TACLOBAN CITY– A P6.92 million multi-purpose building is now being constructed at Abaca Elementary School (AES) in Dagami town, Leyte to provide the students and teachers as well with an adequate learning and conducive space.
The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH)-Leyte Second District Engineering, which is the responsible government agency, sourced this project under its Multi-Purpose Buildings and Facilities program to support the Social Services Program funded under the CY 2023 General Appropriation Act (GAA).
The new multi-purpose building measures 288 square meters in floor area, and the project involves the construction of structural concrete for columns and beams, steel trusses, roofing, lighting fixtures, and the application of painting works. Equipped with a stage, two storage rooms, comfort rooms, and a ramp intended for use by Persons with Disabilities (PWD).
According to District Engineer Leo Edward Oppura, this multipurpose building will provide a location for the school’s academics and educational activities, as well as for pupils to achieve their full potential in acquiring and enhancing their skills.
A multi-purpose facility constructed on school property offers an opportunity to develop areas that support the curriculum of the school and the needs of the students, enabling a wide range of methods for instruction and learning in a single readily adaptable space.
The project is expected to be completed on or before August 18, 2023, just in time for the opening of classes for the school year 2023. (LIZBETH ANN A. ABELLA)
TACLOBAN CITY – Borongan City Mayor Jose Ivan Dayan Agda announced during the graduation of the new members of the Citizen Armed Force Geographical Unit (Cafgu) Active Auxiliary (CAA) the increase of their monthly allowance.
At present CAFGUs assigned in Borongan are receiving P6, 500 monthly allowance.
Starting this year, they will be receiving P7,500 a month and will receive 13th-month pay every year-end.
At least 86 residents of Eastern Samar province underwent a 45-day training to become members of the Cafgu at the 78th Infantry (Warrior) Battalion camp in Barangay Lalawigan in Borongan City.
They will be assigned in the hinterland barangays of Borongan to assist soldiers of the 78th IB against threat of the communist armed group, the New People’s Army (NPA).
Present during the graduation were B/Gen. Noel Vestuir, the commanding officer of the 802nd; Lt. Allan Tria, the commanding officer of the 78th Infantry Battalion; and Lt. Col. Ernesto de la Rosa Jr., the head of the 8th Infantry Division training school.
In his message, Brig. Gen. Vestuir expressed his heartfelt appreciation to Mayor Agda for his all-out support for the conduct and recruitment of Cafgu and emphasized their important role in maintaining peace and the development to the community.
“Our CAAs played a significant role in sustaining peace and development as they carry out their duty being the physical and psychological barriers in their respective barangays,” he said. (ROEL T. AMAZONA)
ORMOC CITY-Six empty shells of suspect .45 caliber bullets were recovered by responding police beside the body of a construction worker whose lifeless body was found at the center of the road at about 7:45 pm on Thursday(July 6) along the vicinity of the diversion road in Purok 6, Barangay Monbon, Sta. Margarita, Samar.
Police identified the victim as Ryan Dealagdon and a resident of Brgy. Cagbanyacao of the said town.
The police said that at around 7:48 pm, a certain Patrick Lumahan personally appeared before their office to report that what appeared to be a dead body was discovered in the said place.
The responding policemen went to the area and saw the victim oozing with his own blood, with gunshot wounds on his body, right arm, and head.
Based on the investigation conducted by responding police, the victim’s stepdaughter heard that his stepfather received a call before the incident.
She said that after a while the victim went out of their house and after several minutes, she heard explosions nearby which turned out to be the killing of her step-father.
Six empty shells of .45 caliber at the side of the road were recovered by the police.
The authorities have yet to determine the suspect and the motive of the incident.
TACLOBAN CITY– Samar Governor Sharee Ann Tan expressed her full support to the province’s barangay health workers emphasizing the important role they play in the delivery of primary health care to the villagers.
Tan graced a provincewide gathering among health workers, represented by their respective federated presidents during a seminar on June 27 to 29 in Catbalogan City.
Gov. Tan said that these barangay health workers play a significant role in the delivery and improvement of primary health care as she vowed her continued support to them.
The governor added that she is also supporting in professionalizing the barangay health workers which can be achieved through training programs and by accrediting them.
The barangay health workers are considered to be the first point of contact between the health care system and the rest of the community. (LIZBETH ANN A. ABELLA)
POLITICAL TITANS. Some of the region’s top political leaders gathered on June 29 at the behest of Leyte congressman and Speaker Martin Romualdez. Among those who attended were Tacloban City Mayor Alfred Romualdez, Leyte Rep. Richard Gomez, Eastern Samar Gov. Ben Evardone, and Northern Samar Gov. Edwin Ongchuan. (Ben Evadone Facebook)
Seizure of their properties eyed
POLITICAL TITANS. Some of the region’s top political leaders gathered on June 29 at the behest of Leyte congressman and Speaker Martin Romualdez. Among those who attended were Tacloban City Mayor Alfred Romualdez, Leyte Rep. Richard Gomez, Eastern Samar Gov. Ben Evardone, and Northern Samar Gov. Edwin Ongchuan. (Ben Evadone Facebook)
TACLOBAN CITY– The provincial government of Eastern Samar is demanding payment from four mining companies that are extracting minerals at the historic island of Homonhon off Guiuan town due to their failure to pay real property tax (RPT).
These mining companies, Cambayas Mining Corp., Techiron Resources Inc., Emir Mineral Resources Corp., and Mt. Sinai Exploration and Development Corp., have failed to pay their RPT taxes to the provincial government for years now amounting to P133 million in total, Governor Ben Evardone said.
The governor said that the failure of these mining companies to pay their obligations would result in the seizure of their properties and equipment.
It was learned that the Cambayas Mining Corp. has a tax liability of P96.57 million covering the years of 2012-2016; Techiron Resources Inc. has a tax obligation of P22.56 million for the period of 2017 to 2022; Emir Mineral Resources Corp., P12.14 million for the years of 2017 to 2022; and Mt. Sinai Exploration and Development Corp., P2.58 million for the year 2013.
The assessment of extracted minerals by mining companies was based on the ore transport permit (OTP) issued by the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB).
These mining companies were separately granted mining permits by the government: Cambayas Mining Corp. in 2009; Techiron Resources Inc. in 2015; and Emir Mineral Resources Corp. and Mt. Sinai Exploration and Development Corp., both in 2010.
These mining firms are extracting chromite in Homonhon Island and are therefore subject to real property taxation under the Local Government Code of 1991, Evardone reasoned.
On top of complying with all the mining laws, especially on environmental and social protection, they should also pay taxes correctly, the governor insisted.
“These taxes on extracted minerals are different from taxes on machineries and equipment being used by mining companies. The province is still in the process of determining the assessed value of their tax liabilities on their machineries and equipment,” he added.
Failure of these companies to pay their tax obligations to the provincial government, ‘we will be forced to levy or seize their properties as provided by law,’ Evardone said.
The governor has earlier cited the failure of the national government to give their share in excise tax being paid by these mining companies, which could run into millions of pesos.
ROAD OPENING. 4Ps Rep. Marcelino ‘Nonoy’ Libanan said that a better and concrete road network would help end the insurgency problem on Samar Island. Libanan (left), who is also the minority floor leader of the House of Representatives, led the groundbreaking of road project connecting three interior villages of Jipapad, Eastern Samar on July 1.
ROAD OPENING. 4Ps Rep. Marcelino ‘Nonoy’ Libanan said that a better and concrete road network would help end the insurgency problem on Samar Island. Libanan (left), who is also the minority floor leader of the House of Representatives, led the groundbreaking of road project connecting three interior villages of Jipapad, Eastern Samar on July 1.
JIPAPAD, Eastern Samar-Aside from easy access and to help usher in development, road network is a big factor in ending Samar Island insurgency problem, particularly in Eastern Samar province.
Thus said 4Ps party-list Rep. Marcelino Libanan, who is also the minority floor leader of the House of Representatives.
Libanan said that among his priorities is constructing roads to inner villages of different municipalities in Eastern Samar, where he was once its congressional representative.
The party-list solon on Saturday (July 1) led in the groundbreaking of a 2.35 kms road covering three interior villages of Jipapad, namely sitio Casapa of Brgy.4, San Roque, and Cagmanaba, connecting them to Matuguinao, a town in Samar which is also fighting against members of the New People’s Army (NPA).
“If you have noticed, most villages where there are conflicts are those located in far-flung areas which are not connected and we can end this problem if we can connect them (through pave road),” Libanan said.
He said that he is with the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. in ending the decades-long insurgency problem of the country reason he is ‘serious’ in pushing inter-connectivity of all towns in the province, particularly its interior and hard-reach villagers which are prone to be influenced by the NPA, the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines.
Libanan said that connecting all three provinces of Samar Island, (western) Samar, Eastern Samar, and Northern Samar through arterial roads will make it easy for the government to end the insurgency problem.
Mayor Benjamin Ver of Jipapad town expressed his gratitude to Rep. Libanan who said that by themselves, they could not fight the rebels.
“It seems our national government has forgotten us. We are happy that aside from our provincial government, Rep. Libanan is helping us in constructing paved roads to our interior villages,” he said in an interview.
Ver said that of the 13 villages of the town, only six have no access roads, namely, Dorillo, Ricare, Magsaysay, Cagnaba, and Jewaran.
Jipapad, a town of more than 9,000 people, is a fifth-class town with an income of P121 million of which P1 million is sourced from its local taxes fees.
Meantime, Lt. Col. Rudyard Kepling Garcia, the commanding officer of the 52nd Infantry Battalion based in Oras, also in Eastern Samar, disclosed that they have relocated to Brgy. Magsaysay in Jipapad since June of this year.
The relocation, he said, is meant to ‘secure’ the of Jipapad which is closer to the towns of Las Navas and Catubig, both in Northern Samar, where there remains a very active insurgency problem.
According to him by relocating to Jipapad town, it would be easy for them to address the problem in Northern Samar which is just about 15 kms away using the Las Navas route.
Garcia said that they hope to end the insurgency problem ‘the soonest possible time.’
“Our area of responsibility is already generally peaceful but still we want to prevent any resurgence of insurgency,” he added. (JOEY A. GABIETA)
