TACLOBAN CITY- Eastern Visayas regional political party Tingog Sinirangan has vowed to bring development in the region.
Rep.Yedda Marie Romualdez of Leyte’s first congressional district and Tingog’s first nominee, disclosed some of their legislative agenda that she said will help further the development to the region.
Romualdez made this remarks after the formal signing of an alliance agreement with the Hugpong ng Pagbabago of Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte and national political party Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats headed by Romualdez’s husband, former congressman Ferdinand Martin Romualdez on November 7 here in the city.
Rep. Romualdez said that among the ‘major points’ of Tingog Sinirangan’s agenda include intensifying investments in infrastructure support especially in rural communities; boosting rural-based education through the creation of an alternative farm and trade school system in the countryside; institutionalization of universal access to free healthcare through the service delivery network of healthcare facilities and rationalization of PhilHealth benefits; and increase agricultural productivity and sustainability through the creation of agricultural growth centers in identified regions in the country, farm-to-market facilitation, adoption of good agricultural practices, and provision of incentives to clusters of small and marginal producers.
Also, the party-list group would also ensure greater economic parity among regions by providing performance – and needs-based economic stimulus aid to the five poorest regions in the country; institutionalize on the increased of social protection for vulnerable sectors – especially the youth, women, and the elderly – through the creation of government bodies such as the Department of Culture, Sports, and Youth Development and the National Senior Citizens Commission; expand agricultural insurance, especially in expanding coverage of other crops, increasing capital stock, developing index-based insurance, among other developments;
Aside from Rep. Romualdez, the other nominees of the Tingog Sinirangan includes Philip Jude Acidre, Jaime “Boy” Go Alexis V. Yu, and Jennifer C. Padual.
Tingog, formerly a provincial party Tingog Leytenhon in 2012, was officially accredited by the Commission on Elections as a party-list organization qualified to run under the party-list elections beginning with the May 9, 2016 national and local elections through a resolution promulgated on August 19, 2015.
(RONALD O. REYES)

BORONGAN CITY-The Department of Public Works and Highways-Eastern Samar District Engineering Office (DPWH-ESDEO) conducted a two-day maintenance enhancement training (MET) program recently for their maintenance personnel with the purpose to uphold the excellence in maintaining the roads and bridges of this province, a report from DPWH-ESDEO, based here, said.
Manolo Rojas, ESDEO district engineer, told Leyte Samar Daily Express in an interview that the MET covered discussions on various rules and guidelines pertaining to road and bridge maintenance such as coded defects and road works and traffic safety.
Rojas claimed that DPWH-ESDEO has received a commendation from Secretary Mark Villar for its diligent and prompt compliance in the execution of maintenance works as exemplified by the outright compliance enumerated under
Department Order 41 also known as “Amended Policy Guidelines on the Maintenance of National Roads and Bridges” for two consecutive rating periods for calendar year 2016 and 2017.
Rojas underscored the importance of keeping well-trained employees in providing safe roads and bridges and in maintaining its spot as top performer in the implementation of various maintenance activities regionwide.
“The maintenance personnel plays an integral part in maintaining safe and quality roads and bridges. This training aims to keep them abreast of all the guidelines, rules, and proper maintenance of roads in accordance with the mandates of DPWH leading to more improved execution of maintenance works,” Rojas said.
He pointed out that maintenance personnel are primarily tasked to keep the roads and bridges in good condition.
“They fix the defects that are observed in the road as well as maintain road safety devices and signages for a convenient and safe travel experience of motorists,” Rojas said.
(RESTITUTO A. CAYUBIT)

TACLOBAN CITY – A joint operation of the regional offices of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) resulted in the confiscation of cigarettes with fake tax stamps in Ormoc City.
Jess Gadaingan, NBI special investigator III told Leyte Samar Daily Express in an interview that the joint operation conducted by NBI and BIR raided a warehouse and an apartment in Ormoc City on yesterday and yielded the cigarettes bearing fake BIR cigarettes stamps.
Gadaingan said that the BIR and NBI has identified the source of the illegal cigarette products (fake cigarettes with fake tax stamps) proliferating in Ormoc which promoted them to conduct the operation against the illicit trader.
Gadaingan, however, did not give the volume of the products confiscated.
On the other hand, a reliable source from the BIR said that the operation seized 2,026 master cases (boxes) or 20,260,000 sticks at both target sites.
The estimated value of the confiscated cigarettes was valued P60 million and the estimated loss by the government in excise taxes was placed at P35.5 Million.
Gadaingan said that both NBI and BIR are still investigating as to where the fake cigarettes came from.
It is not yet known if these were produced domestically or from outside the country.
(RESTITUTO A. CAYUBIT)

ORMOC CITY-The central government on Friday (Nov.9) began enforcing the suggested retail prices (SRP) for rice in cities and provinces nationwide.
Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol said the National Food Authority (NFA), backed by the Department of Trade and Industry and the Philippine National Police, will start imposing sanctions against traders and retailers not complying with the SRP set for both local and imported rice sold in the market.
In consultation with rice industry stakeholders, the following SRP were set: regular milled rice (local), P39 per kg.; well-milled rice (local), P44 per kg.; premium rice (local), P47 per kg.; well-milled rice (imported), P39 per kg.; and premium rice (imported), P43 per kg.
“This is to stabilize the price of rice. No more hoarding, no speculation. It’s good for consumers, market, and farmers. The SRP will be adjusted based on the volume of harvest and world market prices,” Piñol said during the launch of the SRP program at the city market here.
“Sanctions include a written warning on the first offense and for succeeding offenses, the violators could suffer penalties of a jail term of between four months and four years and a penalty of between PHP2,000 and PHP1 million. The NFA will also cancel their licenses to engage in rice trading and retailing,” he said.
If there are violators, the NFA regional and provincial managers will be relieved, Piñol said.
NFA officer-in-charge Tomas Escares said they will start sending warnings to violators on Monday and impose penalties a week after.
“Our order to NFA managers is to strictly implement the SRP program to ensure that affordable rice is available in the market,” Escares said.
The use of fancy names for rice, such as “Sinandomeng”, “Super Angelica”, “Double Diamond”, and others, which mislead the consumers, will also be stopped, according to the agriculture chief.
The SRP for Metro Manila and nearby areas was implemented last Oct. 27 although the penalties and fines could only be enforced 15 days after the publication of the guidelines, as approved by the NFA Council. (SARWELL Q. MENIANO/PNA)