the utilization of the coco levy for the benefit of over 3.5 million coconut farmers in the Philippines is “long overdue.”

“The bill was re-filed with some modifications, taking into consideration the inputs being suggested by the executive branch of government so it will not be vetoed again,” Villar, principal sponsor of the bill in the upper chamber, said.

In February 2019, Duterte vetoed the coco levy bill which sought to create a P100-billion trusts fund for coconut farmers. Malacanang said it lacked mechanisms for checks and balances, making it prone to corruption.

Five months after the said veto, Duterte asked Congress to prioritize the measure during his 4th SONA.

The same call has been made in his latest SONA on Monday.

“I urge both Houses of Congress  the bill establishing the Coconut Farmers Trust Fund. Tulungan natin ang ating mga magsasaka na. Pag hindi, mawawala ‘yan, bilyon ‘yan. Diyos ko po,” Duterte said.

The estimated P105-billion coco levy fund in cash and assets were from the additional tax collections imposed to coconut farmers in the Philippines under the administration of former President Ferdinand Marcos.

These had been allegedly invested in enterprises for the personal interests of the late dictator and his cronies. —LDF, GMA News

The Philippine Fujian General Youth Association, Inc. met with Senator Cynthia Villar recently and turned over protective materials and food supply to support her relief operations during the COVID-19 pandemic. Headed by its president, James Go, the group donated 600 pieces of cup noodles, 21,000 pieces of face masks, two gallons of alcohol, two gallons of disinfectant, and electric sprayer. Villar, who has been leading the efforts of the Villar Social Institute for Poverty Alleviation and Governance to help alleviate the suffering of those badly affected by the health emergency, said the group’s donation will be part of her relief operations in Cebu. “In these uncertain times, we are reminded how interconnected we all are through the outpouring of support from individuals and groups of people who stepped up and helped us meet the challenges of this unprecedented health crisis,” Villar said. “I thank the group for their generosity and appreciate their efforts to contribute to our relief operations. Their donation will go a long way in helping stop the further spread of the virus in communities,” she added. Also present during the meeting with Villar at the Courtyard of the Villar SIPAG Complex in Las Pinas were other officers of Philippine Fujian General Youth Association, Inc., namely, Lucio Ang, executive vice president; Chen Wen Xiong, vice president; Jeff Bernal, secretary-general; and Vincent Tan and Willy Wang, executive directors.

Published July 7, 2020, 12:43 PM

by Vanne Elaine Terrazola

Published from: https://mb.com.ph/2020/07/07/villar-govt-to-fund-assistance-programs-for-local-farmers/?fbclid=IwAR0PyR-mGR_5qmbzQvw3m5oobXD9ZmjKAOOzJl77Kxy1OXTXMOna5czR3NA

Senator Cynthia Villar has assured that the government will continue to fund its assistance programs for local farmers amid the continued importation of rice and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Villar, in a statement, said there is no need for additional cash for the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF) since the Rice Tariffication Act already guarantees an annual ₱10-billion budget.

The chairman of the Senate Agriculture and Food Committee was commenting on the ₱8-billion fund requested by the Department of Agriculture (DA) for its Rice Resiliency Project amid the coronavirus outbreak. The Department of Budget and Management released to the DA last April the requested fund, which included an allocation for “enhanced RCEF”.

“The RCEF does not need any additional budget allocated from the COVID-19 prevention,” Villar said.

She noted that the DA, aside from the RCEF, has a separate National Rice Program, which has a yearly P7 billion budget for buying fertilizer and hybrid seeds. Republic Act 11203, enacted last year, mandates the provision of an annual ₱10-billion budget to the RCEF for six years from the tariffs collected from rice imports.

The RCEF shall be used to help farmers compete with imported rice, by giving them farm equipment, inbred seeds, low-interest credit, and training.

The RCEF is expected to aid in lowering the cost of local rice.

“This cheaper supply of rice from our own rice farmer helps lower rice prices for Filipino consumers,” Villar said.

The government recently scrapped its planned government-to-government importation of 300,000 metric tons of rice after Vietnam lifted its ban on rice exports.

Vietnam is a major source of rice imports of the Philippines.

Meanwhile, about 2.26 million bags of certified inbred rice seeds have been distributed for free to rice farmers to help boost the country’s rice production.

Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) Deputy Executive Director Flordeliza Bordey on Tuesday said seed delivery is already 90 percent of its target 2.5 million bags of certified inbred seeds for distribution this wet cropping season.

“We have already reached 968 municipalities or about 97 percent of our target 1,000 municipalities in 55 provinces,” Bordey said during the Laging Handa virtual presser.

She explained that farmers listed in the Registry System for Basic Sectors in Agriculture and are practicing transplanting method received one 20-kilogram (kg) bag of seed for every half hectare of cultivated area up to a maximum of six bags for those who have rice fields larger than 2.5 hectares.

Farmers practicing the directseeding method received two bags of seeds for every half hectare, she added.

The distribution of certified inbred seeds was done under the Seed Program of the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund, which is a component of the Republic Act 11203 or Rice Tariffication Law.

Under the law, P10 billion will be allocated every year for the next six years from 2019 for RCEF and will be allocated as follows: ₱5 billion for farm mechanization; ₱3 billion for high-yielding seeds; ₱1 billion for credit support; and ₱1 billion for training programs. (With a report from Ellalyn B. de Vera)

Sen. Cynthia Villar today announced the launching of the updated version of the directory which will guide farm enthusiasts, trainees and tourists about farm destinations and learning sites in the country.

The 466-paged 5th edition of Directory of Farm Schools, Tourist Farms and Learning Sites in the Philippines contains photographs and contact details of these sites from all the 17 regions in full color.

“This book is part of my efforts to promote farm tourism and the farm schools in our country. I continue to urge farmers to follow the example of others who have since become more profitable. They have tripled their income sources—from their crops or harvests, from tourists who visit their farms and from trainees who enroll in training programs,” Villar said.

Villar principally authored Republic Act 10816 or the Farm Tourism Development Act of 2016 which paved the way for an increasing number of farmers, farm owners and farming communities to enjoy the benefits of converting their farms into tourist destinations.

The chairperson of the Committee on Agriculture and Food also cited the increasing number of venues for agriculture-related training which helps remove the barriers that prevent Filipino farmers and fisher folk from being competitive and profitable, including the lack of technology, mechanization and financial literacy, and inability to access cheap credit.

From a list of about 386 in the first edition, the directory now lists more than 2,500 farms, including the four farm schools established by Villar SIPAG in Las Pinas-Bacoor; San Jose del Monte City, Bulacan; San Miguel, Iloilo; and Davao City.

The first Villar SIPAG Farm School opened in September 2015. It is located in an 8 hectare lot within the boundary of Las Piñas City and Bacoor City, Cavite and is situated beside the Molino Dam to cater trainees from NCR, Southern Luzon and Bicol.

It has a training tent facility, two dormitories, a staff house and a farm house. It also features a vermi-composting facility, green house, solar lamp post, ram pump, two windmills, livestock, cacao school, a bamboo museum, a water impounding facility with tilapia, a rice field, a herbal medicine garden and a coconut house.

The farm in San Jose del Monte City opened in July 2016. Like the Bacoor Farm, it is also a venue of the training program on Agri-Crops production in partnership with East West Seeds Foundation. The program is open to everyone who wants to learn urban agriculture. It also offers free training programs for farmers in Northern and Central Luzon and the Cordilleras.

On January 20, 2020, Villar inaugurated the Villar SIPAG Farm School in San Miguel, Iloilo to serve the Visayas Region. The main training program offered here is the two-week Training of Trainors on Rice Mechanization and Inbred Rice Seeds Production.

In addition, the Villar SIPAG Farm School in Davao City was established also this year to provide training to farmers and others who want to avail of agriculture-related training in Mindanao.

The farm school directory also includes a listing of farms and its classification under rice, corn, coconut, organic crops, non-organic crops, high-value organic crops, bamboo, livestock, poultry, dairy, aquaculture, wild catch, and diversified.

It also features a list of Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA)-accredited courses on agriculture, which farm schools can teach and students and farmers can avail of for free in accredited learning sites nearby.

The directory is a project of Villar SIPAG in partnership with the Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Training Institute, Philippine Rice Research Institute, Philippine Center for Postharvest Development and Mechanization, Department of Agrarian Reform, TESDA, and Department of Tourism. ###

Senator Cynthia Villar continues to enhance the capabilities and responsiveness of Las Piñas General Hospital and Satellite Trauma Center (LPGH & STC) in dealing with the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. She recently turned over five units of essential medical equipment to LPGH & STC received by Dr. Rodrigo Hao, Medical Director. These include apassbox, biological freezer, biological refrigerator, autoclave sterilizer and ventilator.

“Now, more than ever, it is crucial for our local hospitals to have the necessary equipment and facilities to cope with COVID-19 cases on top of their regular patients. The ongoing pandemic is putting so much pressure on hospitals and frontliners, we need to support and equip them,” said Villar, who has been supporting her home city’s hospital since she was a congresswoman.

She authored Republic Act 9240 in 2004 that converted the then Las Piñas District Hospital into LPGH & STC and increased the bed capacity of the hospital from 50 then to the present 200 beds.

She recently filed Senate Bill No. 143 to increase in the bed capacity of LGPH & STC from the present 200 to 500 beds and upgrade its service facilities and professional healthcare services. The proposed bill has been approved in the Senate. A counterpart measure at the House of Representative, authored by Las Piñas Representative Camille Villar, was passed last March 2, 2020.

The senator has earmarked PhP500 million this year to fund the expansion of LPGH & STC. The construction of the additional eight-storey building is slated to be finished next year. Last year, she also channeled PhP144 million to purchase the land and start the hospital building’s construction.

According to her, the expansion of LGPH & STC will provide separate facilities for Covid-19 and non-Covid patients to avoid the spread of the virus, one building each. “That would also ensure that regular healthcare services are not disrupted,” the senator added. LPGH & STC is a DOH-operated hospital that serves the National Capital Region (NCR) and neighboring provinces.

“There is an urgent need to expand and upgrade public hospitals and health facilities in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic that has increased the number of patients needing hospitalization. We have to be prepared,” she said.

There are about 456 hospitals in the country with a total bed capacity of 67,119. Approximately 41% of these beds are in government-owned hospitals while the remaining 59% are in private hospitals. ###

Published THURSDAY, JUNE 25, 2020

Published from: https://www.facebook.com/notes/cynthia-a-villar/villar-waste-management-recycling-even-more-crucial-during-pandemic/3149006508475847/

Senator Cynthia Villar, chairperson of the Senate Committee on Environment and Natural Resources, said waste management should not take a backseat during the pandemic but instead it should be prioritized to prevent the spread of diseases.

“We all know that a clean environment is a healthy environment. Improperly disposed wastes can cause infection and contamination. So, we should to take proper waste disposal and management even more seriously,” said Villar.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), “If solid waste is not dealt with quickly, serious health risks will develop which will further demoralize the community already traumatized by the emergency”. Moreover, the International Solid Waste Association cites that “Waste Management is one of the most important sanitary barriers to prevent dissemination of illnesses and diseases”.

According to the senator, recycling of recyclable wastes can also help manage the amount of wastes accumulated even during community quarantine. She said experts themselves cite that continuity of recycling efforts is important during and after the pandemic.

“Proper waste management becomes even more crucial now during quarantine or lockdown because some waste collection services are discontinued or disrupted. But the amount of wastes produced continues to increase,” cited Villar, who has established 3,000 livelihood projects nationwide, which help process solid wastes by using them as raw materials.

The barangay-based livelihood enterprises use wastes as raw materials. These includet water hyacinths for the waterlily handicraft-weaving enterprise and the handmade paper factory; waste coconut husks for the coconet-weaving enterprise and the charcoal-making factory; kitchen and garden wastes for the organic fertilizer composting facility; and plastic wastes for the waste plastic recycling factory that produces school chairs.

The coconet weaving enterprises turn waste coconut husks into coconets, organic fertilizers and charcoal brisquettes out of them. The workers using a decorticating machine can extract fiber and coco peat from the husks which are used for making coconet. The coco dusts are mixed with household wastes to make organic fertilizers that are distributed for free to farmers and urban gardeners. A decorticating machine can extract fiber and dust from up to 8,000 waste coconut husks daily.

Villar also facilitated the establishment of composting centers in barangays to collect kitchen and garden wastes in the households to be brought to the composting facility. It now has 80 composters utilized by 80,000 households.

She also addressed the worsening problem of plastic pollution by recycling plastic wastes. The Philippines, based on a University of Georgia study, ranked third, next to China and Indonesia (among 192 countries surveyed), in terms of volume of plastic wastes produced by the population.

The senator, through Villar SIPAG, put up a Waste Plastic Recycling Factory in 2013 in Barangay Ilaya, Las Pinas City. It converts waste plastics into chairs, which is the solution to another perennial problem—lack of school chairs. One school chair can be produced out of 20 kilos of waste plastics such as sachets and wrappers. Since 2013, the Las Pinas factory has produced over 30,000 chairs. Two more plastic factories are built in San Miguel, Iloilo and Cagayan De Oro City to cover the Visayas and Mindanao regions.

By  Former Senate President Manny Villar

 Published June 23, 2020, 11:01 PM

Published from: https://news.mb.com.ph/2020/06/23/protect-our-ofws/?fbclid=IwAR3zsnrYmPLHcaHcWuT7NDOBytzYIb6Ocb0FbmkAPRYaNpeJsfwFhMIJscw

Former Senate President Manny Villar

As the nation grapples with the coronavirus pandemic, let us not forget to help and protect Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs)—those who are returning home and those who are still working abroad. As my good friend Senator Ralph Recto said, “they deserve a red carpet treatment.”

According to recent data, more than 55,000 OFWs have returned to the Philippines with more than 43,000 released from the mandated quarantine to ensure that they do not carry, and will not spread, the deadly virus. Of this number, 1,376 has so far tested positive with COVID-19.

On the other hand, 6,140 overseas workers have been reported to be infected with the coronavirus, with deaths number to 495. The data from the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) also tells us that 2,851 Filipinos have recovered from the virus while 2,794 are ongoing treatment.

For decades, we have established ourselves as the prime exporter of labor. This has fueled economic growth and helped us mitigate some economic crisis that came our way. In 2019, our OFWs sent an estimated US$30 billion home which is more than 7 percent of our Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Its advantages has turned to a liability as the coronavirus hit countries around the world. With so many Filipinos scattered worldwide, some are bound to be infected, especially in many of the hard-hit countries like Italy and the US. Our consular offices need to do their job in order to protect OFWs who have contracted the virus. They should coordinate with the host country to ensure that our OFWs are receiving proper care and treatment.

As the coronavirus forced many countries to impose lockdowns that shackled their economies, many of our OFWs lost their jobs and have returned home. With so many OFWs returning, the Philippines need to use all available resources to provide testing and isolating facilities so that our returning OFWs receive the best care possible.

Malacañang has already issued a statement that they are giving our OFWs the “VIP treatment” while in quarantine. Government pays for the hotels where they are quarantined as well as transportation and the essentials they need.

While there have been many complaints of OFWs staying in quarantine facilities way longer than the period of time required, I am glad government has stepped up its game in terms of ensuring that both our OFWs and the community they are returning to will be safe. While at this, I call upon local government units to protect OFWs returning to their province. There have been reports of OFWs being ostracized and discriminated against by local communities. Let us not lose our compassion even as we vigilantly guard against the spread of the virus.

On a macro level, government needs to have a plan to address surging unemployment. The National Statistics Office reported that the country’s unemployment rate climbed to a record 17.7 per cent during the lockdown, the first time it reached double digits since 2005. This rate translates to more than 7 million Filipinos without work and with no ability to feed their family.

The record jump is in no doubt the result of the quarantine measures that closed many businesses in March and April. With government easing some of these restrictions, many workers have returned to work. But some establishments have already announced that they are closing permanently. This translates to more unemployment. And with OFWs losing their jobs abroad, we should expect our unemployment to worsen.

We need to be prepared to give them jobs and livelihood. One idea is to retrain them in order to take advantage of the new economic opportunities that the lockdown has created. Many have gone to online selling in order to survive. Some have become riders and delivery personnel as these services surge with people mostly staying at home.

The bottomline is this: we need a plan to reintegrate and retool our OFWs.

By  Vanne Elaine Terrazola

Published June 23, 2020, 7:09 PM

Published from: https://news.mb.com.ph/2020/06/23/stop-bacoor-reclamation-plan-sen-villar-asks-denr/

Senator Cynthia Villar on Tuesday asked the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to stop the reclamation plan in Bacoor City, Cavite due to its threats to the protected area and the communities along the coast of Manila Bay.

Sen. Cynthia Villar
(Senate of the Philippines / FILE PHOTO / MANILA BULLETIN)

Villar, chairman of the Senate Committee on Environment and Natural Resources, told the DENR to recall the environment compliance certificate (ECC) it issued to the 320-hectare Bacoor Reclamation and Development Project.

“The reclamation project will potentially cause irreparable damage to the Las Pinas-Parañaque Wetland Park. The project will be building on the buffer zone of this protected area and will destroy the landscape in which the wetland now thrives,” Villar said.

The senator said that under Republic Act 11038,the Expanded National Integrated Protected Areas System (E-NIPAS) Act, which she sponsored, the 175-hectare wetland park was a declared protected area.

It was also recognized as one of the seven areas in the country listed as a Wetland of International Importance by the Ramsar Convention “because of its critical role in the survival of threatened, restricted-range, and congregatory bird species,” she said.

Villar also warned about “massive flooding” as she recalled the Department of Public Works and Highways saying that reclamation in this part of Manila Bay will cause flooding as high as eight meters in Las Piñas City.

She added that if the reclamation project pushes through, the flood-control projects in Bacoor and Imus worth P1.47 billion will be wasted.

Villar said flooding was one of the grounds that she, along with 315,000 residents of Las Piñas City, Parañaque City, and Cavite, cited when they petitioned for Writ of Kalikasan against the planned reclamation of Manila Bay in 2012.

In 2017, the DENR cancelled the ECC issued to a similar reclamation plan in Parañaque and Las Piñas coastal bay for its potential harm to the environment.

Villar said the DENR’s approval of the Bacoor reclamation project also contradicts the government’s P1.3-billion Manila Bay rehabilitation project.

In January, 2019, the “Battle for Manila Bay” was launched to reinforce the Supreme Court’s December, 2008, mandamus directing 13 agencies and private entities to clean up, rehabilitate, preserve, restore, and maintain the waters of Manila Bay to a level that is fit for swimming, skin-diving, and other forms of contact-recreation.

This was the basis of the creation of the Manila Bay Task Force the following month.

“If we allow reclamation to proceed in Manila Bay, what happens now to our rehabilitation efforts? Our government has already poured precious resources into this campaign and many have already sacrificed to comply. Are we now losing the battle for Manila Bay?” Villar asked.

The DENR recently granted the ECC to the Bacoor Reclamation and Development Project, after Bacoor City Mayor Lani Mercado-Revilla, the project’s main proponent, satisfied the requirements of the DENR’s Environmental Impact Assessment (EIS) Review Committee.

With the ECC, the proponents are given the go-signal to start dredging activity, filling the project area with reclamation materials and construction of road networks and drainage system.

“With the issuance of the ECC, you are expected to fully implement the measures presented in the EIS intended to protect and mitigate the project’s predicted adverse impact on community health, welfare, and the environment. Environmental considerations shall be incorporated in all phases and aspects of the project,” the ECC stated.

Militant fishers’ group Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (PAMALAKAYA) also opposed the project, fearing that more than 700 fishing and coastal families will be ejected from their houses to give way to the project.

President Duterte has been consistent in his stance against any reclamation projects at the Manila Bay.

Senator Cynthia Villar, chairperson of the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Food, together with the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR), has set up an aquaponics facility to benefit a community in Las Piñas, where the senator has also put up a vegetable garden.

Urban aquaponics is part of BFAR’s Fisheries Resiliency Projects to address food-related challenges due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Aquaponics or hydroponics is a way of growing vegetables without soil and at the same time growing fish in the same setup as well.

“It is really time for city dwellers to grow their own food even in an urban setting with limited space. Food self-sufficiency is very important especially during disasters or emergencies such as the ongoing pandemic,” said Villar, who has been advocating urban farming to beat food poverty.

The urban aquaponics and vegetable garden are located at the Christ The King Subdivision, which is under the Community Mortgage Program (CMP). It is a mortgage financing program of the Social Housing Finance Corporation (SHFC) which assists legally organized associations of low-income groups, underprivileged or homeless citizens to purchase and develop a tract of land under the concept of community ownership.

The primary objective of the program is to assist residents of blighted or depressed areas to own the lots they occupy and establish stainable and resilient communities in coordination with the local government units (LGUs).

“I am glad to have been given an opportunity to help the association and the barangay residents as well.

By Macon Ramos-Araneta

Published June 16, 2020 at 10:50 pm

Published from: https://manilastandard.net/mobile/article/326253?fbclid=IwAR383BO-qUJGxcCccDZbLIBuSwtb_bv9k3NZA0J40U2WDbpqlbuXb09pCds

Senator Cynthia Villar on Monday said that President Rodrigo Duterte’s repeated opposition against the Manila Bay reclamation indicates how the government remains true to its commitment to rehabilitate and protect the bay.

Villar, chairperson of the Committee on Environment and Natural Resources, noted that in various times during his public address briefing the people on the state of the country under quarantine, the President has said that he will not allow the Manila Bay reclamation even in the face of the urgent need to fund the COVID-19 pandemic response.

She also noted that the President has advised private individuals lobbying for these reclamation projects to wait for the next presidency.

“Going into the new normal, there are a lot of things that will have to cease to exist but I am glad the policies that will help us achieve our goals for the preservation of our biodiversity, especially the protection and the rehabilitation of Manila Bay will continue,” Villar said. Macon