TACLOBAN CITY- The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) reminded the region’s private business owners on the second tranche adjustment for their workers as approved under a wage order earlier approved effective Tuesday (Feb.18).
The P10 additional pay on the daily minimum wage for the region’s 1.8 million workers is contained under Wage Order Number 21 approved by the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB) last July 22,2019.
Under the said wage order, which took effect on August 18,2019, workers of the region are to receive an additional P20 both in the agriculture and non-agriculture sector for their daily wages.
This means, those in the agriculture sector are to receive P325 as their daily minimum wage while those in the non-agricultural sector, they are entitled to a P295 daily rate.
However, under the same wage order, the increase would be received by the workers in two tranches.
The first P10 increase took effect last August 18,2020 while the second tranche of the increase took effect on Tuesday (Feb.18).
Centi, who chairs the RTWPB-8, thus urged the employers to observe and comply the second tranche as imposed under Wage Order 21.
“We will monitor the compliance of the employers on this second tranche under (Wage Order 21) by deploying our labor inspectors,” the DOLE regional director said.
Failure of these employers in not complying the second tranche would be dealt by them accordingly. He, however, said that due process would be observed by allowing non-compliant employers to explain.
Still, Centi said that he is confident that the employers would comply the second tranche increase considering that based on their monitoring on the compliance of the employers on wages and other labor standards, they are hitting the compliance rate at 94 percent. (JOEY A. GABIETA)
DOLE asks employers to follow 2nd tranche increase under Wage Order 21
13 towns fail to pass the GFH standard
All provinces and cities in EV were recognized
BY: LIZBETH ANN A. ABELLA
TACLOBAN CITY- Almost all local government units in the region were recognized by the Department of Interior and Local Government under its good financial housekeeping (GFH) award for 2019.
All the six provinces and seven cities of the region got the passing rate from the DILG.
Meantime, 123 municipalities also received same recognition.
This means, out of the 149 local government units of Eastern Visayas, namely, provinces, cities and municipalities, only 13 local government units failed to receive the recognition annually given by the DILG to all LGUs.
Of the 13 towns which failed to pass the GFH award, seven were from Leyte; two each from Eastern Samar and Northern Samar and one from Samar.
The GFH is one of the requirements for the seal of good local governance (SGLG).
LGUs that received recognition we’re given access to DILG’s programs and capacity development assistance and can avail of the Performance Challenge Fund in terms of financial assistance that they can use for their selected projects.
The six provinces of the region, Biliran, Leyte, Southern Leyte, Samar, Eastern Samar, and Northern Samar managed to get the award.
Same is true with all cities of the region- Baybay, Calbayog, Catbalogan, Borongan, Ormoc, Maasin, and Tacloban.
All of the eight towns of Biliran province, Almeria, Biliran, Cabucgayan, Caibiran, Culaba, Kawayan, Maripipi, and Naval also got the DILG nod.
In Eastern Samar, only the towns of Balangiga and Lawaan did not receive the seal.
The towns that got the recognition were Arteche, Balangkayan, Can-avid, Dolores, General Mac Arthur, Giporlos, Guiuan, Hernani, Jipapad, Llorente, Maslog, Maydolong, Mercedes, Oras, Quinapondan, Salcedo, San Juan, San Policarpio, Sulat and Taft.
Meanwhile, seven towns of Leyte failed to get the recognition: Albuera, Babatngon, Dagami, Matalom, Pastrana, Tolosa, and Villaba.
The 33 towns which received the DILG honor were Abuyog, Alangalang, Barugo, Bato, Burauen, Calubian, Capoocan, Carigara, Dulag, Hilongos, Hindang, Inopacan, Isabel, Jaro, Javier, Julita, Kananga, Lapaz, Leyte, MacArthur, Mahaplag, Matag-ob, Mayorga, Merida, Palo, Palompon, San Isidro, San Miguel, Sta. Fe, Tabango, Tabon-Tabon, Tanauan, and Tunga.
Out of the 24 towns of Northern Samar, only two failed to receive the recognition: Rosario and Silvino Lubos.
Getting the recognition were the municipalities of Allen, Biri, Bobon, Capul, Catarman, Catubig, Gamay, Laoang, Lapinig, Las Navas, Lavezares, Lope de Vega, Mapanas, Mondragon, Palapag, Pambujan, San Antonio, San Jose, San Isidro, San Roque, San Vicente and Victoria.
In Samar, only the town of Almagro failed to receive the recognition while the rest of its towns, Basey, Calbiga, Daram, Gandara, Hinabangan, Jiabong Marabut, Matuguinao, Motiong, Pagsangjan, Paranas, Pinabacdao, San Jorge, San Jose de Buan, San Sebastian, Sta. Margarita, Sta., Rita, Sto. Nino, Tagapul-an, Talalora, Tarangnan, Villareal, and Zumarraga, were bestowed of the same recognition.
Meantime, all the 17 towns of Southern Leyte, Anahawan, Bontoc, Hinunangan, Hinundayan, Libagon, Liloan, Limasawa, Macrohon, Malitbog, Padre Burgos, Pintuyan, Saint Bernard, San Juan, San Ricardo, Silago, Sogod, and Tomas Oppus were recognized.
New facilities to spike up visitors to Lake Danao Natural Park and Ormoc City
ORMOC CITY-The tourism industry is increasingly becoming one of the economic pillars that provides the needed revenue to the government’s coffers. And taken as a whole, it is ecotourism that tops them all. It can be considered as a poverty alleviating industry as it creates jobs in remote parts of the country which is composed mostly of fisherfolks and farmers.
While it is a common, yet unfortunate occurrence that urban development usually overshadows and even neglects the peripheral communities, a different trend may be happening in the City of Ormoc – a bustling city by the bay with its long coastal communities and large swaths of lands with sugar cane plantations.
But where nature is allowed to thrive, it sustains and makes communities productive.
Ormoc City is one such place. All it takes is a local government unit in convergence with other national agencies, the private sector and the communities to come up with plans to provide economic opportunities to the underprivileged sectors of society. One such effort is the promotion of ecotourism in the area.
The once barren mud flats along the coastal barangays of Naungan, San Juan and Lao of Ormoc City became a thriving mangrove forest with the intervention of the DENR through its Community-Based Forest Management Project (CBFMP) and the National Greening Program (NGP) coursed through the Naungan-San Juan Mangrove Planters Association (NSJMPA).
The success of its plantation project led to the infusion of funds from the private sector to what is now the Ormoc City Mangrove Eco Park that offers a place for visitors to stay, relax and commune with nature while they indulge on its aquatic resources and other local delicacies.
Not to be left behind, a proclaimed protected area under the National Integrated Protected Area System (NIPAS) Act, the upland part of Ormoc City has its own ecotourism area which is the Lake Danao Natural Park (LDNP). The guitar-shaped lake with cool atmosphere, offers a serene and relaxing escapade for nature lovers.
While both were damaged by two separate natural calamities – super typhoon Yolanda of 2013 that destroyed the mangrove plantation and the 2017 earthquake that damaged infrastructure and facilities of the LDNP, these have since been rehabilitated and are making a strong comeback to cater to the visiting public.
Just recently, the Camping Pavilion at Brgy. Lake Danao made possible by the LGU of Ormoc City is a welcome relief to those whose income depends upon tourists of the park. At the Ormoc Mangrove EcoPark, a newly constructed public toilet was also turned-over by the Department of Tourism (DOT) to the Naungan San Juan Mangrove Planters Association (NSJMPA) to cater to the needs of its visitors.
“Let us conserve and protect this EcoPark for it provides us the needed livelihood,” says Hon. Jaime Higano, a barangay official who expressed appreciation to the LGU of Ormoc City, DOT and the DENR for the projects.
“The DENR in Eastern Visayas appreciates the convergence of support from the Local Government Unit of Ormoc City and that of the Department of Tourism for the facilities introduced to Lake Danao Natural Park and the Mangrove EcoPark, both in Ormoc City. This will not only provide convenience to the visiting public but as the number of visitors grow, so also is the knowledge of the need to protect our protected areas and the importance of our wetlands, mangrove forests included,” shares OIC-Assistant Regional Director for Technical Services Eugenia Bautista who represented DENR Regional Executive Director Tirso P. Parian, Jr. at the turn-over rites. (PR)
Parents’ group denounces NPA lies on ‘Tacloban 5’
(PNA photo by SARWELL Q. MENIANO)
TACLOBAN CITY– Parents who grouped together to fight the “deceptive recruitment” of the New People’s Army (NPA) on Wednesday(Feb.12) denounced the left-leaning groups’ misleading information related to the recent arrest of five young suspected rebels in this city.
The group ‘Hands Off Our Children’, in a press briefing, said leftists should not label the arrest as a crackdown against the government’s staunch critics because those detained are former student activists who eventually joined the armed struggle of the NPA in Eastern Visayas.
The group was in the city to talk to the parents of some of the five young activists nabbed in a pre-dawn raid on Feb. 7 for illegal possession of firearms and explosives.
“The death of 14 teens who were killed in an encounter between the military and NPA in recent years is proof that there is deceptive campus-based recruitment. It all started with student activism that leads to armed rebellion. Their victims are as young as 16 years old,” said Gemma Labsan, Hands Off Our Children founder.
She was referring to the number of documented deaths of young rebels from 2002 to 2019 based on the record of Hands Off nationwide.
Labsan asked militant groups to stop labeling those arrested as human rights advocates or journalists since they are actively engaged in “deceptive recruitment” on campuses and online.
This was their reaction to various social media campaigns by left-leaning groups to free the so-called “Tacloban 5”, which they identified as “political prisoners.”
Anabelle Sabado, the organization’s secretary questioned the militant group’s fundraising drive every time a young NPA member is arrested.
“Why are they asking for donations? They never helped the family of young recruits. Their intention is to raise funds for the communist terrorist group,” said Anabelle, the mother of Christian Sabado, 22, who was captured by government troops in Northern Samar last year while conducting extortion activities for the NPA.
Christian was an accounting student at the Polytechnic University of the Philippines in Manila when he joined the communist terrorist group through student activism.
“They never care about the feeling of a mother whose child’s mind is poisoned by NPA. It’s hard to see my child in jail, but it is better to see him behind bars than to see him die fighting the government,” Anabelle told reporters.
The group was in the city to talk to the parents of some of the five young activists nabbed in a pre-dawn raid on Feb. 7 for illegal possession of firearms and explosives.
Government forces arrested Frenchie Mae Cumpio, Marielle Domequil, Alexander Philip Abinguna, Marissa Cabaljao, and Mira Legion at the alleged communist terrorist group’s safe houses here.
The suspects yielded two .45-caliber pistols, two magazine assemblies and 14 live ammunitions for .45-caliber, two fragmentation grenades, a red flag with Communist Party of the Philippines-NPA symbol, and PHP557,360 in cash.
Those arrested are active members of militant groups linked to the NPA.
On Tuesday, the Tacloban City Prosecutor’s Office found probable cause in filing charges against those arrested. Two of those arrested were charged for violation of Republic Act 10591 or “An Act Providing for a Comprehensive Law on Firearms and Ammunition.”
The three other activists are now facing raps for violating Republic Act 9516, the “Unlawful Manufacture, Sales, Acquisition, Disposition, Importation or Possession of an Explosive or Incendiary Device.” (SARWELL Q. MENIANO/PNA)
Rep. Noel announces approval of House of Representatives converting EVSU-Dulag into a regular campus
TACLOBAN CITY-The bill converting the Eastern Visayas State University (EVSU)-Dulag Satellite Campus into a regular campus has already been approved at the House of Representatives.
This was disclosed by An Waray party-list Rep. Florencio “Bem” Noel said.
House Bill 04949 which aim to convert the Dulag Satellite campus located in the municipality of Dulag, Leyte, into a regular campus is now referred to the committee on Higher and Technical Education chaired by Senator Joel Villanueva.
Noel along with Leyte 2nd District Representative Lolita “Karen” Javier authored the said bill.
“As a regular campus, EVSU-Dulag will have autonomy and will be able to offer more courses. Its conversion shall promote inclusive growth and development which will encourage the expansion of its services and facilities,” the solon said.
Moreover, the conversion would also allow the campus to be subsidized by the Commission on Higher Education (ChEd), Noel added.
More students from the towns of Dulag, Mayorga, McArthur, La Paz, Julita, and Tolosa could now be accommodated and enrolled once the satellite school become a regular campus, Noel said.
Noel added that both the House of Representatives and the Senate are hastening the approval of the bill after the ChEd said that they will stop in providing fund to the school because Commission on Audit disallows it.
“ChEd said that they will stop supporting the campus not until it becomes a regular campus under EVSU,” he said.
The bill states that once approved, aside from undergraduate courses, EVSU Dulag must also offer technical-vocational education training, and graduate programs.
At present the school offers three courses, namely, Bachelor of Science in Information Technology, Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering and Bachelor of Secondary Education.
A campus administrator shall render full time service and must be appointed by the Board of Regent.
The bill also states that until such time funding for the operation and maintenance of EVSU Dulag Satellite campus is included in the annual General Appropriations Act, the municipality of Dulag shall provide the necessary amount in the initial implementation of the law.
EVSU Dulag campus, formerly Leyte Institute of Technology Dulag Campus, become part of EVSU in 2000.
Prior to the bill of Noel and Javier, in the 17th Congress, former An Waray Representative Victoria Isabel Noel also filed the bill the convert EVSU Dulag as a regular campus.
(ROEL T. AMAZONA)
P24M TUPAD funds to benefit 5,375 Leyteños
TACLOBAN CITY- The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Regional Office VIII through its North Leyte Field Office awarded to nine (9) municipalities of the second district of Leyte Tulong Panghanapbuhay para sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers (TUPAD) funds amounting to a total of P24,160,731.00 last February 5, 2020 at Haiyan Resort Hotel in Tanauan, Leyte.
Rep. Lolita Karen T. Javier of the 2nd district of Leyte graced the turn-over ceremony together with DOLE Regional Director Yahya A. Centi and NLFO Officer-in-Charge Norman L. Uytico. Mayors of the recipient municipalities were likewise present to personally receive the checks.
The following municipalities are the recipients of the TUPAD funds: Jaro, Dulag, Capoocan, Julita, Pastrana, Barugo, Tunga, Dagami and Burauen. A total of 5,375 disadvantaged workers from the said municipalities are to benefit from the emergency employment assistance. These workers will be employed for the implementation of projects which will include declogging of canals and clean up drive in their respective municipalities.
Director Centi in his opening remarks committed to remain relentless in pursuing the mandate of DOLE.
“As your fellow public servant, I assure you that the government is doing its part in sending help where help is needed. We at DOLE are working so hard for all of you and this TUPAD program is just one of DOLE’s ways to extend assistance to the community and eventually pursue our given mandate”, said Director Centi.
Meanwhile, Rep.Javier, aside from expressing her sincere thanks to DOLE for the strong commitment to assist the second district of Leyte, likewise emphasized that she will continue to remain dedicated for the good of her fellow Leyteños.
“I would like to thank DOLE for being so active in helping us have this TUPAD projects come to reality. It is indeed comforting to know that we have this kind of partnership centered on delivering excellent service. As your representative, I would like to inform you that mañana habit is not in our vocabulary. We will work together for the good of my fellow Leyteños”, said Javier.
TUPAD is a community-based package of assistance that provides emergency employment for a minimum period of 10 days, but not to exceed a maximum of 30 days, depending on the nature of work to be performed.
(NORMA RAE S. COSTIMIANO with reports from GEMMA D. DE LA CRUZ)