Hontiveros Files Six Health Bills in 15 Days

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Barangay health workers with no health insurance? That will soon change.

Keeping true to her campaign promise, Senator Risa Hontiveros has filed six essential bills within her platform of universal healthcare, fifteen days in on her first term.

One of her priority bills is the proposed legislation seeking PhP 6,000.00 as basic wage for barangay health workers or BHWs. Senate Bill No. 214 also seeks to provide training and accreditation to BHWs, currently serving in a volunteer basis.

“Barangay health workers aid the community in primary care like maternal and childcare and health education,” said Hontiveros. “But they are not given enough training and compensation for their service”, she added.

Having gone around the campaign trail, Hontiveros recalled her conversations with BHWs. She cited the case of numerous BHWs not being covered by PhilHealth. Hontiveros also served as PhilHealth director until October last year

“It’s a sad situation when health workers themselves are not insured of their health”, said Hontiveros. “Senate Bill No. 214 seeks to remedy that”, she added. Her bill seeks to provide BHWs with PHilHealth, GSIS and Pag-Ibig benefits.

According to latest data, there are 219,433 active BHWs in the country spread out in 42,000 barangays. The former PhilHealth Director sees the numbers as an opportunity: “The BHWs are or first responders. Imagine if we enhance their skills through more trainings”, she argued. The said bill promises a six-month Community Health Worker Education and Program to produce skilled medical professionals.

Hontiveros seeks counterpart funding from the national government to augment the support to BHWs given by local government units.

In addition to her bill on BHWs, Hontiveros also proposed legislations on the extension of maternity leave, strengthening of the HIV-AIDS law and the anti-hospital deposit law, establishment of the National Health Promotion Institute and providing mandatory PhilHealth coverage for persons with disabilities.

Hackzilla in Manila: Hackathon for Disaster Response Management

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Build the Tech, Stop the Carnage, Save the World!

Freelancer.com kicks off the largest inter-collegiate hackathin for disaster response management dubbed as Hackzilla in Manila.

The first-ever Hackzilla in Manila is Freelancer.com’s inter-collegiate hackathon. Within 36 hours, students will be challenged to build mobile applications, websites, and various other technological solutions that will concentrate on alleviating the harmful impact of natural calamities.

This year’s theme is Preparing the Philippines to effectively respond to natural disasters through the use of technology.

In partnership with the Philippine Disaster Response Foundation (PDRF), The Department of Science and Technology’s (DOST) Project NOAH, the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), Developers Connect Philippines (DevCon), and the Philippine Society of IT Educators (PSITE), Freelancer.com’s event Hackzilla in Manila will happen from July 22 to 23, 2016 at the Freelancer.com office, 30th floor, Ecotower, 32nd cor 9th Avenue, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig.

WHAT: HACKZILLA IN MANILA
WHEN: 22 - 23 July 2016
WHERE: Freelancer.com Office
30th floor, Ecotower, 32nd cor 9th Avenue,
Bonifacio Global City, Taguig

Below is the official Press Release:

On June 22, 2016, the whole of Metro Manila joined together in #MMShakeDrill--a massive earthquake drill aimed to prepare citizens for a 7.2-magnitude earthquake caused by the movement of the West Valley Fault.

Organized by the Metro Manila Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (MMDRRMC) together with the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA),  the Office of Civil Defense (OCD), and various other stakeholders, the metrowide event aims to mitigate the widespread loss of lives and properties.

Such preparation is not unfounded paranoia: more than ever, it is a necessity. With the Philippines having been hailed as one of the world’s most disaster-prone countries, the country must acknowledge the inevitable onslaught of supertyphoons and earthquakes (much like it had during Typhoons Yolanda and Ondoy) in the years to come. Being caught off-guard without proper disaster response strategies is the worst thing that could happen.

Creating Technologies to Combat Calamities

As a firm believer in the capability of technology to empower Filipino talent and catalyze positive change in communities, the world’s top online freelancing website Freelancer.com has spearheaded an innovative hackathon that will rally college students to pitch their transformative ideas to address societal problems.

With Preparing the Philippines to effectively respond to natural disasters through the use of technology as the theme of the first-ever Hackzilla in Manila, Freelancer.com’s inter-collegiate hackathon, students will be challenged to build mobile applications, websites, and various other technological solutions that will concentrate on alleviating the harmful impact of natural calamities.

In partnership with the Philippine Disaster Response Foundation (PDRF), The Department of Science and Technology’s Project NOAH, the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), Developers Connect Philippines (DevCon), and the Philippine Society of IT Educators (PSITE), Freelancer.com’s event Hackzilla in Manila will happen from July 22 to 23, 2016.

To qualify:

1.    Students must be currently enrolled in a CHED-accredited school;

2.    Each group can have a maximum of five (5) members. (Group members do not necessarily have to come from the same school.)

3.    Groups looking to join the competition will have to submit via the Sign Up form at http://www.hackzilla.io/sign-up/ the following details:

○     A brief write up providing the profile of the team members including Github (or similar) references showing capability through past projects;

○     A short 2-minute video, uploaded on YouTube, outlining their hackathon pitch in line with the event theme.  

4.    A maximum of 12 teams will be selected by the organizing committee, consisting of Freelancer.com senior engineers and staff, to compete in the event; 3 alternate teams will also be identified in case some of the selected teams decide to pull out of the event

5.    Deadline for submission of entries will be on July 8, 2016.

6.    Selected and alternate teams will be notified via email on July 15, 2016.

7.    Competing teams should be present on July 22 at the Freelancer.com office, 30th floor, Ecotower, 32nd cor 9th Avenue, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig.

The winning team will be announced on July 23, with the finalists’ entries judged by representatives from Freelancer.com and its partner organizations.

To know more, visit: www.hackzilla.io

DOE Statement on Power Situation (Yellow Alert)

Wazzup Pilipinas!

The Department of Energy (DOE) is closely monitoring the power supply situation in Luzon following the Forced Outage of the 122 megawatts (MW) of the South Luzon Thermal Energy Corporation’s (SLTEC) coal-fired power plant and 300 MW-Block B of the Ilijan Natural Gas Power Plant resulting in the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines’ (NGCP) Yellow Alert declaration from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. of 19 July, 2016.

As of 9:00 a.m. of the said date, the available capacity stood at 9,981 MW, while the demand is projected to reach 9,479 MW.

In response, Manila Electric Corporation (MERALCO) already coordinated with its Interruptible Load Program (ILP) participants to augment the supply. As of 11 a.m., there are about 154 ILP participants that have confirmed their availability equivalent to 315 MW.

The DOE constantly reminds the public to practice energy efficiency and conservation measures.