TACLOBAN CITY- Mayor Stephany Uy-Tan said that she made a ‘sacrifice’ when she decided not to seek reelection as mayor of Catbalogan City.
Uy-Tan withdrew her certificate of candidacy on November 29, the last day of filing on substitution for candidates running in next year’s elections days after the Office of Ombudsman slapped her a six-month preventive suspension without pay.
The decision of the anti-graft court stemmed on a complaint lodged against her, Vice Mayor Sherwin Art Gabon, seven councilors to include Uy-Tan’s father, Coefredo, and several City Hall personnel involving a land deal and a lease agreement entered with a private company.
The suspension order issued against Uy-Tan and her co-respondents has yet to be served to them as of this writing.
Uy-Tan was substituted by her younger brother, Dexter who was once the city federation president of the Sangguniang Panlungsod.
The beleaguered city mayor, who is serving on her second term, will run for councilor instead.
“It’s more of the desire that the people of Catbalogan will continue to receive the best service the government has to offer and has nothing to do with the reported suspension issued to all local officials of Catbalogan,”she said, referring to her decision not to seek reelection.
“It’s just that I don’t want the city to suffer because of this. My political opponents are very vocal that they have prepared a long list of cases to be filed against me,” she added.
Uy-Tan said that she is confident that her brother, once elected as mayor, could also provide programs and projects that would benefit the people of the city.
“My brother, Dexter, will be running instead of me.I believe that as a councilor, I can still offer a big help for the first term of my brother,” the mayor, who also served as a councilor before getting elected as chief executive of the city, said.
(LIZBETH ANN A. ABELLA)

TACLOBAN CITY- An American priest based in Naval, Biliran was arrested for allegedly engaging in sexual activities involving minors on Wednesday (Dec.5) morning.
Arrested was Father Kenneth Bernard Hendricks by members of the local police and personnel of the US Homeland Security inside the Cathedral of Our Lady Rosary Parish at about 11 am, Senior Supt. Julius Coyme, police provincial director, said in a phone interview.
Hendricks, 71, was said to have sexually abused ‘several’ minor boys, many of them served as his sacristan.
“He was inside the church when he was arrested by the personnel of the US Homeland Security and local police. He did not resist the arrest,” Coyme said.
Personnel of the Bureau of Immigration and Deportation were also around during the arrest of Hendricks, said to have been living in Naval for 40 years now.
The priest is facing indecent sexual conducts involving minors, the police provincial director said.
The American priest is expected to be deported to the US to face charges against him.
Coyme said that based on their records, the American priest, who lived in Barangay Talustusan, Naval town, is facing seven complaints of sexual abuse.
“But of the seven complainants filed, only two proceeded with their complaints,” he said.
One of them was sexually abused by Hendricks when he was just 12 years old.
According to the complaint of the minor, Hendricks ‘kissed his lips, fondled his penis and performed masturbation.’
Coyme said that based on the information he gathered from the US personnel, there could be other victims of sexual abuses committed by Hendricks.
“They came to us last week and informed us that they are still gathering information as there could be more victims of the American priest,” the police official said.
The priest, who was first brought to the Biliran Provincial Hospital for medical check-up, was immediately brought by the BID and US Homeland Security personnel to Manila after he was arrested.

Coyme could not provide additional details on the case involving the American priest. (JOEY A. GABIETA) x

CALBAYOG CITY- Three days after the Office of the Ombudsman issued a preventive suspension on her, Catbalogan City Mayor Stephany Uy-Tan set aside her reelection bid when she withdrew her certificate of candidacy for mayoralty post at the city office of the Commission on Elections (Comelec).
However, she will be running for a council seat with her younger brother, Dexter, substituting her to the post she first held in 2013.
Dexter, 25, was a former city federation president of the Sangguniang Kabataan (SK).
Mayor Uy-Tan withdrew her certificate of candidacy on November 29, the last day of filing for substitution.
“God knows Uy’s best. We were given time to decide to protect Catbalogan. If we are only thinking for our personal (interests), I will not file for city councilor. I will insist being the Mayor,” Uy-Tan said in a press conference, defending her decision not to seek for reelection in next year’s elections.
She said that she is proud that her younger brother will be running for mayor of Catbalogan, a post held for a long-time by their father,Coefredo.
Uy-Tan was meted with a six-months preventive suspension order by the anti-graft court in two counts.
The suspension order, released on November 26, is in relation to alleged anomalous overpricing of purchase of land from private individuals.
The anti-graft court said that Mayor Uy-Tan and her co-respondents reportedly committed abuse of authority, grave misconduct, and gross neglect for the purchase of the property from private individuals.
The complaint was filed by Bernard Jake Ramos, a city council legislative staff officer, who claimed that they purchased an agricultural land owned by Alvin Cesar Laohoo and Lorenzo Laohoo, Jr. at an ‘exorbitant price’ of P120.225 million when the property had only a market value of P155,497.84 in 2016.
While the other order stemmed from a case filed by the Catbalogan City Public Market vendors for allowing Philippine Primark Properties Inc. (PPPI) to lease the public market.
Also suspended by the anti-graft court were Councilors Maximo Pescos; Edward Uy; Christine Joy Escobar; Beethoven Bermejo, Rodolfo Aquino, and Nanette Jasmin.
Also suspended were city assessor Romero Tuazon and his assistant Arthur Macabare and Rizal Ignacio, employee of the City Assessor’s Office.
As of this writing, Mayor Uy-Tan and her co-respondents have yet to receive copies of the Ombudsman order.
And without the copy of the suspension order, Mayor Uy-Tan could still function the duties and responsibilities of her office, Myles Colasito, regional information officer of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG).
Colasito added that their office has yet to receive the said Ombudsman order.
Meantime, Mayor Uy-Tan asked her critics to stop sending negative comments but instead visit Catbalogan for them to see if indeed the questioned property’s price was over-priced as alleged.
“Let us be thankful that Catbalogan City is P300 million richer because of this lot,” she said.
(JENNIFER D. SUMAGANG-ALLEGADO)

PALO, Leyte – The province of Leyte has extended more than P1.7 million in cash awards during the “Pasidungog” 2018 awarding ceremonies to farmer organizations.
Governor Leopoldo Dominico L. Petilla, in an interview with Leyte Samar Daily Express, said that those honored and given the awards were the top 30 out of the 210 farmer associations organized and assisted by the province with total membership of 5,250 farmers from 41 towns and 1 city throughout the province.
The awarding, held on December 4 at the Leyte Academic Center, was attended by several mayors of the province led by Palo Mayor Remedios ‘Matin’ Petilla.
Also present was Vice Governor Carlo Loreto.
Petilla said that the total prizes from the province was P1,775,000 and Rep. Zajid Mangundadatu (2nd district of Maguindanao) also contributed P100,000 to the prizes.
Petilla said that the prize for the first place was P250,000; second P200,000; 3rd – P150,000; 4th – P100,000 while the 5th – P75,000.
He added that the 6th to 10th placers each received P50,000; the 11th to 20th placers each received P30,000 while the 21th 30th placers each received P20,000.
Petilla explained that Pasidungog 2018 is a way of recognizing or honoring the achievements and exemplary contributions of “our farmers who are involved in our poverty reduction and community resiliency efforts under the “Leyte EconoMICs Program.”
Petilla further explained that the Leyte EconoMICs Program is a poverty reduction agenda focusing on total human and economic development beginning in poor barangays.
It pushes the “More Income in the Countryside” (MIC) compact farming for high value vegetables and fruit crops training as its point of entry.
He said that more farmers are switching to high-value vegetables, egg-laying, tilapia production, hog fattening, vermicomposting, wing oyster project and seaweed farming since the program was implemented by his administration.
With the program implemented, eventually other livelihood interventions follow as part of the poverty alleviations of the province
The program also provides non-agricultural skills as well as programs in health and nutrition, values formation and education, social welfare, environment and disaster risk reduction and management and infrastructure support, he added.
(RESTITUTO A. CAYUBIT, LIZBETH ANN A. ABELLA)

CAN-AVID, Eastern Samar – The municipal government of this town is proud to be the first local government unit in the region to showcase giant Christmas lanterns for the Yuletide season.
About 28 giant Christmas lanterns, representing the number of the town’s barangays, are on display in this town which are all made of recyclable materials.
Mayor Gil Norman Germino said that their Christmas Lantern Festival is a competition on innovativeness and creativity of Can-avid residents by transforming recyclable materials into beautiful attractions for Christmas.
Germino added that using recyclable garbages as materials for creating the lanterns is part of the solid waste management program of the local government.
“Among the criteria is to use recyclable materials which will become a tradition of our town every Christmas,” Mayor Germano said.
Empty plastic bottled water, plastic bottled of soft drinks and other sweetened drinks, plastic cups and other recyclable materials were painted with different vibrant colors and decorated with colorful Christmas lights were used by each village to create their respective giant lantern.
The lanterns are displayed along the national highway of the town that will surely catch the attention and curiosity not only of the town residents but even motorists who are passing the town going to the northern and southern part of Eastern Samar and to the Pacific Coastal towns in Northern Samar province.
The local government unit hopes that not only residents of their town but even those coming from their neighboring towns in Eastern Samar would visit them every night to witness how beautiful the 28 Christmas lanterns.
The giant lantern festival will last until New Year’s Day with a weekly judging to ensure that the creators will check their entries and ensure that these will remain in good condition.
Winners of the competition will be receive P20, 000 for first prize; P15, 000 for second prize and P10,000 for third prize.
(ROEL T. AMAZONA)

BORONGAN CITY- The Department of Public Works and Highways– Eastern Samar District Engineering Office (DPWH-ESDEO) formally turned over a two-storey, eight-classroom school building to Eugenio S. Daza Pilot Elementary School (ESDPES),this city.
Engr. Manolo Rojas, district engineer of the ESDEO in an interview with Leyte Samar Daily Express, said that the school building project is under the 2017 Basic Educational Facilities Fund Batch 14 of the Department of Education (DepEd) with the contract amount of P16.53 million.
The school has 2,096 enrolled pupils for this school year.
However, before the school building project was realized, insufficient classrooms had been a concern of the school.
“Because of insufficient classrooms before, we had many overcrowded and noisy classes which hinders our students’ learning,” shared Myra Fe G. Obina, an adviser of the said school.
Rojas said that this newly-constructed school building could create great opportunity to sustain quality education that will help uplift the lives of the pupils and teachers of ESDPES.
“Just as how the progressive nations extensively invest in their respective education sectors, we, the ESDEO, are completely honored that the DepEd trusted us to implement and monitor this school building project which paves a way to our own national progress in its most possible way,” Rojas said.
Meanwhile, Ma. Ivy Ravilas, the principal of ESDPES, expresses her utmost gratitude in her acceptance speech to the DPWH and DepEd for the realization of the project.
“We will utilize this building properly for this will benefit both the pupils and their teachers as they get more inspired in coming to school,” she said.
Present during the turnover were Rep. Ben Evardone of the province’ lone congressional district; City Mayor Fe Abunda; and Rudyard Lim, assistant district engineer.
(RESTITUTO A. CAYUBIT)