BAYBAY CITY, Leyte —Dr. Lualhati M. Noriel, Director of the Quality Assurance Center, and Dr. Beatriz S. Belonias, Dean of the Graduate School, of the Visayas State University were given recognition for topping the post-training examination of the Training-Workshop of AACCUP Accreditors on Outcomes-Based Quality Assurance.

BAYBAY CITY, Leyte —A total of 120 medals, based on the number of players in every sporting event, were reaped by the VSU athletes during the 30th Regional State Colleges and Universities Athletic Association (SCUAA) Meet hosted by the University of Eastern Philippines (UEP) in Catarman, Northern Samar on October 19-24, 2014.

With the theme "Communicating Risk", the conference brought together development communication educators and practitioners to VSU one year after Yolanda.

BAYBAY CITY, Leyte—The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) represented by its Secretary, Hon. Ramon J.P. Paje, and the Visayas State University (VSU) represented by its President, Dr. Jose L. Bacusmo, signed on November 10, 2014 at the VSU Guesthouse the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) for a PhP3.5-million Tree Clonal Nursery and Facilities Establishment Project.

Assoc. Prof. Maria Aurora Teresita W. Tabada, Director of the Institute for Strategic Research and Development Studies (ISRDS), acceded to the invitation of Vietnam’s Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and the Vietnam Chamber for Commerce and Industry to speak on “Engaging Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) for EITI Implementation: Experiences from the Philippines” during the Workshop on Managing Revenue Streams from Extractive Industries in Vietnam on October 10, 2014 at the Sofitel Hotel in Hanoi, Vietnam.

The workshop was organized to discuss the status of and enhancing the benefits from the extractive industry for Vietnam. In addition, since Vietnam is planning to join the Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (EITI), it sought to learn from the experience of the Philippines which was admitted to the EITI as a candidate country on May 22, 2013 during the 6^th EITI Global Conference in Sydney, Australia.

President Benigno Aquino created the Philippine EITI through EO 147, series of 2013. PH-EITI seeks to introduce greater transparency and accountability in the extractive industries (mining, oil and gas, coal) in the way government collects and companies pay taxes and other revenues from Extractive Industry (EI).  In particular, the PH-EITI Multi-Stakeholder Group (MSG) provides business and civil society stakeholders a platform for engaging government in the implementation of EITI in the country. The PH-EITI is lodged with the Department of Finance.  The CSO representatives come from Bantay Kita (BK), the broad coalition of civil society organizations advocating transparency and accountability in the extractive sector.

Assoc. Prof. Tabada said that by joining EITI, the governmentdemonstrates commitment to reform and anti-corruption, leading to improvements to the tax collection process, and enhanced trust and stability in a volatile sector; companies benefit from a level playing field and an improved and more stable investment climate in which they can better engage with citizens and civil society; and  Filipino citizens and civil society organizations benefit from receiving reliable information about the extractives sector, and a multi-stakeholder platform where they can better hold the government and companies to account.

Tabada’s paper presentation consisted of three parts: legal framework for people’s participation in governance; the PH-EITI implementation; and the value of CSO participation in the EITI implementation. 

First, Tabada said that the 1997 Philippine Constitution recognizes the role of civil society, particularly the youth, in nation building. Philippine laws, likewise, specify areas for people’s participation, i.e. Multipartite Monitoring Teams (MMTs).

In the second part, the points raised included the mandates of the PH-EITI MSG, composition of, selection process, and roles of the CSO representatives.

The third part highlighted the accomplishments of the CSO reps in terms of the conduct of subnational stakeholder consultations, capacity building by participating in workshops on EI governance, full participation in the monthly MSG meetings, and monitoring disclosures. She showed that participation is a step forward because it encourages civil society to participate continuously in government affairs while ensuring that government is responsive to the needs of the public especially the marginalized sectors.

Assoc. Prof. Tabada is a member of the BK Board of Trustees and CSO representative to the PH-EITI MSG. The ISRDS is a member of Bantay Kita.

BAYBAY CITY, Leyte —The Visayas State University (VSU) Main Campus joined the whole constituents of Eastern Visayas in commemorating the 1st Typhoon Yolanda Anniversary through a simple commemorative program after the Holy Mass offered for the victims of the Super Typhoon Yolanda that hit and devastated the lives and properties of thousands of dwellers regardless of status in Region 8 in the morning of November 8, 2013. The program was held in the morning of November 11, 2014 at the VSU Convention Hall.

In celebration of the 114^th Anniversary of the Civil Service Commission (CSC), the Visayas State University (VSU) distributed certificates and VSU logo pins to 100 employees who are still working in the University for 10 to 35 years. The awards were given during the VSU’s “CSC Anniversary Culmination Program and Fun Walk/Run” held on September 30, 2014 at the VSU Gymnatorium.

Aside from the pins and certificates that they received, 17 employees who rendered services for the first 10 years will also receive in December a cash award of PhP5,000 each; while  another 17 employees who served for 15 years will receive PhP2,500 each.  Moreover, 13 employees who rendered services for 20 years and 20 employees for the last 25 years will also receive PhP3,750 each; while 13 employees who worked for 30 years and 20 for 35 years will be receiving PhP5,000 each. This is VSU’s way of recognizing their faithful, unconditional love and loyalty of service to the institution regardless of remuneration they received from the government.  

The occasion was spiced up with the presence of Dir. Pharida Q. Aurella, Director II of CSC Satellite Office in Ormoc City, as she delivered a message that centered on the theme “Tapat na Serbisyo Alay Ko Dahil Lingkod Bayani Ako.”  Dir. Aurella reminded the VSU employees regarding their responsibilities as public servants as stipulated in the Constitution which is “A Public Service Is A Public Trust.”  The guest speaker emphasized that all public offices and employees must, at all times, be accountable to the people and serve them with highest degree of responsibility, efficiency, loyalty, integrity, and lead modest lives.  She believes that as public servants, we are building a new civilization for the future of our country.  She encouraged everyone “to start within ourselves to become a good public servant.”

Dir. Aurella also shared three most important points to avoid mistakes in delivering quality service to the clients—we should have commitment, give love, and have time.  According to her, if you commit something to anybody, you indwell into that person.  She further said that if we give love on anything that we do, we are also willing to sacrifice and later on reap excellent service.  She also said that if we give time, we don’t need to explain anything. 

In the same occasion, special awards were given to those who joined in the fun walk/run as a prelude to the culmination program, in the Zumba exercise, and in the raffle draw.