TACLOBAN CITY- Motorists are now utilizing the solar road studs installed by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), Leyte Second District Engineering Office, on the Palo-Carigara-Ormoc (PCO) intermittent road section from Jaro to Capoocan in Leyte.

The project, worth P10.47 million and sourced from the Special Road Fund—Motor Vehicle User’s Charge (MVUC), has installed 2,537 solar studs to illuminate 14.735 lane kilometers of the PCO road.

District Engineer Leo Edward Oppura said that the project is more beneficial to public utility vehicles and cargo trucks because they are usually on the road at night transporting passengers and goods.

“Usually, road accidents happen at night and during inclement weather due to poor visibility; with these devices, drivers will have a visible guide while traversing the road,” he said.

The solar pavement leveling marker stud is an internally illuminated device.
Solar studs are a good solution for both safe and sustainable infrastructure, providing superior long-distance visibility of the road layout ahead.

Internally illuminated solar pavement leveling studs activate at the beginning of twilight. Once daylight exceeds a certain intensity in the morning, the lights will turn off and the battery will start charging.

The district office maintains 44.831 kilometers of the Palo-Carigara-Ormoc road network, traversing the municipalities of Jaro, Tunga, Barugo, Carigara, and Capoocan, all in Leyte. (LIZBETH ANN A. ABELLA)

Leading digital solutions platform Globe blocked a record high 2.72 billion scam and spam messages in 2022, more than double the 2021 total of 1.15 billion, reflecting the impact of its stepped up campaign against malicious SMS.

As a result of its intensified crackdown against fraudsters, Globe also blocked 83.4 million bank-related spam messages last year. Globe has partnered with all major commercial banks and online retailers in the country to ensure quick and efficient information exchange for a more efficient response to spam and fraud SMS.

Blocking spam and scam messages continues to be a crucial component of Globe’s cybersecurity strategy, and it has managed to spare customers from dangerous and disruptive SMS before the enforcement of the SIM Registration Act.

“Our customers are our top priority so we do our best to ensure that they are protected from scammers and fraudsters. We will continue to invest in cybersecurity systems and work tirelessly to provide them with a safe and enjoyable online experience as we also take part in the full implementation of the SIM Registration Act,” said Anton Bonifacio, Globe Chief Information Security Officer.

“With our relentless proactive blocking efforts and implementation of the new law, we are taking great strides in our campaign to end text fraud,” he said.

Globe has spent about $20 million to step up its spam and scam SMS detection and blocking system. Its round-the-clock Security Operations Center filters out these unwanted messages, including app-to-person and person-to-person SMS of international and domestic sources.

In an industry first, Globe also started blocking person-to-person SMS with clickable URLs from all networks in September last year amid growing concern over escalating scam and spam messages, particularly those containing mobile users’ full names.

In just two weeks after enforcing its unprecedented measure, Globe blocked over 32.2 million scam and spam text messages with clickable links, or an average of 2.4 million SMS daily from September 28 to October 13, 2022.

Because of rising SMS-related crimes, the government enacted Republic Act No 11934 or the SIM (subscriber identity module) Registration Act last year to address the problem. The law requires individuals to register their SIM and present a valid identification document to their respective service providers.

Aside from investing in tools to proactively detect suspicious content on the internet to protect its customers from online attacks, Globe has deployed fraud and security chatbots to assist employees with privacy and cybersecurity-related concerns.

It also regularly provides customers with relevant information via social media advisories about fraud, cybersecurity, and data privacy to boost awareness and help them protect themselves against these threats.(PR)

ORMOC CITY– A family whose house was crushed by a fallen tree due to the bad weather was provided with cash assistance by the municipal government of Lope de Vega, Northern Samar.

The house of the affected family in Barangay Gebonawan was hit by a fallen tree due to the strong winds and heavy rain experienced by the town on Jan.27 at about 6:30 pm, town information officer Francine Acasio said.

The cash assistance was personally given to them by Mayor Bobby Saludario and councilor Ester Carduce, Acasio said.

No one was hurt in the incident as the occupants of the house happened to be outside at that time.
(ROBERT DEJON)

TACLOBAN CITY– President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. loves the country’s farmers.
Thus said Agrarian Reform secretary Conrado Estrella III in a speech during the distribution of certificate of land titles awards(CLOAs) held in Tolosa, Leyte last Thursday (Jan. 26).
Estrella, joined by Senator Imee Marcos and Leyte Governor Carlos Jericho ‘Icot’ Petilla, distributed 1,047 CLOAs, benefitting 1,006 agrarian reform beneficiaries.

The total number of hectares covered reached to 1,571,9055.

Sec. Estrella said that Pres. Marcos loves them that he is always ready to provide them with the needed assistance to ensure that they will become more productive, aside from granting them land titles.

He said that the farmers could expect more assistance from the administration of Pres. Marcos like construction of more farm-to-market roads, irrigations, fertilizers, tractors, among others.

Estrella said that the distribution of the titles is an achievement for the beneficiaries in particular in strengthening their security of the ownership of their lands.

“We will add to this achievement by providing different assistance to improve their farmlands” he added.

All farmer-beneficiaries will also be exempted of paying amortizations of their farm lands for at least a year.

Meanwhile, the Barangay Agutayan Farmers Association of Hilongos, Leyte received 4 units of hand tractors and 10 units of grass cutters and the Carmarating-Odingon Pagsarang Sulpa Irrigators Association (COPSIA) of Abuyog, also in Leyte, received 4 units of floating tiller, 4 units hand tractor and 5 units of grass cutters.

The amount of the machinery and equipment totaled to more than P3 million.

The Himay-Angans Farmers Association of Southern Leyte, which comprises 54 farmers, received a multicab, rice thresher, mud boat, multi-function tiller, and water pump amounting to P 632,000.
(LIZBETH ANN A. ABELLA)

NAT exams in Tacloban affected due to inclement weather

TACLOBAN CITY– Eastern Visayas continues to experience moderate to heavy rainfall spawned by the shear line on Monday (Jan. 30).

The bad weather resulted for several local government units to cancel classes in both public and private schools from Kindergarten up to Grade 12 levels.

Among these canceled classes were in the towns of Paranas, Motiong, Hinabangan, and Pinabacdao, all in Samar; Dolores, Llorente, Jipapad, and Taft, all in Eastern Samar; Catarman, in Northern Samar; and in the cities of Calbayog and Catbalogan, both in Samar; Ormoc, Baybay, and Tacloban, all in Leyte;

In Tacloban, its school division announced the cancellation of the holding of the national achievement test(NAT) for graduating Grade 12 students due to the bad weather and will be held instead on February 1 and 2.

In Southern Leyte, a rock fall was reported in Barangay Pinut-an, San Ricardo town at about 4 am due to the heavy rains.

Meantime, the information office of Northern Samar province denied that Governor Edwin Ongchuan has declared suspension of classes across the province.

It said that what was circulated online on the purported order of the governor was a previous cancellation order he issued on Jan. 9.

However, Mayor David Bido of Rosario town in the same province, issued suspension of classes to ensure the safety of the public.

The town has experienced heavy rainfall since weekend that resulted in flooding in several areas of the town, including those located on its center.

The regional office of the Office of Civil Defense has also issued an advisory for the public and the disaster risk reduction and management councils across the region to take appropriate actions, and monitor the weather condition.

Since last month, the region has been experiencing bad weather either due to low-pressure area and shear line that caused flooding and landslides.

The three provinces of Samar Island, Samar, Eastern Samar, and Northern Samar, are under a state of calamity due to this inclement weather which resulted in the dislocation of families, damage to infrastructures, and loss of lives.
(JOEY A. GABIETA/ROBERT DEJON)