BABATNGON, Leyte- A farm-to-market road was inaugurated in this town recently, a report from the Leyte provincial government said.
Governor Leopoldo Dominico Petilla, who led in the cutting of ribbon ceremony during the cereony,told Leyte Samar Daily Express that the farm-to- market road worth P 2 million was funded by the provincial government.
Gov. Petilla said that the road situated in sitio Sogod, Barangay District 4 of this town will be a great help to the farmers in bringing their farm products to the market at the town center.
He added that his office gave priority in the construction of this road considering the need and the clamor of the farmers for its construction.
Also present during the inauguration ceremony were Lt. Col. Danilo Dupiag, battalion commander of the 78th Infantry Battalion, and the barangay officials of Brgy. District 4.
(RESTITUTO A. CAYUBIT)

TACLOBAN CITY-About 54 human rights victims during the Martial Law received their compensation from the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) regional office based this city.
The 54 claimants were the last victims of human rights abuses from the region during the Marcos dictatorship to receive their compensation from the government through the Human Rights Victims Claims Board(HRVCB)
In all, there were 1,024 victims of human rights abuses from the region who recieved compensation from the government.
Lawyer Byron Bocar of the HRVCB, said that while the sufferings experienced by the victims could not really be compensated monetarily, at least, it could help them somehow.
“As they say in Filipino, walang kapalit ang kanilang naranasan noon. But at least, the compensation that they received will somehow help them,” Bocar said.
Bocar was in the city to personally distribute the checks to the human rights victims on Wednesday and Thursday at the CHR regional office.
The amount received by the victims depended on the gravity of what they experienced. If, for example, one has suffered physical injuries in the hands of state agents, they were entitled to receive more than P170,000.
The families of those who were killed or declared as missing, could receive as much as P1 million.
The money used in giving compensation to human rights victims were from an ill-gotten wealth of the Marcoses recovered by the Philippine government.
About P10 billion was set aside by the government to provide compensation to more than 11,000 victims of human rights abuses in the country.
One of those who received the compensation was Timoteo Alabad,72, from Barangay Binolho, Javier town in Leyte.
Alabad was 40 years old when he was detained first at the Javier municipal station and later to the national penitentiary in Muntinlupa as he was charged for multiple murder by the military.
“Of course, it was not true. They claimed that I was a member of the New People’s Army and participated in a fake ambush incident,” Alabad, who was released from the national penitentiary in 1987, or a year after the Marcos dictatorship was ousted during the People Power I.
Alabad said that while he welcome the compensation he received from the government, he could not help but be reminded of what happened to him in the past.
“No amount of money could compensate of what I went through. I was tortured and imprisoned due to trumped up charges,” he said.
(JOEY A. GABIETA)

BURAUEN, Leyte- “Charity is injurious unless it helps the recipient to become independent on it.”
Thus said Lurelyn Raymundo, Mactan bank manager-Tacloban Branch, during the inauguration of a water pump project at the Villa Rosas Elementary School(VRES), this town.
The Mactan Bank funded the water pump project through its Ysay Foundation.
The construction of the water pump system project in the school was realized through the efforts of the school personnel led by school principal Melvin Amago and duly supported by PSDS Josefina Yu.
The water pump is expected to provide clean water to the 165 students and teachers of the VRES.
“Hinaut unta makabulig an water pump system ha mga bata ngan kamaestrahan ha VRES,” Yu said.
The school is located in Barangay Villa Rosas which is about six kms away from the town center of Burauen.
This water pump is the main source of water for VREsians and still functioning until this time. The water pump is in its 2nd year since it was inaugurated.
(Note: The author is the principal of the Villa Rosas Elementary School located in Brgy. Villa Rosas, Burauen, Leyte)

TACLOBAN CITY – The Tacloban City Government under Mayor Cristina G. Romualdez will implement a new traffic scheme in the Central Business District, starting on Wednesday, August 1, 2018.
In a traffic advisory, the city government said the implementation of the new traffic management and re-routing scheme is aimed at easing traffic along roads within the downtown area.
Under the new traffic scheme to be implemented by the Traffic Operations, Management, Enforcement, and Control Office (TOMECO) in coordination with Taskforce Kanhuraw, streets formerly designated as one-way will be opened to two-way traffic such as M. H. Del Pilar, Sto. Nino and Paterno Streets.
As part of the recommendation of the Traffic Management Study conducted by the UP National Center for Traffic Studies (UPNCTS), motor cabs for hire (MCH) will be restricted to enter the following streets: Justice Romualdez, J.P Rizal Avenue, Avenida Veteranos and Real.
The truck ban ordinance will be strictly enforced such that trucks and other large vehicles covered by the ordinance will only be allowed to enter the downtown area only through Real Street.
To inform the motorists of the new traffic scheme Traffic advisory signages will be installed in strategic areas disclosed the TOMECO.
Meantime, the 10 installed hybrid system of traffic lights with cameras in city intersections, will have its dry-run prior to the implementation of the traffic scheme.
Dry runs have been scheduled for Thursday and Friday this week.
As part of the scheduled implementation of the new traffic scheme, members of the traffic enforcement team are currently undergoing basic traffic training.
The UP-NCTS study is part of the city government’s initiative to come up with a professional and scientific approach to solve the emerging traffic woes of the city.
(HENRY JAMES ROCA/CIO)

TACLOBAN CITY-The Leyte Electric Cooperative (Leyeco II) announces of a power interruption that will affect its entire coverage today (July 28).
The 12- hour power interruption will start at 6 am and is to end at 6 pm.
The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP), in a statement, said that the interruption is to effect the relocation and conversion of structures replacement of conductors, affected by the construction of a 4-lane by–pass road by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).
The said 6-lane road will affect the proposed relocation area of the NGCP street number 82 which is the intention of the scheduled interruption on July 21.
Engr. Fernan Paul Tan, Leyeco general manager, said that all works may be finished ahead of time. Thus, power could be restored before the 6 pm scheduled power restoration. (LIZBETH ANN A. ABELLA)

PALO, Leyte – In line with the observation of the National Disaster Resilience Month, Plan Philippines presented some invetions that could prove helpful during a disaster.
Five of the 10 innovations from the Visayan regions were from Eastern Visayas which were presented at the ‘Tuklas’ Innovation Labs held at the Oriental Hotel de Leyte, this town, on July 24.
A total of 40 original devices throughout the country were accepted in the Tuklas Innovation Labs which are now under trial stages.
Among them was the “Bakwit Kit”, a flat-packed evacuation kit made from PVC pipes for easy transportation and set-up, designed by DesignNovators from the Philippine Institute of Interior Designers – Eastern Visayas Chapter.
Heidrun Milan, one of the designers of the Bakwit Kit, said that their innovation prototype is being tested in Barangay 77, Tacloban City where residents are helping to enhance their design.
Milan said that they came up with the design as their group’s contribution during a disaster response.
The Bakwit Kit could also fits all the evacuation essentials like soft partition, sleeping mattress, dining set and storage shelving.
It was also design in a way that children, women or even persons with disabilities can easily assemble it.
The Bakwit Kit can fit a family of four, but could still be extended.
“We also would like to promote dignity, convenience and privacy for the families. What we have in the evacuation centers are camp spaces already, so we like to have comfort and convenience for the family because that is very important. Previously we already have issues on privacy and there was no demarcation between one families to another,” Milan said.
Another innovation presented was the Intelligent Flood Warning Monitoring System developed by TECH4DRRM from Cebu City.
The innovation is a flood warning system that uses sensors to send real time alert.
The warning device works when the river water reaches critical level, which the SOLVEX38 will broadcast in the local dialect to inform the community of the time of the possible flooding in the area.
This will allow the residents to set priorities of securing their properties and livestock and evacuate their family to safer place.
The developer of the software said that although they had received assistance from Tuklas, the government should also provide the same to encourage more innovators to create designs that could help communities in disaster preparedness and response.
“Developing this kind of software needs support. We are thankful that Tuklas is here to help us. I hope that the government will come up with a program that will support innovators and inventors to showcase their talents, although there is the Department of Science and Technology but the more government agencies providing fund for the development of innovations and invention which will have a better result because they have good resources,” Jonathan Cartilla, SOLVEX38 developer, said.
Tuklas, which is short for Tungo sa Kahandaan ng Pilipinas, is a community-centered innovation project that aims to support local solutions on disaster risk reduction and management which was launched last year and winners were selected from the 260 proposals from 17 regions in the country.
The selected innovation will be provided with up to P1 million in seed capital, training, and mentorship to test their disaster preparedness innovations from March to November 2018.
“The selected proposals revolve in the four themes of disaster risk reduction and mitigation which are preparedness, mitigation, response and rehabilitation. So, in the innovations that were selected you can see food security, the water, shelter, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) and self-protection,” Michael Anthony Crus, Tuklas project manager, said.
The project is a partnership between Plan International, Action Against Hunger, CARE Philippines, and the Citizen’s Disaster Response Center with support and funding from the Disaster and Emergency Preparedness Program (DEPP) Innovation Labs, a global network of labs funded by United Kingdom aid, and co-managed by Start and Communicating with Disaster Affected Communities (CDAC) Network.
(ROEL T. AMAZONA)