The 1st Southern Negros Occidental Coastal Zone Marine EcoTourism Seminar and Workshop will be held Feb. 17 to 18, at Punta Bulata Resort and Spa in Brgy. Elihan, Cauayan, Negros Occidental, a press release from event organizers said.

The seminar hopes to address issues such as the environment-friendly infrastructure development, development and management of eco-tourism or sustainable tourism projects, market potentials and marketing.

Guest speakers will be Professor David Bellamy, founding chairman of the International Committee for the Tourism for Tomorrow Awards, and president of nine and vice president of six conservation organizations in the United Kingdom; Grace Favila of the Sustainable Coastal Tourism in Asia; and Carlos Libosada, a Filipino expert in ecotourism.

The seminar also hopes to bring together and unite the SNCDP Management Council, local governmet units, resort operators, and stakeholders of various beach tourism destinations and properties within the SNCDP. Participants will also have a field trip to the Danjugan Island on Feb. 18, the press release added.*

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City to launch feeding program

A feeding program for undernourished elementary pupils called "Nutripan sa Paaralan," will be launched Feb. 13 by the Urban Basic Services Division of the Bacolod City government.

A press release from City Hall said the Nutripan or nutritious pandesal fortified with iron and Vitamin A, will be given to 500 pupils of Handumanan Elementary School and 200 from F.R. Flores Elementary School, at 3 p.m. and 9 a.m., on Feb. 13.

Mayor Evelio Leonardia will lead the distribution of bread to the pupils. Schools to benefit first from the program are the Rizal Elementary School and ABES I.

The project will be held twice a week alternately with the Insumix feeding, an indigenous supplementary mixture of rice, mongo and sesame, UBSD head Tess Galon said.

The Insumix project received the Award of Excellence at the 41st Anvil Awards in Malacañang last year.

Nutripan was made through the help of Brgy. Tangub Kagawad Ogie Juguan.

Meanwhile, the Department of Education in Bacolod under Dr. Milagros Gonzales has raised P71,824.50 from the "Alay Lakad 2006" held in December, a City Hall press release also said.

The DepEd was the highest contributor, followed by the city government with P50,000 as financial assistance. The local steering committee also collected P384,771.15, including pledges for scholarship, food and prizes contributions. Executive Committee chairman was Manny Jalandoni of the Lions Club.*

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Creative writing
workshop slated in Escalante City

A seminar workshop on creative writing will be conducted tomorrow and Feb. 17 by the Escalante City Tourism office, in cooperation with the Shakespearean Family, a local college organization, and the Department of Education in Escalante City, Negros Occidental.

It is in connection with the celebration of the National Arts Month spearheaded by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts and will be held at the Mount Carmel audio-visual room, an Escalante press release said.

The barangays of Escalante have their own folktales, myths, legends and stories, and the seminar workshop hopes to come out with a comprehensive barangay history and update its present records. About 60 participants from the local college and high schools are expected to attend the workshop.

Choreographers, dancers and musicians will create a dance and music rendition using the output of the activity.

Digital photography, painting and museology seminars will also follow during the month-long activity which culminates on the last week of February, in time for the 7th City Charter anniversary, the press release added.*

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Rice distributed in San Carlos

Five hundred sacks of rice given by the Negros Occidental government are now being distributed to 12,000 residents of 18 barangays in San Carlos City.

The distribution that started in Jan. 25 and expected to end today, is being spearheaded by Mayor Eugenio Jose Lacson and Vice Mayor Gerardo Valmayor, assisted by members of the Sangguniang Panlungsod and personnel of the City Social Welfare and Planning Development offices.

The distribution of rice assistance is part of the poverty alleviation campaign of the administration of Lacson.* GPB

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