PALO, Leyte- The Department of Education (DepEd) through its schools division in Leyte have put up new secondary schools to provide more access to education and solve the school dropout issue in the province.
Ronelo Al Firmo, the Leyte schools division superintendent, disclosed that the list of newly-opened schools in Leyte is increasing since he assumed office in 2013.
In Barangay Bilwang, Isabel, parents, students and village officials expressed their excitement over the opening of their new school to accommodate the increasing enrolment at the Matlang National High School (MNHS).
“We’re really thankful to Dr. Firmo for the initiative,” said MNHS school principal Vivian Salahid.
The other schools to be opened include the Gimarco National High School and Campokpok National High School, both in Tabango; Bachao National High School in Leyte-Leyte; Villahermosa National High School, Calubian; Hilusig National High School,Mahaplag; Danao Natonal High School in MacArthur; San Vicente National High School in Tolosa;Talisay National High School, Hilongos; Libertad National High School and San Jose National High School, both in Palo; and Cansamada National High School in Dagami.
Edgar Tenasas, assistant schools division superintendent, lauded Firmo’s effort to improve access and promote opportunities by opening schools, saying it “is an action responding to our Secretary’s vision for a liberating education.”
“As to the number of schools he opened during his incumbency is something worth to be proud of. My prayers that God gives him more wisdom and strength as he squarely faces all challenges he met along his journey as schools division superintendent,” Tenasas said in a statement.
Firmo had earlier established 24 secondary schools across Leyte, many of them are located in remote areas.
Known as the biggest among the 13 schools division in the region, the Leyte Division covers 40 towns with more than 15, 000 teachers assigned in 1, 107 elementary schools, 149 secondary schools, and 126 senior high schools.
(RONALD O. REYES)

PALO, Leyte- The Leyte schools division bagged all the regional level awards under the public school category in this year’s 20th Gawad Kalasag awarding ceremony held on Tuesday (July 31).
The school awardees for elementary level were Abuyog South Central School in Abuyog, first place; Cogon Elementary School in Palo, second place; and Tinambacan Elementary School in Jaro, third place.
For secondary, the winners were Bienvinido Guillera Celebre National High School in Jaro, first place; Barugo National High School in Barugo, second place; and Matlang National High School in Isabel, third place.
The winning schools received a plaque and cash prize of P50,000; P30,000; and P15,000, respectively.
The Leyte schools division, which is headed by schools superintendent Ronelo Al Firmo, congratulated the school awardees and wished them luck for the national level competition.
“It’s an honor for the Leyte Division to have six schools acknowledged by the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) Regional Office VIII. Unforeseen events occur at the least expected time and the preparedness of the school matters to lessen the impact of such situation,” said Edgar Tenasas, the assistant schools division superintendent.
“We look forward that this becomes an inspiration to other schools in Leyte that may also aspire to work for the same award in the future,” he said.
Tenasas also lauded Karen Barril, the division’s Disaster Risk Reduction and Management (DRRM) coordinator for her hard work and technical assistance to the schools.
The awarding ceremony served as the culminating activity in the observance of National Disaster Resilience Month which was led by the Office of Civil Defense and other government partner agencies.
The event was attended by OCD Deputy Administrator Nicanor Faeldon, OCD Regional Director Henry Anthony Torres, among other officials.
Since its inception in 1998, the Gawad Kalasag served as the country’s premier annual awards for outstanding contribution in the fields of disaster risk reduction and management and humanitarian assistance.
It recognizes best practices of DRRM among individuals, groups or institutions which have shown “extraordinary courage, heroism, and sacrifice in times of emergencies, be it natural or human-induced.” (PR)

By ARNEL C. BALLON

As the future becomes the present, gone are the days when we are required to travel to get the information we need.
The advent of the internet and social media have made information about anything virtually available to us anywhere and anytime.
This change in the communication and acquisition of knowledge has not only affected our daily activities but more so in the educational system. Students tend to neglect the deeper reasons of understanding and absorbing the lessons since everything is easily available for them in just a click.
This is one of the many changes technology has provided.
As most Filipinos spend many hours surfing the net as easily as that, the hard part is not knowing what our children learn from it.
The world has become more sophisticated with technology.
People need to elevate themselves to cope with and maneuver this fast pace changes and somehow forget the essential emphasis on the foundational development of the child: Pagpapakatao, Values Education, Respect, Ethics, Pagpapahalaga sa Kalikasan along the way.
In this new age, we believe it is even more important to remember our fundamentals as we always look back at our reason for being a decent human not changed.
At the core, whatever we learn to try or to achieve, we are all human beings and we must always keep in mind the importance of values throughout our learning.
The thing that we must remind ourselves is that people are the same, learning is similar and the general purpose of school is the same as it was 10, 20,and 50 years ago. The only thing that’s changed are the tools we use to allow students to learn.
As teachers, we all believe that integrating values with each lesson is a way for us to help build a more harmonious nation and produce more knowledgeable and respectful citizens in terms of differences even in times of difficulties for a more productive nation where everyone contributes to a better society.
The students’ capability to explore and enhance knowledge bring about their full potential to be better and bankable workers to build a much progressive society.
Their ability to collaborate, work on authentic problems, and engage with the community is believed to be what separate those who are prepared to increasingly complex life and work environments, and those who are not.
Now, where do think you belong? Are you the kind of student who adopts with the different changes and ultimately affects who you really are, or are you the type of person who adopts with the changes but knows limitations and borderlines?
How do you fare?
(Note: The author is the teacher of the Tanauan School of Craftsmanship and Home Industries in Tanauan, Leyte)

NAVAL, Biliran-To better understand the electronic routing slip system of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), Biliran District Engineering Office (BDEO) takes initiative to hold a re-echo on the seminar on Document Tracking System (DoTS) for civil works project on July 19, 2018 at BDEO Conference hall.
The DoTS for civil works was carried out in a three days seminar at the DPWH Regional Office, Baras, Palo, Leyte on July 4-6, 2018 and was compressed into a three-hour discussion at Biliran DEO to give insights to some 50 Biliran DEO employees who are directly or indirectly involved in documents processing.
DoTS is an electronic and dynamic routing slip develop to monitor the status of documents in the department. It tracks down slow moving documents and pinpoints those responsible for the delay in the processing.
This is in line with Department’s thrust to fast track the completion of projects and to be transparent in its operations.
Under the leadership of District Engineer David P. Adongay Jr., BDEO will soon be using this system as per DPWH Department Order (D.O.) 142 series of 2017 as it is now being implemented in the DPWH Regional Office VIII as well as in the Central Office.
According to Luisito Filemon A. Abad, BDEO Procurement Unit Head, who gave the talk on the DoTS re-echo, the said system has already started in 2012 in the Regional Office but was discontinued after the onslaught of Super Typhoon “Yolanda” (international name Haiyan) in 2013. Presently this is now in operation.
To properly implement the said system in the district, BDEO appointed DoTS officers who has took the recent training on DoTS to smoothly manage incoming and outgoing communications through the said tracking system.
DO 142 series of 2017 re: Implementation of the Document Tracking System (DoTS) for Civil Works Projects covers documents on As-Built Plans, Detailed Engineering Design Plans, Program of Work (POW), Approved Budget Contract (ABC), Award and Signing of Contract, IROW payment and other civil works related documents. (PR)

MAASIN CITY – Nine flood control structures with a total funding of over P173 million will be completed next month in the bid to curb overflowing and erosion in Southern Leyte province, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) field office here reported.
DPWH Southern Leyte district engineering office (SLDEO) chief Ma. Margarita Junia said they have been expediting the construction of embankments along riverbanks and coastlines in critical sections and populated villages as rainy season approaches.
These flood mitigation structures are located in Guinsangan in Bontoc town (22.54 million) , Lawigan in St. Bernard(P27.93 million), Biliran in Malitbog (P24.50 million), Bitanhuan in Libagon (P19.60 million), Das-ay in Hinunangan town (P22.54 million), and Marayag in San Francisco town (P24.5 million).
Also targeted to be completed this August is the riverbank protection project in Concepcion-1 (P19.89 million), San Vicente Section 2 (P6.86 million), and San Juan Section 2 (P5.19 million), all in Sogod town.
“The construction of flood control is always included in our priority development projects. We believe it is the permanent solution to safeguard the lives and properties of the residents living near rivers and other flood-prone areas,” Junia said.
Flood control structures not only prevent flooding in the river’s adjacent areas but also protect against scouring or erosions along riverbanks, according to DPWH.
DPWH Southern Leyte has 24 flood control projects this year with a total budget of P458.65 million. Last year, the field office implemented six flood control projects along Subang Daku River in Sogod town with P278.24 million allotment. (PR)

TACLOBAN CITY- Tacloban City bags as the 1st place in this year’s Regional Gawad Kalasag Award which is held every July of the year as part of the disaster awareness month.
The awarding ceremony was held on July 31 at the Summit Hotel July 31, 2018 during the 20th Gawad Kalasag.
Proud of the performance of the Tacloban Rescue Unit (Tacru), City Mayor Cristina G. Romualdez congratulated the disaster team for garnering the 1st place Gawad Kalasag Award.
Mayor Romualdez, in an interview, revealed that she herself encourages the Tacru team to continue their dedicated efforts and be the instrument of disaster risk reduction management.
“May you be effective in your endeavors, we should be always in a disaster preparedness mood or rather mode,” Mayor Romualdez added.
Tacru, Tacloban’s rescue unit working hand in hand with the City Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council chaired by Mayor Romualdez and supported by Leyte 1st District Rep. Yedda Marie Romualdez responds to emergency cases within the city and neighboring municipalities.
Tacru received P50,000 and a plaque of appreciation from the Regional Disaster Risk Reduction & Management Council (RDRRMC) and the Office of Civil Defense (OCD-8) which headed by Henry Anthony Torres as its prize.
The awarding ceremony was attended by OCD Deputy Administrator for Operation Asec. Nicanor Faeldon, who in his speech, commended the winners of the Gawad Kalasag Award.
Tacru has assisted various disaster awareness events such as the Barangayan medical mission; as stand-by medic for the various fun run events held in the city; conducted trainings on standard first aid; basic life support; urban search and rescue; mountain search and rescue; water search and rescue; hosted the recently held two-day Regional Rescue Jamboree 2018 at the Tacloban Astrodome and Patio Victoria and conducted various simulation drills at Rizal Central School, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, Tacloban National Agriculture School & Nula-Tula Elementary School and assisted the CPR For Life led by the city government of Tacloban at the Tacloban Astrodome.
TACRU Team Leader Lotlot Raagas, in an interview, thanked the OCD-8 for the trust and for believing in their cause; TACRU’s number one benefactor, Rep. Romualdez; the city government of Tacloban through Mayor Cristina G. Romualdez and the guidance and courage extended by the City Disaster Risk Reduction Management (CDRRMC) Officer Ildelbrando Bernadas; and all their volunteers for their hard work and sacrifices.
Gawad Kalasag (meaning Kalamidad at Sakuna Labanan, Sariling Galing ang Kaligtasan) celebrated its 20th Gawad Kalasag Regional Awards in Tacloban City in recognition to the outstanding contributions rendered in disaster risk reduction and humanitarian assistance.
(GAY GASPAY, TISAT)