TACLOBAN CITY—The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) here in the region has advised the public to register their sim cards as soon as possible as the April 26 deadline is fast approaching.

As of March 17, there are 45.82 million registrants.

Of this number, 18.94 million are Globe subscribers; 3.44 million from DITO; and 24.43 million from Smart, according to the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) spokesperson undersecretary (USEC) Anna Mae Lamentillo.

Engineer Wilfredo Zabala, NTC regional director, said that the public must not wait for the deadline before registering their sim cards as there is still no assurance from the DICT on the extension of the deadline for the sim card registrations.

“Most of the subscribers are just waiting for the April 26 deadline before they register their sim cards,” he said.

Zabala then highlighted the importance of registering the sim card.
“Number one is para hindi ma-deactivate ang inyong simcard (kasi) hindi niyo na magagamit once na maabutan na po natin ang deadline and number two,mabawasbawasan na ang mga scammers, yung mga sim text scam,” the NTC official said.

In aid for the low turnout on sim registration in our country, the DICT in partnership with NTC holds the ‘Facilitated Sim Registration caravan’ which aims to help people who are facing issues in registering their sim cards by visiting municipalities in the region.

The DICT and NTC Region 8 started their caravan on March 22 assisting municipalities namely Taft, Dolores, San Julian, Sulat, and Borongan City, and the following week, in Guiuan, all in Eastern Samar.

On the first week of April, there will be no Sim Registration Caravan in deference to the observance of the Holy Week.

And on the second week of April, they will stop by in Basey, for the Samar area, ending their caravan on the last three days they will head to Catarman, Northern Samar.
(JAIRON RIC BALAIS, LNU Student Intern)

TACLOBAN, CITY – The regional office of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has concluded its four-day trade fair as part of its observance of the Women’s Month.
The March 16 to 19 trade fair was held at the Robinsons Marasbaras and was participated by 49 micro, small, and medium enterprises(SMEs), all owned by women.

In her welcome message, DTI Regional Director Celerina Bato gave emphasis on their accomplishments on helping women entrepreneurs by establishing eight OTOP (One Town, One Product) hubs and inviting the 49 women behind the SMEs who joined the trade fair.
“We [DTI] caters both men and women in the delivery of various programs and services because we envision prosperity for all. I encourage everyone that during this women’s month celebration, let us all be reminded that realizing equal rights for women and men is a step closer to a better community”, Bato added.

Meanwhile, Maria Cañete, an exhibitor from Naval, Biliran, said that it was an opportunity for them to introduce and sell their products on a wider market which helps their business to survive.

“Kaupay gud Han naupod kami han DTI kay na known kami nga suman from Naval, nakaintroduce kami ha iba-iba nga kustomer ha mga lugar nga amon nakakadtuan”, Cañete said.
(MARCO JEMSBOY ARCENA, LNU Student Intern)

TACLOBAN CITY– In honor for this year’s pride month, the Integrated Global Models (IGM) Events Management Services will hold a Pride Parade here in the city on June 20.
This event, which has a theme ‘Walk with Pride,’ is open to all LGBTQIA+ and allies who are willing to promote gender equality in the region.

According to IGM’s Special Assistant to the Chief Operating Officer, Jacob Brazil, “here at IGM we want people to know that we promote the uniqueness and inclusivity to all the people from our region.”

“We accept everyone no matter who you are in this world,” he added.

The event management services would like to orient the society that these members of the LGBT-QIA+ are humans too and that they deserve equal rights just as how they are.
“After all this is a time for the community to celebrate their uniqueness during the pride month season,” Brazil said.

Among the highlights of the event will be the holding of a grand fashion show where there will be surprise guests both from local and national artists who will be performing, aside from homegrown talents from the region.

(JAIRA SOPHIA ROSE ENCINA,LNU Student Intern)

Manila-At the request of the Philippine government, eight experts from the United States government arrived in Pola, Oriental Mindoro on Tuesday (March 21) to support the oil spill response operations of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG).

Five members from the U.S. Coast Guard’s (USCG) National Strike Force will provide subject matter expertise and assess the affected areas to determine the most effective method and equipment to contain and clean up the oil spill from the sunken tanker MT Princess Empress.

Through funding from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), two members of the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) will work closely with the Philippines Department of Environment and Natural Resources to conduct rapid environmental assessments of affected areas, identify priority areas at risk of environmental damage, and assess needs for ecosystem restoration. NOAA has already provided the PCG with satellite imagery to boost assessment efforts. It also provided the University of the Philippines-Marine Sciences Institute with support for scientific modeling to estimate the trajectory of the spill.

Lastly, a U.S. Navy Supervisor of Salvage and Diving will evaluate the technical parameters required to support the possible deployment of a remotely operated vehicle.
Prior to their deployment to Pola, the American experts received a briefing on March 20 in Manila from the PCG and the Japan Disaster Relief Expert Team about oil-spill mitigation actions taken so far.

“When vessels are in deep water, as in this case, cleaning up the remaining oil becomes a complicated issue. Through our incident management professionals’ wealth of experience and strong expertise in oil spill response, we will assist the PCG in developing safe and efficient methods to contain and recover the oil and minimize damage to the environment,” said Commander Stacey Crecy, commanding officer of the USCG Pacific Strike Team. “The USCG remains deeply committed to our relationship with the PCG.”

Earlier this month, USAID partnered with the World Food Program to support the Philippines Department of Social Welfare and Development in transporting 20,000 food packs for families affected by the oil spill. (PR)