North Cotabato volunteer teachers to get additional honorarium

Volunteer teachers under the Magtutudlo Sa Barangay (MSB) program of the provincial government of North Cotabato are set to receive additional honorarium after the Sangguniang Panlalawigan approved Governor Manny F. Piñol’s request for P2 million to effectively increase their monthly allowance to P3,000.

The more than two hundred volunteer teachers assigned in different school in barangays all over the province will get an additional P1,500 each for the months of August to December this year.

The MSB volunteers are already receiving P1,500 monthly.

“We know that this is not much, but it shows our sincere appreciation of the service provided by our Magtutudlo Sa Barangay to the children of North Cotabato,” Gov. Piñol said.

“They are our hardworking partners in our effort to ensure that no child in this province is deprived of education,” he added.

The MSB program, a brainchild of the governor, was started in 2002 in response to the lack of teachers in far-flung barangays of North Cotabato. Under the program qualified community-based volunteer teachers are tapped to supplement the regular personnel of the Department of Education in barangay schools where there is a lack of teachers.

North Cotabato SP approves additional 10M for rubber, oil palm

More farmers will be able to avail of rubber and oil palm seedlings under the plant-now-pay-later program of the provincial government of North Cotabato following the appropriation of an additional P10 million for its high value crops program.

The Sangguniang Panlalawigan under Vice-Governor Jesus N. Sacdalan approved the additional appropriation of P4 million for rubber and P6 million for oil palm in a special session June 29 at the Sangguniang Panlalawigan session hall.

“This will enable us to extend agricultural assistance through the PNPL to more farmers who would like to go into rubber and oil palm farming,” Governor Manny F. Piñol said.

“Among our target beneficiaries are the Certificate of Ancestral Domain Claim (CADC) areas and interested Muslim communities of the province,” he added.

On Wednesday, June 19, Governor Piñol visited Barangay Bolod in Pikit to personally attend a consultation-forum on oil palm farming.

Some 10 hectares of land in the former conflict area have already been planted to oil palm with Barangay Captain Edris Modale leading the recipients of seedlings under the PNPL scheme.

In Arakan, 2 CADC areas in Tumanding and Lanao Kuran have been identified by the Manobo Lumadnong Panaghiusa sa Arakan (MALUPA) under Supreme Tribal Datu Veloso Suhat as pilot areas for rubber farming.

“The CADC beneficiaries happily welcome this program of the provincial government because they know that rubber farming can improve their income and will give them the opportunity for a better future,” Suhat said.

Consultations on the program were started yesterday through the Cotabato Province Investment and Promotion Center (CPIPC) in the presence of National Commission on Indigenous People legal-designate Florie Rapista.