TACLOBAN CITY – San Pedro Bay in Samar province has been cleared of red tide after more than three months of infestation, the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) said on Monday(July 3).

The fisheries bureau said negative results for the toxin causing paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP) were obtained from three consecutive weeks of sampling in the seawaters of Basey and Marabut towns in Samar province.

“The public is hereby informed that shellfish samples harvested from San Pedro Bay in Samar are now safe for human consumption. Likewise, gathering or harvesting and marketing of shellfish from the above-mentioned area are now permitted,” said BFAR Eastern Visayas Regional Director Hannibal Chavez.

Under Shellfish Bulletin No. 16, all bays in Eastern Visayas are now red tide-free based on the latest confirmed laboratory sampling of the BFAR main office.

However, a local red tide advisory issued by BFAR regional office here warned against harvesting, trading, and consumption of shellfish from Matarinao Bay to prevent the incidence of PSP, which can occur minutes after ingesting bivalve shellfish (such as mussels, oysters, and clams) that contain red tide toxins.

Matarinao Bay covers the coastal waters of the towns of General MacArthur, Hernani, Quinapondan and Salcedo in Eastern Samar.

“To safeguard human lives, a local red tide warning is issued in this area as a precautionary advice to the public to refrain from gathering, selling, and eating all types of shellfishes and Acetes sp. locally known as alamang or hipon from the said bay,” Chavez said.

The BFAR field office here is still waiting for confirmation from BFAR central office laboratory.

Although the shellfish ban has been lifted in almost all areas in the region, the BFAR regularly monitors all coastal waters to check possible recurrence.

Included in regular water sample checks are the coastal waters of Daram, and Zumarraga, Cambatutay, Irong-irong, Maqueda, and Villareal Bays in Samar; coastal waters of Guiuan in Eastern Samar; coastal waters of Leyte, Calubian, Ormoc, Sogod, Carigara Bay, and Cancabato Bay, Tacloban City in Leyte; and coastal waters of Biliran Island.

These areas had a history of red tide recurrence in the past years.
(SARWELL Q. MENIANO/PNA)

ORMOC CITY– One of the country’s most popular showbiz personalities, Vice Ganda, held a free concert here on June 29 as the city marks its annual fiesta.

The appearance of Vice Ganda, who headlines the ‘Its Showtime’ noontime show, was a fulfillment of a wish by the people of Ormoc, said Leyte Rep. Richard Gomez.

Gomez, former mayor of Ormoc City, said that the coming of Vice Ganda and other popular showbiz personalities of the country is a testament of the city being the ‘entertainment capital of Eastern Visayas.’

The more than two-hour concert of Vice Ganda, held at the city’s public plaza, was attended by over 150,000 people, some coming from outside Ormoc City.

“Ormoc is now gaining ground as the entertainment capital in the region as the city managed to stage concerts and events,” Gomez said.
(LIZBETH ANN A. ABELLA)

TACLOBAN CITY – After three years of hiatus due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, the Pintados Festival returns but with only four contingents participating.
Still, they pushed through in holding the Pintados Festival even with a few contingents joining as a way to show that the city has returned to normalcy, Pintados Foundation president Eugene Tan said.

In previous years, the Pintados festival is held every June 27 but Mayor Alfred Romualdez in an earlier interview said that they will allow other festivals to hold their events but only during the weekend reason this year’s edition was held on a Saturday, June 24.

The city has its own festival called Sangyaw Parade of Lights which is now in its 15th year and slated on June 29.

“We immediately agreed because we want to have peace in celebrating the fiesta of our Sr. Santo Niño,” Tan said.

“We are happy that we are able to return, although we do not have that many contingents but we have those with quality performances and give joy to the people which is our ultimate goal. Making people enjoy the Tacloban fiesta,” he added.

Pintados, which is now in its 36th year, is one of the three festivals being held relative to the fiesta of Tacloban giving honor to its patron, Senior Santo Niño.

It has a partner festival, the Kasadyaan – a competition of all festivals in the province of Leyte but the organizers headed by Palo Mayor Remedios Petilla decided not to hold a competition this year due to lack of preparations by local government units.

The contingent of Alang-alang, Leyte, ‘Tribu Mag uruma of Lingganay Festival’ was declared as this year’s winner, defeating the reigning champion, ‘Tribu Mangirisda’ of Tanauan’s Pasaka Festival.

Mayor Lovell Yu Castro expressed her appreciation to all festival contingent dancers and members for bringing glory to their municipality.

The town mayor added that this accolade will help them in promoting Alangalang not only to tourists but also to investors.

Tribu Mag uruma won P150,000 cash prize while Tribu Mangirisda won hP100, 000, and Tribu Rayhak of Leyte National High School won P50, 000. (ROEL T. AMAZONA)