Awards liven up Kayapa’s WPD2022 celebration

Awards liven up Kayapa’s WPD2022 celebration

A composite team from the Provincial Government of Nueva Vizcaya (PGNV) led by Provincial Population Officer Elvira G. Tongson joined government personnel of the Municipality of Kayapa in celebrating this year’s World Population Day (WPD) at the LGU’s makeshift municipal hall.

PPO Tongson stressed the general aim of the WPD which is celebrated every July 11, i.e., to create awareness and elicit action among stakeholders on population issues and related concerns.

She also gave a brief presentation on the mechanics of the Kaunlarang Pantao Awards (KPA) of the Commission on Population and Development (POPCOM) where Kayapa has been adjudged Most Outstanding Municipality of Region II in advancing Adolescent Health and Development (1st Place), and Responsible Parenthood and Family Planning (1st Place). The LGU was awarded by the Region II Office of the POPCOM a Plaque of Recognition and a cash prize of P15,000 for each category in a ceremony held last April 1 in Santiago City.

During this morning’s celebration, the PGNV’s composite team also awarded the LGU Plaques of Recognition and the same amount of cash incentives.

The awards specifically recognize the efforts and initiatives of the LGU in advancing various population and development strategies, particularly responsible parenthood/family planning, adolescent health and development, and population and development integration amid the ongoing pandemic.

Also highlighting the day’s event was the awarding of a Centenarian Certificate and a P100K check from the Region II Office of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) to Kayapa’s Rosalyn A. Luhmis, 102. She’ll be receiving the same amount of cash incentives from the municipal and provincial governments.

Kayapa’s Mayor, Dr. Elizabeth D. Balasya, expressed her profound gratitude and appreciation to the event’s organizers and coordinators headed by Dr. Miguela C. Watchorna, concurrent Health Officer and Population Officer of the municipality, and all those who participated in the celebration.

She also acknowledged the invaluable contributions of the PGNV and the members of the Sangguniang Bayan headed by Vice Mayor Peter L. Bay-an which, she said, led to the successful implementation of the municipal government’s award-winning population development programs, projects, and activities.

The POPCOM which spearheads the nation’s celebration of World Population Day has estimated the Philippine population as of December 31, 2021 at 109,991,095.

With that, it has adopted the theme: “110 Milyong Solusyon Tungo sa Pagkamit ng Potensyal ng Bawat Pilipino”, which aims to “rally and tap the potentials of our citizens who can all be instrumental towards the country’s attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals set by the United Nation (UN)”.

This is in line with the global theme: “A world of 8 billion: Towards a resilient future for all – harnessing opportunities and ensuring rights and choices for all”, which speaks of the reality that “not all of those 8 billion people have equal rights and opportunities”.

According to the UN, “It took hundreds of thousands of years for the world population to grow to 1 billion – then, in just another 200 years or so, it grew sevenfold. The global population reached the 7 billion mark in 2011, stood at almost 7.9 billion in 2021, and is expected to grow to around 8.5 billion in 2030, 9.7 billion in 2050, and 10.9 billion in 2100.” It attributes this dramatic growth mainly to “the ever-increasing number of people surviving to reproductive age and the accompanying major changes in fertility rates and life expectancy, increasing urbanization, and accelerating migration”.

These trends, said the UN, will have far-reaching implications for generations to come. “They affect economic development, employment, income distribution, and social protections which include efforts to ensure universal access to health care, education, housing, sanitation, water, food, and energy”, it added.

Accordingly, the UN advises policymakers to “know how many people are living on the planet, where they are, how old they are, and how many people will come after them in order to more sustainably address their needs.”