TACLOBAN CITY – An executive order was issued by the provincial government of Eastern Samar as a way to prevent entry of African swine fever in the province.
Under Executive Order 09-113 issued by Governor Ben Evardone on September 3, a task force was created whose members are from various government agencies.
African swine fever is a fatal animal disease affecting mostly pigs and wild boars with up to 100% case fatality rate.
Signs of illness among pigs include high fever, decreased appetite, and weakness. The skin may be reddened, blotchy, or have blackened lesions, especially on the ears, tail, and lower legs.
The task force is composed of the Provincial Governor’s Office, Provincial Veterinary Office, Provincial Health Office, Philippine National Police, Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office.
Under the executive order, the provincial government will ban the entry of live pigs to the province without a complete and original documents, including veterinary shipping permit, veterinary health certificate, and other documents needed to transport a livestock.
“Shipment lacking the required documents shall be directed to return to their point of origin,” the order said.
The executive order also orders vendors of pork and pork-related products to secure a certificate of meat inspection from the National Meat Inspection Service.
Quarantine checkpoints in key points areas like the towns of Lawaan, Guiuan, Taft, Oras and Arteche are to be establish to monitor the entry of the livestock to the province which will be manned by the Municipal Agriculture personnel, PNP, and barangay tanods of each municipality.
Earlier, the city government of Borongan through Mayor Jose Ivan Agda also issued similar order preventing the entry of any swine products in the city within 30 days.
The order was issued in compliance to the Administrative Order of Department of Agriculture Secretary William Dar.
A checkpoint manned by the City Veterinary Office and the PNP was established to prevent the entry of swine meat and live swine to the city.
Most of Borongan’s swine meat needs or 80 percent are imported from Davao and Mindanao are while only 20 percent are from local hog producers. (ROEL T. AMAZONA)
Eastern Samar gov’t bans entry of swine without proper documents
Tacloban taekwondo athletes win medals in ‘Batang Pinoy’ Championship
TACLOBAN CITY- Mayor Alfred S. Romualdez warmly received in City Hall on Tuesday, September 3, the Tacloban Taekwondo jins that hauled gold and bronze medals in the recently concluded 2019 Batang Pinoy National Championship in Puerto Princesa City, Palawan.
During the courtesy visit, Mayor Romualdez lauded the two jins for bringing the name of the city and making the people of Tacloban proud.
Both studying in Leyte National High School, Sally Mae Aguirre, a Grade 8 student, topped the cadet category, while the ninth-grader Jesiah Noelle Bagarino settled for a bronze medal in the junior division.
“We are very thankful to God and to our coach for letting us achieve what we have now,” said Aguirre when asked how they felt after they received the award.
Meanwhile, their coaches namely Mansueto Paca-anas Jr. and Marlon Caing Jr. expressed gratitude for the support that the local government is giving for the sports and development program.
“The support was good from the City Government, we are accommodated very well. With that, hopefully, this will continue to ensure a bright future for the city’s youths,” said Paca-anas.
OIC of the City Sports Office, Carlos Dave Castello also appreciated the efforts of the athletes and players who represented Tacloban City and hopes for the continuing improvement of sports here in the city.
The 2019 Batang Pinoy National Championship was held in Puerto Princesa, Palawan from August 24 to 30. Athletes under 15 years old joined the annual sports event.
Aguirre and Bagarino will be competing again on September 7 to 8 for the National Age Group Taekwondo Championship that will be held at The Music Hall of the SM Mall of Asia.
(C. MERIN/CITY INFORMATION OFFICE)
Leyte road construction seen to help improve living conditions of the people and fight on insurgency
BAYBAY CITY – The ongoing construction of a road project that connects the towns of Mahaplag and Hilongos, both in Leyte, will not only help in easing accessibility but will improve the condition of the villages which are considered as ‘critical areas’ due to presence of rebel members.
The road project, being implemented by the Department of Public Works and Highways, was endorsed to the Regional Development Council by former congressman and now Baybay City Mayor Jose Carlos Cari in 2015.
The project was funded in 2016 with ground works started in 2017. Divided into two, works of the road project simultaneously started in Mahaplag and in Hilongos town.
The road project with length of 48.25 kilometers will provide an alternate route for motorists travelling from Tacloban City to Maasin City.
From four hours travel from Tacloban to Maasin, travel time is expected to reduce by an hour.
The project is expected to be finished in 2022.
Aside from accessibility and by helping in the delivery of farm products from the interior villages to the market, the road project is also projected to help in the anti-insurgency campaign of the government.
The road passes along villages that are identified as critical areas in the towns of Mahaplag, Inopacan, Hindang and Hilongos.
Last August 15, the village chief of Barangay San Antonio, Hilongos, Virgelio Loquias, was killed by members of the New People’s Army (NPA).
The NPA, an armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), said in their statement said that they “punished” Loquias “as penance for his blood debts against the People’s Democratic Government.”
They accused the village chief as “an active member of the Barangay Intelligence Network (BIN) and an organized military asset.
“Hopefully, once this is completed, they will no longer be called as critical areas,” Mayor Cari said.
“Not only (the project will) solve the problem on insurgency, but this will also help in giving better accessibility to the residents and the government in providing services during times of emergency and disaster,” Cari added.
(ROEL T. AMAZONA)
NwSSU chorale group wins in an international chorale competition in Indonesia
(Photo credit
Jonathan Theo Robles)
TACLOBAN CITY – The chorale group of the Northwest Samar State University (NwSSU) in Calbayog City was adjudged as the best in an international chorale competition in Indonesia.
The NwSSU chorale group, formed just a year ago composed of 27 student-singers, bagged gold in folklore category and was also the gold medal winner for Church Music category at the 4th North Sumatra International Choir Competition 2019 held last August 30.
The group also qualified for the grand prix.
The NwSSU chorale group, whose conductor Jonathan Theo Robles named as the most promising conductor, competed against Zamboanga City State Polytechnic College (ZCSPC), Mo’Awo Youth Choir (MYC), Camarines Sur Teacher Choir, Simfonia Medan, San Pedro Chorale, Jorih Jerah Choir, St. Cecilia Bintang Timur Choir, and Paduan Suara Yapentra.
Robles said that they have no high expectation because it is their first time to join an international chorale competition.
The conductor admitted that he was hesitant to join the competition since his group was only formed year ago but managed to join upon the prodding of a friend.
“I knew already about the North Sumatra International Competition po since its 2nd and 3rd culmination. Then last year, a fellow conductor I met in PASUC National Competition in Davao motivated me to join. At first, I was hesitant and I have lesser singers, but my friend was very consistent in motivating me. So I did try contacting some of the organizers about our interest in joining, and if we can qualify, that was when we were sent the invitation,” Robles said.
He added that their victory in this year’s 4th North Sumatra International Choir Competition is an early anniversary gift as they are to celebrate their founding anniversary this month.
Among the songs they performed during the competition were ‘Ama Namin’ and ‘Let me Fly’ for the Church Music where they were declared as the champion.
For the folklore category, they sung ‘Pan Anup’, a folksong from Ifugao, ‘Tephaeyg,’ a Manobo folksong and ‘Soleram’, a traditional Indonesian folksong, a lullaby from the Riav province.
While in the grand prix they performed again Let me fly and ‘Lead me Lord.’
The NwSSU chorale group is composed of students taking education, agriculture, environmental science, hospitality management, food technology, architecture and civil engineering.
(ROEL T. AMAZONA)
DOH: dengue fever in EV tapering off
Attributed to the cooperation of LGUs, agencies
BY:JOEY A. GABIETA
TACLOBAN CITY- Dengue fever cases here in the region may have reached its highest record but the regional office of the Department of Health(DOH) reported that its weekly cases is now in the decline.
From the start of the year until August 30, the DOH-8 has reported of 17,670 dengue fever cases across the region, of which 53 of them have died.
“While we have registered the highest number of dengue fever cases in the region since 2012, the good news is that our cases are decreasing based in our per week cases,” John Paul Roca, information officer of DOH-8,said.
According to him, from the previous months of 1,000 cases per week, the region has now only 500 dengue fever cases per week since last month.
Roca also said that unlike in previous months, the number of dengue fever patients brought to various hospitals are also in the decline, another indication that the further spread of the ailment is slowly being controlled.
In 2012, the region posted its highest number of dengue fever cases with over 12,000 people afflicted by the mosquito-bite ailment.
Roca said that the decline of dengue fever cases in the region could be attributed to the cooperation of local government units, to include other government agencies and the people in the communities, especially in the cleaning of surroundings where the mosquitoes that causes the ailment breed their eggs.
“(And) we are very thankful of their help because solving the dengue fever menace is not just a DOH initiative but by the whole communities,” he said.
Roca also said that parents are now aware on what to do whenever their children shows even slight of fever.
“They immediately seek immediate consultation unlike before that they only bring their children to the hospitals days after the onset of the fever,” he said.
Still, the DOH urged the public to continue on making sure that their surroundings are clean to ensure that its decline would continue,especially that rainy season is coming up.
The DOH in the region has projected that if the dengue fever cases would continue to increase, it could reached to over 28,000 using the per week number of dengue fever cases projection.
“That is why, we continue to advocate on search and destroy (on the breeding places),” Roca said.
Among the provinces in the region, Leyte posted the highest with 4,633 cases with 14 deaths followed by Samar with 3,014 cases with three deaths.
Eastern Samar has 2,190 cases with 12 deaths; Northern Samar, 1,371 cases with one death; Southern Leyte, 487 with four deaths; and Biliran, 548 with one death.
Meantime, among the seven cities of the region, Tacloban had the highest number of dengue fever, 2,248 with nine deaths followed by Calbayog,1,029 with one death; Catbalogan, 777 with three deaths; Ormoc, 584 with three deaths; Baybay,297 with one death; Borongan,399 with one death; Maasin, 70 with no death reported; and Baybay, 297 with single death.
A matter of common sense
Critics of President Rodrigo Duterte find it inappropriate that the president raised the Hauge ruling to the Chinese president quite apologetically. They wanted it done in an assertive manner, with a demanding tone, knowing that we won decisively in that case and that, it’s our territory that China is laying claims to in the West Philippine Sea.
Much as President Duterte could have done so, he could not help but stay calm and polite. First, he was just a visitor there, which means that he was in the enemy territory and to misbehave in anyway would put him in much trouble. Second, he was confronting a world superpower, which means that he can’t afford to provoke this giant to anger lest he be crushed into pieces with its mighty power.
Of course, again, the president could have acted defiantly, disregarding diplomacy and the above reasons, but it would have been too unwise as well. He would have been sent home empty-handed, not at all achieving anything in that official visit to China. Moreover, he may have to face further consequences, like being banned from visiting that country again, or being stripped of the present and previous grants that the country is availing.
Sometimes, we cannot put all the blame on the president. The first to blame is China itself, because it is claiming some territories that are glaringly within our territorial waters. It rejects mediation efforts from other countries since it just opts for bilateral talks between China and the Philippines. Yet when the talks are reduced to the bilateral level, it makes the same stance and doesn’t move an inch.
Can you put all the blames on the president for that? Of course not; this bully country is to blame first and foremost. We are just reacting to its territorial grabbing at the West Philippine Sea.