PALO, Leyte – About 86 living World War II veterans from Leyte and the rest of the region would be receiving a cash incentive of P10,000 from the provincial government of Leyte.
This was announced by Governor Leopoldo Dominico Petilla during the recently-held 76th Leyte Gulf Landings commemorative program.
Of the 86 veterans, the oldest is a 105-year-old who is from the town of Javier, Leyte.
Petilla said that the veterans will receive the cash gifts before Christmas as he directed the Provincial Social Welfare and Development to hasten the process.
During the Oct.20 commemorative program, the outgoing Leyte governor expressed his gratitude to the veterans adding that he hope to see them participating in next year’s celebration.
This year, due to the restrictions imposed by the national government, elderlies are prohibited to go outside amid the pandemic coronavirus disease (COVID-19) health problem.
(RESTITUTO A. CAYUBIT)

TACLOBAN CITY- People of Arteche town in Eastern Samar will soon enjoy cheap prices of medicines.
This will happen once the ‘Botika ng Bayan’ will start its operations which will offer quality but cheaper medicines compared to privately-owned pharmacies.
Mayor Roland Boei Evardone said that the public pharmacy will start its operation once the needed medicines supplied by the Department of Health (DOH) arrives.
The operation of the Botika ng Bayan in Arteche, the first of its kind in the province, is funded by the DOH which will be responsible in the supply of medicine and the salary of the pharmacist.
“We are thankful to the Department of Health for choosing our town as recipient of this program. The DOH will procure and replenish the supply of medicine while the LGU’s role is to dispense (the medicines),” Evardone said.
While it is the DOH that will supply them the medicine, the local government unit will maintain the pharmacy.
The mayor is grateful to the staff of their Rural Health Unit who worked hard to comply all the needed documents and requirements for them to be issued of license to operate.
“This is a great honor to our town to be part of this program as the first town in Eastern Samar to have this especially that most of our residents are living on the poverty level,” Evardone said.
Evardone disclosed that about 56 percent of the total population of their town are living in poverty.
Based on the 2015 population survey of the Philippine Statistics Authority the town has more than 16,000 population from its 20 villages.
The progam was first introduced during the administration of former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo but was discontinued sometimes in 2011 due to lack of pharmacists and even supplies of medicines.
The progam aims to provide access to free essential medicines for common diseases in the villages targeting the poor people in the community.
(ROEL T. AMAZONA)

TACLOBAN CITY- The operation of the three sea terminals in Allen town, Northern Samar resumed at around 5 am Monday(Oct.26)after the no sailing policy was lifted by the Coast Guard due to the threat of tropical storm ‘Quinta’ that hit parts of Eastern Visayas on Sunday(Oct.25).
Based on the report of the Coast Guard based in Allen town, about 668 passengers, bound for Luzon, were stranded in the three terminals since Sunday- Bhalwartico with 255 passengers; Sta. Clara with 373 passengers; and Dapdap with 40 passengers.
The Department of Public Works and Highways in the province has also reported that all major roads and bridges were not affected by the heavy rains spawned by Quinta.
However, a portion of the Calbayog-Catarman Road was temporarily rendered impassable after a minor landslide hit in the said area with about 20 cubic meter of rocks cascaded from a hilly portion to the road. Clearing operation was immediately conducted by the DPWH.
Several parts in Calbayog and Catbalogan cities and in Mapanas and Catubig towns, both in Northern Samar,also experienced flooding due to the heavy rains dumped by Quinta.
Also, four fishermen from Rapu-Rapu town in Albay were rescued off the waters in Barangay Cahayagan, Laoang town, also in Northern Samar.
The rescued fishermen were identified as Michael Bilon, Jessie Adornado, and Rico Alamil. However, seven fishermen were said to be missing.
In Biliran province, two of its major bridges sustained damages due to Quinta’s fury.
The Caraycaray Bridge, however, is now passable although only one of its lane while the Catmon Bridge remain not passable.
(JOEY A. GABIETA)

TACLOBAN CITY – An ordinance which will institutionalize policies and measures once there is an emerging and reemerging disease is set to be approved by the Sangguniang Panlungsod members of this city.
The proposed ordinance, “Adopting the protective and precautionary measures against infectious diseases during a state of epidemic or public health emergency,” aims to institutionalize all the health protocols that are set by the government to prevent spread of virus or diseases in times of pandemic.
“In case another pandemic happens, we already know what should be done, like on quarantine, health protocols, disease surveillance unit, border checkpoints. Hopefully this will be used once there is a declaration of public health emergency,” Vice Mayor Jerry “Sambo’ Yaokasin said.
Yaokasin added that they only tackled the ordinance this time due to flip-flopping of the regulations and guidelines set by the National Inter-Agency Task Force (NIATF) like the order to install barriers for motorcycle riders to separate the drivers from the back riders.
“If we had enacted this ordinance before and we included that order here, then we have to amend this again,” Yaokasin explained.
Included in the salient provision of the ordinance include physical distancing, mass gathering, the use of personal protective equipment (PPE), establishments to have monitoring on people coming in and out of their establishments aside from regular body temperature, for the city health office to have a disease surveillance unit, contact tracing and establishment the border checkpoints, and every establishments and government offices will have to have their own contingency plan.
Also included in the proposed ordinance are provision of mass gathering. However, they did not specify the capacity due to constant changing of guidelines imposed by the NIATF, including physical distancing.
The proposed ordinance has also provision mandating all public transport to conduct regular disinfection of the vehicle, proper sanitation, and protective barrier.
Yaokasin said that a penalty is also included in the measure ranging from P500 to P3,000, depending on the gravity of the offense and with community service of eight hours in first offense, 16 hours for second offense, and 24 hours for third offense.
“Because we have seen the effect of pandemic, that if you raise it too high it’s beyond the reach already. So we wanted at this time, it’s not penalty we are after but for everyone to cooperate,” he said.
The city council is targeting to approve the ordinance during their regular session this week.
(ROEL T. AMAZONA)