TACLOBAN CITY– The Samar provincial government has bared the nightly schedule for the San Juanico Aesthetic light and sound show.
Based on the information released by the provincial government through its official social media account, the light and show at the iconic bridge will be as follows: Mondays to Thursdays from 6 pm until 10 pm only static lights while it will be a 15-minute dynamic light show every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday beginning at 7 pm with an hour interval.
The computer-generated colored lights will be turned off by 12 midnight.
The aesthetic lighting at the San Juanico Bridge was officially switched on by President Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos, Jr. last October 19.
The P80 million worth project was funded by Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (TIEZA) and was conceptualized by the provincial government of Samar during the time of Gov. Sharee Ann Tan.
With its added attraction, Gov.Tan said they see not only an increased number of tourists visiting the bridge during nighttime but will result in more investors coming in, especially within the area. (LIZBETH ANN A. ABELLA)
Hilongos, Leyte–An old grudge was believed to be the reason behind the stabbing to death of a farmer by a laborer this town, last Sunday (Oct. 23).
Hilongos police chief, Lt. Edwin Villarino, identified the victim as Felipe Lelis, 35, while the suspect was identified as Reynaldo Lolor, 47, both residents of Barangay Campina, here.
Initial investigation conducted by the local police disclosed that the victim and his wife were walking on their way home after attending a drinking session in Brgy. Baas when they saw the suspect driving his single motorcycle.
The police said that the victim tried to flag down the suspect but the latter refused to stop, and on that instance, the victim followed the suspect heading towards his house.
However, while the victim was on his way to the suspect’s house, the suspect came back armed with a long-bladed weapon locally known as ‘sundang’ and hacked the victim on the forehead and fled.
The victim was brought to a hospital but was declared dead on arrival by his attending.
The suspect was arrested during a hot pursuit operation and recovered from his possession the sundang he used in stabbing the victim.
Lolor is now detained at the local police station. (ROBERT DEJON)
TACLOBAN CITY – The Northern Samar provincial government will look into the delay of ferry trips between Samar Island and Sorsogon province.
John Allen Berbon, Northern Samar provincial information officer, said Monday Governor Edwin Ongchuan shared the concern with the provincial board on Oct. 14, a day after a meeting with members of the House of Representatives in Eastern Visayas, governors, and heads of key regional line agencies.
One of the agenda discussed during the meeting in this city led by Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez were the delays in ferry trips between the port of Matnog in Sorsogon and ports of Allen and San Isidro in Northern Samar.
“The provincial board were united in the move to identify and resolve probable lapses in ferry operations that if left to continue, will adversely impact on the delivery of goods and services not just in Northern Samar but in other parts of Visayas and Mindanao, which need to pass through the route to hasten the movement of agri-industrial inputs, food and non-food products among others,” Berbon said in a statement.
Northern Samar Vice Governor Clarence Dato earlier said the problem of delayed trips may be attributed to overlooked conditions of permits issued to ferry service providers.
“The provincial board then agreed to inquire on the operations of ferry companies in the province, particularly in Allen and San Isidro ports where commercial vessels ferry passengers and cargoes to Matnog, and vice versa,” Berbon added.
There are 15 ferry trips between the two provinces daily crossing the San Bernardino Strait.
The Matnog ferry terminal in Sorsogon is the only exit point from Luzon to Eastern Visayas while Northern Samar has two entry points – the privately-owned ports in Allen town and the government-owned ferry terminal in San Isidro town.
These ports form part of the northeastern seaboard nautical highway that links the country’s three major island groups – Luzon, the Visayas, and Mindanao.
For decades, roll-on roll-off ferries cross the San Bernardino Strait, carrying passengers and vehicles to and from Northern Samar ports and Matnog port in Sorsogon.
With a distance of 28 kilometers, the average travel time is one hour and 30 minutes. (PNA)
The National Federation of Hog Farmers, Inc. (NFHFI), have repeatedly raised an appeal for government intervention amidst deluge of pork imports and impact on the peso depreciation on production cost felt by industry.
The NFHFI has expressed concern that the peso-dollar exchange breaching P58-$1 as the cost of hog production will go up again as to discourage swine farmers from continuing their business for fear that “the harvest will be low.”
Those in the Swine Industry said that “the country has 89 million kilos as on September 2022 of imported pork in cold storage with more imports still coming in . . .it is very difficult to compete with imported products and we admit that the price of local fresh pork is a bit higher compared to imported because we have a premium price due to freshness.” Also, despite the imported pork the market remains high at an average of P350 per kilo. At this price, the farm gate price should not drop below P210.”
Accordingly, the Filipino hog raisers are experiencing losses at P175-P185 per kilo – just the cost to produce, the price gap from to market prices is large.
The BAI (Bureau of Animal Industry), data showed the country imported 8512.84 million kilos of meat and meat products from January to August 2022, higher than the 795.59 million kilos imported last year.
MY COMMENT:
The United States Department of Agriculture forecasts that “pork imports are expected to reach 400,000 metric tons or roughly 400,000 million kilos this year driven by the extended reduced tariffs on pork import under EQ 171. Possibly so!
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IN the gospel, many are the instances where Christ had to correct the leading Jews at that time for their too strict and too literal interpretation of their laws. (cfr. Lk 13,10-17) These Jews acted as if they had the exclusive possession of what is right, moral and legal just by citing their laws. Obviously, they themselves could not follow those laws to the letter. And Christ pointed that out to them.
We obviously need to craft laws to guide our life in common. But we need to understand that since these laws are human laws, they cannot capture everything involved in man’s life that can also involve spiritual, let alone, supernatural realities. Even in the level of our ordinary human affairs, complicated situations can take place that can go beyond the purview of our legal system. Depicting justice as a blindfolded woman with a weighing scale tells us a lot about this predicament.
We should be wary of our tendency to fall into legalism, formalism and political correctness. Thus, Christ bewailed this common danger among the leading Jews by saying, “Woe to you Pharisees! You pay tithes of mint and of rue and of every garden herb, but you pay no attention to judgment and to love for God. These you should have done, without overlooking the others. Woe to you Pharisees! You love the seat of honor in synagogues and greetings in marketplaces. Woe to you! You are like unseen graves over which people unknowingly walk.” (Lk 11,42-44)
We should always be on guard against all these forms of inconsistency, always rectifying our intentions and also regularly editing our life, much like what writers do with their work before they are submitted for publication. That way, we can monitor how things are going and can have the chance to make appropriate corrections, improvements, revisions, etc.
Our human laws are meant to lead us to our ultimate goal which is none other than to be with God, to be holy as God is holy, etc. Irrespective of their immediate temporal purpose, our laws should lead us little by little to become God’s image and likeness as we are meant to be. They in the end should serve the fundamental religious purpose of our life. That should always be the constant purpose of our laws.
All the other objectives of our laws, let alone their technical requirements, serve only as an occasion, a reason or motive for this ultimate purpose. Setting aside this ultimate purpose would empty our laws of their real legitimacy, making them rife for all kinds of manipulations and maneuverings by some shrewd men who may enjoy some power at a given moment.
We have to realize that it is Christ who ultimately gives the real meaning and purpose of our laws. We have to disabuse ourselves from the thought that our laws can be based only on our common sense, or on our own estimation of what is good and evil according to the values of practicality, convenience, etc., or on our traditions and culture, etc.
While these things have their legitimate role to play in our legal and judicial systems, we have to understand that they cannot be the primary and ultimate bases. It should be God, his laws and ways that should animate the way we make laws as well as the way we apply and live them. After all, being the Creator of all things, he is the one who establishes what is truly good and evil.
Before I got the chance to visit this town for the first time, I’ve been kind of skirting it, just skirting it, on my way to Southern Leyte and back. I saw the signboards declaring that it was the town’s territory, or that we were exiting from it, but I didn’t see the town proper itself.
It’s all because I, together with some companions, was just passing through the diversion road. The town is sort of confined into a secret enclosure one will never see it unless one will decide to visit it. Nevertheless, I had this feeling that this town is somewhat magical, hoarding with it some secrets that could potentially entice newcomers.
My first impressions of the place were provided by the enchanting beauty of rice fields, with their assorted colors, against the magnificent mountains in the background. The captivating sceneries that had inspired the painter Fernando Amorsolo come into view as we drove down the mountains to settle on the plains below. With the sunrise or sunset as the background, the scene becomes even more pristine and lovely.
Birds, butterflies, flowers, bees, and other enablers of beauty swarm along the way, singing their hearts out in praise of their abode, proudly declaring the unquestioned charm of the place with their songs.
Every time I passed by this place, I always take pictures of the flashing scenery, trying to capture the most attractive angles of trees and plains, and mountains combined. The pictures turned even more enchanting with the blue skies and cloud formations for backgrounds. With the sun in there, the photos looked superb, indeed.
From those elegant scenes, my attention was grabbed by the friendliness and natural kindness of the townsfolk. So the next thing that I fell for was the people of this place. That’s when I finally visited there in person. They seem to showcase that attitude of barrio folks in their most civilized version: hospitable, friendly, helpful, sincere, and generous. With their obvious mestizo and mestiza looks—thanks to the American soldiers who had improved their race—visitors like me could not help but admire them.
And you know what, when I heard their town hymn for the first time, I admit I really fell in love with it. From the place to the people, and to the hymn—yes, that’s right, I fell for all these. The melody is very Filipino, so melodious and touching; and the lyrics, oh boy, poetic at that and full of love, literally. It made me wonder how in the world did they come up with such a beautiful hymn that expresses their culture, dreams, passions, and aspirations.
Not many towns in the country had impressed me that much. But this town did not just impress me—it endeared itself until I fell for it. The peacefulness of the place coupled with its bountiful harvests are enough to draw anyone to it. If you add all of the above, moreover, you might decide to relocate to this place and make it part of your life. It’s a place called, Abuyog.
