CAMP RUPERTO KANGLEON, PALO, Leyte- At about 10:50 pm of April 7, 2019, personnel of Javier Municipal Police Station (MPS) received a report from a concerned citizen that a shooting incident transpired at Barangay Binulho, Javier, Leyte.
Immediately, elements of Javier MPS led by PSMS Roan Ramos responded to the area and discovered the dead body of the victim, identified as Norlito Naraja,50, with a live-in partner, jobless and a resident of the said village, lying on his back with a note “Huwag Tularan, Tulak Yan! Ikaw Ang Susunod!” with one piece white transparent plastic sachet containing of white crystalline substance attached to the paper.
An interview conducted to one Jay-Ar Tormento said that he and the victim were having a drinking spree prior to the incident.
According to him, the victim went outside to urinate and later heard four gunshots and when he came out to check, he saw the victim lying on ground with a gunshot wounds on his body.
Inquiry to other witnesses disclosed that they saw a single motorcycle, with red and white color combination, being driven by unidentified person wearing a mask who hurriedly left the scene heading towards the direction of Poblacion, Javier, Leyte.
Elements of Javier MPS requested members of the Scene of the Crime Operatives for crime scene processing and immediately coordinated with adjacent MPS to conduct dragnet operation for the possible arrest of the suspect. (PR)

To ensure safety of the participating delegations

TACLOBAN CITY- The Philippine National Police regional headquarter deployed 246 policemen at the various venues of the ongoing Eastern Visayas Regional Athletic Association (EVRAA) Meet in Ormoc City.
This was disclosed by Police Brigadier General Dionardo Carlos, police regional director, who said that the deployment of additional police force is meant to ensure the safety and security of the participating delegations.
The regional sporting event, which opened on Sunday (April 7) and to end on the 12th, is participated by close to 10,000 young athletes and their trainers and coaches coming from the 13 school division of the region.
According to Carlos, the augmented force were deployed in the 27 playing venues and 13 billeting areas around the city to provide security to the athletes and to all its visitors.
On top of the police augmented force, the Philippine Army and other force multipliers deployed about 542 personnel to further strengthen the security around the city.
“Stringent security is all set for the success of EVRAA 2019,” Carlos, who attended the opening of the said sporting event, said.
Carlos also encouraged the public and all the participants to report any unusual activity and/or suspicious person that may cause disorder of the event.
(LIZBETH ANN A. ABELLA)

NAVAL, Biliran- The Biliran Communicators Network (BilComNet) in coordination with the Philippine Information Agency (PIA) – Biliran Provincial Information Center conducted its first ever training-workshop on basic journalism on February 27 , 2019 at the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH)- Biliran District Engineering Office (DEO).
About 50 BilComNet participants attended the said training eager to learn on basic journalism that will be useful in their information dissemination job.
BilComNet is composed of information officers (IOs) from government and private offices, media practitioners and community development information officers (CDIO) from 13 municipalities in the province of Biliran.
According to Dionisio Oliva, BilComNet president, the purpose of the workshop is to improve one’s technical capabilities.
“This workshop endeavors to give us a better tool on how we put across the message from our agencies to the people we serve,” said Oliva.
“This is a good opportunity for all of us and take advantage of it and hopefully this will provide us the strength and insight personally as member of the BilComNet, professionally as information officers or the like in your agencies and with patriotism as we strive to do better in our jobs for the benefit of majority of us Biliranons,” he added.
Ninfa Illuminada Quirante, PIA-8 regional editor and Alicia E. Nicart, PIA-8 assistant regional head, were invited as resource speakers for the workshop.
In the morning, Quirante gave lecture on news and feature writing and photo journalism. She briefly discussed on the elements of news, picture captioning, grammatical structure, news gathering and tips in writing a good news article.
“In writing a news article, first write all the facts, know your readers and answer all the questions which are unanswered then add facts,” Quirante said.
“Make it accurate and simple,” she added. After her lecture, a workshop on news writing was conducted.
Based from the submitted news articles from the participants, Quirante chooses the best “lead”. The lead is the opening statement of the first paragraph of the news article.
Among the participants, Quirante rewarded Felix Carcellar, CDIO of Kawayan, Biliran for having the best lead.
She also recognized participants who submitted a good news articles. Before the morning session ended, Judith O. Precato, Junior Analyst of SSS Ormoc Branch, presented their agency’s programs and updates.
In the afternoon, Nicart conducted a lecture on media ethics and responsibilities.
According to her, media ethics creates guidelines for journalists to follow and helps maintain a sense of equality. The lecture on media ethics draws lots of questions from the participants which make the discussion interesting.
The one-day training workshop ended with the distribution of certificates and pictorials of the participants with the resource speakers. (PR)

Among the graduates was a 21-year old mother

BURAUEN, Leyte – A school in an upland village here, which was built to help curb the high dropout rate in the village and neighboring areas, held on Friday(April 5) its first ever recognition ceremony -10 months after it was opened to students from indigent families.
All 90 students of the Buraburon National High School in Tagadtaran village came to witness the recognition of their 19 classmates, who completed Grades 7 and 8 with honors.
The school used its old makeshift room as the venue.
“This is historic since this is the very first recognition in our school. We want to honor parents and all stakeholders who worked together to help fulfill the dreams of these children,” school principal Adolfo Raga told parents and learners, who packed the old makeshift room made of coconut lumber, bamboo, and corrugated sheets.
The makeshift hall used to be the classrooms of students for several months last year before the completion of a three-classroom building funded by the local government.
One of the achievers was Grade 7 completer Roselyn Dagsa, 21, who, in most schools days, attended classes with her two-year-old daughter, Honeylyn, in tow.
The tiring daily grind of this young mother is overshadowed by her ambition to become a police officer someday.
“I am very happy to complete one year in junior high school. It’s a long way to go, but I believe I am getting closer to achieving my dream,” Dagsa said.
She stopped her studies after graduating elementary in 2012. Extreme poverty, early marriage, and distance to the nearest high school from their upland village barred her from pursuing secondary education.
She spends about P100 daily for a 30-minute single motorcycle ride to get to school, passing through hilly and bumpy roads from their village in Villa Corazon. The transportation cost is double if she would enroll at the town center.
Her story, published by the Philippine News Agency (PNA) on Sept. 12, 2018, was shared 425 times by netizens, earning praises for her perseverance.
Dagsa’s classmate, Regine Manidlangan, 17, is the class’ top student, earning a general average grade of 96. In most occasions, she represented their school in English and Mathematics competitions.
“I might be out of school after elementary if there’s no high school campus close to our village, since it is very expensive to study at the town center,” said Manidlangan, whose father earns about P200 daily as a motorcycle driver.
Her village in Anonang is about 18 kms. upland from the town center. The distance from her house to the new campus is just 5 kms.
Department of Education head teacher and scout leader Elma Raga-Seno, the event’s keynote speaker, told students not to let their impoverished situation stop them from achieving a brighter tomorrow.
“My high school and college education was supported by my widowed mother. My father died when I was young, passing the responsibility to our mother to feed 10 children. The situation was very discouraging, but I overcame all the obstacles,” Seno told students.
Teacher Jason Canales said that through establishing a school in a remote area, children living in upland villages do not have to go down to the town center, thus increasing their chances of completing the school year.
“Children no longer miss classes in most days even if they help their parents tend their farms since the school is closer to the communities,” Canales added.
Several groups have been extending help to the students after the PNA posted a story sharing the plight of students who walk for several kilometers to get to school each day.
Private individuals donated rain coats, umbrellas, uniforms, bags, and school supplies to encourage students to enroll. The school expects enrollment to double by June with new elementary graduates.
The Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation committed to provide two sacks of rice daily for children, whose parents have no capability to provide packed lunch. (SARWELL Q. MENIANO/PNA)

TACLOBAN CITY- Political veteran Juan Ponce Enrile said that his ripe age,94, is something that does not bother him at all now that he is seeking for another possible Senate seat in this year’s midterm elections.
Enrile was in Eastern Visayas, particularly in Catbalogan City in Samar, and Tacloban City in Leyte on Friday to campaign.
During his speech on Friday night before a small group of his supporters, mostly local businessmen and city candidates held at the Romualdez-owned Patio Victoria, the former Senate president brushed off his age as a hindrance for him to win another Senate seat.
He said that if elected, he might just go down in the world’s political history as the oldest man ever elected into office, betting Malaysia’s Mahathir Mohammad who is younger by a year.
“I am still strong and standing and fully aware of the political environment,” he said in his speech, debunking perceptions that his old age is catching him up.
Enrile was elected multiple times as a senator. The last time he was elected at the Senate was during the 2010 elections but failed to finish his six-year term as he was ousted from the Senate in 2014 after he was implicated in the pork barrel scam.
He was released on bail the following year due to health reason.
During his speech that lasted less than 15 minutes, Enrile enumerated the various Cabinet posts he held, particularly during the time of strongman Ferdinand Marcos and what he intend to do once elected like addressing poverty, security, and problems on communications and electricity.
Enrile, running as an independent candidate, if elected, would serve a six-year term and would stand down at the age of 100.
“I will be the oldest politician ever elected (and entered) the Guinness Book of World Records,” he said.
He, however, said that it’s not for this distinction why he is running saying that the country is still facing lots of problems that he could help address them.
“Nagawa ko na lahat ang dapat gawin pero ang bayan natin ay parang isang tao yan. Walang edad yan. It goes in time and it meets problems all the time as it marches into history. It is never without any problem in different magnitude,” he said.
According to him every Filipino who has something to contribute to the country should run for public office and help problems ailing the country.
“(But) if the people will not like me to participate, I will respect that and if they want me to contribute, I will do it,” he said.
Enrile, who is wearing a hearing aid, said that he is happy that in his barnstorming across the country, he gets warm welcome, to include among the millennials.
Asked why, he smiled and said perhaps they are intrigue why he is still running at his age.
“One thing I can tell you; the reaction of the people everywhere I go is very warm, just like here in Leyte and Samar. The young people are warmer to me,” Enrile said.
He also shrugged off various surveys showing out among possible losers, saying he never been surveyed in his entire life. (JOEY A. GABIETA)