The University of Eastern Philippines will soon start limited face-to-face classes in its College of Nursing and Allied Health Sciences programs, including those with laboratory and on-the-job training on the second semester of the present school year, in January 2022.
UEP’s proposal to hold limited face-to-face classes was approved by the Provincial Inter-Agency Task Force for COVID-19 (PIATF) in its joint meeting with the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (PDRRMC) on December 14, 2021 at the UEP Gymnatorium.
UEP President Dr. Cherry Ultra proposed to the PIATF for UEP be allowed to hold limited face-to-face classes in January 2022, blended with modular and online class sessions saying “this is necessary to increase the students’ level of knowledge in their chosen fields of endeavor, and for an unhampered flow of academic learning.” Dr. Ultra made the appeal before PIATF chair Governor Edwin Ongchuan, municipal mayors led by LMP President Mayor Galahad Vicencio, provincial health officials, and other members of the PIATF.
Governor Ongchuan pledged support to the Ligtas Balik Eskwela initiative of UEP, leading others in signing the Pledge of Commitment and Support. Mayors Galahad Vicencio, Don Abalon, Edito Saludaga, Gerardo Miranda and Leo Jarito also gave their support, along with provincial health officer Dr. Ninfa Kam, and DOH provincial officer Rommel Francisco. Other members of the PIATF were also present to give support for the limited face-to-face classes.
Northern Samar has the lowest attack rate of COVID-19 in Region 8, Dr. Rommel Francisco reported during the meeting. At present, more than 54% of the province’s eligible population has been vaccinated, which number is expected to increase in the coming days with the National COVID Vaccination Days Part 2 set on December 20-22, 2021. (PR)
UEP to start limited face-to-face classes in 2022
Residents of Maasin City slowly returning to normal life
After the onslaught of ‘Odette’
MAASIN CITY- The residents of this typhoon-battered city are slowly trying to recover.
Feloina Viocente of Barangay Maria Clara, about four kms away from the city proper, is doing the repair of her damaged house by herself with the help of her brother.
Viocente said that she learned carpentry works by observing her husband who is a foreman but currently works at the nearby Hilongos town in Leyte.
The ceiling of their house was blown away due to the strong winds brought by typhoon ‘Odette’ that hit Maasin City on Thursday (Dec.16).
She said that instead of waiting for her husband to repair their house, she chose to do it herself so they will have a roof and will not worry in case there will be rain.
“Eto halong pagod, yung kaba hindi pa rin maalis, nandyan pa rin, at saka syempre po nag-iisip kung saan kami kukuha ng panggastos sa bahay naming. Dagdag pa po yung una, syempre pagkain, kaya talagang magsisikap na lang po ulit para makabangon,” she said when asked how she is feeling at the moment after the disaster struck their village.
The city government has yet to report as to the number of houses damaged due to the onslaught of Odette as inspection, especially those in the upland villages, is still underway.
Mayor Naccional Mercado said several areas in the city remain unpassable due to fallen trees and power lines.
Out of the 70 villages of Maasin, only 26 are located in the city center and along that national road.
Mercado said that they have to prioritize clearing operations for them to deliver food and other essential needs for those living in these areas that remain to be inaccessible.
The city remains without a power supply with communications have yet to be restored.
(ROEL T. AMAZONA)
Death toll due to “Odette” climb to 21
Power restored except in South Leyte, parts of Leyte
TACLOBAN CITY- The death toll in Eastern Visayas, mainly from the hard-hit province of Southern Leyte, due to typhoon ‘Odette’ has now reached to 21 with 11 missing, the Regional Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office (RDRRMO) said on Monday (Dec. 20)
The town of Saint Bernard has reported of seven deaths; San Juan, four; two each from the towns of Liloan, Sogod, and Hinunangan; and one each from Limasawa, San Ricardo and Maasin City, all in Southern Leyte.
The town of Inopacan in Leyte has reported with one death.
The missing persons, based on the RDRRMO report, were from the town of San Juan with nine; and one each from Liloan and Saint Bernard, all in Southern Leyte.
While the province of Southern Leyte, the ground zero of Odette in Eastern Visayas, and some parts of Leyte remain without power supply since the storm struck the region on December 16, power supply was restored in Samar and Eastern Samar on Sunday night and early morning respectively.
Communications in Southern Leyte remain has yet to be restored with other areas in the region is still unstable.
Meantime, to help the water needs of the people of Southern Leyte, the regional Bureau of Fire and Protection will be sending its fire trucks to the typhoon-battered area.
The entire Southern Leyte, composed of Maasin City and 18 towns, was placed under a state of calamity on Friday.
The RDRRMO said that considering of the extent of damage sustained by the province, they are calling for some donations and even volunteers.
Gen. Edgardo de Leon, commanding general of the 8th Infantry Division and member of the PDRRMO, said that the immediate needs of the victims are food, potable water, clothing, cooking kits, and even shelter, and hygiene kits, and medicine.
“We need a whole-of-region response. We are calling our people, our local government units, and volunteers. We are putting up pick-up points in coordination with the Office of Civil Defense,” de Leon said.
“Let us all help Southern Leyte,” he added.
Through a video sent by the Leyte Center for Development, a non-government organization, Alex Salvador of Barangay Hindag-an, Saint Bernard town, has called for help.
“We need food, clothing, and even tarp,” he said, adding that their house was destroyed due to Odette.
In response to this call, the provincial governments of Eastern Samar and Borongan city and Ormoc city in Leyte donated sacks of rice and other food packs to Southern Leyte as well as both the party-list groups of An Waray and Tingog.
The province of Biliran has also announced of food aid to Southern Leyte and will be extending free ride for Biliranons who were stranded or want to return from Cebu, another hard-hit area due to Odette, to the province.
Lord Byron Torrecarion, RDRRMO head, said that they have also called the attention of the Department of Trade and Industry to conduct price monitoring of basic goods.
He also said that they are also monitoring the supply of fuels and gasoline across the province which still remain without power supply.
At least 19,173 families consisting of 83,933 individuals in southern Leyte were affected by the typhoon, Torrecarion said, adding that they are still conducting their monitoring to assess as to the number of houses damaged or destroyed due to Odette.
DPWH to start 4 major infra projects in Region 8
TACLOBAN CITY – The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) has identified four major infrastructure projects in Eastern Visayas that will be implemented in the next two to five years.
Long-term projects are the 15-kilometer (km) Samar Pacific Coastal Road (SPCR) project phase 2, construction of 700-meter Iconic Liloan Bridge, construction of 1.1 km Iconic Maasin Coastal Bypass Bridge, and the building of 23-km Bohol – Leyte Link Bridge.
In a report released by the DPWH on Wednesday, the SPCR include two long-span bridges with a total length of 1.4 km. The feasibility study is already completed and the project proposal is now under preparation for submission to the National Economic and Development Authority.
SPCR project phase 2 will complement the ongoing 11.60-km SPCR phase 1 connecting the pacific towns from the Simora Junction in Laoang town, traverses to the remote villages of Laoang and Palapag towns. At 59 percent completed, the first phase 1 also covers the construction of three bridges.
Meanwhile, the concept paper is now being prepared for Liloan Bridge while the Maasin Coastal Bypass Bridge is up for discussion with the Export-Import Bank of Korea.
For the Bohol – Leyte Link Bridge, officials will revisit the Asian Development Bank-funded pre-feasibility study.
The government has yet to come up with cost estimates for these four long-term projects.
DPWH Acting Secretary Roger Mercado said in a statement that he has tapped the Unified Project Management Office (UPMO) Operations headed by Undersecretary Emil Sadain to assist the regional office in preparing the construction of a stronger regional road network.
“In my inspection, I saw the need for a significant upgrade of roads and bridges to improve connectivity and address problem of isolation especially in far-flung areas of the region,” Mercado said.
Mercado, who hails from Southern Leyte, identified the insufficient infrastructure as a major constraint to the economic growth and poverty reduction particularly in Southern Leyte and Northern Samar.
(SARWELL Q. MENIANO/PNA)
Despite of speech and movement difficulties, Borongan-based surfer making waves in competition
BORONGAN CITY – Jesus Lawrence “Eboy” Quitorio, a 27-year-old local surfer from this city had just started surfing early this year.
But even if he is new in the sport, Quitorio has already earned the distinction of being the first person with a disability (PWD) to become an internationally accredited surfing instructor.
Because of his family’s circumstances, Quitorio, who has a speech and movement difficulties, has not been given any official medical diagnosis. Now an orphan, he currently lives with his brother in Brgy. Sabang South, this city.
For this year’s surf competition, Quitorio served as a surf instructor and lifeguard.
In October 2021, he made waves when he became the first Filipino surfer to become an accredited surfing instructor by the International Surfing Association. He underwent training as part of the Surfriders Club of Eastern Samar’s (SCES) preparation for hosting Surf in the City.
The training was organized by the Department of Tourism as one of the steps in promoting the region as the next site for surfing in the Philippines.
Prior to surfing, Quitorio had been playing skimboarding for 15 years. In December 2019, he won the skimboarding event during the first Surf in the City competition.
Just this year, he decided to change his sport after seeing his friends enjoying riding big waves.
He learned through the help of his friend, Christian Badillo, who also acts as his interpreter.
“Life may be difficult but just learn to enjoy it; whatever condition maybe,” he said when asked what is advised to those who are suffering physical deformities like him but want to engage in surfing.
As a surfing instructor, Quitorio now makes P1,000 to P1,500 a week. The fee comes from tourists and locals that train under SCES. The amount collected is divided among the surf instructors.
He also dreams of competing on the international stage, and of owning a shop where he can sell surfboards and surf accessories
Quitorio is an example of how surfing can provide opportunities to the youth of Borongan, according to Surf in the City chair Rupert Ambil.
The Surf in the City event goal is to raise athletes like Quitorio to compete in the national event.
“Eboy is a good example of how sports like surfing can improve the lives of our youth in Borongan. Our dream for this competition is to train local surfers and empower them to compete in international surfing events. We believe that with the right support, the next surfing gold medalist can come from Borongan,” Ambil noted.
(ROEL T. AMAZONA)
Top military exec to NPAS: surrender or face attacks
M/Gen. de Leon sees end in EV’s insurgency in 2022
TACLOBAN CITY-Eastern Visayas top military official, Major Gen. Edgardo de Leon, called on the members of the communist armed group, the New People’s Army (NPA), to return to the folds of the law as he warned them that the government forces in the region will not hesitate to use all of its weapons to end their armed struggle.
de Leon made this remark as he witnessed the surrender of two former regular members of the New People’s Army (NPA) and the more than 150 sympathizers of the outlawed armed group in Tacloban City last Dec.11.
According to de Leon, as part of the marching order from their higher ups, he wants to see the end of the insurgency problem in Eastern Visayas before the end of the term of the administration of Pres. Rodrigo Duterte.
The Duterte administration is to end its reign on June 30, 2022.
“We will not hesitate to use our military might to end the insurgency (in the region) which we aim to do before the end of the term of Pres. Duterte,” de Leon said.
He said that based on their record, there are only more than 300 regular NPA members operating in the region, with most of them are in the provinces of Samar, Eastern Samar, and Northern Samar.
He added that as part of their campaign to crush the region’s insurgency problem, the military will first clear 80 barangays in the region that are still considered infiltrated or influenced by the NPA members.
Majority of these villages are located on Samar Island.
de Leon said that the clearing of these villages will be done not only through military operations but by providing services and programs to these areas with the help of other government agencies under the “whole of nation approach” as provided under the End Local Communist Armed Conflict (ELCAC) program of the government.
This year, the military in the region scored its biggest victory when it destroyed the bomb-making camp of the rebel group in Dolores town, Eastern Samar last August 16 which resulted in the deaths of 19 rebels.
No casualty was recorded in the military side which conducted an air and land assault in the bomb-making facility in Barangay Osmeña of the said town.
de Leon said that the government is offering incentives to those who surrender like providing them financial and livelihood assistance for them to start a new life.
He reiterated that if these rebels will continue to fight against the government despite of its “left-hand approach”, referring to the assistance, then the military has no recourse but to use the “right-hand approach”, referring to the use of weapons through tactical operations.
de Leon said that since the ELCAC was started in 2019, 61 rebels were killed; 190 of them have surrendered, and; 46 of them were captured.
Among those who surrendered was “Ka Danny,” 47, who was recruited in the armed group in 2018.
He, however, started as a mass rally organizer in 2005 before he started to carry firearms as a regular NPA member.
Ka Danny was among the two former regular NPA members who surrendered to the government and took his pledge of allegiance to the government on Friday with de Leon witnessing the event held at the People’s Center, this city.
The former rebel said that he decided to give up the armed struggle to be united with his wife and four children.
“They were not aware that I am an NPA. But I have to abandon my comrade because I want to be with my family and lead a normal life without being hunted and running in the mountains,” he said.
He expects to be provided with all the assistance promised to them by the military and other government agencies.