TACLOBAN CITY- Around 200 participants attended the forum on Rights and Benefits of Person With Disability (PWDs) at the Tacloban City Training Center on Friday, July 19.
Spearheaded by the Local Government of Tacloban through the City Social Welfare and Development Office (CSWDO), the forum was held as part of the 41st National Disability Prevention & Rehabilitation (NDPR) Week Celebration.
Maria Lourdes Sabate, PWD Welfare Focal Person, said that the event is special for it is in respect to the rights and privileges, as well as the programs and services that the City Government can offer to the PWDs.
Representatives from PhilHealth, Commission on Human Rights, City Cooperative Development & Livelihood Assistance Office, Public Employment Service Office and EVRMC attended the forum to discuss the programs and services available to the marginalized and vulnerable sectors of society.
Also present during the event was the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) 8 Focal Person Ben Calzado.
This year’s theme is “Lokal na Pamahalaan: Kabalikat sa Pagtupad ng Karapatan ng mga Taong May Kapansanan.”(TACLOBAN CITY INFORMATION OFFICE)
CSWDO spearheads forum on rights of PWDs
Modernization transforms Tacloban’s commuting experience
(Photo courtesy of Tacloban City government)
TACLOBAN CITY- Commuting experience has never been dignified for Gerry Montellano until after the national government piloted the public utility vehicles (PUV) modernization program in this city.
For over a year now, Montellano, 25, has been taking a 40-minute trip daily from a relocation site in Suhi village to the city’s downtown, where he works as a goldsmith to support his family.
“I always prefer to ride the solar jeepney because of its bigger space and comfortable seats. For a man with long legs like me, it is very uncomfortable to ride a multi-cab or a very crowded old jeepney,” he told the Philippine News Agency (PNA).
The Department of Transportation launched the PUV modernization program in this city on Jan. 23, 2018 to “overhaul” the country’s public transportation system.
This is one of the priority projects of President Rodrigo Duterte to provide a more dignified commuting experience.
The program has initially deployed 45 solar-powered jeepneys supplied by the Star8 Green Technology Corp. The number of units has doubled this year.
The jeepneys initially covered the Tacloban-Palanog route, which is intended to improve accessibility to resettlement sites occupied by thousands of super typhoon Yolanda survivors.
This year, the project has launched new routes in the city.
“I wish the government will push through this modernization program for the safety and comfort of thousands of commuters. This is way better than aging jeepneys and tiny multicabs,” Montellano said.
Solar jeepney driver Rodolfo Solidor, 60, said driving the modern jeepney has encouraged him to extend his working years. The old man, who earns P320 to P500 daily, has been driving the solar jeepney since its launching here early 2018.
Each unit carries 22 passengers with free Wi-Fi on board, overhead electric fan per passenger, and USB power port to charge their devices.
It has a capacity to travel approximately 100 kilometers on a full battery charge, and adding another 10-15 km from the solar production during daylight hours.
“Its power steering makes it easier for me to drive this jeepney especially for an old man like me. I can drive for as long as I can breathe,” said Solidor who has been transporting commuters to the new Eastern Visayas Regional Medical Center and relocation sites in Kawayan village.
He shared that after working as a driver for over three decades, he never had social and health insurance until Star8 Green Technology Corp. hired him last year.
The solar jeepneys, designed to replace the aging combustion engine fleet, have initially operated in the city starting mid-December 2017.
On July 11, the company launched 20 more solar jeepneys to ply new routes from the city’s downtown.
“This is really introducing better technology for the public and better jobs for the people. This will address the transportation needs of the city’s one million day-time population. It’s really important to provide mobility and convenience for the people,” said Mayor Alfred Romualdez during the launch.
The PUV modernization is a flagship project of the Duterte administration, which aims to restructure, modernize and make an environment-friendly transport system in the country.
The program also aims to provide drivers and operators with stable, sufficient and dignified livelihoods and at the same time, to let the commuters enjoy a safe and comfortable transportation system.
“You know the machines, the engines of public utility jeepneys, are about 20 to 25 years old. We got them from other countries. The reconditioned ones were sold here and they have been pumping in so much carbon dioxide into the air, including the factories,” President Duterte said during a federalism forum sometime in October 2017.
State-run Land Bank of the Philippines and Development Bank of the Philippines earlier announced the availability of multi-billion loans to finance the acquisition of new PUVs to qualified prospective borrowers.
(SARWELL Q. MENIANO/PNA)
Leyte now under state of calamity due to dengue fever
photo by Ver Noveno
DILG asks officials to help in the campaign
BY: LIZBETH ANN A. ABELLA/RESTITUTO A. CAYUBIT
TACLOBAN CITY-The province of Leyte was placed under state of calamity on Friday (July 19) amidst the increasing number of dengue fever cases.
As this developed, the regional Department of Interior and Local Government(DILG) has called all local government unit officials down to the villages to step up their campaign against the mosquitoes-causing ailment in order to contain the increasing number of dengue fever in the region.
With the declaration, the provincial government and all its municipalities, to include Baybay City, could now use part of their calamity funds to procure needed medicines and fogging machines to combat the mosquito-causing ailment, Board Member Raissa Villasin, who sponsored the resolution,said.
The declaration was made through a resolution passed by the members of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan upon the request of Governor Leopoldo Dominico Petilla.
As of July 12, the province has about 1,747 cases of dengue fever with six deaths.
The number does not include those of Tacloban and Ormoc cities being highly urbanized and independent charter cities respectively which made them administratively independent from the provincial government.
Tacloban City has about 407 cases with six deaths while there is no data available as of press time on Ormoc.
“It’s about time that we declare a state of calamity due to the increasing number of dengue fever cases which does not only affect children but of all age group,” she said.
“The least that we can do is to (prevent) the increasing number of our cases, even deaths by declaring the province under the state of calamity so we can address the situation,” Villasin added.
Villasin said that all the 40 towns and the city of Baybay have dengue fever cases.
The six deaths were from the towns of Burauen (2) and one each from the towns of Babatngon, Mahaplag, Merida, and Baybay City.
The top five areas in the province which have more than a hundred cases of dengue fever were Baybay City (155); Jaro (126); Palo (123); Sta. Fe (217); and Alangalang (118).
Meantime, the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), through Regional Director Artemio Caneja, urged all local government units across the region to strengthen their measures to address the increasing number of dengue fever cases in Eastern Visayas.
“Governors, mayors, and punong barangays should take the lead in ensuring that households, workplaces, and other parts of the community do not become breeding grounds of dengue-carrying mosquitoes,” Caneja said in his open letter addressed to all local government units in the region.
(with reports JOEY A. GABIETA)
DOH-8 reminds public anew to follow 4S strategy as dengue cases rise
PALO, Leyte- With the increasing number of dengue cases in Eastern Visayas, the Department of Health in Region 8 (DOH-8) has reminded again the public to follow the 4S strategy.
Regional Director Minerva Molon of DOH-Region 8 revealed that as of July 11, there are already 4,809 dengue cases in the region with 19 deaths.
4S stands for Search and destroy mosquito breeding sites; employ Self-protection measures such as wearing of long pants and long-sleeved shirts and daily use of mosquito repellent; Seek early consultation; and Support fogging/spraying only in hotspot areas where increase in cases is registered for two consecutive weeks to prevent an impending outbreak.
DOH-8 is providing Dengue Rapid Test Kit to local health units for free to detect cases at an early stage and provide appropriate management and treatment.
Meanwhile, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III in a press statement has appealed to the general public to take the 4S strategy by heart stressing the importance of prevention.
“The rains have come and it only takes about two weeks for mosquitoes to breed and fully mature into dengue-causing mosquitoes,” Duque said.
(LDL/DOH-8/PIA-8, Leyte)
Maasin City’s evacuation center nears completion
MAASIN CITY- The city government of Maasin is now on its way to complete the construction of a permanent evacuation center which is expected to mitigate the possible impact of disaster, the place being a storm surge and flood-prone city.
According to Local Disaster Risk Reduction Management Officer (LDRRMO) II Ryan Roque Antonio Cahambing, the city government of Maasin being led by City Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office (CDRRMO) chair, Mayor Nacional Mercado, now builds the first permanent evacuation center as one of the continuity programs on disaster preparedness.
Cahambing noted that the permanent evacuation center being built in Barangay Rizal is sourced from the city’s 20 percent economic development fund.
“It is now at 70 percent completion,” Cahambing said during the PIA Kapihan program recently.
“This is one of the continuing programs of Mayor Nacional Mercado on disaster preparedness,”he added.
“The continuous use of schools as evacuation centers where people seek safer refuge in times of disasters has been affecting the operation of classes in Maasin City, thus the need for fixed evacuation centers to lead people to even before a strong typhoon hit the place,” he quoted a message from Mayor Mercado.
He added that Mayor Mercado also requested the engineering office to procure foldable tents/cubicles that will serve as small rooms of families that will be evacuated in the center.
Cahambing further quoted Mayor Mercado saying that, should there be no occupant after a disaster, “the evacuation center can be temporarily used as a regular office for different departments that are related to disaster or storage rooms for disaster equipment.” (LDL/ESG/PIA-8, Southern Leyte)