TACLOBAN CITY – Alleged militarization continue to persist in the country, to include in the region, displacing affected families.
Thus concluded a fact-finding mission participated by the members of the Ecumenical Voice for Peace and Human Rights in the Philippines.
The group disclosed their results on Sunday, a day before President Rodrigo Duterte delivered his third State of the Nation Address (Sona) before the Filipino people.
According to the group, based on their visits to different areas in the region, ‘atrocities’ are continued to be committed against civilians by members of the government forces.
The fact-finding mission was held in the towns of Las Navas, Catubig and Lope de Vega and in Northern Samar province, Paranas in Samar province and Carigara in Leyte.
They claimed that the atrocities allegedly committed against civilians in remote villages include illegal arrests, abuses against farmers and even killings.
This so-called militarization also displaced communities who are evading to be caught in between firefight between government forces and members of the communist armed group, New People’s Army.
The group said that they are not expecting that government agencies to act upon the result of their fact-finding mission considering their previous experience on complaints they filed was just ignored by the government.
Samahan han Gudti nga Parag-uma ha Sinirangan Bisayas (SAGUPA-SB) secretary general Jun Berino said that despite the lack of trust, they are still hoping that human rights violation in the Philippines under the present administration is going to be solve.
“The importance of filling charges is that we are able to inform the people through the media the atrocities that farmers are suffering from the hands of government through the military and other uniformed personnel. This gives us more strength and encouragement to fight for what is right,” Berino said.
Some members of the ISM are United States citizens who went to the ground during the five-day fact-finding mission who talked with affected residents in the region.
“The government is using the armed forces to extract resources with little regards on people on the grounds. This incident is the same to what is happening in the United States that is why I was interested to join this particular ISM,” Copeland Downs said.
The group added that information they gathered will be presented to legislators in the United States so that they can urge their government not to provide aide to the Philippine government programs that are violating human rights.
“Instead of giving it to the Philippines it should be taken back to the United States, because our access to health and education is deteriorating, that is why we are here so that we can bring this information back there and tell our legislators to stop funding all this human rights violation instead bring that money back home and support the Americans there,” the group said.
(ROEL T. AMAZONA)
Group claims militarization continue to persist in remote villages in the region
Lack of funds stalls post-Yolanda coco project
PALO, Leyte — At least two major projects meant for the recovery of the region’s coconut industry, which was badly damaged by super typhoon ‘Yolanda’, will no longer be completed with the absence of funds, said an official of the Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) Thursday.
PCA Eastern Visayas Regional Manager Joel Pilapil said that since 2013, there has been no post-disaster fund releases for the rehabilitation of the industry, rendering the fertilization and intercropping projects incomplete.
In December 2013, the central government disbursed P2.8 billion to the coconut sector in the three Visayas regions out of the P7 billion proposed funds for four major recovery projects, said Pilapil.
“After that, there had been no releases for coconut. We’re able to complete coconut replanting and debris management, but not the fertilization and intercropping,” Pilapil said.
The official made the statement after the Regional Project Monitoring Committee recently listed coconut fertilization as the most delayed project in Eastern Visayas.
The P238.32 million fertilization program only covered 31,214 hectares of the 233,784 hectares original target.
Another major setback in the fertilizer project is the outsourcing of procurement of 74,485 bags to the Philippine International Trading Corporation, as decided by the Office of the Presidential Assistant for Food Security and Agricultural Modernization created by the previous administration.
“Until now, the process of procurement is still not complete,” Pilapil said.
For the P334.05-million intercropping project, only 64,460 hectares have been covered out of the 229,490 hectares of target area.
Intercropping was included as a post-disaster activity to create livelihood opportunities while farmers wait for the full recovery of their coconuts.
Overall, the region received P1.56 billion for the coconut industry in 2013, including the P468.42 million for replanting, and P525.74 million for debris clearing.
Super typhoon Yolanda affected 33 million trees — nearly half of which were totally damaged, according to PCA.
The “fragile” coconut industry after Yolanda was aggravated by another natural threat as Typhoon Ruby damaged at least 200,000 coconut trees by the end of 2014.
The number of fruit-bearing coconut trees decreased by a quarter after the two typhoons.
The highest percentage of reduction was recorded in the provinces of Leyte and Eastern Samar. In 2015, nut-bearing trees stood at 34.48 million, the lowest in decades.
According to a report by the National Economic and Development Authority, Region 8 had been one the country’s consistent top producer of coconuts, next to Davao Region from 1997 to 2011.
However, it eventually slipped into the third rank in 2012, fourth in 2013, and sixth in the last two years. Despite this, coconut remains a primary commodity in the region, comprising around 40 percent of its crop production.
(SARWELL Q. MENIANO/PNA)
Tide embankment project to balloon
From its P7.9B original budget
By: JOEY A. GABIETA
GOVERNMENT CENTER, PALO, Leyte- The cost of work of the Leyte tide embankment project is expected to balloon from its original cost of P7.9 billion.
This was disclosed by Engr. Serafin Lago, Jr., road heightening on tide embankment project manager, who said that the increase of the project cost is intended to pay lot owners who refuses to provide temporary access road leading to the construction sites.
According to Lago, the refusal of these owners to give them access road may pose a problem for the completion of the project by 2020.
“Because of the demand of the lot owners in providing us access road, we will now include it in our budget which will result to the increase of the project cost,” Lago said.
He, however, could not say how much the projected increase would be.
The tide embankment project involves more than 50 barangays from the towns of Palo and Tanauan and Tacloban City.
And since the project started January of last year, they have about 23 to 25 percent accomplishment, Lago said.
Lago also said that the project, considered as among the infrastructure projects under the Build Build Build program of the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte, is projected to be completed by 2020.
But with the demand of several lot owners, the completion may be pushed back.
The project aims to protect the covered areas from possible occurrence of storm surge as what happened when super typhoon ‘ Yolanda’ pummeled Leyte and the rest of the region on November 8,2013.
The project cost of the P7.9 billion is being sourced from the General Appropriations Act.
Lago also said that the tide embankment project is expected to provide 3,000 employment among the locals.
“We actually obliged the contractors to hire 60 percent of their workforce from the villages. And we estimate of about 3,000 job generation until the project is finished,” he said.
Lago, however, admitted that once the project is finished, these workers would lose their work.
“They are co-terminus with the project,” he said.
Blast fishing kills baby dolphin in Ormoc City
TACLOBAN CITY-The stranded baby dolphin injured by blast fishing died early Wednesday morning while being treated by local fishery officials in Ormoc City, said the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR).
BFAR Regional Director Juan Albaladejo said the dolphin calf died two days after it was rescued.
“The male dolphin had abrasions on his body. The stranding was due to acoustic trauma caused by blast fishing since the inner ear drum was damaged,” Albaladejo said in a mobile phone interview.
Acoustic trauma is an injury to the inner ear that’s often caused by exposure to a very loud noise such as explosives.
“Since its rescue last Monday, there has been a clear manifestation that the baby dolphin is unstable and not due for release anytime soon,” the BFAR official said.
A fishermen rescued the 131-centimeter baby dolphin on the shallow part of the sea Monday afternoon in Macabug village.
Experts administered antibiotics and use plastic containers as floating device to help the dolphin regain its buoyancy.
Albaladejo said they expected more sightings of marine mammals, especially in Leyte Gulf and Sogod Bay in Southern Leyte due to climate change. The mammals are sighted in Eastern Visayas region, which faces the Pacific Ocean.
A stranded marine mammal refers to one that has beached or run aground and is helpless or has lost the capability to return to its natural habitat.
(SARWELL Q. MENIANO/PNA)
Close to 5,000 Leyte folks dance their way of kuratsa in an attempt to make it to Guinness record
CARIGARA,Leyte-Nearly 5, 000 dancers clad in colorful ‘kimona’ and ‘camisa de chino’ filled the streets of this town on July 14 as they attempted to make into the Guinness World Records for the “Largest Numbers of Philippine Folk Dancers (kuratsa dance).”
The event, which was part of the town’s 423rd fiesta celebration on July 16, brought pride and excitement to the locals, saying it helped boost their tourism and economic activities.
“We practiced for two hours since June 27. We, the teachers handling Music, Arts, Physical Education and Health (MAPEH) subject, were tapped to train students and residents in the barangays,” said Myda Ibañez, a teacher.
“This is the first in the history of Carigara. All agencies participated,” Veronica Loreño, also a teacher, said.
“Even husbands of teachers participated in the dance. We shortened our classes for our daily practice,” she added, following an order from their local government unit.
Since her husband was busy with his job, Loreño said she had her 15-year-old son as the dance partner.
Majority of the 4,821 dancers who joined were students and teachers from the two school districts in Carigara, Jugaban National High School, Carigara National Vocational School, Carigara National High School, Eastern Visayas State University-Carigara campus, Holy Cross College of Carigara, municipal workers, the private sector, and ordinary residents.
Kuratsa or curacha is a traditional dance of courtship where the male approaches and courts a lady in a form of a dance and is very popular in different parts of the Philippines, particularly among the Waray people in the Visayas.
(RONALD O. REYES)