Catarman N. Samar– The Department of Public Works and Highways Northern Samar First District Engineering Office has officially turned over a Multi-Purpose Building (1st Phase) to the Northern Samar Police Provincial Office on June 28, 2023 at Camp Carlos Delgado, Catarman, Northern Samar.

District Engineer Mario D. Villena of the DPWH-NSFDEO officially turned over the newly completed building to the Regional Director, PRO 8, PBGEN Vincent S. Calanoga, and PCOL. Alfredo J. Tadefa, Provincial Director, NSPPO.

In his message, Regional Director PBGEN Vincent S. Calanoga emphasized that the structure symbolizes a “glooming and productive partnership between the community of Northern Samar and the Philippine National Police not only for the Provincial Police office but the entire Philippine National Police.” He further said that the building will be used for various activities, including meetings, community engagements, and other activities that will contribute to the advancement of the police’s operations and the welfare of its personnel.

Meanwhile, District Engineer Mario D. Villena urged NSPPO to make the most of the said facility.

“Utilize its various spaces for meetings, your various activities be it rainy or sunny season, even with activities that involves community engagement and other activities that will contribute to the advancement of your operations and the welfare of your personnel.

emember that this structure represents more than just bricks and mortar-it embodies the spirit of unity, professionalism and service. I have full confidence in your ability to uphold the responsibilities entrusted in you. I trust that you will maintain this structure with the same dedication and care that we have put into its construction.” DE Villena concluded.

The project amounting to Php 6.91-million involves the construction of Multi-Purpose Building (Phase 1) with a total floor area of 612.00 square meter which includes Earthworks, Plain & Reinforced Concrete Works, Finishing, Roofing & other Civil Works.
(ANALIZA A. PABIA/PR)

TACLOBAN CITY– Paytaca, a pioneering startup in the cryptocurrency industry, has successfully closed its seed funding round, raising $450,000 (around P24.5M) from prominent angel investors from abroad. The company aims to revolutionize the payment landscape by promoting the widespread adoption of Bitcoin Cash (BCH) by providing a streamlined, cost-effective peer-to-peer payment experience. They have had two successful pre-seed funding campaigns in the past year alone.

Founded by Dr. Joemar Taganna (CEO), Aaron JP Almadro (Marketing Director), and Michael Machica (CFO), Paytaca has made waves in the market by offering a single cryptocurrency-focused approach instead of adopting multiple cryptocurrencies like many of its competitors. The strategic choice for BCH was driven by its exceptional speed, affordability, programmability, and widespread global usage in payments.

“Our vision at Paytaca is to create a payment ecosystem that not only empowers individual financial freedom through usage of crypto but also translates its advantages into tangible cost savings for users. With Bitcoin Cash at the core of our wallet super app, we are delivering incentives that encourage broader adoption,” said Joemar Taganna, CEO of Paytaca.

The seed funding round was backed by esteemed angel investors from the cryptocurrency space led by Molecular, Mike Komaransky, Renegade D, and Toorik. The injection of funds will accelerate the development and rollout of critical features, expand Paytaca’s user base, and establish a robust merchant network, starting in the Philippines and other regions that are considered hotspots of BCH adoption.

Paytaca has already achieved significant milestones with its fully functional, feature-rich BCH wallet app. Within a short span, the app has garnered approximately 10,000 downloads, with 2,000 active users across Android, Chrome extension, and iOS beta program combined.

Unlike other traditional wallet companies that merely focus on enabling cryptocurrency storage and spending, Paytaca is committed to create a range of innovative services within its BCH-focused wallet super app, like online marketplace and delivery services for subscribed merchants as well as peer-to-peer exchange, with low to almost virtually zero service fees.

“Cryptocurrency is usually understood by Filipinos to be purely for trading. Purchase, hold it, and hope it increases value. We, at Paytaca, want to change that by making cryptocurrency usable. Now, through the Paytaca wallet, even simple purchases like a cup of coffee or a doughnut, could be paid with crypto. Locally, we have around a dozen merchants within Tacloban City alone. With the success of our seed funding, we will be able to onboard more merchants and entice more consumers to use BCH through Paytaca,” shares Marketing Director Aaron JP Almadro.

The Paytaca team’s dedication to its mission did not go unnoticed in the global BCH community. “Paytaca’s commitment to making the benefits of cryptocurrencies accessible and affordable aligns perfectly with our investment philosophy. We are excited to support their vision of a more equitable and free society,” said Molecular, one of Paytaca’s investors. (PR)

Maydolong-Basey road project

MAYDOLONG, Eastern Samar – The construction of the Maydolong-Basey road will benefit not only ordinary travelers but to the residents where it traverses.

Reynaldo Ladiao,60 and a resident of Barangay Del Pilar said that they are happy that finally their village will be connected to the rest of town with the construction of the Maydolong-Basey road.

Last July 15, a groundbreaking took place in Del Pilar, an upland village, led by 4Ps parry-list Rep. Marcelino Libanan. The project has a cost of more than P333 million.

“Our farm produce can now reach the town easily unlike before when we need to walk for more than an hour to the river bank and then travel by motorboat for two to three hours to reach the market to sell our products,” Ladiao said.

“The paved road will lessen spoilage of our products which could result in higher income for us,” he added, saying that traders could now travel to their village with ease.

Most of the residents of the village rely on selling root crops and vegetables as their main source of livelihood.

Aside from selling their products, the road project will also benefit their students who are studying in schools outside Del Pilar.

Karen Ladiao, 18, said that with a lack of public transport, she has to walk three hours from their village just to reach their school in Lapgap National High School where she is enrolled as a senior high student.

Their teacher has to dismiss them as early as 2 pm for them to go home early, she said.
Her mother, Maria, 48, said that her other six children failed to finish their studies due to the absence of a concrete road in their village, aside from sheer poverty.

“If possible I want my youngest child to finish her studies and earn a degree,” she said.
The road, once completed, will cut short the travel time from the present four hours to one-and-a-half to two hours or from more than 200 kilometers road of Borongan-Quinapundan-Basey to about 80 kilometers of Maydolong-Basey road.

During the groundbreaking ceremony, Libanan asked residents of Maydolong especially those who live in villages where the road traverses to help in protecting the environment.
“Let us not compromise the safety and protection of our environment,” the solon said.
A pledge of commitment was signed by stakeholders to maintain, conserve and protect the natural beauty of the environment surrounding the road that will cross the Maydolong-Balangkayan-Llorente close canopy area which is located within the Samar Island Natural Park.

Building or constructing any structures like houses will be prohibited within the close canopy area and steel fences will be constructed to prevent people from crossing and encroaching the protected area.
Libanan added that this road will be useful during times of calamity and disaster especially since authorities would always close to traffic the Buray-Taft road during heavy rainfall due to flooding and possible landslides. (ROEL T. AMAZONA)