ORMOC CITY– Despite its rich and abundance of fresh drinking water, the Energy Development Corporation (EDC) saw the need for this city to have a continuous service for clean and safe service water, particularly during calamities by providing a facility that is useful in the water conversion.

A water filtration system worth P5.4 million that has the capacity to process 3,000 liters of water in an hour was handed over to the city to help produce good drinking water in times of calamities.

The EDC, the country’s geothermal leader, turned over a mobile water filtration facility to the Ormoc city government accepted by its officials led by Mayor Lucy Torres-Gomez on Monday (March 13).

Turning over the facility was led by EDC’s assistant vice president and corporate relations and communications head, lawyer Allan Barcena; Estanislao Pialago Jr., Leyte Geothermal facilities head; and Erwin Magallanes, Leyte’s Corporate Relations team head.

The National Resilience Council Executive Director Silvestre Barrameda and a representative from the EDC’s technology partner Power 4 All also joined in the turn over.
“Mobile filtration system can purify water from any source. It is disaster equipment prepositioned to become more pro-active to respond to disasters. We hope this will serve to affected barangays, can go around and can produce sufficient clean and safe drinking water, along with other uses of water to serve 500 people. We hope this will be useful to the city,” Barcena said during the turnover of the facility.

For his part, Magallanes said that the facility will surely benefit the people of Ormoc whenever a disaster strikes which often results in a scarcity of drinking water supply.
“In most cases, communities suffer from water shortage when disasters hit their areas. This is why it is crucial for Ormoc City to have this water filtration system in their city not only for all its residents but also for EDC employees and our geothermal facilities that rely on safe and clean water,” he said.

Mayor Gomez expressed thanks to the EDC for always being responsive to the needs of the city for a long time.

It is projected to be of use among far-flung villages whose drinking water sources are not stable and may be affected by the calamities.

The project is part of EDC’s commitment to support Ormoc City’s climate resilience program that is installed as part of the city’s pilot Resilience Center.

For this program, EDC has tapped Power 4 All to install the mobile water treatment plant that has the capacity to treat ground water from rivers, lakes, and wells to produce clean and safe drinking water.

The process has passed the strictest health standards, even in times of natural disasters like typhoons and earthquakes when there is shortage of clean drinking water.

Power 4 All provides operation and maintenance support for at least a year starting from the date of the water filtration system’s commissioning and trains Ormoc City’s City Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office on its operation.
(ELVIE ROMAN ROA)

TACLOBAN CITY – A foot, hand, and mouth disease (FHMD) outbreak was declared by the health office of Borongan last Friday (March 10) due to the ‘unusual rise’ of the said disease.

With the declaration, the public is mandated to comply with all the minimum public health standards to ensure that the virus will not spread further.

Mayor Jose Ivan Dayan Agda reported that of the 61 barangays of the city, 36 have confirmed FHMD cases totaling in all 154 as of last Friday.

It was learned that children from one up to 10 years old were most of the victims of the FHMD.

Mayor Agda said that while FHMD is not as deadly as the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), the city government is making preventive measures to stop its further spread.

Last week, several schools in the city suspended their classes as a precautionary measure.
Mayor Agda disclosed that the City Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit is still investigating to determine the cause of the disease’s rapid spread in the city.

The epidemiology unit together with the City Health Office declared FMHD outbreak on March 10.

“The city strategy to curb the infection is to isolate the infected. The children who are infected should be isolated at their homes. If they don’t have area or room where they can isolate the child, the city has the isolation facility,” Mayor Agda said.

He then urged Borongan residents to observe proper hygiene like regular hand washing with soap, use of hand sanitizers, and observe minimum health standard to curb the further spread of the virus. (ROEL T.AMAZONA)

NSSDEO, Brgy. Burabud, Laoang, Northern Samar– The Maintenance Section of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Northern Samar 2nd District Engineering Office headed by Engr. Francisco Y. Taňala has been consistently rated as ‘outstanding’ for the implementation of Department Order No. 41 series of 2016; for six consecutive semesters since 2020.

In a Memorandum dated December 29, 2022 by Director Melvin Navarro, Director IV, Bureau of Maintenance, DPWH Central Office through DPWH Region VIII, Regional Director Edgar Tabacon commended NSSDEO for a 100% final rating with its corresponding subjective equivalent of ‘Outstanding’ relative to the Road Maintenance Performance Assessment/Rating pursuant to the Interim Guidelines of Department Order No.41, Series of 2016.

The technical team from DPWH-RO VIII Division headed by Engr. Nilo Jumagdao validated and inspected the performance in maintaining the Policy Guidelines on the Maintenance of National Roads and Bridges within the NSSDEO jurisdiction.

The inspection was accompanied by the NSSDEO District Maintenance Engineer Francisco Y. Taňala, Assistant Chief Engineer Nicanor L. Mejos, Jr., and technical personnel of NSSDEO Maintenance Section.

‘Ensuring and prioritizing the safety and convenience of the travelling public has always been our key goal for a better national roads and bridges, and this is the reason why the district office got an outstanding rating during this year’s road rating conducted by the regional office’. OIC-District Engineer Charlito Carlobos said.

Section Chief Engineer Francisco Y. Tańala is supported by Engr. Nicanor Mejos Jr. as his assistant while Engineers Shawnameh B. Osias, Danny M. Pillado, Jr., and Christian Dave C. Pangandoyon are all acting as Maintenance Point Person (MPPs) in the Pacific and Mainland Area respectively.
(LYCA MAE T. QUILICOL,PIO Alternate)

PALO, Leyte– Provincial officials of this province have expressed renewed optimism in its tourism industry following the “resounding success” of a two-day first tourism forum that gathered over 500 tourism stakeholders, industry experts, and government leaders from all over Leyte.

“It’s a privilege in helping the province of Leyte in bringing together tourism stakeholders from both the government and the private sectors, tourism champions from all over Leyte that will strengthen the Leyte tourism industry,” Frances Ann Petilla, provincial tourism office consultant and former mayor of this town, said during the March 7-8 event.

“As I give my humble assistance to the provincial tourism in developing tourism strategies, I believe that by working together, we can create a vibrant and sustainable tourism industry that will benefit everyone,” she added.

Through its theme “Empowering Leyte tourism: A gathering of ideas, opportunities and solutions,” tourism experts and stakeholders had the opportunity to talk about trends and technology in tourism that included empowering local stakeholders, capacity building and accreditation standards, and sustainable tourism.

Other topics were also focused on product development for rural destinations: community-based approach, connecting suppliers to tourists through technology, preliminary planning guide for tourism stakeholders and provincial plans on tourism accreditation.
“The only way you can succeed in having good tourism is when you know what the people are looking for,” said Leyte Governor Jericho Petilla during the gathering at the Leyte Academic Center in Palo.

He also welcomed the discussion on the different strategies to attract more tourists to the province.

Aside from the governor, the keynote speakers and resource speakers during the event also included Department of Tourism (DOT) Undersecretary Ferdinand Jumapao, and tourism regional director, Karina Rosa Tiopes, among others.

Leyte’s unique products were also displayed during the event for “potential business partnerships.”

“About this month, three years ago, talks about coronavirus disease being a global health concern was becoming louder. Then on the 16 of March, a lockdown was imposed nationwide. This marked the start of over two years of travel restrictions to difficult years for the tourism industry in Eastern Visayas, in the country, and in the world. Today, the travel and tourism industry is almost back to normal,” Tiopes recalled.

Provincial tourism officer Jescyn Kate Nierras-Ramos expressed confidence that the tourism forum “will be our first step in working as one in building networks and future projects and endeavors.” (RONALD O. REYES)