Be among the first to experience the Summit Hotel Tacloban brand of service and amenities at a special advance purchase rate of P3,777 net for Super Rooms!
As an initial treat to locals and foreign visitors, Summit Hotel Tacloban, the fifth property under the Summit Hotels and Resorts brand, is offering the special room rate, which includes a sumptuous breakfast by Patron Casual Dining restaurant.
The Summit Hotel Tacloban, strategically located just right next to the Robinsons Place Tacloban, serves as a portal to the rest of the Eastern Visayas. The Summit Hotels and Resorts, which had its soft opening last April 25, is a tribute to the resiliency, strength and beauty of the place and its people.
“We are proud to open our doors and set a new milestone for Tacloban as a leisure and corporate meeting destination,” says Robinsons Hotels and Resorts Business Unit General Manager Elizabeth D. Gregorio. “The sun is continuously shining bright in the city of Tacloban and it’s our pleasure to take part in letting the world know the beauty that awaits them here,” she adds.
The 138-room Summit Hotel Tacloban is the Summit Hotels and Resorts contribution to Tacloban’s thrust of “building back better” as it features design concepts and finishes that are unique to the region to achieve a tropical Filipino look with a luxurious and contemporary yet warm and welcoming vibe.
“The design takes inspiratiom from Region Eight’s colorful history [and is] a commemoration of the promising future brought about by the abundance of its natural resources and the warmth of its people despite past trials,” says the property’s architect, Albert Yu.
Yu adds that natural wood and neutral hues will be the main motif of the property, with interesting details from native stone surfaces, pretty latticework and elegant light fixtures.
Wooden arches, symbolic of Tacloban being a gateway to the region, will greet guests at the reception area. Basket-weave, coconut-leaf patterns and patterned glass will give depth and texture to various areas of the hotel, while pops of color will add a hint of fun and playfulness to the design.
The Summit Hotel Tacloban will feature six guest suites in three different designs that echo a celebration held in the region — the Sangyaw Suite, with its bold floral patterns and metallic accents, is named after the Sangyaw Festival, a local religious and socio-cultural event revived by the city government in 2008; the Lubi-Lubi Suite, with its bold leaf patterns and a variety of textures and colors, is named after the sayawlubi-lubi (coconut dance), an indigenous street parade that celebrates peace, love and unity among the city’s barangays using coco plants and materials for their costumes and props; the Pintados Suite, which will be marked by modernized symbolic tattoo patterns, is named after the Pintados Festival, a commemoration of the first inhabitants of the Visayas whose bodies were covered with tattoos.
King and Twin Super rooms, meanwhile, will feature native woodwork patterns that are reminiscent of indigenous bamboo floors of the traditional bahaykubo. All rooms, as well as communal spaces, will be furnished with mid-century modern pieces to balance the more traditional design elements.
Summit Hotels and Resorts represent the new powerful collection of unique boutique hotels with a distinct aesthetic and functional design that that are strategically located at the country’s prime business and tourism spots. Every Summit Hotel and Resort property offers unique and top-quality amenities, well-appointed guest rooms, winning brand tie-ups, and a personable brand of service from our passionate hotel teams.
The Advance Purchase Rate of P3,777 net is valid for bookings via call, website,and front desk reservations. The rate includes 31 to 35% discounts on published rates. For more information and to make a reservation, contact (02) 398-8788 / 0998-888-7788 / 0917-888-7788 or visit www.summithotels.ph. (PR)

TACLOBAN CITY- Members of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) in the region conducted separate buy-bust operations on Monday (April 23) which resulted to the arrest of three alleged drug peddlers and the seizure of shabu with combined value of P165, 000.
First to fall of these sting operations was Kent Ronquillo,33, in Barangay 6 of Sto. Niño Extension wherein he was caught in possession of seven sachets of shabu weighing 30 grams with a street value of P150,000.
Second to be arrested was Jimuel Figueroa, 38 at his village in Brgy.91, Abucay District at about 8:30 pm wherein members of the anti-drug agency seized from him five sachets of shabu weighing 1.5 grams with a value of P7,500.
The last to be arrested on that same day of operation was Alemar Miraflor,34, in Brgy.39, Calvary Hill.
Seized from the suspect were seven sachets of shabu weighing 1.5 grams and with street value of P7,500. His companion, Ricky Bandilla,23, managed to elude the arrest.
All three jobless suspects are now detained at the detention facility of the PDEA and charged for sale and possession of illegal drugs. (PR)

CALBAYOG CITY-As part of strengthening the Department of Public Works and Highway (DPWH), and Samar First District Engineering Office is subjected to management operations audit and Internal Quality Audit (IQA) by auditors from Internal Audit Service Central Office on April 4-14, 2018.
The audit team was led by Melinda B. Tan with Veronica A. Delas Llagas, Ronaldo D. Velano, and Rowena R. Sulla comprising the rest of the team.
In the Internal Audit process, prior to the start of each audit, the audit team sought the advice of District Engineer Alvin A. Ignacio on specific issues of concern and matters that could further strengthen the internal control system within the office or the operational activities.
The audit focused on systems and procedures as well as operations covering mainly from the year 2017 and up to present transactions.
The audit team’s objective is to appraise whether internal control components are well designed and properly implemented and evaluate the control effectiveness of operating system and support systems for a specific period or date.
This is to ensure continual implementation and determine effectiveness of the processes and mandatory procedures in Quality Management Systems (QMS) in conformance with the requirements of ISO 9001:2015.
(BON JOSEPH N. ASTILLA/PIO Staff)

TACLOBAN CITY- The region’s economy registered a measly 1.8 percent growth in 2017, a huge slump compared to the 12.4 percent growth rate in 2016.
This was announced by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA)’s regional director Wilma Perante on Thursday (April 26) who said that the decline was mainly due to the sluggish performance of the industry sector.
The 1.8 percent growth of the region was the lowest among the country’s 17 regions.
The industry sector, which contributed 42.6 percent to the regional economy, only recorded a growth rate of 1.7 percent.
The figure was far from the 2016 growth rate of 19.5 percent which was partly due to the poor performance of industries located at the Leyte Industrial Development Estate, the only economic zone of the region located in Isabel, Leyte.
Also pulling down the region’s economic growth was the construction sector which only posted a 21.0 percent growth rate which was lower compared to the 2016 record of 42.4 percent.
The construction sector, which falls on the industry category, was partly driven by projects relative to the rehabilitation program of the government on areas hit by super typhoon ‘Yolanda’ like housing projects.
The region’s growth rate was far from the projected 5.2 to 5.7 percent made by the Regional Development Plan 2017-2022.
“We should still be happy because our economy in Eastern Visayas is growing though not that fast compare to 2016,” Perante said.
The massive 6.5 magnitude earthquake that hit Leyte on July 6 and the series of typhoons experienced by the region during the same period were also cited as the reasons why the economy contracted.
For one, the earthquake resulted in the economic loss to the power sector pegged at P37.8 million by the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA).
However, the tremor, which resulted power shutdown all over the region for close to three weeks, was estimated to result to a daily economic loss of P300 million to various industries.
“We have yet to recover from the adverse effects of these 2017 disasters. Even from Yolanda, some projects are still due for completion, especially resettlement,” NEDA Assistant Regional Director Meylene Rosales, reading the message of her director, Bonifacio Uy.
She added that 2016 saw the ‘peak’ of the Yolanda-related rehabilitation projects, notably the resettlement projects reason why the region’s economic growth reached to 12.4 percent.
“The delayed implementation of government Yolanda resettlement projects contributed to the decline in public construction,” Rosales said.
Meantime, the agriculture and fishing sector, posted a 0.1 percent growth rate, a decline of 2.3 percent from the 2016 record; services sector recorded a 6.2 percent growth which was lower compare to the 8.4 percent of 2016.
Other services which include hotels and restaurants industry, also posted a negative growth rate of 0.9 percent.
(JOEY A. GABIETA)

TACLOBAN CITY—With the economy of the region, as measured by the Gross Regional Domestic Product (GRDP) slowed down from 12.4 percent in 2016 to 1.8 percent in 2017, regional economic officials remain “optimistic” that it will attain its goals of a robust economy and less poverty this year and onward.
“This growth is way below the target of 5.2 to 5.7 percent as indicated in the Eastern Visayas Regional Development Plan 2017-2022, and the lowest among 17 regions in the country,” said Bonifacio Uy, the regional director of National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), in a prepared speech delivered by his assistant director Meylene Rosales on Thursday (April 26) over a news conference on the 2017 Performance of the Eastern Visayas Regional Economy.
The overall growth rates are taken from three major sectors, namely, agriculture, and fishing; industry, and services.
“Growth was hampered by the contraction of the industry sector at negative 1.7 percent,” the NEDA director said in his statement.
In the previous year, the industry sector posted a 19.5 percent growth.
Wilma Perante, the regional director of Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), disclosed that the contraction in the industry sector was attributed to decline of the three subsectors: electricity, gas and water supply (EGWS) by 31 percent; construction by 21.0 percent, and mining and quarrying by 12.3 percent.
With the sluggish economic growth in the region in 2017, Daniel Ariaso Sr., deputy national statistician of the Civil Registration and Central Support Office of PSA, urged the public not to be dismayed, saying the region just need to “work harder” for its future economic growth goals.
While noting that the region’s growth depends mostly on the manufacturing subsector brought by heavy industries located at the Leyte Industrial Development Estate (LIDE)in Isabel town, the economic officials have urged for the promotion of “rural industrialization that will adopt and intensify industry clustering, and competitive and resilient industries, with more and stronger micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs)”, along with continued development of Public-Private Partnership projects.
According to NEDA, the proposed establishment of the Leyte Ecological Industrial Zone (LIEZ), which is in its pre-feasibility study stage, could be a start towards this goal.
Also, they urged for more tourism and investment promotion through a business-friendly environment to “attract, expand, and sustain investments.”
NEDA also hoped for the reversal of the region’s economic growth in 2017 through the “Build, Build, Build” program of President Rodrigo Duterte administration.
NEDA reported that the region has identified over 2,000 proposed priority programs and projects which will address the pressing issues in the region. (RONALD O.REYES)

TACLOBAN CITY- The regional Commission on Elections (Comelec) reported that more than 114,600 have filed their candidacies for both barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections.
The poll body, however, has yet to come up with a data as to how many of these candidates are sure winners for having no opponents.
Lawyer Jose Nick Mendros, Comelec regional director, said that based on their data, a total of 114,665 candidates are in the running for the barangay and SK elections scheduled on May 14 in the region.
For village chairpersons, 8,578 have filed their certificates of candidacy (CoCs) for the 4,390 posts up for grabs while 61,473 have filed their CoCs for the 30,730 positions needed for the barangay councilors.
Meantime, 8,168 youths have filed their certificates of candidacy for SK chairs while 36,446 are seeking for the SK council seats.
The filing of the certificates of candidacy started on April 14 and ended on April 21.
Of the six provinces of the region, Leyte which has 1,641 barangays, has the biggest number of candidates-3,301 filed for village chairmen and 23,528 for councilors while 3,180 for SK chairmen and 13,634 for youth council.
Biliran, which has only 132 barangays, has the least number of candidates-265 for village chairs and 2,084 for councilors and 272 for SK chairmen and 1,387 for councilors.
Southern Leyte has 926 candidates for barangay chairmen and 6,819 for councilors while 884 are in the running for SK chairmen and 3,756 as councilors.
In Samar, 1,749 have filed their CoCs for chairmen and 12,580 for councilors while about 1,658 are running for SK chairmen and 7,786 for councilors.
In Eastern Samar, 1,241 have filed their CoCs for barangay chairmen and 8,464 for councilors. Meantime, 1,144 have their CoCs for SK chairmen and 4,402 for SK chairmen and in Northern Samar, 1,096 are in contention for village chairs and 7,998 for councilors and about 1,030 for SK chairmen and 5,481 for youth councilors.
Meantime, Mendros said that they could not say yet as to how many of these candidates are sure to win for lack of rivals.
“We have not yet analyze our data as to who among these candidates are sure to win because they don’t have rivals,” he said.
He, however, said that all positions that are for grab in the village and SK elections have been filled up.
“Though there instances that not all slate have been filled up,” Mendros said.
For these elections, voters for both barangay and SK elections are to elect a chairman and seven councilors. (JOEY A. GABIETA)