President Arroyo brings livelihood to Sulu fruit farmers amid military offensives

In an effort to bring livelihood to the people of Sulu, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has instructed the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) to help the farmers in the marketing of their tropical fruits produce such as lansones, mangosteen and durian.

This was learned from Sulu Governor Sakur Tan during a brief media interaction presided over by President Arroyo herself after a command conference with top military and police officials at the Western Mindanao Command headquarters on Thursday.

“This is part of the efforts of the administration of President Arroyo to bring livelihood to our people especially so that it is fruit season and we have an abundance of harvest. So there is need to find market for this produce of ours,” he told reporters.

The governor said the President has instructed the DTI to help them in the marketing, and so a C-130 cargo plane is going to transport the farm produce to Manila’s giant supermarkets like ShoeMart (SM) and Rustans.

“The C-130 will transport the produce as often as necessary for as long as there is enough supply to meet the demand or required supply,” according to Governor Tan.

Amid the ongoing (military) operations against the Abu Sayyaf group, he said the farmers are able to harvest and selling their produce at low-priced. “So far there is no incident of harassment on our farmers.”

Licensure exam for 2,000 Sulu teachers set on August 26

In another development, President Arroyo has ordered the Professional Regulations Commission (PRC) to conduct the licensure examination for about 2,000 provisional teachers in Sulu this coming Sunday, August 26, 2007.

Governor Tan said the licensure examination would be conducted simultaneously with other cities and provinces all over the country. “This is upon the instruction of the President to conduct it on Sunday as scheduled but it will be done in Sulu.”

In the past, Tan said, the applicants for Licensure Exam for Teachers (LET) in Sulu had to travel to Zamboanga to take the examination, entailing expenses on their part. “But (this time) they will not anymore go to Zamboanga…we’re bringing government closer to them.”

Currently, there 4,000 teachers are employed in Sulu, but it is still lacking. “This is in line with the shortage of teachers in Sulu. In fact, the President instructed GSIS to give solution on the problems of teachers who have not been able to get their benefits from the GSIS,” he said.

Contrary to reports that several schools in the province have suspended classes because of the ongoing military operations, the governor said that there is no suspension of classes in Sulu as the evacuees were no longer allowed to use the schools as evacuation centers.

"The schools are no longer affected because we don’t anymore allow school grounds or school buildings to be used as evacuation centers. We have identified other areas other than school buildings. So it is now a matter of policy. There is no suspension of class it is on going,” he said.