Seen to spur economic activities, seaport congestion

TACLOBAN CITY– A bridge connecting Visayas and Luzon should be constructed under the government’s ‘Mega Bridge Program’ as this would help sea congestion and address passengers being stranded during typhoons.

Thus said House minority floor leader and 4Ps party-list Rep. Marcelino Libanan in a press statement Monday (August 28).

Under the proposal of Libanan, the two major islands could be connected through Northern Samar on the Visayas side and Sorsogon on the Luzon side.

“We are calling on the government’s economic planners to include the Sorsogon-Northern Samar Bridge over the San Bernardino Strait in the Mega Bridge Program,” Libanan said in a statement.

“The bridge will solve the recurring problem of seaport congestion and thousands of passengers getting stranded during weather disturbances,” he added.

Also, the proposed bridge will help spur economic activities as this would result in more mobility of people and goods, especially for small business entrepreneurs, Libanan said.

At present, people from Visayas, particularly from the Eastern Visayas region, have to use ferries through seaports in Northern Samar in going to Luzon through Matnog, Sorsogon.
Libanan said that based on an earlier study made by the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA), this Luzon-Visayas Bridge is feasible.

The study, completed in 2019, had estimated that the crossing bridge would cost around P284 billion with a construction timetable of six years covering about 28 kms, he said.
Libanan said that considering of the huge cost needed to realize this proposed project, it could be done in phases.

“All we want is for this could be started early,” he said.

Under the Mega Bridge program of the government, which was conceptualized under the Build Build Build program of the Department of Public Works and Highways during the Duterte administration, among the proposed bridge projects to be constructed include the Panay-Guimaras-Negros Island Bridges; Bataan-Cavite Interlink Bridge; Samal Island-Davao City Connector Bridge; Cebu-Mactan 4th Bridge and Coastal Road; Panguil Bay Bridge; Panglao-Tagbilaran City Offshore Bridge Connector; three Tawi-Tawi Bridges (1.79 km); and Guicam Bridge.
(JOEY A. GABIETA)

TACLOBAN CITY – The Office of the Vice President (OVP) together with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) in the region and the local government unit of Matag-ob, Leyte planted 8,500 indigenous seedlings on the tree planting activity in support of the ‘PagbaBAGo: A Million Learners and Trees Project.’

DENR 8 Regional Executive Director Lormelyn Claudio, Richard E. De Jesus, assistant satellite lead of OVP- Tacloban, Matag-ob Mayor Bernandino Tacoy led in the tree planting held in the 11-hectare area in Barangay Malazarte.

Claudio, in her message, encouraged those who participated in the tree planting to ensure that the seedlings they planted will survive.

She also urged those who participated to influence others to engage in tree planting activities and other undertakings whose goal is to protect and conserve the environment.

“Protecting our nature should be a priority. You can do that by influencing others in popularizing environmental management and protection approaches,” Claudio said.

Mayor Tacoy thanked the OVP and DENR for including Matag-ob in the PagbaBAGo project and committed his full support to the endeavor.

“I would like to ask you today, to be part of the program, be part of the legacy of everyone, to make Matag-ob green again. Making our environment sustainable and taking care of it is the only lasting legacy that we can give to our future generation,” the town mayor said.
He also shared that in the previous tree-planting activity of the LGU, they were able to plant around 10,000 seedlings.

The PagbaBAGo: A Million Learners and Trees Project of the OVP is a special project targeting to plant 20,000 tree seedlings each year per region until 2028 in support of the government’s National Greening Program (NGP) according to De Jesus.
He added that they are targeting to plant at least 100,000 indigenous tree seedlings in the region by 2028.

De Jesus added that since the program was launched by the OVP in the region this year and had planted 1,000 mangroves in Catbalogan City, and 5,000 indigenous tree seedlings in Basey, all in Samar province. (ROEL T. AMAZONA)

TACLOBAN CITY – The Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) is planning to implement a project that will install closed circuit televisions (CCTV) in major areas of the region, especially in areas where crime incidents are high.

This plan will not only help in crime prevention initiatives but even during disaster risk reduction and mitigation, it said.

However, because it would entail a huge amount, this is still in the planning process, Adrian Thomas Colasito, the DILG-8 local government operations officer, said.

Colasito said that several agencies that already expressed their support to this project which is part of the Peace and Order and Public Safety (POPS) Plan for the region.
“Unfortunately, it is still in the planning process. We had already signified to support it, especially for the funding,” he said.

“We are working it out. We have the support from the Speaker (Martin Romualdez), and we are hoping that this project will push through,” Colasito added.

The official added that even if this project would not push thru, the support of the community is still necessary to deter criminality in each locality.

“We still need the community,” Colasito emphasizes, adding that in the five pillars of the Philippine criminal justice system, the community is included being the source of personnel who will become law enforcers, who are directly or indirectly victims of criminality, and the greatest source of information against crimes.

“Character molding starts in the community and basically crimes are a measurement of how our community fails. That is why we always emphasize the role of community particularly in crime prevention,” Colasito said.

Police Regional Office 8, Regional Community Affairs and Development Division Chief PCol Dionisio Apas Jr. said that the law enforcement agency highly encourages the installation of CCTVs to help deter crimes.

“We encourage na maincorporate or maisama ang procurement ng mga LGU ng CCTV kasi kung titingnan natin, napakalaking gamit nito,”he Apas said.

PCol. Apas added that although this will mean an additional budget for the LGUs but this will greatly benefit them in the peace and order and security aspect in the long run.
(ROEL T. AMAZONA)

TACLOBAN CITY – Police personnel who have relatives running this coming barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan election (BSKE) will be reassigned to other areas of the region.
Thus said police regional director B/Gen. Vincent Calanoga to ensure that the police organization will remain apolitical.

Calanoga, however, did not provide data as to how many policemen in the region would be affected by this order.

“Depende sa kalalabasan ng filing of certificates of candidacy. So pag may mag file na ng CoC at makita na natin yung mga pangalan ng kandidato doon natin titingnan yung mga kailangan nating ilipat,” he said.

The filing of the CoCs for the barangay polls started on Monday (Aug. 28) and is to end this Saturday (Sept. 2).

Eastern Visayas has around 11,000 police officers who will be assigned to man the BKSE polls this October 30 in about 4,390 villages.

The regional office of the PNP has not yet announced areas of concern but Calanoga said that most definitely, election-related violence that happened for the last two elections are sure to be included in the list.

Among these areas are those located in Samar province and the 3rd district of Leyte?
(ROEL T. AMAZONA)