ORMOC CITY-A laboring mother did not reach the hospital as she delivered her baby on board a motorboat while they going to a hospital at the town center of Dolores, Eastern Samar on Sunday (Nov. 20).
Mary Balbaboco,28 was having some labor pains while she was at their house in Barangay Hilabaan at about 4 am.
One of the village’s councilors, Letecia Corado volunteered to bring Balbaboco to a hospital at the town center.
However, at about 6:30 am, she delivered a baby girl-her fourth child with other passengers on the boat providing assistance for a safe delivery.
The mother and her newborn baby were still brought to a hospital on board an ambulance where the umbilical cord of the baby was cut.
It was learned from Corado that in their village, the ‘no home’ delivery is strictly imposed reason they don’t have a midwife or ‘kumadrona.’
This means, she said, all mothers are to deliver their babies at the town center reason there were instances that a mother delivers her baby while being on board of a motor boat. (ROBERT DEJON)
ORMOC CITY– An alleged personal grudge led to the death of a ‘habal-habal’ driver in Sta.Margarita, Samar on Sunday (Nov.20) with the suspect still at-large.
The victim, identified by the local police as Rogelio David,48 and a resident of Barangay Nabulo of said town was hacked to death by the suspect Victor Pellina,49, using a bladed weapon, locally known as ‘sundang.’
The local police said that they received a phone call at about 9:55 am from a concerned citizen purportedly due to a vehicular accident transpired in the Nabulo.
The police led by PEMS Vitaliano Galban, immediately proceeded to the village to verify the report and saw the dead body of the victim lying on the ground.
Initial investigation conducted by responding police disclosed that the victim, on board of his motorcycle, was suddenly hacked by the suspect using the sundang.
After hacking David, the suspect fled going to a forested direction in the village.
The police said that a personal grudge between the two is being seen as the reason why the suspect killed the victim.
Santa Margarita Municipal Police Office immediately conducted a hot pursuit operation and coordinated with nearby police offices for his arrest. (ROBERT DEJON)
TACLOBAN CITY– To protect the carriage way from road slips caused by the loosening of soil during wet season, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) – Leyte Second District Engineering Office (L2DEO) has installed stone masonry slope protection in Barangay Lemon, which is part of Palo-Carigara-Ormoc road network.
Engr. Leo Edward Oppura, chief of the L2DEO, said that Lemon is known to be prone to mudslides and landslides.
“So it is necessary to construct an infrastructure suitable to protect and stabilize the slopes, knowing that this road network carries a high volume of vehicles daily,” he said.
A total of 91 linear meter standing at 4-meter tall with railings involves in the P11.52 million project allotted from the DPWH CY 2022 General Appropriation Act (GAA) under its rehabilitation/ reconstruction of national roads with slips, slope collapse, and landslide – primary roads funds.
Once completed, Oppura said, this slope protection structure will aid in the stabilization of the slope, reducing the negative effects of rapid water overflow causing erosion, thus protecting motorists from possible road slips. (LIZBETH ANN A. ABELLA)
CATARMAN, Northern Samar- The regional office of the Department of Tourism (DOT) conducted an orientation to the tourism establishments in the province regarding the new guidelines for accreditation in order to maintain and ensure compliance with international standards of excellence in local tourism facilities.
The event was done in partnership with the provincial government through the Provincial Tourism Office.
Participants of the said orientation were enterprise/establishment owners and tourism officers on the DOT accreditation procedure during the 9th DOT Accreditation Caravan held on November 15.
The DOT accreditation caravan aimed to promote the importance of the DOT accreditation and encourage stakeholders or establishment owners to maintain and improve the quality of their property’s facilities and services.
Rodel Balierbare, DOT senior tourism operations officer, thanked the participants for attending the seminar and to collaborate with the provincial government and their office.
He also emphasized the need for the DOT and LGUs to strictly comply the tourism enterprises regarding the accreditation rules and regulations, under Section 5 of the RA 9593 or the Tourism Act of 2009.
The DOT now adopts the progressive accreditation system (PAS) which starts from basic accreditation, and moves to regular accreditation, then the star rating system.
PAS is a three-level recognition scheme for primary tourism enterprises entailing progressive minimum standards and reflecting customers’ expectations and also accommodating persons with disabilities (PWDs).
Tourism entities and establishments are accredited through the two-fold regulation process – the physical requirements (amenities and facilities they offer, among others) and the legal requirements.
Tourism development in the province is part of Governor Edwin Ongchuan’s development agenda. (TITO B. TEPACE with NORTHERN SAMAR PROVINCIAL INFORMATION OFFICE)
IF we want to have a truly global picture of our life, we should develop a sense of time that is connected to eternity. We need to remind ourselves of this basic truth about this human condition of ours since we tend to ignore it or give it little importance and due concern.
We are somehow reminded of this aspect of our life in that gospel episode where Christ talked about how a temple, so lavishly adorned, would be destroyed at the end of time. (cfr. Lk 21,5-11) Considering that we are now ending the liturgical year, this truth about our human condition is truly worthwhile to be given a thorough review.
We need to be keenly aware of this dual dimension of our life. In fact, I believe this aspect refers to the ultimate status of our life. We should not be too immersed in the here and now as to forget that time is meant for eternity, and we have a role to play in their connection.
We live both in time and eternity for now, and later, in a definitive state, in eternity with God or separated from him forever, since time would be completely taken up by eternity the moment time runs its course through our death or through the world’s end.
But at any instant, our earthly life spent in time is actually also in eternity. The flow of time is always within the sea of eternity, since eternity is both outside and inside time. Whatever we do now, no matter how transient, always leaves an effect in eternity.
This is because being both material and spiritual, with body and soul as constituent elements of our nature, we can’t help but live in both time and eternity. Time is when we are tested as to our correspondence, or lack of it, to God’s love. As St. Augustine said, “God created you without you, but he cannot save you without you.”
In short, what would truly connect time with eternity is when whatever we do here on earth is done with faith, hope and charity with God as the main object and all the others as an unavoidable accompaniment of the exercise of these virtues.
We should not be doing things with purely earthly and temporal goals only. We need to refer them to our eternal goal with God. That is why, St. Paul said, “Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” (1 Cor 10,31).
That is also why we are asked to make everything we do as a form of prayer. St. Paul articulated this truth when he said, “Pray without ceasing.” (1 Thes 5,17) And this is always possible and practicable since all that is needed is the awareness that everything we do is done with God and for God. We need not say anything or do some special thing.
We need to make so many pit stops during the day, so to speak, to see if we still have love of God and others as our inspiration, motive and goal in everything we do, for that is how we connect our earthly time with our heavenly eternity which is our definitive life. Our life here on earth is only transitory, meant to test us if we truly want to be with God as he wants us and designed us to be.
Positions and leadership are finite. The long-serving and sturdiest leaders knew that they can only last for a certain period of time. And whatever weapons and backing they have on their arsenal, they won’t defeat the reality of entropy. The weapons and intellect cannot overcome the reality that Father Time had put in place, all must end even those who never for a moment paused to accept that they will also pass.
But wherever you are in these interconnected realities, you will be certain that you have an expiry date. As the Bible had said , there is a time for everything.
The Royalty in United Kingdom, in the incumbency of Queen Elizabeth 2, saw a sturdy metallic butterfly who passed through World Wars, Falkland War, disintegration of the Commonwealth with its empire getting out of grip and nations like India and the rest of that 15 Countries establishing a destiny of their own.
We also saw the fall of strong dictators and their sons. We are witnessing how a weaker country is surviving the onslaught of an invasion from one superpower. Proving that what is obviously a mismatch of power can be an irony.
In all, good leadership is like a life well-lived it has its righteous existence and it will have its righteous end – like a well-lived life.
Thus, for a leader to deny and ward off that certainly of finite existence is not only a blunder it is outright foolish and ultimately, a disaster.
Lessons and reality tallied by history and recorded by the world, shows that leadership and positions are only good while it lasts.
For anyone leading and holding a position of responsibility it must be that they have to do its best , all the time they can, all chances they will have.
Thus, if we are given an opportunity, then we must start a mission of goodness based on the context of positive actions . Then we must engage in the best way possible. Hopefully, we can uplift the condition where we can. And lastly, end it all well, with the most goodwill and good results for the next leader to step- on and start the good cycle to help our people.
If one had done its best today, sunset should not be a thing to worry about, its a reward for a job well done.
