CARIGARA, Leyte- After a month in office, the new district engineer of Department of Public Works and Highways- 2nd Leyte Engineering District Gerald Pacanan vowed to strengthen partnership with the contractors.
According to District Engineer Pacanan, conducting a regular coordination meeting with them is an initial step in forging a closer partnership between them and his office.
“The DPWH and the contractors are partners. Without (them), we cannot execute our projects, and without us, (they) will have no projects. So we are here to help each other,” expressed Pacanan.
Pacanan stated that it is high time to evaluate, supervise inventory and expedite project implementation in the second engineering district.
“Let us do away with time suspension. However, if we cannot avoid that, let us prepare the necessary documentation at the earliest possible time,” he added.
He mandated the project engineers to settle concerns and have close coordination with the contractors.
At the same, the district office must also conduct strict monitoring on projects.
Pacanan further instructed to prioritize public safety by providing early warning signs on the ongoing projects to avoid any untoward incidents.
He then emphasized that the office must adhere with the quality policy of the department which is “to implement the right projects at the right cost with the right quality delivered right on time by the right people”.
(LIZBETH ANN A. ABELLA)
District engineer hopes for a better working relation with contractors
378 students from Samar finish TESDA programs
(GMT/PIA-8 Samar)
CATBALOGAN CITY- Some 378 students recently graduated from the vocational skills training program of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) Samar Provincial Office.
The mass graduation ceremony was held on Feb. 6, 2019 at the social hall of St. Mary’s College in this city.
Among the graduates, 262 were beneficiaries of the Consuelo Foundation’s bread and pastry-making and cookery hot meals while 116 students were graduates of the special training for employment provided by the provincial government of Samar. They finished courses in bookkeeping, organic agriculture, tiles setting, and carpentry courses.
The graduates, who came from the cities of Calbayog and Catbalogan, and from the municipalities of Sta. Margarita, and Gandara, received certificates of competency and national certificate from TESDA.
Gema Reyes, 50, from Gandara, who graduated from bread and pastry said, “I am thankful for this opportunity. I will use what I learned to put up a small business in bread-making.”
“I will now have an additional source of income. This is very helpful to me and my family,” Reyes added.
On the same day of the graduation, TESDA also conducted food fair and skills competition to showcase the skills learned by the graduates.
For the food fair bread and pastry category competition, Catbalogan City placed first place, while Gandara, Calbayog and Sta. Margarita garnered the second, third and consolation, places, respectively.
On the other hand, Gandara won in the competition for the bread and pastry cookery category, while Catbalogan, Calbayog and Sta. Margarita got the second, third and consolation prizes, respectively.
For the skills competition for bread and pastry, Artemio Amita of Gandara garnered the first place while Jean Celmar, from Catbalogan City and Roselle Andaya who is from Calbayog City got the second and third spots.
For the cookery category, first place went to Jolena Alcober of Catbalogan City and Glenn Guantic of Gandara and Marlyn Gentallian of Calbayog City placed second and third.
The 3-in-1 event: Food Fair, Skills Competition and Mass Graduation was initiated by the TESDA and participated in by collaborating agencies and organizations such as Department of Trade and Industry, Department of Labor and Employment, Center for Community Transformation and the Balicuatro College of Arts and Trade. (NBQ/GMTabao/PIA Samar)
Rep. Romualdez justifies reason why she favors lowering criminal liability of minors
TACLOBAN CITY- Leyte Rep. Yedda Marie Romualdez has justified her decision to lower the age of children for criminal liability.
In an interview, Romualdez said that children nowadays are capable of committing crimes and could escape from any criminal liabilities due to their minor age.
Romualdez was among the members of House of Representatives who voted to lower the criminal liability of children to 12 from the current 15.
Originally, the Congress has proposed to put the criminal liability of children to just 9 years which was met with strong opposition.
“I voted for it because we are not here to punish the children but to protect them from nefarious groups who are trying to take advantage of the children (in carrying out their illegal activities),” she said.
According to her, she has been receiving reports that minors who were involved in various illegal activities could not be detained by the law enforces due to their sheer young age.
“They are showing their birth certificates to prove that they are still minors and the police could not arrest them because they are still minors,” Romualdez said.
The lowering of age on the criminal liability of children is being vigorously opposed by various sectors saying it will go contrary to the policies in protecting children.
Under the proposed measure, children of age 12 could be criminally liable if they are involve in crimes like kidnapping, murder, infanticide and serious illegal detention.
And to soften those who opposes the measure, the bill now uses the term ‘age of social responsibility’ instead of criminal liability.
Rep. Romualdez, who is seeking for a congressional seat under the party-list Tingog, said that any issues that appears to be controversial relative to the lowering of the criminal age of minors, could still be solved.
“There is still a long process (involving it),” she said.
(JOEY A. GABIETA)
Measles cases in EV continue to increase
DOH to conduct massive immunization as a response
GOVERNMENT CENTER, PALO, Leyte – The number of persons, mostly children, being hit by measles in the region continue to increase.
As of Thursday, the regional office of the Department of Health (DOH) reported of 14 deaths out of the 382 persons who were infected by the measles virus.
As this developed, the DOH is scampering to control the increasing number of measles in the region.
Dr. Minerva Molon, DOH regional director, said that they will be conducting massive immunization campaign in the region, particularly in areas where there are high cases of measles.
“Priority of the team deployment are the areas with high number of measles cases and those with reported deaths,” Molon said.
It was learned from Dr. Molon that most of those who were hit by measles did not receive vaccination.
It was learned that even adults were hit by measles.
Dr. Exuperia Sabalo, assistant regional director of the DOH, disclosed that they have received reports that some nurses at the Eastern Visayas Regional Medical Center (EVRMC) and the Leyte Provincial Hospital (LPH) were infected by measles.
“We need all the help to prevent the spread of measles in the region. If you haven’t received measles immunization yet, please have yourself vaccinated,” Sabalo said.
Dr. Ofelia Absin, LPH acting provincial health officer, said that since the cases of measles keeps on increasing there are times that they had to refer the patients to other hospitals.
“It’s not only pedia but even adults are infected with measles. In fact, when our isolation ward are full.We have no choice but to refer them to other health facilities that can give them with their needed medical attention,” Absin said.
“We also vaccinated our health workers who are in the frontline especially those who are handling the isolation ward to make sure that they are protected from measles,” she added.
The increase of measles cases in the region and in other parts of the country was blamed on the refusal of parents to have their children vaccinated after the Dengvaxia controversy broke out.
The regional DOH has reported that its immunization coverage has dropped to 55 percent from 85 to 90 percent in previous campaigns.
Elena Bituin, 27, a mother of four children from North Hill Arbours, a resettlement site located in Barangay Santo Niño in Tacloban City, said that she would not allow her children to get vaccinated.
Bituin said that she lost her trust on the vaccination program not only because of Dengvaxia but also because her youngest child died on measles a year ago even the child was immunized.
“Even if they visit us, I will not allow my children to be vaccinated,” Bituin said.
Measles is a highly contagious respiratory disease caused by a virus and can be transferred from person-to-person by sneezing, coughing, and close personal contact.
Symptoms include cough, runny nose, red eyes, fever, skin rashes that last for more than five days.
Complication includes diarrhea, middle ear infection, pneumonia, encephalitis, malnutrition, blindness which may eventually lead to death.
By: ROEL T. AMAZONA