Barangya Hall renovates

Barangay Hall of Sta. Monica was renovated last July. The aim is to improve
facilities and to accommodate the residents during meeting. It will also be used
during flooded day for those who will evacuated. It is a joint project of Municipality
of San Luis and Sta. Monica headed by Mayor Venancio Macapagal and ABC
President, Barangay Captain Sebastian Caliwag.
It is well facilitated and has friendly atmosphere allowing every residents of
barangay to freely come and visit or inquire any matters at the Barangay Office. The
newly enhanced hall proveds better experience and accommodation for everyone.

PE leader joins Division Dance Seminar

Philippine Folk Dance Society (PFDS) Pampanga Chapter held their 2 nd PFDS
Regional Folk Dance Workshop last July 22 24,2016 at Robinson Starmills,
Pampanga. It was participated by all Pampanga school physical health leader.
Mrs. Gina Nolasco attended the seminar together with other San Luis District
PE leader. The workshop aims to encourage school leaders to join the association
and to learn more about folk dances.
The seminar was headed by Ms. Cherry Dizon, PFDS President and PFDS
adviser Aquilino Eduardo Santos. According to Ms. Dizon, Philippine Folk Dance
should be taught to school children.
They presented different folk dances such as Salakban, La Jota Filipina,
Cariosa de Guadelupe, Virginia, Kayaseg, and Bati. Also, they demonstrated the
different steps and counts.
As an output, participants were grouped to apply what skills they have
learned. At the end of the day, everybody put a big smile and enjoyed the training.

Family Fun Day

Sta. Monica Elementary School conducted Family Fun Day last October ____,
2016 at the school premises. It was participated by parents and pupils. The purpose
of the event is to get along with the parent-child relationship bonding and
camaraderie.
Ms. Jeramie Parungao lead the program. A dance contest was presented by
grade one and pre-elementary pupils. It was followed by parlor games participated
by parent-child. Door prizes were solicited to some civic minded parents.
Parents enjoyed every game they participated, they cooperated well and
after the program they eat together with a boodle fight lunch. Lots of picture taking
with their children were done during the event.

Federalism: are we ready to change?

Recent news reports clearly indicate that President Duterte is determined to
change our form of government into federalism.
For sure he has the best of intentions. The present situation of our
government calls for drastic change. But we better be sure that federalism is the
cure for all the problems that face our nation. Our present situation shows that a big
problem in our society is very alarming. The extra judicial killing of addicts, drug
trafficker, our economic crisis, and foreign policy.
In other country federalism seems to work well and probably they are models
of good governance notably the United States of America, Canda, Germany, and
Switzerland is not guarantee that is the answer to our problems. Before undertaking
such a radical shift, an indepth study of how we can adapt federalism to the
Philippine setting, problems of corruption, drugs, political dynasties, criminality, non
obidience to law, tax evasion, etc. that have been bedevilling us is imperative.
We, students in our young age have much to know, much to understand,
must to see. We need change but changing for change sake may not always
produce positive results. However, we believe a dept study of the propose form of
government is needed.
One thing is sure; we will do our part as the youth of the nation. To pray, to
support, to listen and to be aware.

SMES receives septage and sewerage rain water collector

A storage system to gold rain water for future use was constructed at Sta.
Monica Elementary School on August. Two water tank was installed and funded by
Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) through Congressman Rimpy
Bondoc, Mayor Venancio Macapagal and Barangay Captain Sebastian Caliwag.
The purpose of the sewerage is to provide water for indoor uses as well
flushing the toilets, garden irrigation in case water will run out. It will also minimize
electric consumption.

Parents join cooking contest

In line with the Nutrition Month celebration, Sta. Monica Elementary School
held a parent cooking contest last July 2016. The objective of the contest is to urge
pupils was to eat nutritious and cheaper food which were available in the
community.
The theme ________________________, Home Room officers joined the contest
from pre-elementary to grade six. Each participating ______ was given three hours to
prepare a main dish and a dessert including the drinks. They bring their own kitchen
utensils, tables, and stove.
Grade six home room officers was declared as champion followed by the preelementary home room officers and third grade one home room officers.
Mrs. Alice Mercado, grade six parent and a participant in the contest said
this kind of competition is a new experience for me, its not the usual king and its
also a challenging one since we only knew the ingredients we can use about an hour
before the contest started.
Mrs. Lourdes Caliwag, Home Economics teacher of San Juan Elementary
School, Heidi Dimacali of San Carlos Elementary School and Mrs. Rose Suba of San
Isidro Elementary School served as judges in the competition.

10 more Zika cases in PH; total now at 33

MANILA The Department of Health (DOH) has recorded 10 more cases of Zika
virus infections, bringing the total number of patients to 33 as of November 13,
Health Secretary Paulyn Ubial said Tuesday.
Of the 33 cases, 12 were recorded in Iloilo; four in Bacoor, Cavite; three cases each
in Mandaluyong and Calamba, Laguna; two cases each in Antipolo, Las Pias and
Muntinlupa; one each in Cebu, Quezon City, Makati, Caloocan, and Manila.
Region 6 (Western Visayas) has the highest number of recorded cases in the
Philippines, followed by the National Capital Region, Region 4-A (Calabarzon), and
Region 7 (Central Visayas).
Ubial said only these four regions have recorded cases of Zika virus but the DOH,
along with local government units and the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine
(RITM), continue to monitor samples from regional offices nationwide.
She added that the pregnant woman in Cebu who contracted Zika virus has
undergone two ultrasound tests and showed no abnormalities in her pregnancy.
Shes okay, shes still being monitored. She has undergone two ultrasound (tests)
and so far, still normal. Shes expected to give birth in January, she said.

Source: Inquirer

Chinese astronauts return to earth after longest mission

BEIJING, China China's Shenzhou-11 spacecraft returned to earth on Friday,
November 18, bringing home two astronauts from the rising power's longest-ever
orbital mission, in a milestone for its vaulting ambitions.
China's state broadcaster CCTV showed the return capsule's separation from the
Tiangong-2 space lab 393 kilometres (244 miles) above the earth, and its descent
through the atmosphere to its landing on the grassland of Inner Mongolia in the
country's north.
After it landed, ground personnel rushed to plant two flapping red flags beside the
capsule while observers applauded in China's mission control.
CCTV later showed footage of Jing Haipeng and Chen Dong being carried out of the
capsule and waving as staff wrapped them in blue blankets.
The manned space program's commander in chief Zhang Youxia announced that the
mission was a "complete success."
The men spent the 33-day mission orbiting the earth carrying out experiments
including cultivating silkworms, growing lettuce, and testing brain activity.
The Tiangong-2 space lab, launched in September, is also running experiments on
growing rice and thale cress.
Beijing is pouring billions into its space program in a bid to catch up with the US and
Europe.
It announced in April that it aims to send a spacecraft "around 2020" to orbit Mars,
then land and deploy a rover to explore the Red Planet's surface.
In their last entry in a space diary published by the official Xinhua news agency, the
astronauts wrote that they kept fit in space by doing somersaults and zero-gravity
tai chi.
"At the end of a busy day, we have some free time before going to bed," they wrote.
"We take selfies to have some personal record of this unforgettable journey, or just
go to the window and quietly stare at that beautiful blue planet called Earth."
Beijing sees the military-run program as a symbol of China's progress and a marker
of its rising global stature.
The nation's first lunar rover was launched in late 2013, and while it was beset by
mechanical troubles it far outlived its expected lifespan, finally shutting down only
last month.
But so far China has largely replicated activities that the US and Soviet Union
pioneered decades ago.

It intends to set up its own manned space station by 2022, and eventually put one
of its citizens on the surface of the moon.
In an interview earlier this week, Jing told Xinhua that "even in the wilderness of
space" the astronauts could "always feel the love from our motherland."
Source: Rappler
New TB drugs for kids to roll out next yr DOH
THE Department of Health (DOH) is planning to introduce a new package of antituberculosis (TB) medicines that are for the first time specifically for-mulated for
children, possibly as soon as January 2017, the agency announced.
Several countries in the Asia-Pacific region and Africa are pursuing the initiative,
with the Philippines said to be one of the early adopters of the idea, said Steve
Graham, a professor of international child health at the University of Melbourne and
a senior consultant for child lung health at The Union, a non-profit organization
based in France which aims to control TB, HIV, asthma, lung diseases and tobacco.
Other countries in the region like Cambodia, Myanmar, and Papua New Guinea were
also preparing along with African countries Kenya and Tanzania for the anticipated
introduction of the new drugs, Graham said.
The medicines are not new; they are reformulations of existing medicines but the
dosage appropriate for children, and with added flavors to make them more
palatable for kids. The US-based non-profit TB Alliance and drug firm, Macleods
Pharmaceuticals, developed the new drugs with funding from the Geneva-based
health charity and research group UNITAID.
Manila resident Mari Toni Aumentado, who spoke at the August 19 forum and who is
undergoing treatment for TB along with three of her kids, said, It is very hard to
prepare the medicines everyday, because I have to cut them into pieces for the
children. It also tastes awful, so I have a hard time convincing them to take it.
What the new child-friendly formulation will help is to reduce the erratic and
inaccurate therapy that results from problems like those Aumentado encounters,
and which can contribute to the development of drug-resistant TB, as well as
increase the number of children being treated for the disease, said Rajendra Radav,
country medical officer at the WHO (World Health Organization) Philippines.
Too many kids with TB are not being treated, Radav said, explaining that each
year, one million children worldwide contract TB, resulting in about 140,000 deaths
per year, which could be higher since he suspects many of the acute anemia deaths
in kids are actually due to TB.
And those that get treated are treated with medicines and dosage intended for
adults that negatively affect outcomes, he added. With the right dosage for kids,
health outcomes would improve.
Graham said countries that have expressed interest in the TB drugs for kids are
currently working on the policies and guidelines for procurement, distribution,
detection, diagnosis and other issues.

Rosalind Vianzon, Division Chief of the Intensified Disease Prevention and Control
Division at the DOH, noted that in the Philippines, the challenges to be overcome in
rolling out the new drug program include capacitating those who will deliver the
services and ensuring there is enough budget to guarantee continuous supply.
Another main challenge is allocation and making sure that medicines are available
particularly in rural areas, Vianzon added.

Souce : Manila Times

Ginger could lower blood sugar
GINGER, the spice that puts a kick in your favorite foods, has been a go-to medicine
for decades, being used to treat ailments such as colds, motion sickness, and
arthritis pain.
A new study showed that it can also lower blood sugar in people with type 2
diabetes.
Researchers at Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences in Yazd, Iran, found
that participants in the study who took the ginger capsules had a significant
decrease in blood sugar after eight weeks.
The participants had been living with diabetes for at least 10 years, were randomly
given either three daily one-gram capsules of ginger powder or three identicallooking sham capsules, in addition to their regular diabetes meds.
Researchers said the ginger could possibly inhibit hepatic phosphorylase, an
enzyme that breaks down glucose storage molecules, called glycogen. When
glycogen breaks down, blood sugar rises, so inhibiting this enzyme could
theoretically lower blood sugar for people with type 2 diabetes.
If you have type 2 diabetes and your blood sugar still isnt where you want it to be,
despite following your doctors advice, its worth trying ginger to see if it helps
normalize your levels.
However, ginger can increase the effects of blood thinners, so if youre taking these
drugs, dont take ginger. Make sure to tell your doctor that youre adding ginger to
your regimen, and monitor your blood sugar levels regularly.

Christmas is in the air

As Christmas draw nearer, I cant help but wonder how could we celebrate
this joyous occasion when we seem to be surrounded by so much problem in our
country. There is so much happening in our country and around the world today that
we hardly notice these changes around us heralding the arrival of this blessed
season.
News everyday was all bout extra judicial killings of drug suspects, the
investigation into the deaths of Albuera, Leyte Mayor Rolando Espinosa, Marcos
burial the Libingan ng mga Bayani, spurring protests from victims of the martial law
regime. Across the Pacific the unexpected presidential victory of Donald Trump in
the election of the United States of America shocked the whole world.
We see no end in sight for all the violence, fear, and anger here and in other
nation, but we see hope in the signs of Christmas that are now coming out all over
the world.
The last Sunday of November, the first week of the advent candles will be
lighted in churches in the country, the first candle is the candle of hope,
expectation, and faith that the season will somehow bring about peace, sharing and
love.
Lights, lantern, Christmas trees; Christmas carols are beginning to brighten
our streets, homes and plazas. They are part of the Christmas season despite all our
present troubles, makes us Filipinos ever hopeful, resilient, ever confident in the
future.
Let Jesus comes in our heart this coming Christmas season.

Superkid Caravan visits SMES

Surperkid Caravan with Mr. Safeguard visited Sta. Monica Elementary School
last October 14, 2016. The said event was a program Safeguard Philippines, with its
motto Healthy First.
Participants were from grades one to grade three together with their parents.
Parents attended in other venue while pupils were inside the school premises/ The
topic of the parents is all about personal hygiene. Theywe were lectured by an
obstetrician. On the other hand pupils learned the proper way on how to wash
hands through a nurse. They were encourage the habit of hand washing with soap
before and after going to comfort room. They were given certificate of participation
and free soaps.

War against drug

The first thing that Duterte government in his agenda as soon he seated is to
fight against drugs. Over the past month, we have watched in the news how many
were killed and surrendered. Everyday, different version of circumstances of drug
death were seen in the news.
At a senate panel hearing on September 1, Assistant Secretary Benjamin
Reyes of Dangerous Drug Board scaled a nationwide ____ conducted in 2015 shed
of its official release. Reyes said there are estimated 1.8 million current drug users
in the Philippines. But Duterte government estimates the number of drug users
which he later revised to Drug addict is about 3.7 million.
What the country witness now with war against drug were deaths and
spiraling level of of violence. Drugs is very hard to supress. Although some
surrendered with the government program Oplan Tokhang, still the Philippines war
against drugs is ___________.
The mass killings in the Philippines will not end up, many people who will end
up in one crowded jails will have a big chance of becoming addicted in prison.
The fight will go on and on, we can never tell when it can be won. But how
many more people have to die or be killed to achieve the impossible?