TACLOBAN CITY – The regional office of the Department of Tourism (DOT) is ready to assist local government units and organizations who want to organize big sports events.
Thus said DOT Regional Director Karina Rosa Tiopes who said that sports tourism falls under their MICE or Meetings, Incentives, Conventions, and Exhibitions/Events.
“We are very much supportive of entities or organizations that promotes sports tourism. The activities they do can generate more arrivals and when we say more arrivals, we means more income for those who are in the mainstream tourism industry,” Tiopes said.
“As of right now, we are already of hosting national conventions, sports competitions in some areas in the region that are relatively ready. It just need additional facilities,” the tourism regional director added.
In the region, among the biggest sports competition is the Philippine Open International Darts Championship, an event of the National Darts Federation of the Philippines of the Darts Organization of Tacloban is a member.
For two consecutive years now, the international event has been held in Palo, Leyte where close to a thousand of darts players are competing against the best competitors in said sport.
“We are giving local players a venue for them to compete with world class players, this is a big opportunity for them to face this big players in the international arena,” Florencio “Bem” Noel, national darts federation chairman of the board, said.
Bringing the competition to Leyte will also test the local darts players’ talents and nerve which will eventually hone them and make them one of the best talents in Asia and put the nation in the map as far as dart talent is concern, he added.
Noel said that the past two years that they have staged the international event in Leyte were successful which encouraged them to hold the Philippine Open tentatively set on April, 2020.
He added that from 28 foreign competitors last year, the number has now reached to about a 100 international darts players.
Noel said that some of them have already signified their interest to visit some of the region’s tourist destinations like the Kalanggaman Island in Palompon.
Another big event in the region is the annual Abre-Grande Lawig, a kayak competition held in Palompon town, Leyte.
In Tacloban City, the biggest sport competition is a dragon boat competition which is organized by the Saltwater Dragons of Tacloban City in support to the city government’s yearly commemoration of the onslaught of super typhoon ‘Yolanda.’
(ROEL T. AMAZONA)

TACLOBAN CITY- An incumbent mayor in Leyte who is seeking for a reelection lost on her bid by just a heartbreaking single vote.
Proclaimed as mayor of San Isidro town was Remedio Veloso who garnered his winning votes of 8,829 against the incumbent mayor, Susan Ang’s 8,828 votes.
Ang, who ran under the administration’s PDP-Laban, is seeking for her second term as mayor of the fourth class town with an income of about P90 million.
Her husband, Alan, also appears to be losing on his reelection bid as a board member representing Leyte’s third district.
Veloso, who belongs to the United Nationalist Alliance, was proclaimed by the members of the board of election of canvassers Monday night. The town has about 22,367 registered voters.
The newly-elected mayor of the town of more than 19,000 people spread on its 19 barangays, is the nephew of Rep. Vicente Veloso who is also on his way or gaining his second term against former congressman, Andy Salvacion.
The Leyte Samar Daily Express could not get as of press time, reactions of both Veloso and his opponent Ang.
The town of San Isidro was eyed as among areas in Leyte where violence could possibly occurred after Ang’s administrator, Levi Mabini, was gunned down on May 8 with the group of Veloso blamed for his killing which they denied.
No untoward incident, however, was reported in San Isidro during the conduct of last Monday’s balloting. (JOEY A. GABIETA)

ORMOC CITY – Regional Director Sheila Enciso of the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) was amazed how the agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs) have improved their quality of lives.
Last week, Enciso, accompanied by Assistant Regional Director for Administration and Land Tenure Security Program, Ma. Fe Malinao, together with the Municipal Agrarian Reform Program Officers of Ormoc and Tacloban, and Chief Agrarian Reform Program Officer Tomas Martinez, visited seven ARB organizations who were installed into their awarded lots under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) from 2016 to 2018 in different areas here and in adjacent Kananga town with the help of KAISAHAN, a non-government organization.
She was surprised to see the big difference in the ARBs faces and stories they tell before and at present.
These ARBs received their certificates of land ownership award (CLOAs) many years ago, but struggled for 16 to 20 years before they were able to take possession of the awarded lots either due to strong resistance from the previous landowners or conflict between two contending groups of farmers.
Enciso was happy to see these farmers, who once stared fiercely due to frustrations, now smiling and full of inspiring stories to tell, because aside from the support services extended by DAR, they also get assistance from other government agencies.
In Barangay Sumangga, Pablo Silva, 56, president of the Sumangga United Farmers Association (SUFA), installed in 2016, showed to Enciso their livelihood project, a mushroom production they started in December last year through the assistance extended by the Department of Science and Technology (DOST).
Silva disclosed that mushroom production is one of their sources of livelihood now. Mushroom grows fast and are sold at P300 for every kilo, Silva shared.
He added that in a day they could harvest nine kilos.
In Barangay Dolores, Benedicto Taneo, president of the Dolores Farmers Association (DOLFA), brought Enciso to their demo farm and shared that they will soon be graduating from the Farmer Field School (FFS) facilitated by the City Agriculturist’s Office.
He disclosed that after FFS, they will be venturing in upland rice (locally known as calinayan) production and marketing.
In Barangay Salvacion, Bienvenido Matuguina shared that he invested part of his income, derived from the sugarland awarded to him, in calamansi production. At present, he has more than 100 calamansi-bearing trees planted in another lot.
He also disclosed that their organization, the Salvacion Farmers Association, has likewise 300 calamansi trees planted in preparation for the calamansi processing project they are planning to venture once the project proposal they submitted to DOST is approved.
In Barangay Sabang Bao, Enciso was caught by surprise when the ARBs, who were installed in April last year, were already harvesting rice in their awarded lots when she arrived; while in Barangay Montebello, the ARBs were peacefully preparing their once contested land to be planted with corn.
Meanwhile, Arnulfo Perez whom we had interviewed two years ago, proudly announced that he is now the president of their organization, the Valencia Small Farmers Association (VASFA).
In the afternoon of the same day, all concerned ARBs gathered in Barangay Montebello for a dialogue with Enciso.
During the said occasion, Enciso expressed her happiness upon seeing them living an improved quality of life as envisioned under CARP.
She likewise reminded the ARBs to continue keeping the land productive. Further, she encouraged those who have children entering college this coming school year to avail of the DAR Scholarship Program for the Dependents of Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries (DSP-DARBs), a new assistance program extended by the agency to its ARBs. (JOSE ALSMITH L. SORIA)