Part of the Spark Samar campaign

TACLOBAN CITY- The Department of Tourism (DOT) here in the region recently launched, as a pilot project, the Inclusive Local Growth (IloG) Project: Basey Golden River Cruise in the town of Basey.
The program, which is part of the provincial government’s tourism promotional campaign known as ‘Spark Samar’, capitalizes the old town’s natural attractions like the Sohoton Natural Bridge Natural Park, its historicity and the diverse communities that live along its riverbanks.
The ground breaking rites signals the start of the construction of the different tourism facilities involved in the ILoG Project, the DOT said.
The program is an attempt to recreate the rural ambience of the river people in the Philippines and in the process, introduce tourists or visitors the culture of the people of the town and the rest of Samar province.
With the success of community-based tourism in Sohoton Service Cooperative, the new project aim to replicate the same to other barangays along the Golden River and provide the residents along the coast income opportunities.
The ground breaking rites signals the start of the construction of the different tourism facilities involved in the ILOG Project. (JOEY A. GABIETA)

TACLOBAN CITY- The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) here in the region has called on candidates to stop nailing their campaign materials on trees.
DENR Regional Executive Director Crizaldy Barcelo said that trees become susceptible to diseases and attacks of harmful insects when harmed by nailing and eventually may cause the tree’s death.
Barcelo cited section 3 of Republic Act 3571 which prohibits, the cutting, destroying, or injuring of trees along public schools, roads, and other public areas as the legal basis for his appeal to candidates.
The same prohibitions are also provided under section 3 of PD 953 which provides that an imprisonment of not less than six months and not more than two years, or a fine of not less than P5,000 or with both imprisonment and fine shall be imposed for violation of said prohibitions.
Since the start of the campaign period, posters and other campaign materials could be seen being nailed at the trees.
Together with the call against nailing campaign materials on trees, Barcelo also reminds the public to be mindful of the wastes that will be generated during the campaign period.
“Do not litter our streets and clog our water ways with campaign materials and other sort of wastes, strictly observe RA 9003 or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000,” the DENR executive regional director said.
However, Barcelo emphasized that this appeal to stop harming trees and maintaining cleanliness is a call that extend beyond the election period.
(LIZBETH ANN A. ABELLA)

GOVERNMENT CENTER, PALO,Leyte- Anti-drug elements of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA)RO8 together with 8th Military Intelligence Battalion(MIB) and Catbalogan City Police Station arrested a drug personality during the conduct of buy-bust operation at Purok 2, Barangay Maulong, Catbalogan City on February 24, 2019 at around 7pm.
In a report submitted to PDEA Director General Aaron N. Aquino, elements of PDEA RO8 under Director Edgar T. Jubay together with 8th MIB and Catbalogan CPS identified the suspect as Agapito Antonio, member of the Philippine Army, 32, single, and a resident of Bannawag, President Quirino Sultan, Kudarat; and Ronnel Acera, 31,single,jobless,and a resident of Brgy. Maulong of the said city.
Purchased and confiscated during the said operation were three pieces of heat-sealed transparent plastic sachet containing white crystalline substance suspected to be shabu weighing 0.21 gram with an estimated market value of P1,500 and drug paraphernalia.
The suspects will be facing charges for violation of section 5 (sale of dangerous drugs), section 11 (possession of dangerous drugs), and section 12 (possession of drug paraphernalia), article II of RA 9165 and are now temporarily detained at Catbalogan City Police Station lock-up facility. (PR)

BORONGAN CITY- For good governance and transparency, Eastern Samar Development Project Monitoring Team (ESDPMT), Department of Public Works and Highways Eastern Samar District Engineering Office (DPWH ESDEO) and National Irrigation Administration (NIA) joined together in one meeting on January 18, 2019 at DPWH ESDEO Function Hall to discuss status of infrastructure projects in the province of Eastern Samar.
The meeting was initiated by ESDPMT, an independent, ethics-oriented civil society group, composed of individuals representing the various stakeholders.
The team is composed of lawyers, engineers, personalities from the academe, religious group and other sectors in the government.
During the preliminaries, Bishop Crispin Varquez, one of the leaders and organizers of ESDPMT, stated that the main purpose of the meeting is to monitor and ensure the proper implementation of infrastructure projects in the province.
The assembly discussed the DPWH Eastern Samar on-going and lined up projects; Maydolong-Basey Road construction update; status of damaged roads along national highways; engineering solution to landslide-prone areas and situation of the irrigation system in Eastern Samar.
District Engineer Manolo A. Rojas of DPWH ESDEO said that 107 project will be implemented in Eastern Samar this 2019.
“Our total appropriation for this year 2019 once approved is worth 1.6 billion pesos, this includes improvement of shoulders and drainage system along landslide prone areas particularly in Llorente and Giporlos, flood control projects, roads leading to tourism destinations and other local infra projects,” added DE Rojas.
DE Rojas also disclosed that the Samar Island Natural Park-Protected Area Management Board (SINP-PAMB) EXECOM resolution was already approved. The said resolution is endorsing the DPWH for prior clearance to continue the construction of Maydolong-Basey Road.
“We still have four phases to fully complete the Maydolong-Basey road project amounting to P839.2 million, but for the 2019, our focus is to finish prior year contract since it was suspended last year,” said DE Rojas.
Maydolong-Basey road is one of the high impact projects of DPWH because once completed, it will be the shortest route from Borongan to Tacloban and will save an hour travel from the usual four hours ride via Lawaan.
The district engineer mentioned also future network road development plans like the Can-avid-Dolores-Maslog-Jipapad-Las Navas bypass road.
“Our plan is to link this road to San Jose de Buan which when realized will comprise the Samar Island Central Highway,” added DE Rojas.
Meanwhile Dr. Leovigildo Cardenas, a dean from the Eastern Samar State University and one of the members of ESDPMT, posted a thank you message in his Facebook account to DE Rojas for being accommodating and supportive to the monitoring team.
On the comment section, one of the netizens named Felisa Gomba, admired the DPWH Eastern Samar District Engineering Office for reporting its accomplishments to external stakeholders.
“It takes a lot of courage to submit projects for assessment by volunteers of professionals,” Gomba said.
ESDPMT has been a monitoring government projects for 11 years which ensures that transactions will bring to a higher moral ground through honest, efficient and transparent use of the public funds allocated to improve the delivery of basic services to the people.
The vision of ESDPMT is that Eastern Samar will become a place where people lives in peace and prosperity and in a manner befitting their dignity as human beings.
(JAYSON ESPEJO, PR)

TACLOBAN CITY- The mayor of Guiuan town in Eastern Samar who was ordered suspended by the Office of the Ombudsman cries political harassment.
Mayor Christopher Sheen Gonzales, outgoing mayor of Guiuan town, said that he finds it unfortunate that the decision of the anti-graft court came at a time as the country is to hold elections.
He said that the case against him was filed while he was seeking for a reelection as mayor of Guiuan in March, 2016.
Gonzales, who is serving his third and last term as mayor of Guiuan is seeking for a congressional seat for Eastern Samar lone congressional district in this year’s midterm elections.
“It’s purely harassment and politically motivated. This issue always come out every election. But it’s not true because the local government of Guiuan has no disallowances from the Commission on Audit,” Gonzales said.
He also said that the complaint against him were fabricated and that he submitted the lacking documents before the anti-graft court when he was asked to answer it earlier.
“There was no findings by the Ombudsman that there were overpriced but just lack of documents which we already provided earlier,” Gonzales said.
He also said that he has yet to receive the copy of the Ombudsman ruling. But once he received it, he would immediately file his motion for reconsideration.
Ombudsman Samuel Martires, on his February 12 order, preventively suspended Gonzales for six months without pay for grave misconduct and gross neglect of duty.
The case against Gonzales stemmed from a complaint filed by Kiriath Jearn Andrie Tumanda and Avelino Balagbis, Jr., both residents of the town, claiming for misuse of Recovery Assistance on Yolanda (RAY), a fund downloaded to towns and cities hit by Yolanda from the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG).
The town received P43 million intended for the repair of its municipal building and P13 million for its public market.
It also received P152.99 million to be used for the repair of about 89 barangay halls.
But the Ombudsman, however, said that its Field Investigation Bureau found no proof contractors, Pedro S. Labasbas Construction and EDG Americas Inc., submitted documents stating their technical, legal and financial competence to undertake the projects.
The Ombudsman said EDG Americas Inc., which bagged the contract for the works involving the repair of public market and the barangay facilities, also deviated from the approved plans stated in the program of works, such as discrepancies in the construction materials used and the number of floors built.
Also suspended by the Ombudsman were municipal accountant Adrian Bernardo; municipal treasurer Felicisima Bernardo; bids and awards committee members Arsenio Salamida, Esperanza Cortin, Danilo Colandog, Gilberto Labicante, Ma. Nenita Ecleo, and Felipe Padual; and Zosimo Macabasag, BAC technical working group member.
(ROEL T. AMAZONA/JOEY A. GABIETA)

TACLOBAN CITY-The first ever Human Milk Bank for Visayas was installed on Thursday, Feb. 28, at the Eastern Visayas Regional Medical Center (EVRMC) in this city.
Costing an approximate P9 million, the equipment that preserve the human milk is a lone donation of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in its aim to help the people in the region promote exclusive breastfeeding and prevent disease and mortality among babies and infants.
As Chief of EVRMC, Dr. Salvador Evardone, expressed his overwhelming joy during the inauguration program, because according to him, this is another health program which the region’s medical center can give service to the people with excellence.
Asked why EVRMC was chosen among other big hospitals in Eastern Visayas, Dr. Wigdan Marani, UNICEF’s representative and chief for health and nutrition said, that after super typhoon “Yolanda,” they saw how EVRMC responded to the traumatized victims of the disaster, children in particular.
“We were witnesses of babies and infants in need of medical attention and nutritional intervention. We knew then they could not be fed properly of their mothers’ milk because of the trauma the parents themselves manifested from the enormous disaster,” Dr. Marani shared.
“In an area that is prone to disaster, there could be a high incidence of infant mortality, thus UNICEF pours medical and nutritional assistance for the people in Tacloban in particular, being the most “Yolanda” devastated area,” Marani added.
She also appealed to lactating mothers to donate their milk to help save the lives of babies requiring the world’s best milk.
The Human Milk Bank is capable to store the human milk in a week time, after it has undergone the process from expressing to pasteurizing to thawing etc.
It is made available to babies needing to be fed with the human milk as prescribed by a doctor.
“Breastfeeding mothers have only to include any soup of their taste in their diet to produce the milk, so there wouldn’t be any problem in producing it, as other mothers assert they don’t have,” said Dr. Nelita Salinas, EVRMC’s chairman of Pediatrics Department, “and since the milk is donated, it shall be given free, except for the pasteurizing cost of P220 per 100ml,” Dr. Salinas further informed. (AENicart/PIA-8)