ORMOC CITY– the driver of a 10-wheeler truck that fell in a ravine miraculously survived the incident that took place in Bontoc, Southern Leyte on Sunday (May 14).

The driver of the 10-wheeler truck, Rene Estender, 25 and a resident of Koronadal City only sustained a wound on his head due to the incident.

His companion, Jerome Doquila, 21 and from Bontoc town, likewise sustained injuries.
Town police chief, Major Rolando Paloma said that rescuers took about six hours to retrieve Estender from the vehicle as he was pinned from his seat.

The rescuers, he added, have to use acetylene to cut the portion to retrieve Estender.
The 10-wheeler vehicle met the accident along a national highway in Barangay Malbago, Bontoc at about 11:30 am going to Maasin City.

Paloma said that based on his observation, the vehicle did not lose its brake system as skid marks were seen on the highway before the ten-wheeler fell into the ravine.

He added that the driver could have lost control of the steering wheel while the vehicle was traversing the descending portion of the highway resulting in it to fall into a 20-meters ravine. (ROBERT DEJON)

TACLOBAN CITY– Borongan City is taking some major steps as it aspires to become a ‘smart city.’

The Department of Science and Technology (DOST), in collaboration with Isabela State University (ISU) – Cauayan Campus and LGU-Cauayan City, conducted a smart city assessment and roadmap formulation last May 10-12, 2023.

The three-day event aimed to harness smart and sustainable technologies and practices in the country and was spearheaded by City Mayor Jose Ivan Dayan Agda and DOST Regional Director Engr. Ernesto Granada.

Mayor Agda expressed his interest in the project, saying that ‘technology adaptation will make public service more efficient and will make civil servants more accountable to the people they serve.’

Following the presentations, the team helped develop Borongan City’s Smart City Roadmap which was supported by the city’s departments and their strategic goals and mandates.
The department heads created an initial plan and roadmap to address current and future challenges in healthcare, education, infrastructure, security, and agriculture. Mayor Agda emphasized the significance of the agriculture sector in the city and how the Smart City initiative could help it grow and develop.

Mayor Agda also mentioned the ‘Dukwag Agriculture Mapping Project’, a unique aspect of the smart city initiative that aims to create a comprehensive database of the city’s agricultural resources, including land use and soil analysis, to help farmers make informed decisions and improve their yields.

The city mayor designated city information officer Rupert Ambil II to chair the smart city campaign.

The project will involve the harmonization of the efforts of various stakeholders, including national agencies, city departments, NGOs, CSOs, and the private sector.
(LIZBETH ANN A. ABELLA)

TACLOBAN CITY – Extreme heat that being experienced by this city for a couple of weeks now has forced several schools to stop temporarily the face-to-face method of teaching as they shifted to modular learning of system.

Among these schools are the San Jose Central School, Sto. Sped Center, and Panalaron Central School.

At the Manlurip Elementary School (MES), said that it was agreed by both parents and teachers to shift to modular learning system due to the current heat wave being experienced by the city.

“So far, there’s still no incident of students or teachers needing medical attention due to extreme heat, and as a precautionary measure we already anticipated possible incidents so we immediately made a request for the approval of our action plan,” school principal Edever Zanoria said.

Zanoria said that based on the consensus of teachers and parents blended learning will last until the end of the current school term, unless the weather condition will improve.

Unlike in other schools, MES classrooms are smaller. They even have two classrooms that we divided into two to accommodate for sections.

The school has a total of 16 classrooms for 420 students from kindergarten to Grade 6. Each section has students from 30 to 40.

Helen Noynay, whose son is currently in Grade 1 in the said school, said that although she prefers having her son study inside a classroom, she supports the current set-up to protect the health of her child.

“Because of the heat, his always coughing and I always made sure to bring extra clothes for him,” she said.

Rosemarie Roa, a Grade 2 teacher, said that her students sometimes have difficulty focusing on their class due to the heat.

“They easily get distracted and would complain of the temperature. It became a challenge for us teachers because students have usually a short attention span. This extreme heat does not only affects the learners but even us teachers,” she added.

Roa added that she hopes that the plan to revert back to the old school calendar, from June to March will soon be approved.

This is supported by her fellow teacher Jaggy Tapales, who teaches Grades 4 to 6 explaining that there are times that he cannot tolerate the temperature which causes him to experience headaches and eye pains.

“We have a clinic in our school where we can provide first aid to them and if not we can endorse them to the nearest health center or hospital,” Tapales said.

DepEd-8 information officer Jasmin Calzita said that principals and school heads are reminded of their authority and responsibility to suspend in-person classes and switch to alternative learning modalities due to extreme heat especially if this endangers the health of the students.
(ROEL T. AMAZONA)