TACLOBAN CITY– The Sangguniang Panlalawigan of Northern Samar have called on owners of business establishments to install closed-circuit televisions (CCTVs).
Board member Albert Lucero, during their recent session, maintained that CCTVs are useful “to protect the safety and security of the management and clients from unanticipated incidents.”
In the information released by the Northern Samar Provincial Information Office, Lucero also manifested to codify this ordinance across the 24 towns of the province in order to fast track the monitoring and implementation.
“He [Lucero] recalled that an ordinance requiring establishments to install CCTVs has already been passed but has not been fully implemented,” it said.
Citing Ordinance No. 06, the Provincial Information Office said that all business establishments like banks, gasoline stations, malls, pawnshops, and large scale establishments with an investment of at least P1 million in the province are required to install CCTV inside and outside their respective premises.
This move of the provincial board came following a robbery incident at LBC Catarman on October 6, 2022. (RONALD O. REYES)
MAHAPLAG, Leyte-A Grade 2 pupil died after he was bumped by a passenger van about at 5:35 pm on Friday(Oct. 14) at Sitio San Roque of Barangay Hilusig, here.
Major Neil Fernando Cerdeña, town police chief, identified the victim as Charles Villardar, 7, and a resident of the said place.
The suspect was identified as Jabar Aribado, 33, and a resident of Brgy. Monteverde Baybay, City.
Initial investigation conducted by the responding police disclosed that the vehicle, driven by Aribado, was travelling from Tacloban City bound for Baybay City while the victim was playing beside the road.
However, when the vehicle reached Sitio San Roque, the victim suddenly crossed the road and was hit by the said vehicle.
Witnesses told police that the driver tried to evade the victim to avoid hitting the young boy but failed in the process, resulting in severe injuries in different parts of his body.
The rescue group from the local Bureau of Fire Protection brought the boy him to the rural health unit.
He was later brought to the Abuyog District Hospital but was pronounced dead on arrival by the attending physician. (ROBERT DEJON)
TACLOBAN CITY – Samar Rep. Stephen James Tan of the first district refiled a bill at the House of Representatives to institutionalize the Samar Day celebration.
At present, the holding of the Samar Day needs a presidential proclamation which is observed every August 11 to mark the separation of the province from Leyte.
Rep. Tan said that he had met the members of the local government committee at the Senate chaired by Sen. JV Ejercito together with resource person from the Department of Interior and Local Government, National Commission on Culture and the Arts, and the Department of Budget and Management.
“The special role I had in the meeting is to push for the passage of House Bill 3974 or the Samar Day Bill which I authored,” the lawmaker said.
“The bill, if approved into law, will institutionalize the observance of Samar Day every August 11 of every year as a special non-working holiday to commemorate the foundation of Samar province without the need of a presidential action,” Tan explained.
Tan added that the bill was first filed in the previous Congress by her sister, now Governor Sharee Ann Tan but for some reason it did not made to the Senate.
“With the current support of the chairperson and members of the Senate committee on local government, I am looking forward for this bill to finally become into a law,” he said.
The celebration of Samar Day usually last for about two weeks with various activities prepared by the provincial government.
Date of Samar Day celebration had been change for several times, from November 10 which commemorates the election of the first officials of the province, to August 23 during martial law era, then to August 11 in the late 1970’s. (ROEL T. AMAZONA)
TACLOBAN CITY-Police rearrested on Thursday(October 13) a prison escapee in Tacloban City who bolted out from jail during the onslaught of Super Typhoon ‘Yolanda’ in November 2013.
The escapee was identified as Franklin Verzosa, 37, and a resident of the city.
Joint operatives from Tacloban City Police Office-Station 1 and Bureau of Jail Management and Penology received a tip from a concerned citizen that said escapee was seen at Barangay 94 Tigbao on Wednesday afternoon.
During the arrest, authorities also recovered from Verzosa’s possession of two pieces of transparent heat-sealed sachets containing white crystalline substance suspected shabu with an estimated street value of P15,000.
According to the police, the escapee is facing various charges, including robbery and possession of a deadly weapon. (RONALD O. REYES)
Liezle Jones, 20, was declared as this year’s Miss Ormoc during a glittering coronation night last Satuday(Oct.15) held at the city’s superdome. Also in photo are Leyte Rep. Richard Gomez and wife, City Mayor Lucy Torres Gomez. (DyRG 101.5FM)
ORMOC CITY-After almost three years in hiatus, the Miss Ormoc beauty and brain contest was held on Saturday night, one of the highlights of the city’s 75th Charter Day celebration.
The city will mark its Diamond Charter anniversary on October 20 with both President Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos, Jr. and Vice President Sara Duterte among the expected guests.
The beauty and brain contest, held at the Ormoc Superdome, was participated by 20 contestants coming from the different barangays of the city.
The title was won by 20-year-old Liezle Jones who represented the village of Macabug.
The beauty queen with an American blood won the title with comes with a P100,000 cash prize and a crown designed with pearls, aced the question asked to the five semi-finalists.
Asked how she could help Ormoc City ‘shines even brighter that it already is,’ Jones said that she will make education a priority.
“I will strive to be a natural leader and one way for me to be that leader is for people (to) say that education is the key but how do we able to afford for education that’s the question,” she said.
“So I will try my best to be an advocate of scholarship programs, financial aid programs and work with them to see if there’s anything that we can do about that because when it comes to your goals and it comes to your passion to life, there is no boundary enough to block yourself,” the newly-crowned Miss Ormoc said.
The event, attended by more than 3,000 people led by Leyte Rep. Richard Gomez and his wife Ormoc City Mayor Lucy Torres Gomez, was hosted by actress-beauty queen Ruffa Gutierrez and television personality James Deakin.
The panel of jurors include Miss Philippines World Gwendolyne Fourniol, talent manager Anabelle Rama and Arnold Vegaferia who Miss World national director.
Jones will represent Ormoc in next year’s Miss Philippines-World contest.
Meantime, Jones’ court include Charybel Faith Dizon as first runner-up; Abiah Dicdican, second runner-up; Jessajane Belic, 3rd runner-up; and Kim Burao as fourth runner-up.
Dizon, 23, one of the crowd favorites who won the best in gown and swimsuit, will represent Ormoc in next year’s Miss Philippines-Supranational. She won P50, 000 cash prize.
Meantime, Dicdican will represent Ormoc in this year’s Mutya ng Pilipinas.
VISITORS. President Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos, Jr. and Vice Pres. Sara Duterte will be coming to Leyte to attend the switch-on ceremony of the aesthetic lighting and sounds at San Juanico Bridge and the 78th Leyte Gulf Landings.
TACLOBAN CITY-Both President Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos, Jr. and Vice President Sara Duterte will be coming to Leyte on Wednesday (Oct. 19) for a series of events.
The country’s highest officials are to grace the switch-on ceremony of the aesthetic lighting and sound project at the San Juanico Bridge on that day.
The main program will be held on the Samar side of the iconic bridge that connects Leyte and Samar Islands.
The following day, Oct.20, the President will be the guest of honor and speaker of this year’s 78th Leyte Gulf Landings anniversary to be held at the MacArthur Landing National Park in Palo, Leyte.
On that same day, the President and the Vice President will both attend the 75th Charter Day celebration of Ormoc City, also in Leyte.
The visit of Marcos to Leyte, the home province of his mother, Imelda Marcos, will be his first since he was elected as President during the May 9 elections.
Both Marcos and Duterte won overwhelmingly in Eastern Visayas during the presidential elections.
Duterte, since assuming the Vice President post, had visited Northern Samar and Southern Leyte, the home province of his father, former president Rodrigo Duterte.
The P80 million worth San Juanico aesthetic lighting and sound project was funded by the Department of Tourism through its attached agency, the Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (TIEZA).
The said project at the iconic bridge, which was constructed during the administration of the President’s father, was an initiative of the Samar provincial government.
Samar Governor Sharee Ann Tan said that with the bridge having ‘colorful lights and sounds’ it could attract tourists even during the night.
The San Juanico Bridge aesthetic lighting project is said to be the first of its kind in the country with its light show and colors can be customized, depending on the occasion.
Just last month, the bridge shone on purple color to honor the late Queen Elizabeth of the United Kingdom. Purple is associated to royalties.
Meantime, in this year’s Leyte Gulf Landings anniversary, the President is expected to arrive during the program proper at 8 am.
Several foreign dignitaries are also to attend.
Among them are Ambassadors Mary Kay Carlson of the United States; Laure Beaufils of the United Kingdom with the Japanese Embassy to be represented by defense attaché Col. Akiba Kazuiko.
Leyte Governor Carlos Jericho Petilla will head the local officials during the historic event wherein it will honor 33 living Filipino World War II veterans.
This year’s program will be the first in almost three years where it will be celebration in-person. For the past two years the celebration, some of the programs were done virtually.
