MASLOG, Eastern Samar– The construction of a road connecting this remote town to its nearest town of Jipapad will bring economic prosperity, ease of transportation, and peace, according to town Mayor Heraclio Santiago.

Speaking during the groundbreaking ceremony of the P98.78 million road project on May 26, Mayor Santiago said that once completed, this will benefit more than 1,050 hectares of rice farms in his municipality and about 1,000 hectares of rice farms in Jipapad town.

The groundbreaking was graced by House Minority Floor Leader and 4Ps party-list Representative Marcelino Libanan, officials from the Department of Public Works and Highways Eastern Samar District Engineering Office, and mayors from the towns of Maslog, Can-avid, Dolores, Oras, San Policarpo, and Jipapad.

Not only expected to help farmers deliver and transport their produce efficiently, the road will also help in maintaining peace in far-flung villages of Maslog, Jipapad, and Arteche traversed by the road.

“Once this road is completed this will mean the end of the insurgency problem thus bringing peace and prosperity not only to our town but also to the entire Eastern Samar province,” Mayor Santiago said.

“That is how important this road project is,” he added.
The road project consists of the construction and concreting of 1.5731 kilometers road, including drainage and slope protection.

The project is targeted to be completed within 236 days or about eight months.
Officials of two interior villages of Maslog also expect the same outcome once the road project is completed.

Alfredo Nuguit, barangay leader of Tugas and Federico Bergonio of San Roque village said that their areas used to be affected by insurgency problems, although none of their residents had joined the communist group.

The officials clarified that their people just provided support by giving food and money to the rebels.

In San Roque, the farthest village of Maslog and located near its boundary to Jipapad town, Bergonio said that the last sighting of communist members was last year.
“This road will lessen their presence because this will help the military to have access to our village,” Bergonio said.

San Roque village is located about eight kilometers from the town proper and can be reached by a three-kilometer trek from Tugas village.

The village chief of Tugas has the same sentiment sharing that even though they only have at present an all-weather road, the presence of communist rebels in their village has diminished.

“Even though we only have an access road at present, their presence has weakened because the transportation going to our village becomes easier,” Nuguit said.

Residents of Tugas are using a single motorcycle and a tractor locally called “kuliglig” as their means of transportation from the village to the town proper.

Travelling to the village lasts for about 40 minutes traversing unpaved road and rice fields, or more than an hour by walking, a condition that Rep. Libanan want to end.

“I will make sure that this project is going to be completed because these roads will help a lot in improving the lives of Eastern Samar residents,” Rep. Libanan promised.
(ROEL T. AMAZONA)

To be launched on June 4

TACLOBAN CITY– The province of Northern Samar is gearing up for the first-ever ‘Ibabao Festival,’ coinciding with its founding anniversary on June 19.

For the staging of the Ibabao Festival and other activities related to the provincehood anniversary, the provincial government has allocated P10 million.

Ibabao was the old name of Northern Samar which became a separate province in 1965 when Samar Island was divided into three provinces.

The other Samar provinces are Eastern Samar and western Samar.
Governor Edwin Ongchuan said that they hope that with the holding of the Ibabao Festival which is to be participated by all the 24 towns of the province, showcasing the rich history, tourism, and cultural heritage of the province through dance and ritual performances, not only they can continue to preserve their culture but for the current generations to know and appreciate them.

“Through the Ibábao Festival, we hope to foster cultural awareness, engender deeper appreciation of the history, cultural heritage, and development of Northern Samar, and instill pride, integrity, understanding, and unity among the present and future generations of Norte Samarnons,” he said in a statement on Tuesday (May 23).

He also said that they hope that the Ibabao Festival will help attract more tourists to come to the province as he asked the public to continue to practice all the health protocols due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.

At present, the province has four active COVID-19 cases.

The Ibabao Festival will be formally launched on June 4 in a grand float parade to be participated by all the 24 towns at the provincial capital of Catarman.

The festival will end on June 19, the founding day of the province.

Among the activities during the Ibabao Festival is the holding of an agri-tourism trade fair, search for Mutya san Ibabao, business conference, cultural night, night market, mass bloodletting, founding anniversary commemorative program, ‘Kauswagan Awards,’ and the ‘Festival of Festivals,’ a cultural competition by all the 24 town-contingents slated on June 18.
(JOEY A. GABIETA)

TACLOBAN CITY – The creation of additional campuses for the Eastern Samar State University (ESSU) is important to address its increasing enrollment.

Thus said House Minority Floor Leader and 4Ps party-list Rep. Marcelino Libanan who has co-authored a bill for the creation of satellite campuses of ESSU to be located in the different towns in Eastern Samar.

Under the proposed measure, Libanan seeks the creation of an ESSU campus in Balangiga and the conversion of the ESSU Arteche into a regular campus.

Both bills are authored by Tingog party-list Representatives Yedda Marie Romualdez and Jude Acidre, and House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez of Leyte’s first congressional district.

These bills are already referred to the committee on higher and technical education at the House of Representatives on August 11, 2022.

ESSU, at present, has more than 20,000 students enrolled in its main campus in Borongan City, and campuses located in Guiuan, Can-avid, Salcedo, Maydolong, and a satellite campus in Arteche.

In Guiuan alone, there are over 5,000 enrolled students.
“That is why I co-author bills that seek to create new ESSU campuses. The more campuses we have, the better,” Libanan said.

“But I suggest that there should be no duplication of courses so that our professors and instructors can focus well on teaching their expertise and we can produce better graduates,” he added.

The lawmaker further said that an evaluation must also be done and courses offered are those needed by the country and workforce in the international community.
“We should not only aim for a diploma but we should aspire for what is needed in our community,” he added.

ESSU is one of the state universities in Eastern Visayas and offers graduate courses, and baccalaureate degrees among which are engineering, computer studies, education, agriculture and natural sciences, business management and accountancy, hospitality management, nursing, and criminology.
The university is also offering vocational-technical courses and senior high school.
(ROEL T. AMAZONA)