TACLOBAN CITY– A police officer assigned in Limasawa town, Southern Leyte was relieved from his post after he was accused to have ‘planted’ a pack of cigarette against a sari-sari store owner.

The town of Limasawa is one of the few local governments in Eastern Visayas that strictly imposes a prohibition on the selling of cigarettes and other tobacco products as mandated under Republic Act 9211(Tobacco Regulation Act of 2003).

Corporal Ruel Arot was caught on a video reportedly planting a pack of cigarettes at the store owned by Ran-ran Salomon in Barangay Magallanes at about 2 pm on Saturday (Sept. 30).

The sacking of Arot, who is from Maasin City but is assigned at the historic town of Limasawa, was made by Southern Leyte police provincial director Col. Hector Enage.
“(The) relief of the said police officer is to give way to an investigation by the Provincial Office in order to shed light on what really transpired during the incident,” the press statement issued by the police provincial office said on Saturday.

Arot was temporarily assigned at the Provincial Holding and Accounting unit of the provincial police office in Maasin.

The same statement also said that if there is evidence against the relieved police officer, he could be administratively or criminally charged.

But Arot, in a post on his social media account, denied the allegation against him.
He said that, for one, it was ‘public knowledge’ in Magallanes that Salomon has been selling cigarettes in his store despite of the prohibition imposed by the local government.

The police officer added that prior to the incident, he had asked his asset to buy the pack of cigarettes, the one described by Salomon as the planted item.

“(And) previously I already reprimanded Salomon why he kept on selling cigarettes (despite of the prohibition),” Arot said.

Arot also denied that he is an ‘abusive’ police officer saying that he did not stop Salomon from taking a video of him during that time.

“And I did not force you to sign the citation ticket nor physically hurt you,” he said, addressing Salomon. (JOEY A. GABIETA)

TACLOBAN CITY – A tertiary school run by the city government of Ormoc has started its pioneering classes with 390 students enrolled in four four-year courses.

Of these enrolled students, 379 of them are from this city with the remaining students coming from its neighboring towns.

The school, Ormoc Community College (OCC), offers office administration, social work, business administration, and public administration.

Most of the students are enrolled in social work (143) and business administration (113).
The courses were offered by the OCC was based on the result of an earlier survey conducted by the city government under Mayor Lucy Torres Gomez.

Mayor Gomez said that they are not offering too many courses instead will only offer those that are competitive and provides job opportunities.

City residents who are enrolled at the OCC are all scholars while those who came from neighboring towns have to pay their tuitions.

Prior to the opening of the OCC, the city government had visited several local government units running their own colleges like the municipality of Abuyog where they had a benchmarking and the Valenzuela City where they forged a sisterhood agreement.
(ROEL T. AMAZONA)

ORMOC CITY-A long-time misunderstanding between two siblings resulted in the gruesome death of one of them in Gamay, Northern Samar.

Based on the report of the local police, the incident happened at about 6:30 pm on Sept.26 between Julian Longcop,50, and his younger sibling, Danilo,38, in Barangay Cabarasan in the said town.

An initial investigation conducted by the local police disclosed that the victim and the suspect had a long-standing misunderstanding due to the behavior of the victim.

Accordingly, the victim was very temperamental and is suspected to be suffering from mental illness.

The suspect told responding police that his younger brother was a pervert and had even tried to make a pass with his wife which led to a heated argument between the two.

The elder Longcop drew a bladed weapon, locally known as ‘sundang’ and chased his younger brother and hacked him several times.

The victim was brought to Gamay District Hospital where he was declared as dead on arrival.
(ROBERT DEJON)

TACLOBAN CITY– High-impact infrastructure projects that will reduce poverty incidence in Eastern Samar were highlighted by the Department of Public Works and Highways Eastern Samar District Engineering Office (DPWH-ESDEO) during the 1st Eastern Visayas Infrastructure Summit (EVIS) in Summit Hotel, Tacloban from August 30 to September 1, 2023.

District Engineer Alvin A. Ignacio mentioned that DPWH ESDEO prioritizes infrastructure road projects that connect Eastern Samar to the primary road and nearby provinces in Samar Island.

“Once these road projects connecting to Samar and Northern Samar are realized, hopefully Eastern Samar will not be a part of the country’s top ten poorest provinces anymore,” said DE Ignacio.

The District Engineer is referring to Maydolong-Basey road, which will become the shortest route from Borongan to Tacloban; Carolina, Can-avid-Dolores-Maslog-Jipapad Road and Catumsan, Arteche-Jipapad-Las Navas-Catubig Rawis Road which will provide easy way leading to Allen, Northern Samar, a vital transit point of goods and services going to Luzon.
Also included in the Infrastructure Development Plan of Eastern Samar are the Borongan Diversion Road, which will ease traffic in Borongan City proper, and the Pagnamitan Bridge in Guiuan, Eastern Samar, which will provide a secure, expedient, and disaster-resilient route for the traveling public to boost the tourism industry.

The DPWH Regional Office, in partnership with the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA), hosted the event, which was participated by all DPWH District Engineering Office in Region VIII.

Also present during the event were the district representatives in Eastern Visayas who listened to the priority infrastructure projects in their respective jurisdictions.

Rep. Jude Acidre of the Tingog party-list said that the first EVIS is a platform to create a single voice for the region and tell the national government what the region needs, what the department can do, and how good infrastructure will proper Eastern Visayas toward long-term economic development.

“Looking at the projects ahead of us, what you’ve planned for the region, it is proof that we are capable of doing world-class infrastructure in this part of the country — only if we work together, only if we put our minds together, and if we work together in securing funding for these projects,” said Acidre.

The infrastructure summit also conducted lectures on the critical stages in the implementation of infra projects, such as the Planning and Budget Preparation Process, Procurement Processes, Construction Project Management, Policy Guidelines on the Maintenance of National Roads and Bridges, Policies on Right-of-Way and Easement Management , Guidelines and Procedure in the Preparation of Program of Works, and Social Impact Assessment and Issuances of Environmental Compliance Certificates and Certificates of Non Coverage, and other vital topics in DPWH key promises.

Moreover, the event’s main features include presentations from the Regional Office and 14 District Engineering Offices showcasing their outputs.

These include a 10-minute audio-visual display of the Infrastructure Network Development Plan (INDP) Master Plan for 2023-2028, an exhibit of three priority projects, and a presentation of the outputs from the workshop session on the planning and design of five multi-year high-impact priority projects. (PR)

Manila-Thirty-two U.S. colleges and universities will participate in the 7th EducationUSA University Fair at the Shangri-La Plaza in Mandaluyong City on October 10, from 2:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m., to offer relevant information for Filipinos interested in pursuing higher education in the United States.

Admission is free. Interested attendees must register online at https://educationusaph.org/Fair2023.

Organized by the U.S. Embassy in the Philippines and the Philippine-American Educational Foundation, the EducationUSA University Fair provides the venue for students, parents, and school administrators to learn more about the U.S. university and college admissions process and explore academic programs offered by participating U.S. higher education institutions.

Representatives from scholarship organizations will also be present to provide information on financial assistance options while U.S. Embassy consular officers will offer guidance on the student visa application process.

The following U.S. colleges and universities will participate in the 7th EducationUSA Fair in Manila: Arizona State University; California State University – San Bernardino; Carnegie Mellon University; Cascadia College; Clark College; College of Central Florida; College of Southern Nevada; Drexel University; Ferris State University; Foothill + De Anza Colleges; Green River Community College; Kent State University; Lewis University; Merrimack College; Moraine Valley Community College; Northeastern University; Nova Southeastern University; Riverside City College; Savannah College of Art and Design; SUNY College at Plattsburgh; The University of Texas at Dallas; Troy University; University of Central Missouri; University of Colorado at Boulder; University of Hawai’i at Mānoa; University of San Francisco; University of Utah Asia Campus; Valencia College; Washington State University; Xavier University; Yale University (School of the Environment); and York College of Pennsylvania.

After Manila, the EducationUSA Fair will make its way to the Radisson Blu Hotel in Cebu City on October 12.

“A U.S. education opens many doors for students and professionals to enhance their skills, experience a diversity of cultures, and benefit from quality programs offered by U.S. higher education institutions,” U.S. Embassy Deputy Chief of Mission Y. Robert Ewing said.

“We are excited to organize this year’s EducationUSA Fair once again in Manila and Cebu to invite young Filipinos to expand their horizons and explore the different opportunities that a global education in the United States has to offer.”

On average, 3,000 Filipinos travel to study in the United States each year.

EducationUSA is a U.S. Department of State network of over 430 international student advising centers in more than 175 countries and territories.

The network promotes U.S. higher education to students worldwide, offering accurate, comprehensive, and current information about educational opportunities at accredited postsecondary institutions in the United States.(PR)