PALO, Leyte- For Senior Supt. Leonardo Suan, the deputy regional director for operations of the Philippine National Police (PNP), private armed groups(PAGs) are non-existence in the region.
Any armed groups suspected to be operating in the region are just ordinary armed criminals, he said.
Suan said that for a group of armed men to be considered as members of a private armed group, there should be a clear evidence who are behind them.
“There is no such thing as private armed groups in the region. What we have are just ordinary criminals,” the police official stressed.
“We have been mentioning PAGs. (But) we should refrain from mentioning them especially so that we haven’t identified who are maintaining these groups or who are financing them. We just treat these persons as ordinary criminals,”Suan added.
The presence of these so-called PAGs have been tagged as reason for the series of killing incidents, particularly in Samar province.
Reports have indicated that these PAGs are being maintained and financed by certain politicians.
Former PNP Director General Ronaldo ‘Bato’ de la Rosa and several former regional police directors have acknowledged the presence of PAGs in the region, notably in the several areas in Samar.
They have vowed to dismantle these PAGs which were also identified as one of the factors why certain localities have been tagged as concerned areas during elections.
Suan said that while PAGs have been mentioned before, there is still no ‘link’ that they have been existing because they are being supported by certain politicians.
“To date, we cannot say that there is an existing PAGs because we don’t know who are maintaining them. We don’t have witnesses. We don’t have solid evidences that would link that these groups are maintained by somebody. So the treatment of the PNP with them is that they are crime groups,” he stressed.
“But whatever groups they are, we will still hunt and crush them,” Suan added.
(LIZBETH ANN A. ABELLA)

TACLOBAN CITY – At least 2,093 workers in Eastern Visayas have been regularized from January to mid-April this year as the central government steps up drive to end labor-only contracting or “endo”, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) here reported Wednesday.
Of the number, 1,677 benefitted from the campaign when their employers voluntarily complied with the directive to stop “endo”.
Some 414 workers attained regular employment status after labor inspection activities.
DOLE Regional Director Cyril Ticao said over a thousand of these workers were given permanent employment status by the Philippine Associated Smelting and Refining Corporation, the country’s largest copper smelter based in Isabel, Leyte.
“We have been inspecting shopping malls, hotels, restaurants, food chains, gas stations, manufacturing, construction, transport, and fishing industry since these are the establishment vulnerable to labor-only contracting,” Ticao told the Philippine News Agency (PNA) on Wednesday.
The regional office has only 20 labor inspectors tasked to check the compliance of thousands of business establishments in the region’s six provinces.
The signing of an executive order prohibiting “endo” by President Rodrigo R. Duterte on Tuesday is a big help in achieving their target of 9,000 workers to be regularized this year.
The inspection from January to April 19 has covered 53 establishments. This was pushed after conducting employer’s forum on DOLE Department Order (DO) No. 174.
On March 19, 2017, the labor department released the DO no. 174, laying down its new regulations governing contracting and subcontracting arrangements.
The DOLE adopted two tracks in eliminating illegal contractualization, including labor-only contracting or “endo”.
In the first track, the DOLE regional offices conducted series of consultations and meetings to encourage employers to voluntarily regularize workers under the unlawful arrangements.
For the second track, labor laws compliance officers inspected establishments, principals and contractors practicing labor-only contracting arrangements.
Those found to be engaged in labor-only contracting are subjected to mandatory conferences to assist them in their compliance with labor standards.
In 2017, about 1,733 workers were given regular employment status in six provinces of Eastern Visayas.
(SARWELL Q. MENIANO/PNA)

RODRIGO R. Duterte’s presidency has altered and controlled the public discourse so radically in its favor in ways rude and bold. One tragic result: it has restricted and narrowed the celebrated freedom of the Philippine press and the people’s cherished right to know.
In his first 22 months in power, Mr. Duterte has earned the dubious honor of logging 85 various cases of attacks and threats on these dual values that the Constitution upholds as inalienable rights of the citizens. The number far exceeds those recorded under four presidents before him.
Separately and together, these 85 cases have made the practice of journalism an even more dangerous endeavor under Duterte.
From June 30, 2016 to May 1, 2018, these cases include the killing of 9 journalists, 16 libel cases, 14 cases of online harassment, 11 death threats, 6 slay attempts, 6 cases of harassment, 5 cases of intimidation, 4 cases of website attack, revoked registration or denied franchise renewal, verbal abuse, strafing, and police surveillance of journalists and media agencies.
These cases project the force of presidential power dominating the political sphere, with zealous support from Duterte allies and appointees, and their sponsored misinformation army online and off. They have hurled at members of the press insults and unfair labels, and allegations of corruption and misconduct without firm basis in fact or in law.
These cases linger amid effete efforts at solution by state agencies, and in the context of the hostile and vicious discourse against the administration’s critics and the critical media.
The President, Cabinet members, and the House of Representatives have imposed and proposed unprecedented restrictions on journalist access to official news events. Congress and executive agencies have denied or delayed the corporate registration or franchises required for operation of media companies.
Some journalists and media groups have also reported police surveillance of their movement and their places of work.
Attacks on press freedom diminish not just the news media. These weaken the capacity of the news media to sustain the people’s unfettered exchange of ideas about public issues. Presidential intolerance of criticism is now a well-established aspect of Duterte’s leadership. While he is not the only chief executive who has become sensitive to press criticism, Duterte has made sure that everyone understands that misfortunes could hound and befall his critics.
And yet Duterte had promised change; his government should thus tell the people when and where change has come to fruition, and whether it has triggered better or worse results. By keeping citizens and voters fully informed about what and how those they have raised to power are doing right or wrong, a free press sustains and strengthens democracy.
That is not quite the situation under Duterte as yet. Intimidated, restrained, and threatened with consequences, the news media have been significantly constrained to report well and fully on the war on drugs, the siege of Marawi, cases of alleged corruption in high office, questions about the wealth of the Duterte family, the public debate on Charter change and federalism, the shutdown of Boracay, and not the least significant, the incursions of China in the West Philippine Sea.
Rodrigo R. Duterte has brandished the power of fear. His threats and attacks bear the full weight of his office, the highest in the land. No need to test constitutional limits. All he seems to want to do is to make enough journalists understand that they should be very afraid.
But, like fear, courage could be contagious. And unlike fear that disempowers, courage built on the power of truth and the unity of all in media is a force that empowers.
To stand firm and to stand united for press freedom and democracy, to speak truth to power and to keep power in check — this much the press owes the people. And whoever is president, the paramount duty of a free press in a democracy is to defend and uphold the people’s right to know, with unqualified courage and unity.

TACLOBAN CITY – The local government unit of Naval in Biliran is now bent in pushing its Higatangan Island as a tourist destination after it was listed as one of the 183 beaches in the country that could serve as an alternative for tourists while Boracay Island is close for six months to undergo rehabilitation .
Mayor Gerard Espina said that aside from promoting the island for relaxation, Higatangan Island is also being packaged by them as an adventure destination.
Recently, the island hosted various tourism-related activities like jet ski, beach volleyball, and kite flying competition as part of the campaign of the municipal government to make it as a tourist destination.
But positioning Higatangan Island as an alternative destination comes with a great challenge not only in promotion but ensuring that its natural environment would not be destroyed, the town mayor said.
The island has several residents who relies mainly on fishing as their main source of livelihood.
“We want to make something that is different that would help others and also preserve our island. So we are very meticulous how we work here, especially in terms of waste management maayos and activities to ensure that the island will not be destroyed,” Espina said.
Higatangan Island, which is about an hour away from the mainland via a pump boat ride, is known for its 200-meters long ‘shifting’ sandbar, located at the southern tip of the island, and is ideal for swimming and sunbathing, among other activities.
Mayor Espina said that aside from swimming, tourists could also do some activities in the island like snorkeling and diving, particularly at the northwest part of the island.
Situated in the northern part of the island, located along Higatangan Rock Formation is the Hagdan beach.
Hagdan beach is accessible through a pump boat ride from Barangay Mabini or by using the 45-steps stairway from the circumferential road down to beach area.
A less popular site among tourists, Hagdan beach offers a quiet and peaceful setting for unwinding, relaxation, exploring the rock formations, trekking, scuba diving and snorkeling.
For those who want to have an overnight stay, they may rent a cottage or do camping on its white sand.
Mayor Espina revealed that they will add a cliff diving board in an area within the rock formation as an additional activity and for tourists to see the whole island and not just enjoy its sandbar.
Earlier, the municipal government has inaugurated the “Capilla del Mar” as added tourist attraction at Higatangan Island.
Capilla del Mar is an underwater chapel which features a 12-foot cross and eight benches, symbolizing the number of the towns of the province, as a new destination for divers of Higatangan Island.
(ROEL T. AMAZONA)

TACLOBAN CITY– A farmer from Mapanas in Northern Samar was arrested for indiscriminate firing in violation of a gun ban imposed by the Commission on Elections (Comelec).
Arrested was Abel Laodenio,42 of Barangay Sta. Potencian of said town, said town police chief Senior Inspector James Cubilla in a report to the provincial police headquarters based in Catarman.
The suspect who was under the influence of liquor was said to have fire indiscriminately at about 11 pm last April 21 in their village.
Laodenio was charged for illegal possession of firearms in relation to Omnibus Election Code as the country is set to conduct the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections on May 14.(DHEMA NINA INGAY, NwSSU Student Intern)

TACLOBAN CITY – The Badjao residents in Isabel town were finally transferred to their new homes, over two weeks after the housing units were turned over by the donors to the municipal government.
The 49 housing units are located in sitio Bawud of Barangay Marvel and donated by IKIKO Foundation, a French nongovernment organization which is into preserving the environment.
Before the residents were transferred to their new houses, IKIKO Foundation, led by its founder Christophe Donat, and municipal officials together with the beneficiaries planted 100 mangrove seedlings around the new community to serve as natural barriers against strong and destructive waves.
Donat said that aside from transferring to their new houses, some of the Badjao members are also being taught basic education under the alternative learning system (ALS) of the Department of Education.
“Around 20 children and 10 adults are taking class under ALS. They will come every day to the class which will be handled by three ALS volunteer teachers from Isabel district to learn lessons under Indigenous People Education Program,” he said.
The foundation also plan to teach some women in the village to make furnitures and recycled products from plastics and umbrella trash fabrics.
“This is to help them learn other livelihood which they can use as source of income and help them stop begging,” Donat explained.
“Providing education and livelihood skills to Badjao residents will help them feel more comfortable; have the sense of belongingness with other people in the community and gradually address problem on discrimination and rejection the indigenous peoples experiences from the local populace,” he added.
The Badjao people have been living in Isabel since 1985 whose population has increased through the years.
The old homes of the Badjaos were destroyed by super typhoon ‘Yolanda’ in 2013.
(ROEL T. AMAZONA)