PEACEFUL CELEBRATIONS. It was a generally peaceful Christmas and New Year celebrations in Eastern Visayas, as the Philippine National Police did not monitored any injuries related to the celebrations. Photo shows a woman buying a toy horn at the Tacloban city downtown area. (ROEL T. AMAZONA)
PEACEFUL CELEBRATIONS. It was a generally peaceful Christmas and New Year celebrations in Eastern Visayas, as the Philippine National Police did not monitored any injuries related to the celebrations. Photo shows a woman buying a toy horn at the Tacloban city downtown area. (ROEL T. AMAZONA)
No firecracker-related incident
BY: ROEL T. AMAZONA, RONALD O. REYES
TACLOBAN CITY- The New Year celebration in Eastern Visayas was described as generally peaceful by police authorities as they have attained the zero firecracker-related casualties.
And this was achieved due to the support of the public and strict monitoring of the police force, Lt. Col. Ma. Bella Rentuaya, regional information officer of the Philippine National Police (PNP), said.
As of 4:00 p.m., Wednesday, January 1, the region also recorded zero casualty on indiscriminate firing or stray bullets.
Rentuaya, however, said they have arrested at least five persons for illegal possession, use, and sale of firecrackers.
According to Rentuaya, they have deployed a total of 1,406 police officers on places of convergence, transportation terminals, and for route security in observance of the Yuletide season.
Earlier, PNP Regional Director Ferdinand Divina warned the public on the regulation and control of the use of firecrackers and other pyrotechnic devices.
At the Eastern Visayas Regional Medical Center (EVRMC), the hospital did not recorded any firecracker-related injury covering December 21 until Dec.31 period.
However, on the morning of Jan.1, a 12-year old girl from Borongan City, Nicole Capito, was treated due to a firecracker blast. She sustained minor injury due to a ‘kwitis.’
Meantime, the regional Department of Health (DOH) recorded at least two injuries related to the celebration during the Christmas and New Year celebrations.
The injured individuals were from Rosario, Northern Samar and Oras, Eastern Samar who suffered injuries after using an improvised “lantaka.”
The DOH-8 said that lantaka was the number one cause of injury in the region during the revelry.
It added that the blast from improvised lantaka may cause blindness or eye injuries, even hearing problem or burn.
President Rodrigo Duterte pins a medal of Order of Lapu-Lapu with a rank of Kampilan to soldiers who were wounded during the Nov.11 ambush staged by the New People’s Army in Borongan City. The wounded soldiers were confined at the Divine Word Hospital.
Pres. Duterte also extended assistance, rewards to the soldiers
TACLOBAN CITY- The families of the six slain and wounded soldiers in an ambush in a remote village in Borongan City received financial assistance from the provincial governments of Eastern Samar and Northern Samar.
The financial assistance extended to these soldiers by the provincial governments were on top of the assistance and awards bestowed to them by President Rodrigo Duterte who personally visited the soldiers on November 15.
The provincial government, under Governor Ben Evardone who is also the regional chairman of the Peace and Order Council for Eastern Visayas, gave P25,000 to the families of the slain soldiers and P10,000 for the wounded soldiers.
For her part, Eastern Samar Rep. Maria Fe Abunda also gave P50,000 to the families of the slain soldiers.
Meantime, the provincial government of Northern Samar, through Governor Edwin Ongchuan also extended financial assistance to the families of the killed soldiers in the amount of P20,000.
Ongchuan said that the financial assistance given by the provincial government to the families of the slain soldiers was in ‘the spirit of regional solidarity and commitment to end insurgency in Eastern Visayas.’
Northern Samar, together with the provinces of Samar and Eastern Samar, have been identified by the military in the region to still have an active insurgency problem.
To recall, the soldiers belonging to the 14th Infantry Battalion based in Oras, also in Eastern Samar, encountered an estimated 50 members of the New People’s Army (NPAs) in sitio Bangin of Barangay Pananag-an, a coastal village which is six hour sea travel from the city proper or Borongan.
Killed during the November 11 encounter, with the NPA used six improvised explosive devices, were Sgt.Rex Jadulco; Corporal Ronaldo Go; Cpl.Limar Banug; Private First Class Kent Loyd Agullo; Private Charlie del Rosario and Private First Class Junmar Buranday.
Injured were Sgt. Kenneth John Arcina; Sgt. Cyril Baja; Sgt. Rando Soria;Pfc Albert Abegonia;Pfc Denmark Gonsaza;Pfc Dandreb Gealon;Pfc Reil Bilason;Pfc Gilbert Renegado;Pfc Rex Batis;Pfc Jerwin Omrob;Pvt Darwin Aborquez;Pvt Joshua Pacuan;Pvt Roger Moore Ditche; Sgt Marlon Orsal;Cpl Dominador Antonio;Cpl Aljon Aguillos;Cpl Linlito Donayre; Pfc Mark Geric De Leon; Pfc Rene Abuda; and Pvt Jayson Beros.
During his Nov.15 visit, President Duterte the six slain soldiers were given posthumous awards of the Order of Lapu-Lapu, Rank of Kalasag while the wounded soldiers were conferred by their Commander-in-Chief the Order of Lapu-Lapu, Rank of Kampilan.
The Order of Lapu-Lapu is given to persons in the government or private sector who have rendered extraordinary service or have made an exceptional contributions to the success of the President’s campaign or advocacy.
The Kampilan Medal is conferred on persons who were seriously wounded or suffered great loss of property as direct result of their participation in such action while the Kalasag Medal is given to officials and personnel of the government and private individuals who lost their lives as a direct result of their participation in an activity pursuant to a campaign or advocacy of the President.
Pres. Duterte had earlier directed the soldiers in the region, which is under the command of Major Gen. Pio Diñoso III, to end its insurgency problem before he steps down in office in 2022. (JOEY A. GABIETA)
LLORENTE, Eastern Samar – This town is aiming to have a zero death due to maternal delivery, especially those living on its far and isolated villages.
And part of its effort to achieve death among pregnant women is the construction of a ‘waiting home’ located at the town center where women who are about to deliver their babies will be staying, for safety reason.
Priority of this waiting home, which is located within town’s evacuation center whose construction was funded by the Department of Interior and Local Government and is adjacent to its rural health center, are the four villages known as geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas(GIDAs), said town Mayor Daniel Boco.
The four GIDA villages are Can-ato, Candoros, Burak and Magtino. The town has 33 villages.
GIDA refers to communities with marginalized population physically and socio-economically separated from the mainstream society and characterized by physical factors and isolated due to distance, weather conditions and transportation difficulties (island, upland, lowland, landlocked, hard to reach and unserved/underserved communities), and socio-economic factors (high poverty incidence, presence of vulnerable sector, communities in or recovering from situation of crisis or armed conflict).
“One of the causes of maternal death is home delivery. The reason why there is maternal delivery is because they live in a community that is inaccessible and far from birthing homes,” Mayor Boco said.
The waiting home facility is free of charge for pregnant women and is free of food and check-up.
“The facility is now open. We are only waiting for our pregnant women to use it,”he town mayor said.
It was learned from Boco that they have not recorded a single mortality due to delivery for the past few years now.
Aside from the construction of a waiting home, another factor initiated by the municipal government to address possible death of pregnant women was the enactment of an ordinance prohibiting the delivery of babies through the ‘hilots’ or midwives.
The ordinance provides a P2,000 fine for hilots who will do the delivery but they will be rewarded by P500 if they will refer the pregnant women who are to deliver their babies to a birthing facility.
(ROEL T. AMAZONA)
President Rodrigo Duterte paid his visit at the wake of the so-called ‘Borongan 6’ at Camp Lukban of the 8th Infantry Division, Catbalogan City, on Nov. 15. He was joined by Senator Christopher Lawrence ‘Bong’ Go and Defense Sec. Delfin Lorenzana. The soldiers were killed during an encounter with New People’s Army which also resulted to the injury of 24 other soldiers. (Photo Courtesy: Sen. Bong Go)
President Rodrigo Duterte paid his visit at the wake of the so-called ‘Borongan 6’ at Camp Lukban of the 8th Infantry Division, Catbalogan City, on Nov. 15. He was joined by Senator Christopher Lawrence ‘Bong’ Go and Defense Sec. Delfin Lorenzana. The soldiers were killed during an encounter with New People’s Army which also resulted to the injury of 24 other soldiers. (Photo Courtesy: Sen. Bong Go)
Salutes them for their bravery
BY: ROEL T. AMAZONA, RONALD O.REYES
TACLOBAN CITY- President Rodrigo Duterte paid his tribute to the soldiers who were killed and wounded during an ambush in Borongan City last week.
The President first visited the wake of the six soldiers killed at the 8th ID headquarters in Catbalogan City last Friday (November 15) where he conferred them with the Order of Lapu-Lapu with a rank of Kalasag.
The recipients of the said award were SSgt. Rex Jadulco (from Motiong, Samar); Sgt. Ronaldo Go (Burauen, Leyte), Sgt. Limar Banug (Borongan City), Cpl. Junmar Buranday (Burauen), Cpl. Kent Lloyd Agullo (Arteche, Eastern Samar) and PFC Charlie del Rosario (Pinukpok, Kalinga).
During his brief visit to the camp, the President condoled with the bereaved family members of the fallen soldiers, now known as ‘Borongan 6’.
The families brought their killed loved ones to their respective homes a day after Mr. Duterte’s visit. They received from the President financial aid and other assistance under the government’s Comprehensive Social Benefit Program.
After his visit at Camp Lukban, the President went to the Divine Word Hospital, this city, to visit the wounded soldiers who are still recovering from the serious wounds they sustained due to the ambush staged by the estimated 50 members of the New People’s Army (NPAs) who used explosive improvised devices (EIDs).
During his visit at the hospital, the Commander-in-Chief conferred the wounded soldier the Order of Lapu-Lapu with a rank of Kampilan.
Those who received the medal from the President were Sgt. Kenneth John Arcina, Cpl. Linlito Donayre, PFC Albert Abegonia, Pvt. Darwin Aborquez, Pvt. Joshua Pacuan, Cpl. Aljon Aguilos, and PFC Rex Batis Jr.
The seven were among the 24 wounded soldiers under the 14th Infantry Battalion whose headquarter is based in Oras, also in Eastern Samar, who engaged the rebel members in a 36-minute firefight in sitio Bangin of Barangay Pinanag-an, a coastal village which could be reached by a six-hour sea travel from the city proper.
Also awarded with the Order of Lapulapu by the President was Pat. Jomar Aballe who was assigned at the 2nd Samar Provincial Mobile Force Company who was wounded when NPA harassed police personnel who were conducting an operation in Paranas, Samar.
The President, who did not made a statement or granted media interview during his brief visit, gave P110,000 to the soldiers while his former aide, Senator Christopher Lawrence ‘Bong’ Go gave P3,000 each to the wounded security personnel.
Before he pinned the medals, Mr. Duterte gave a brief talk to the soldiers and their family members who were with them during the visit.
The President said that he was ‘proud’ with them for standing up against the communist rebel members as he gave them a salute after he pinned the medals.
Aside from Sen. Go, the President was accompanied by Defense Sec. Delfin Lorenzana and Interior Sec. Eduardo Año during his latest visit to the region.
Año gave food packs and hygiene kits to the wounded soldiers.
Meantime, the Department of Social Welfare and Development also provided initial cash assistance of P5,000 to the wounded soldiers;P10,000 to the families of those who were killed; medical assistance, three boxes each of family food packs.
The President had earlier directed government troops in the region, now under the leadership of Major Gen. Pio Diñoso III, to quell its insurgency problem before he steps down from Malacañang in 2020.
Naval Mayor Gerard Roger Espina helps an elementary pupil of Naval Central School scan his identification card before he enters his school room. The local government unit has developed a system, dubbed student monitoring system, which allows the parents know if their children are in school or not.
(Facebook of Mayor Gerard Roger Espina)
Naval Mayor Gerard Roger Espina helps an elementary pupil of Naval Central School scan his identification card before he enters his school room. The local government unit has developed a system, dubbed student monitoring system, which allows the parents know if their children are in school or not. (Facebook of Mayor Gerard Roger Espina)
TACLOBAN CITY- This town has developed a system that could probably address truancy among students.
The system, dubbed as student monitoring system and created by the information technology staff of the municipal government, was piloted on Wednesday (Nov.13) at the Naval Central School which has about 1,800 enrolled students.
Under the system, students before entering their classrooms have to scan first their identification cards to a monitor which will then send a text message to their parents’ mobile phones that they are already in school.
“The SMS (short message service) is created to increase the rate of attendance in schools, address problem on absenteeism and to update the parents regarding the whereabouts of their children,” Mayor Gerard Roger Espina said, explaining the advantages of the monitoring system.
“This is an intervention that can help in improving the attendance of our students,” he added.
Eight students from each section were chosen for the pilot testing of the application which was funded by the municipal government of more than P140,000.
The student monitoring system will also send a message to the parents if a teacher is absent in their class, class suspensions, important announcements, or if there is a school event.
“This technology has been there for many years, but in the region we are the first to implement this system in public schools,” Mayor Espina said.
“We will observe in the pilot testing first for one or two weeks and to know if what are other features that needs to be added before we can implement it in all public school in Naval,” he added.
A total of five kiosks were created by the municipal government for this purpose.
“If this turns out to be a success, we will implement it to other public schools in Naval,” Mayor Espina said.
Naval has 31 public schools where 27 are elementary schools and four are secondary schools. (ROEL T. AMAZONA)
Personnel from the Bureau of Fire Protection of Maasin City returned home after they were deployed to help assist earthquake in Makilala town, Cotabato from October 31 to November 7. They were given recognition by their regional office along with other fire stations and personnel from the region that extended help to quake victims in Mindanao.
Personnel from the Bureau of Fire Protection of Maasin City returned home after they were deployed to help assist earthquake in Makilala town, Cotabato from October 31 to November 7. They were given recognition by their regional office along with other fire stations and personnel from the region that extended help to quake victims in Mindanao.
MAASIN CITY-In light with the recent happening in Mindanao, the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP)-Maasin City Fire Station’s Special Rescue Unit (SRU) deployed immediately special forces to the province of Cotabato which was devastated by earthquakes, Fire Officer III Raul A. Inocando reported.
After a week of retrieval and rescue operations, from October 31-November 7, this year, BFP Maasin City Fire Station staff and personnel led by CInsp Dorotheo Claro A. Mocorro gave a warm welcome to the eight SRU personnel who were with the team, bringing with them experiences encountered in the earthquake-stricken parts of the Cotabato, particularly in the municipality of Makilala, Inocando disclosed.
The SRU-Maasin City personnel provided aid in the retrieval and rescue operations of the victims of the quakes, transported valuable things and their belongings for their safety, including airlifting of residents residing in areas that were not passable.
“There are some barangays of Makilala town that are impassable due to landslides which were caused by the recent earthquake,” Fire Officer I Ramonito C. Abadiano II, one of the members of the BFP-SRU in Maasin City, said.
The Maasin City team were among the contingents from the provinces in Eastern Visayas region that were also sent to help the quake victims, he added.
Relief, rescue operations and forced evacuations were some of the works the BFP special rescue personnel did during the week-long mission, he said.
The BFP-SRU Maasin City team were composed of Fire Officers II Jerome Tantoy and Jaime P. Navos Jr., Fire Officers I Mark Jimmy B. Maceda, Jesus S. Kimpan Jr., Erwin N. Erquilang, Jonathan Q. Clerigo, Renel F. Aroy and Abadano II. The team was led by SInsp. Jimmy C. Pasague.
It was learned that Makilala town, in Cotabato was one of the areas hit by the 6.5 magnitude earthquake last October 31, this year. It caused massive landslides and flattened hundreds of houses and structures.
After the Mindanao task, the 8 SRU personnel to include all other SRUs in EV were given recognition by the BFP-8 in an awarding and honoring ceremony held at BFP Regional Office 8, November 11, 2019.
They were awarded with “Medalya ng Pagtulong sa Nasalanta” under the Program on Awards and Incentives for Service Excellence (PRAISE) for actively taking part in the search and rescue operations in Mindanao.
(e/rgc/PIA8-SoLeyte)
