TACLOBAN CITY– The cities of Ormoc, Maasin, and Tacloban, and 12 other towns in the region were among this year’s Seal of Good Local Governance (SGLG) awardees.
Ormoc City Mayor Lucy Torres Gomez said that they are happy that the city was included among the roster of winners of this award annually bestowed by the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG).

“The award, which is considered as the most prestigious, is an indication that Ormoc City is superb in her services and functions… With this accolade, the City of Ormoc will be even more motivated to deliver the best services to all Ormocanons and to uphold this motto every single day: The best is yet to come,” she said in a statement.

What made the award more memorable is it was received by the city as it celebrated its 75th founding anniversary as a chartered city.

Maasin City Mayor Nacional Mercado also expressed his elation.

“It is truly an honor to be chosen as one of the few, at least to be validated for our Seal of Good Local Governance,” he said.

The city has now four SGLG awards.

Municipalities of Eastern Visayas that are also recipients of the SGLG awards are Quinapondan, Eastern Samar; Barugo, Leyte; Jiabong, Samar; Paranas, Samar; Bontoc, Southern Leyte; Hinunangan, Southern Leyte; Liloan, Southern Leyte; Macrohon, Southern Leyte; Padre Burgos, Southern Leyte; Sogod, Southern Leyte; St. Bernard, Southern Leyte; and Tomas Oppus, Southern Leyte.

“May you all continue to strive for exemplary performance, trailblazing innovations and meritorious achievements towards excellence in governance,” the regional DILG, in a statement, said.

To receive the SGLSG award, a local government unit needs to pass all 10 governance areas, namely, financial administration and sustainability; disaster preparedness; social protection and sensitivity; safety, peace and order; health compliance and responsiveness; sustainable education; business friendliness and competitiveness; environmental management; tourism, heritage development, culture and the arts; and youth development.
(RONALD O. REYES)

TACLOBAN CITY – The regional office of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) distributed cash assistance to members of the indigenous people community in Bato, Leyte who were affected by typhoon ‘Paeng’.

At least 53 families received the cash assistance worth P5,000 personally distributed by DSWD Regional Director Grace Subong.

They also received food and non-food items like family food packs, kitchen, sleeping, hygiene kits, and 10-meter laminated tarpaulin.

Aside from the Badjao community, the DSWD-8 also distributed relief assistance to other typhoon-affected families in Bato town, one of the hard-hit areas in Leyte due to Paeng.
Among those who received food and non-food items from the DSWD were the 63 families from the villages of Anahawan and Tagaytay whose houses were totally damaged.

The agency had already distributed 6,450 family food packs and 880 non-food items worth more than P4.825 million to the municipality of Bato.

Moreover, the agency had augmented more than family food packs to local government units in the region that were affected by the typhoon.

These towns include Lope de Vega, Rosario, and Catarman, all in Northern Samar; Jipapad, Oras, and Arteche in Eastern Samar; Bato, Hilongos, Hindang, Inopacan, Mahaplag, and cities of Baybay and Ormoc in Leyte; and towns of Bontoc and Limasawa, both in Southern Leyte; and towns of Naval and Kawayan in Biliran province.
(ROEL T. AMAZONA)

ORMOC CITY-A known drug peddler who has been arrested by the police for illegal drugs previously but was given parole was arrested during a buy-bust operation at about 9:20 pm on Nov. 1 in Maasin City.

Maasin city police chief, Lt. Col Vicente Bullecer, identified the suspect as Jay-Ar Mercedes, 32, single, construction worker, and a resident of Barangay Mantahan of said city.
The suspect is listed as a high-valued individual of the city police drug watch as he was earlier charged with the same offense for two times already.

Recovered from the suspect was one sachet of suspected shabu procured by an operative in consideration of P5,000.

Further search from the suspect yielded more sachets of suspected shabu and cash of P5,500.

Charges of violations of RA 9165, the Comprehensive Law against Illegal Drugs are being readied by the local police against the suspect who is temporarily detained at the locked-up cell of Maasin City Police Station. (ROBERT DEJON)

NSSDEO, Brgy. Burabud, Laoang, Northern Samar– The Department of Public Works and Highways Northern Samar Second District Engineering Office (DPWH NSSDEO) headed by OIC-District Engineer Charlito S. Carlobos reactivated the DPWH Lakbay-Alalay Program in connection with the yearly observance of the All Saints/Souls Day 2022. Spearheaded by the Maintenance Section, three teams were outright deployed in three (3) strategic areas along the highways of NSSDEO starting October 28, 2022.

The NSSDEO Lakbay-Alalay 2022 workforce was led by the chief of the Maintenance Section, Engineer Francisco Tañala as the overall team leader.

The three groups, each with team leaders were assigned in the following locations: (a) District Office in Brgy. Burabud, Laoang with the primary duty to speed-up transmittal of situational reports to the Regional Office; (b) Catubig (Junction) in the municipality of Catubig Valley Area; and (c) Maintenance Field Office, Brgy. Tinampo, Municipality of Palapag in the Pacific Area.

According to Engr. Tañala, uniformed motorist assistance teams with maintenance equipment on standby at navy blue-colored Lakbay Alalay tents are deployed on a round-the-clock shift to provide emergency assistance. They must also ensure that NSSDEO major thorough fares are well-maintained, safe and free from obstruction and potholes appropriate warning, directional and visible signages legibly and visibly installed.
The primary objective was to ensure the safety of travellers since many people rushed to the provinces to take advantage of the long vacation and at the same time observe the “UNDAS” in their home towns.

Meanwhile at the NSSDEO Motorist Action Stations, passing vehicles were also enjoined to fill-up a satisfaction survey form which serves as monitoring and evaluation of the overall efficiency of the program. As the teams’ duties winded-up last Wednesday, November 2, no vehicular accidents were reported and all road networks of NSSDEO were passable to all types of vehicles.

Also, the filled-up customer satisfaction survey forms by motorists reveal no glitches on their part throughout the one-week period.
(LYCA MAE T. QUILICOL, PIO Alternate)