ABUYOG, Leyte-A 74-year-old woman died after the motorcycle she was on board was bumped by another motorcycle in Barangay Paguite, this town, on Sunday (Nov. 20).

Based on information relayed by Major Luis Hatton, town police chief, the motorcycle where the casualty Sulpicia Angoring was back riding with her companion, Teofilo Ladra, Jr., 51, who is a teacher, was cruising to Paguite at about 3:50 pm when it was hit by a motorcycle driven by Rodel Obias, 27, and a resident of Zone 3, Dulag, Leyte.

Due to the strong impact, all three sustained injuries with the octogenarian woman declared dead on arrival at the Abuyog District Hospital due to the serious wounds she suffered.

Both drivers, who were brought to the hospital for medical treatment, failed to present their driver’s licenses, Hatton said.
(ROBERT DEJON)

TACLOBAN CITY– Travel and tour operators from the region participated the first North Luzon Travel Fair held at SMX Convention Center at SM Clark in Pampanga province.

The three-day travel fair which ended on Nov.20 was organized by the regional offices of the Department of Tourism in the Cordillera Administrative Region, Ilocos Region, Cagayan Valley, and Central Luzon in partnership with the Alliance of Travel and Tour Agencies of Pampanga (ATTAP) in a bid to boost tourism recovery of the country.

Four travel and tour operators from the region joined other 100 exhibitors and 30 sellers offering tour packages for Kalanggaman Island, Canigao Island, and Cuatro Islas in Leyte province; Sambawan Island in Biliran province; Limasawa and San Pablo Island, both in Southern Leyte province; Biri Island in Northern Samar province; Calicoan Island in Guiuan town, Eastern Samar.

The tour operators also sold packages for Ulot Torpedeo Extreme River Boat Ride in Paranas town, the Sohoton Cave in Basey, both in Samar; San Juanico Cruise, and Leyte country-side tour.

Tourism Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco had earlier disclosed that one of the seven objectives of the DOT is the diversification of portfolios from traditional to multidimensional tourism encompassing from accommodation, destinations, food providers but also showcasing local artisans and craftsmen.

Among the activities of the three-day event included presentation of tourism trends, business-to-business (B2B) networking, artisan demonstration, and interactive games.
(ROEL T. AMAZONA)

TACLOBAN CITY – The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) is proposing a P28.9 billion Local Government Support Fund (LGSF) to raise the capability of local government units in assuming devolved functions under the Mandanas-Garcia ruling.
Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman said in a press briefing at the regional DBM office here last week that the proposed 2023 LGSF is higher than the P17.96 billion actual allocation this year.

“To facilitate this transition towards full devolution, our proposed budget next year provides allocations to empower the local government in delivering the services that have been devolved to them, including the PHP28.9 billion LGSF,” said Pangandaman, who was in the city to grace the Visayas area conference of local budget officers on Nov.16.

Of the proposed budget, P10 billion is intended for the Support to Barangay Development Program (SBDP) under the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC), P13.87 billion for the growth equity fund (GEF), and P5 billion for financial assistance (FA) to local government units and support for capital outlay and programs.
The SBDP is a hallmark program of the NTF-ELCAC created to bring progress to former conflict-prone communities. Among its projects are the construction of farm-to-market roads, health stations, rural electrification, school buildings, and water and sanitation systems.

The LGSF-GEF, on the other hand, was formed to provide additional funding to local governments that are identified as poor, disadvantaged, and lagging to support the implementation of their priority projects and services to be allocated to provinces (10 percent), cities (10 percent), municipalities (70 percent), and barangays (10 percent).

The P5 billion for LGSF-FA will be used by local governments to fund the eligible programs and projects, such as infrastructure; purchase of ambulances and other vehicles; purchase of medical, rescue, and disaster-related equipment; street lighting or rural electrification; installation of closed-circuit television surveillance system; and assistance to poor individuals or families.

Samar Governor Sharee Ann Tan thanked the national government for setting aside a higher LGSF in 2023 that would help underdeveloped areas in the country.
“It augments what the local government cannot provide since we only have P400 million local development fund this year. The amount is divided by 24 towns, two cities, and 951 villages,” Tan said.

Pangandaman said President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. directed the review of functions that should be devolved to local governments vis-a-vis those that should remain with the national government. The period for the devolution of some functions is extended up to 2027 instead of 2024.

Last year, then president Rodrigo Duterte issued a directive to boost the local government’s preparation for more responsibilities with the implementation of the Mandanas-Garcia ruling in 2022.

The Supreme Court Mandanas-Garcia ruling resulted from the petition made by Batangas Governor Hermilando Mandanas and former Bataan governor Enrique Garcia Jr. before the Supreme Court on local government shares on internal revenue allotment (IRA).

With the increased budget share, the LGUs are expected to be responsible for the funding and delivery of the activities, which have been devolved to them under Republic Act 7160, the Local Government Code of 1991, and other subsequent laws.

Among the functions assigned to local governments based on the Local Government Code are agriculture programs, local infrastructures, environmental services, revenue mobilization, health services, maintenance of peace and order, employment facilitation, transportation, tourism, and housing.
(SARWELL Q. MENIANO)

BORONGAN CITY– Senator Christopher Lawrence ‘Bong’ Go is pushing for additional allocations for health as the deliberations for next year’s proposed budget is now in its final deliberation.

Go, who is the chairman of the committee on health in the Senate, said on Thursday (Nov.17) that with more budget allocated to health services, the payables especially the allowances and incentives for the frontliners who sacrificed their lives to address the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic could be released.

‘This is just a small amount compared the services they rendered. I will fight for this,” said Go.

Go informed that the committee reports were already passed for amendments which include the salaries and benefits for health workers hired during the times of pandemic, expansion and strengthening of the epidemiology and surveillance system, for the transitioning of the COVID-19 surveillance system to regular surveillance activities.

The senator also said that the amendments also include mental health commodities under public health program in which many people were affected especially with depression, the cancer assistance fund, operation of hospital command centers, strengthening of the immunization activity of the Department of Health, and specialty hospitals like the Lung Center and the National Kidney Institute.

With a bigger budget, poor patients could also be provided with assistance, he added.
Go visited Borongan City for the distribution of livelihood assistance under the Department of Social Welfare Development sustainable livelihood program to 328 former rebels and sympathizers.
(LIZBETH ANN A. ABELLA)