No single casualty due to firecrackers or firearms during the New Year’s Eve celebration were recorded in Western Visayas based on the monitoring of the Police Regional Office (PRO 6).

However, Negros Occidental province has posted the highest number of injuries due to firecrackers with 25 out of the 63 cases recorded in the region for the period Dec. 31, 2011 to Jan. 1, 2012.

Iloilo province has 10 followed closely by Bacolod City with nine.

On the other hand, Iloilo City recorded seven; Aklan has five while Antique and Capiz has three cases each.

Guimaras province has only one injury.

The PRO 6 operations division noted a decline in the number of cases compared with the same period in 2010-2011.

In 2010-2011, the PRO 6 recorded 72 fire-cracker related injuries with one death and arrested four persons for illegal possession of firearms. Two fire incidents due to firecrackers were also reported during the said period.

A monitoring done by the Department of Health-Center for Health Development 6 (DOH-CHD 6) showed lower cases of firecracker-related injuries with 35 although one casualty was recorded due to “boga” and one injury due to a stray bullet.

Iloilo Governor Arthur Defensor Sr. urged the provincial government employees to continue cooperating as his administration maintains its quest to regain people’s faith in the provincial government.

“There’s no turning back. There’s no way that we return to the old ways, we must prove to our people that we are serious in our quest for reform and change in governance,” Defensor told the employees in today’s first flag-raising ceremony for the year.

Defensor cited the gains achieved by the provincial government after a year and a half of his administration.

He particularly cited the big savings attained by the provincial government for implementing transparent and competitive bidding process on every transaction.

He also cited the successful implementation of various projects for the welfare of the people because of the cooperation of the provincial government employees.

“When we started a new administration last July 2010, some people expressed doubts that we can make it. I can say that we have changed a lot. We have proved that our campaign on reform and change was successful… that you joined us in the belief that we are doing this because we want to restore our people’s faith in the provincial government of Iloilo,” Defensor said.

Defensor said that the year 2011 was a lot better than 2010, but he said the year 2012 promises to be brighter.

“We have all the reasons to believe that all the things that we have done in the past year shall be improved and all the things we have been doing shall be finished and will result to a much better provincial government,” he said.

Central Visayas health officials claimed success in their anti-firecrackers drive during the New Year revelries as firecracker-related injuries in the region was down from 48 cases last year to 45 this year.

But Dr. Susana Madarietta, Department of Health (DOH) 7 director, said she was disappointed that the number of stray bullets cases increased from five last year to eight this year.

Madarietta appealed to gun owners to refrain from firing their guns during the New Year revelries.

Police officials said it is difficult to pinpoint the source of the stray bullets, especially if these came from unlicensed firearms.

Madarietta, however, said she noted the continuing decline in the number of firecracker-related injuries.

The Philippine Army (PA) inaugurated on Wednesday the newly-constructed monument “Battle Cross” inside the army camp here in honor of all fallen soldiers who defended the area of responsibility of the 5th Infantry Division (5ID).

Major General Rommel Gomez, 5ID commanding general, said the monument represents the soldiers while the chain around it symbolizes the teamwork every soldier has to do.

“If somebody breaks the chain and each soldier fails to do his job, the chain will break and if the chain will break, some people die, some people get hurt,” Gomez said.

Gomez said inside the monument is a pole carrying the Philippine flag representing the country which soldiers must secure to sustain the country’s freedom.

The army camp was established 31 years ago, and 146 soldiers have already died in defending its area of responsibility.

The inauguration was part of the 31st anniversary of the 5ID attended by military officers and provincial officials.

Some 2,000 jobs in the business process outsourcing industry will be available in the city government-initiated job fair on May 21-22.

Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog said Ilonggos are more than qualified to work in the industry because of English language proficiency and high education standards earned from different colleges and universities here.

“Iloilo City is actually an excellent source of manpower for BPOs because of the competency of our graduates,” he added.

Dubbed as “BPO Jobs Now,” the job fair will feature 13 BPO firms.

The two-day job fair will be held at Gaisano City in La Paz district from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Iloilo City Public Employment Service Office Manager Alan Zaldivar said job applicants need only to bring their resume, transcript of records and other relevant documents.

The job fair is in cooperation with the Philippine Call Center Institute, ABS-CBN, Department of Labor and Employment, Gaisano City-La Paz and Iloilo City Hall Press Corps.

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