Coco farmers appreciate Food Safety and GMP

"Food safety is everybody's concern," declares the Eastern Visayas Food Safety Team. For this reason, even aspiring food manufacturers need to understand their responsibility as far as production of safe food is concerned.

A group of coconut farmers from Brgy. Looc, Almeria, Biliran was made aware of the basics of food safety though a lecture on Food Safety and Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP)which form part of their training on Village Level Coconut Based Food Processing on June 25-28, 2014 at Looc, Almeria, Biliran.

A total of 32 participants, both men and women, who are members of the Looc Small Coconut Farmers Association in Almeria. The group was headed by Mr. Pastor Mecaydor, who is also the Barangay Chairman of Looc. The group was organized and assisted by the Philippine Coconut Authority, Biliran headed by Mr. Ladislao Atuel, the Provincial Manager. The training was facilitated by the Agricultural Training Institute, VSU, Baybay, Leyte

The DOST Biliran Provincial Director, Mr. Romeo L. Dignos presented the topic on Food Safety which covers basic principles on food safety, different types of hazards, and a brief discussion on DOH Administrative Order 153 s. 2004 that is the REVISED GUIDELINES ON CURRENT GOOD MANUFACTURING PRACTICE IN MANUFACTURING, PACKING, REPACKING, OR HOLDING FOOD. Mr Dignos also discussed the importance of appropriate labeling and packaging as part of cGMP and food safety advocacy. Packaging and Labeling is embodied in RA 7394 or the Consumer Act of the Philippines under Chapter IV of the Act.

DOST-8 middle managers learn F.Covey's 7Habits

Imagine an organization with highly competent people. The field was cleared, instruments ran smoothly, and people were too eager with high spirits. The outputs were overflowing but there was a stinging pain of stress, anxiety, and exhaustion after the tasks were done. What could possibly went wrong? Perhaps, there needed to be some fine tuning in the workers' characters and values. There must be a revisiting of the habits of effectiveness.

The passion of Dir. Edgardo M. Esperancilla, DOST-8 Regional Director to share the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People to his middle managers came into fruition when 20 senior officers of the office completed the course last June 19-21, 2014. I was fortunate I was one of the 20. We thanked the soft-spoken Dir. Ed for letting us experience the program. Dir. Esperancilla completed the said training years back. "It changed my life," he told us.

'I felt grateful for this tool which will not only enhance my work effectiveness but my personal way of dealing with my own life, my relationship with others, and my duties as a human being.' Well, that's a quote from my own mind, which I could have said if I was given the chance to speak then during the closing program. But since time was limited, few volunteers uttered the same thought - of course, using different words.

Ms. Christine Javier of the Center for Leadership and Change, Inc. shared her experience and competence in the 7H program by facilitating the 3-day activity that was held in Tierra de Milagros in Palo, Leyte. Her talents made our spirits "levitate" from Cloud 7 to Cloud 9, with good synthesis and a healthy sense of humor. Ms. Mafe Caalim,also from CLCI, assisted Christine during the activities. That would be a thumbs up for Ma'am Christine and Mafe. Looking ahead for the follow up activities.

The challenge laid upon us is great. The next seven weeks will be the start of a journey in creating a path in our minds. A path that would make way for the habits to create a regular patterns in our routine. Though it's hard, being proactive is a key to achieving what had been carved in our mind as an end result, the vision of what we want to be.

AR La Naval is DOST Biliran's 2014 best technology adoptor

What does it mean to dream of bolts-and-nuts?

Perhaps there are psychic explanations, but for Mr. Rogelio G. Cabulang, proprietor of AR La Naval Motor Parts and General Marketing, that dream is the beginning of a growing business in the metals and engineering field.

AR La Naval, as we call his business name in short, is the leading supplier of motor parts in Biliran today and has the first complete facility for motorcycle servicing in the province. It has a metal fabrication facility that could provide customized small motorcycle components such as mufflers, crash guards, bushings, customized bolts and nuts, gears, and a lot more. Its metal working facility could provide, sleeving and reboring of small engines and fabricate different kinds of farm implements like rice winnower, land master, thresher, and industrial tools and equipment like coco milk extractors, electric graters, stainless tables, pipe benders, and many others.

When Mr. Cabulang first meet Engr. Willy Lim of the Metals Industry Research and Development Center (MIRDC) of the Department of Science and Technology during the visit of the latter in Naval sometime in 2008, his first question was "How can I start a business of bolts and nuts production?" This idea came into his mind because as a supplier of motor parts in a developing town of Naval in the young province of Biliran, bolts and nuts is one of its best selling product with high demands. But the discussion turned into some twist that lead Mr. Cabulang to realize his passion is in machining.

AR La Naval has a small shop which is annexed to his first store, a rented space in downtown Naval, that provided re-boring services to motorcycle engines. Since, motorcycle is the primary transportation system in the rural areas of Biliran, his services was in demand. But he had a problem, he was only using an old boring machine and improvised honing machine. So his first step to realizing the dream was by contacting the Department of Science and Technology in Biliran Province.

The technology needs assessment conducted during the MIRDC visit assisted by DOST Biliran staff paved the way for a SETUP assistance to improve his machining facility intended to improve the quality of the rebored products plus the improved capability to produce customized motorcycle components. The assistance included acquisition of equipment worth PhP 985,000.00.

But like his bolts-and-nuts dream, the going sometimes gets tough. Because of his expansion efforts he had to invest on the infrastructure by acquiring a lot and constructing his own building to house the newly acquired equipment. He sourced his capital through mortgaged loan from commercial banks.

AR La Naval needed to double his efforts in order to pay his obligations. He started refunding DOST assistance in December 2009. He faced some highs and lows along the way but was able to complete refund in April 2014. Way before the time the repayments has been completed, AR has already opened a new store outlet in Sogod, Southern Leyte with a small shop providing the same reboring services to the Southern Leyte clients.

From the initial 5 workers before DOST entered into AR La Naval's business the firm now employs 30 personnel in his 3 outlets. Comparing the financial records submitted to the Bureau of Internal Revenue, the firm has a total assets of around PhP 7million before DOST intervention and a total of about PhP 10M by the enterprise completed its refund.

Mr. Cabulang's dream maybe far from ending but his determination and hard-work is always there just like bolts-and-nuts strongly attached together.

2015 DOST Undergrad Scholarships now open for application

The Science Education Institute of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST-SEI) now accepts applications for the undergraduate scholarship programs for the school year 2015-2016.

Graduating fourth year high school students for this school year 2014-2015 who belong to the top 5% of the graduating class are qualified to apply. Other criteria include the following: natural-born Filipino citizen; poor, talented and deserving student who belongs to a family whose socio-economic status does not exceed the set values of certain indicators; member of the graduating class of a DOST-SEI identified or DepEd-recognized science high school; resident of the municipality for the last 4 years as attested by the barangay; and of good moral character and in good health.

Passing the qualifying exams slated on September 21, 2014 is a requirement to become a DOST Scholar. Deadline for submission of application is on August 22, 2014. Forms can be obtained at any DOST offices in the provinces and the Regional Offices. It cn also be downloaded through the following links:

2015 DOST-SEI S&T Undergraduate Scholarship Application Form

2015 DOST-SEI S&T Undergraduate Scholarships Brochure

In Biliran we are located at NSU compound, Naval, Biliran Province.

No mountain too steep for DOST Consultancy program

Biliran Scents & Fragrance citronella plantation assessment

The DOST-8 Consultancy team literally walks though hills and climb mountains just to reach its clients in the countryside.

This has become the routine of the Comprehensive Agricultural Productivity Enhancement (CAPE) coordinators and its commissioned consultants during assessment of interested clients who signifies interest to avail of DOST services.

CAPE is one of DOST's consultancy window together with the Manufacturing Productivity Expansion (MPEX) Program, Cleaner Production Technology (CPT), Food Safety (FS), Energy Audit (EA), and other technology specific consultancies.

On June 2-3, 2014 the DOST-8 Team lead by Engr. Ramil Uy, STS Coordinator, Ms. Lucia Dauz and Engr. Florentino Quenonez, MPEX Coordinators, and Ms. Evelyn Tablante, CAPE Coordinator together with the DOST-Biliran Team headed by Mr. Romeo L. Dignos, PSTD, Ms. Ma. Catherine B. Gonda, SRSII, Ms. Gracevillalyn Saldo, Project Assistant II, and Mr. Teddy Abenido, Project Assistant I visited 8 firms from around the Province of Biliran who are enrolled for consultancy assistance for CY 2014.

Canaan Hill Farms Assessment

The DOST Teams were joined by a group of CAPE consultants from the Visayas State University in the persons of Dr. Alfredo B. Escasinas, Dr. Arsenio Ramos, and Dr. Mario Baliad who are experts in their respective fields in Agriculture.

These firms will receive free consultancy services from DOST commissioned consultants from various schools in the region for a period of 3-6 months. The consultants will assist the recipient firms in improving their operations both on technical and management aspects. DOST provides support for the transportation and other incidental expenses of the experts during the consultancy engagements. The consultants, in return, will make necessary recommendations and other technical inputs that will help solve common problems in the business operations. On the receiving end, the firm will be responsible for the cost of any changes he/she is willing to adopt out of the consultants recommendations.

The cost of consultancy fee is so high nowadays that it would be impractical for micro and small enterprises to avail the expertise of consultants by spending some amount out of their own pockets. DOST’s assistance is therefore a big help for them since DOST convinced these consultants to do their share without asking for standard rate consultancy fees.

>The firms to be assisted include: 4 for MPEX: JC Breadhauz, Almeria, Biliran, USJ Welding Shop, Almeria, Biliran, Kisha Snack House, Cabucgayan, Biliran, and Memu Minimart, Caibiran, Biliran; 4 for CAPE: Atipolo MPCI, Naval, Biliran, Biliran Scents & Fragrances, Biliran, Biliran, Canaan Hill Farms, Caibiran, and Maderazo Farm, Caibiran. Also USJ Welding Shop will be assisted with the CPT Program and Energy Audit.

SY2014-2015 DOST-SEI Scholarship Examination Results

The result of the 2014 DOST-SEI Scholarship Examinations for the SY 2014-2015 is now available.

Congratulations to the following passers from Biliran Province:

1. LACSON, JOVIE ANN ALMERIA NHS
2. BORAGAY, GRANT G. BILIRAN NATIONAL AGRICULTURAL HS
3. CORPIN, PRINCESS MICAH T. BILIRAN NATIONAL AGRICULTURAL HS
4. ORZAL, KRIS ANN M. CABUCGAYAN NSAT
5. CABALQUINTO, MICHELLE B. MANLABANG NHS
6. FIEL, ROVIE JOY Q. MANLABANG NHS
7. BORROMEO, ANGELYN A. CULABA NVS
8. PAPILLERAS, KAREN ANTONETTE A. KAWAYAN NHS
9. RADAM, ANITA J. MARIPIPI NVS
10.GULFO, JEFFERSON G. LUCSOON NHS
11.MAHINAY, JEDALYN V. NAVAL NHS
12.SUMAYAN, KIM REYMART BILIRAN SHS

Click the link for the Complete List of qualifiers.

The new scholarship awardees must seek admission in any of the priority S&T fields of study at state colleges and universities and CHED-identified Centers of Excellence/Centers of Development. Each qualifier shall receive a notice of award from the DOST-SEI or DOST Regional Office stating the date of orientation and contract signing. He/she shall report at the designated venue with a parent/legal guardian who must bring a 2014 Community Tax Certificate or Official Passport. The legal guardian is required to present his/her affidavit of guardianship. The names of some potential qualifiers are put on hold pending re-evaluation of some requirements.

Congratulations to all passers.