For alleged violation of environmental law

PALOMPON, Leyte– Personnel from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) conducted an excavation at the premises of the DBSN Farm owned by Mayor Ramon Oñate of this town last Sunday (Jan. 21).

The excavation was by virtue of a search warrant issued by a regional trial court based here on January 16 with a 10-day validity period, covering 30 sites.

The order, signed by Executive Judge Georgina Perez, was made upon the application of the DENR regional office, headed by Regional Executive Director Lormelyn Claudio, claiming that the poultry farm violated RA 11038, otherwise known as the Expanded National Integrated Protected Areas System Act, by dumping and burying ‘solid and hazardous wastes.’

The DENR also claims that the lot where DBSN was built lies along the Palompon Watershed Forest Reserve as designated under Presidential Proclamation 212.

The team dug up at least three sites chosen by the DENR-8 Enforcement Division and then collected water and soil samples for sampling.

This act of the DENR team was questioned by the lawyers of the DBSN as it filed a motion to quash the search warrant and suppress any gathered evidence, claiming that there had been a misrepresentation by the DENR in the application of the search warrant.

DBSN also maintained that the land in question is not a protected area covered under RA 11038 and two of the witnesses are not residents of Palompon nor employees of the farm for them to have personal knowledge of any dumping activities in the area.

“This is not part of a protected area. With the advent of the internet, you can browse at the website of the DENR, what are the list of protected areas in the whole country, in region. Is the municipality of Palompon or any part of the municipality of Palompon part of a protected area? No, you won’t see there, this is not a protected area,” Mayor Oňate emphasized.

In September 2023, Branch 17 of the Regional Trial Court in Palompon issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) on Claudio’s order to excavate in the same area.

The excavation on Sunday ended at about 4:30 pm as the DENR team was only able to dig five sites that were specified under the warrant and three sites allegedly outside the search warrant.

DBSN lawyers claimed that nothing was found on the excavation site within the areas specified in the search warrant but the DENR personnel was able to dig chicken manure, plastic bottles, and empty cans in areas outside the area cited on the search warrant.

The DENR-8 team also took water and soil samples from all eight areas that they dug.

DBSN is considered to be the largest single corporation in the Visayas and Mindanao with over 600 workers under its name. It produces 100,000 eggs per day that in turn could yield 150,000 kilograms of chicken meat.
(ROBERT DEJON/ROEL T. AMAZONA)

The total volume of goods imported by the region from other countries in September 2023 was 151.39 million kilograms with a total value of USD 196.62 million.

This indicates a 32.40 percent drop from the USD 290.87 million worth of imported commodities posted in September 2022. Ores, slag and ash commodity group registered the highest import value at USD 166.64 million comprising 84.75 percent of the total value of imports in September 2023.

Australia contributed the largest portion in the total imports of the region valued at USD 88.59 million (45.06%).

The total volume of goods exported by the region to other countries in September 2023 was 93.40 million kilograms with a total value of USD 158.40 million. This indicates a 12.09 percent increase from the USD 141.32 million total value of exports in the same period a year ago.

The major export commodity group was copper and articles thereof valued at USD 150.03 and composed the bulk (94.72%) of the total exports value in September 2023.
Exports to the People’s Republic of China worth USD 80.42 million comprised more than half (50.77%) of the total value of exports.

The total trade of goods in Eastern Visayas amounted to USD 355.01 million in September 2023.

This indicates an annual decline of 17.86 percent from USD 432.18 million in the same month of 2022.

The balance of trade of goods (BoT-G) in September 2023 was USD -38.22 million, indicating a trade deficit which narrowed by 74.44 percent from
USD -149.55 million in September 2022. (PR)

TACLOBAN CITY – The Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) and the National Nutrition Council (NNC) on Friday forged a new partnership agreement to carry out the dietary supplementation program in agrarian reform communities in Eastern Visayas.

DAR Eastern Visayas Regional Director Robert Anthony Yu and NNC Nutrition Program coordinator Catalino Dotollo Jr. signed a memorandum of understanding at the DAR regional office for the implementation of phase six of the “Tutok Kainan.”

The agreement will pave the way to address the needs of nutritionally at-risk pregnant women in 54 towns in the provinces of Leyte, Southern Leyte, Samar, Northern Samar, and Eastern Samar, who are the recipients of phase six of the said program.

Under this partnership, DAR will recommend agrarian reform beneficiaries’ organizations (ARBOs) in target areas capable of supplying fresh farm products, while NNC will serve as a direct market, buying fresh food items from the ARBOs needed in the preparation of supplemental food for pregnant women.

“With our ‘Tutok Kainan,’ we also want our ARBOs to have income while addressing malnutrition and hunger among our children and pregnant women. It’s hitting two birds with our engagement with the DAR through their respective beneficiaries,” Dotollo said.
Last year, eight ARBOs from the provinces of Leyte, Southern Leyte, Samar and Northern Samar entered into a PHP10.2-million marketing agreement with NNC for phases three and five of “Tutok Kainan.”

“This is a golden opportunity to establish new industries, paving the way for new projects and other enterprises to cater to the entrepreneurial needs of our agrarian reform beneficiaries and their organizations,” Yu said.

“Tutok Kainan” focuses on a much-needed nutrition intervention: dietary supplementation for nutritionally at-risk populations, especially during the pandemic when the livelihoods of marginalized families are at stake.

The program underscores the need to closely monitor the nutrition of the target beneficiary during the crucial period of the first 1,000 days to prevent low birth weight and stunting.
(SARWELL Q. MENIANO/PNA)

Poverty incidence among families in Eastern Visayas in the first semester of 2023 was estimated at 26.1 percent. This implies that in the first semester of 2023, about 1 in every 4 families in the region was poor or have income that were below the poverty threshold, or the amount needed to buy their basic food and non-food needs.

In the first semester of 2023, poverty incidence among families in Samar was estimated at 35.8 percent; Eastern Samar at 35.6 percent; Northern Samar at 27.5 percent; Leyte (excluding Tacloban City) at 23.8 percent; Southern Leyte at 16.6 percent; and Biliran at 13.2 percent.

Significant improvements in poverty situation among families between the first semester of 2021 and first semester of 2023 were noted in Biliran, Leyte (excluding Tacloban City), and Southern Leyte. Poverty incidence among families in Biliran dropped to 13.2 percent in the first semester of 2023 from 22.4 percent in the first semester of 2021.

The province of Leyte (excluding Tacloban City) registered a 23.8 percent poverty incidence among families in the first semester of 2023, lower than the 31.3 percent in the first semester of 2021. Poverty incidence among families in Southern Leyte decreased to 16.6 percent in the first semester of 2023 from 25.5 percent in the same semester of 2021.
Given the new master sample, PSA was able to generate reliable statistics down to the provincial level as well as for highly urbanized cities (HUCs).

Poverty incidence among families for Tacloban City, the lone HUC in the region, was recorded at 13.2 percent in the first semester of 2023.

Around 34 out of 100 individuals in Eastern Visayas are poor.

Poverty incidence among population in Eastern Visayas in the first semester of 2023 was estimated at 33.7 percent. This implies that in the first semester of 2023, around 34 in every 100 individuals in the region belong to the poor population whose per capita income was not sufficient to buy their minimum basic food and non-food needs.

In the first semester of 2023, poverty incidence among population in Eastern Samar was estimated at 44.9 percent; Samar at 43.5 percent; Northern Samar at
36.2 percent; Leyte (excluding Tacloban City) at 31.3 percent; Southern Leyte at
23.8 percent; and Biliran at 19.7 percent.

Poverty incidence among population in Biliran dropped to 19.7 percent in the first semester of 2023 from 30.7 percent in the first semester of 2021. The province of Leyte (excluding Tacloban City), registered 31.3 percent poverty incidence among population in the first semester of 2023, lower than the 39.1 percent in the first semester of 2021.

Poverty incidence among population in Southern Leyte decreased to 23.8 percent in the first semester of 2023 from 31.7 percent in the same semester of 2021.

Poverty incidence among population in Tacloban City in the first semester of 2023 was recorded at 19.2 percent. (PR)