TACLOBAN CITY-A mass wedding of same-sex couples is set to happen in the region despite the continued opposition of the predominantly Catholic Filipinos.
EnGAYged, a community of lesbians, gays, bisexuals, and transgenders (LGBTs) has announced the registration for interested couples until July 3.
“The idea to have a mass wedding for same-sex in the region was made during our first visit in Tacloban City because I had wed a couple in Southern Leyte, which was the first in that place. The event should have been on June 17, but I requested it to me moved due to short preparation. July 15 is the date that I will be available (for the mass wedding),” said Rev. Crescencio Agbayani Jr., the union celebrant and founding pastor of LGBTS Christian Church Inc. based in Quezon City since 2012.
While the government has yet to recognize the right of LGBT couples to civil marriage, Agbayani said that they remain “very positive” on the outcome of the oral argument of the Supreme Court over the marriage equality in the Philippines on June 19.
“If we’ll be lost, then will start again. We’re not going to give up until we’ll achieve the same legal rights as any other couple. LGBT couples are family, too,” Agbayani said in an interview.
He added that they “need security and peace of mind that our partners for life are also our partners under the law.”
“We are Filipinos who pay taxes and serve our country too. We deserve to have our relationship as a family legally recognized,” Agbayani said.
Having educated at the Union Theological Seminary in Cavite with Master of Divinity in Christianity and Culture and awarded the Bishop La Verne Mercado Award in Ecumenics, Agbayani has been conducting same sex holy union wedding rite in Quezon City and some parts in the Philippines and in Asia.
As this developed, Palo Archdiocese priest Virgilio Cañete said that our society has been ‘tolerant enough’ over the issue on the same sex marriage.
“Such unions are everywhere, and no one in this tolerant times can prevent such same sex unions. But making a law for this, is no longer part of being tolerant but promotes beyond what is needed, at the expense of social conventions, our culture, and faith,” Cañete said.
He stressed that under the Church’s doctrine, marriage is between a man and a woman and not of the same sex.
“Same sex marriage is not legal here in the Philippines, right? Or at least, not yet, and I rue the day when it will be,” added Msgr. Ramon Aguilos of the Palo Archdiocese said.
“So, whether the mass wedding of same sex marriage be held in Eastern Visayas region or elsewhere in the archipelago or anywhere in the world or in the universe, I have the same answer,” he said.
Interestingly, the news on the upcoming mass wedding of same-sex couples didn’t also bode well with other LGBT couples.
“It has never crossed into my mind that I’ll tie the knot with my partner because I always think that every relationship has its ending. Even those of straight couples and partners, they are prone to separation,” Wendell Astrero said.
The 41-year old openly gay man is living with his 21-year old partner for five years now.
He, however, maintained that his opposition has nothing to do with the strong Catholic faith in his place but more of a personal choice.
(RONALD O.REYES)

ORMOC CITY –At least 14 scholars of the city government here who graduated with honors this year received laptops and printers from Leyte Rep. Lucy Torres-Gomez as her gift to them.
The cum laude scholars who received 13 Lenovo laptops and 13 printers were Juvelyn Dula, Noven Jayme, Mark Anthony Pecho, Christel Tangcawan, Marvin Teves, Christene Malasaga, Roselle Quilantang, Rea Kirby Costan, Jesseca Veril, Hannah Marie Dagohoy, Sarah Mae Justo, Mary Grace Suan, and Lilibeth Aure.
Danica Visabella, a magna graduate, received an expensive MacPro from Rep. Gomez in a simple ceremony held Wednesday (June 13).
Since 2011, Gomez has been giving city and congressional scholars a laptop each if they graduate with honors in their class, according to a city government report.
Also present during the distribution of their gifts at the City Mayor’s Office were Councilor Nolito Quilang, who heads the Ormoc City Scholarship Board, and Councilor Benjamin Pongos, Jr. who chairs the committee on ways and means.
Through an ordinance, the city instituted the Ormoc Scholarship program in 2017.
At least 121 young students passed the qualification exam and requirements. The scholars have to maintain a general weighted average of 2.0.
The city government scholars get a P9,000 tuition allowance, book allowance, and P2,000 monthly stipend while those who graduated also received a P3,000 graduation allowance, the report said.
Because of the free tuition policy under President Rodrigo Duterte’s administration, Ormoc was able to accept 154 scholars due to the savings on the tuition this school year.
(RONALD O.REYES)

TACLOBAN CITY – The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) in the region has started the distribution of new cash cards to the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) beneficiaries on Thursday (June 12).
DSWD Regional Director Restituto Macuto said new cards issued by the Land Bank of the Philippines are meant for conditional cash transfer recipients who got their cash aid through over-the-counter transactions in banks and other financial institutions.
These EMV (Europay, MasterCard and Visa) cards from Land Bank are meant for 81,000 4Ps families in Samar, Eastern Samar, Northern Samar, and Southern Leyte provinces.
The DSWD is eyeing to complete the distribution by next month.
“We have already completed the release of cash cards for Biliran and Leyte between March and April.
Biliran has only 4,000 beneficiaries while for Leyte, the Veterans Bank handled the card production for 60,000 families,” Macuto said.
The new cash cards can be used in any Land Bank ATM outlets without additional charge or in any bank with additional charges of P10.
After the distribution of new cards, the DSWD will start the process of “recarding” for recipients who are still using non-EMV cards.
The region has more than 280,000 4Ps beneficiaries as of this year.
The conditional cash transfer program locally known as 4Ps, is a government program that provides conditional cash grants to the poorest of the poor in the country and aims to break the cycle of poverty by keeping children aged 0-18 healthy and in school, so they can have a better future.
Households receive cash grants if children stay in school and get regular health check-ups, have their growth monitored, and receive vaccines. Pregnant women must get pre-natal care, with their births attended to by professional health workers.
Parents or guardians are required to participate in monthly community-based family development sessions to learn about positive child discipline, disaster preparedness, and women’s rights.
(MELVA MAE C. MENIANO)

As he led Leyte’s 120th Philippine Independence Day celeb

TACLOBAN CITY – Leyte Governor Leopoldo Dominico Petilla said that independence does not only refers to being under a foreign power but even independent from want like poverty.
This was stressed by the governor as he led the provincial celebration of the 120th Philippine Independence Day held at the at the capitol grounds Tuesday (June 12).
Gov. Petilla stressed that it is important to remember the Independence Day as this recognizes not only the bravery but the sacrifices of our forebears which resulted in the country’s independence from power aggressors.
According to the governor, while the country is now independent from external forces, there are still threats that need to be overcome so as not to disturb our security.
Particularly,he cited the problem on poverty which he said continue to enslave majority of the Filipinos, to include here in Leyte.
“We are still affected for as long as there is poverty,” Petilla said.
The governor said that fighting poverty incidence of the province is one of the cornerstones of his administration since he assumed office in 2013, especially in the remote barangays.
He boosted that because of his programs in agriculture sector, farmers are now enjoying a higher income which is now slowly freeing them from poverty and malnutrition.
But he acknowledges that solving poverty will take some times and could not be done overnight.
“It’s a long process that is why we have to sustain it,” Petilla said.
(RESTITUTO A. CAYUBIT)

TACLOBAN CITY — Reducing the cost of doing business and enhancing the business environment are two major activities recommended by the National and Economic Development Authority (NEDA) in order to draw more foreign investment to Eastern Visayas.
In the 2017 state of the region report released Wednesday by NEDA through the Regional Development Council (RDC), attracting foreign investment was identified as a weakness that needs to be addressed.
From a total P807 million foreign capital poured in the region in 2016, it dropped to P553.71 million in 2017.
The report did not elaborate the factors contributing to lower investments last year. However, NEDA reported that the slower economic growth in 2017 was largely driven by downscaling of post-disaster construction activities.
“Local business environment must be continuously improved to entice more investors to invest in the region so we will have more success of revenue and more jobs will be generated. Coordination between and among national and local government, as well as with the private sector is imperative,” NEDA said.
In the 2017 ranking by the National Competitive Council of the Philippines, no single province in the region made it to the top 30 most competitive areas in the country.
Among the six provinces, Biliran was in a better spot (31st rank), followed by Leyte (36th), Samar (42nd), Southern Leyte (57th), Eastern Samar (61st), and Northern Samar (62nd).
The survey covers 72 provinces nationwide.
Rankings of local government units are based on the sum of their scores on four pillars — economic dynamism, government efficiency, infrastructure and resiliency.
The economic dynamism pillar measures the economic activity and productivity of a local government, which include business registrations, capital, revenue, permits, capacity to generate jobs, cost of living, cost of business, etc.
NEDA Regional Director Bonifacio Uy is eyeing a PHP1.2-billion foreign investments for Eastern Visayas this year despite poor performance in attracting big time investments over the past years.
The region had a share of only 0.2 percent in the nationwide foreign investments approved by the Board of Investments (BOI) since 2012.
Under the 2017 to 2022 Regional Development Plan (RDP), Eastern Visayas is eyeing a 20-percent increase in BOI-approved investments for the poverty-stricken region.
Foreign investments in the region, measured by the total amount of projects registered in the BOI, reached PHP13.03 billion from 2012 to 2016. The region had 16 projects in agriculture, forestry, fishing, utilities, manufacturing, real estate, and logistics sectors, according to NEDA reports.
“More than 88 percent of the said investments were intended to finance projects in electricity, gas, steam and air-conditioning supply subsector, which indicates the potential of the region as a source of renewable energy,” Uy added.
(SARWELL Q. MENIANO/PNA)

TACLOBAN CITY – The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Regional Office 8 in partnership with the local government unit of Catbalogan City held a job and business fair on June 15, 2018 at the provincial covered court of the city.
The conduct of the said activity dubbed as 2018 Kalayaan Trabaho, Negosyo, Kabuhayan: Job and Business Fair was one of the highlights of the 120th commemoration of the Philippine Independence Day Proclamation.
A total of 5,197 job local and overseas vacancies were offered coming from fourteen (14) employers. Nine (9) participating employers were from the private sector, one from the government and four (4) from recruitment agencies for overseas deployment.
Edgar Tabuyan, head of DOLE Samar Field Office (SFO) expressed his thanks to Mayor Stephanie Uy-Tan of Catbalogan for her all-out support of the yearly undertaking.
“I personally appreciate(d) that LGU Catbalogan volunteered to sponsor this year’s Kalayaan Job and Business Fair. It is an indication that our link to the local government unit is continually strengthened through the implementation of various DOLE programs and services,” said Tabuyan.
Mayor Tan graced the activity together with DOLE RO8 Regional Director Cyril L. Ticao.
A business fair was also held simultaneously during the one-day event participated by different DOLE-assisted workers’ associations offering various food and non-food items.
(NORMA RAE S. COSTIMIANO/PR)