Centenarian Consuelo Dejaño from Ormoc City received cash assistance and food packs from the city government as she reached the 100-year mark on Jan. 24.
TACLOBAN CITY– A centenarian from Ormoc City was awarded with a centenarian gift after she turned 100 years old.
Centenarian Consuelo Dejaño from Ormoc City received cash assistance and food packs from the city government as she reached the 100-year mark on Jan. 24.
Consuelo Dejaño of Barangay Juaton turned 100-years last January 24.
Dejaño received P20,000 cash gift and food packs on Feb.3 by councilor Carmen Jean Rama who chairs the committee on senior citizens and persons with disabilities at the city council, representing Mayor Lucy Torres-Gomez.
Rama was assisted by Maribel Gucela, officer-in-charge of the city’s social welfare office, and Niña Restauro, head of the Ormoc City Persons with Disability Affairs Office.
Dejaño said that she loves to eat Monde cheese bars and can consume one pack (10pcs.) per day and pair it with a glass of milk.
Aside from the centenarian gift from the city government, Dejaño is also expected to receive P100,000 from the national government through the Department of Social Welfare and Development as mandated under Republic Act 10868 or the Centenarian Act of 2016.
At least 16 centenarians from Ormoc City had already received said cash gift since it was implemented after the law was passed. (ROEL T. AMAZONA)
TACLOBAN CITY – The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) is seeking P2.94 billion in funding for the construction of 35 flood control projects in three Eastern Visayas provinces this year.
DPWH Eastern Visayas Regional Director Edgar Tabacon said these projects are highly necessary given the recent massive flooding experienced in the region from late December 2022 to early January this year.
“We are happy that the Regional Development Council (RDC) endorsed these projects to our central office for inclusion in the 2023 funding. These are urgent projects meant to protect lives and properties,” Tabacon said in an interview Monday.
The regional office here is still waiting for feedback from their main office.
These projects are in General MacArthur and Oras in Eastern Samar; Ormoc and Kananga in Leyte; Saint Bernard, Sogod, San Juan, Pintuyan, San Ricardo, Sogod, and Hinunangan in Southern Leyte province.
Of the total outlay, P2.59 billion will go to flood-prone areas in Southern Leyte, P200 million in Eastern Samar, and P155 million in Leyte province.
In a resolution approved by the RDC, the council said the additional flood control projects are also found to be aligned with the regional strategies and priorities on infrastructure development based on the Eastern Visayas Regional Development Plan.
“In addition, majority of the said projects have direct impact on the disadvantaged sectors and areas while two were identified in the Eastern Visayas Typhoon Odette Rehabilitation and Recovery Plan,” the RDC said in its resolution signed on Dec. 19, 2022.
Some of these projects are in areas badly hit by Typhoon ‘Odette’ in December 2021. (SARWELL Q. MENIANO/PNA)
BORONGAN CITY – To help sustain the Philippine Airlines’ operations in the province, Eastern Samar Governor Ben Evardone asked all local government units to create a tour package for their respective tourist destinations.
Evardone made this call during his meeting with the mayors and tourism officers in the province as he urged them to develop a tour package.
The governor asked them to submit their proposals to him next month.
Since the opening of its flight in the province in December of last year, the country’s flag carrier had recorded 900 passengers.
“This is big advantage for us having flight here in the province. That is why we need to sustain it, and we can do it by promoting the tourist destinations in our respective places,” Evardone said.
“I know that every town in Eastern Samar has something to offer to visitors. What you have to do is to create a product wherein tourists will know where they will go and what they will do when they come to visit our province,” the governor added.
Evardone stressed that promoting the tourist destinations of the province will help the local economy and will open job opportunities and income to the locals like farmers and fishermen.
Meantime, the tourism personnel from Maslog town informed the governor that they have to beg off because of their problem of accessibility as it is not yet connected to the province.
To reach the town, one has to travel by sea from Dolores town. (ROEL T. AMAZONA)
Agrarian Reform Secretary Conrado Estrella III leads the inauguration and turnover of the P9.1 million 28 linear-meter Tulay ng Pangulo in Balangiga, Eastern Samar during his recent visit to Eastern Visayas. (JOSE ALSMITH L. SORIA)
HINUNANGAN, Southern Leyte– A total of 29,149 residents including 4,759 agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs) from the Hinunangan agrarian reform community (ARC) from this town will now have easier access to transport their agricultural products to the nearest markets, with the completion of the P8.5-million bridge under the ‘Tulay ng Pangulo Para sa Kaunlarang Pang-Agraryo (TPKP)’ project.
Agrarian Reform Secretary Conrado Estrella III leads the inauguration and turnover of the P9.1 million 28 linear-meter Tulay ng Pangulo in Balangiga, Eastern Samar during his recent visit to Eastern Visayas. (JOSE ALSMITH L. SORIA)
The TPKP project is facilitated by the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR), in close coordination with the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).
Victorio Dagohoy, president of Barangay Ilaya Kikoy Farmers Association (BIKFA), expressed his gratitude to the government and said that the newly-constructed bridge would be a big help not only in bringing their products to the market but also during emergency disaster evacuation cases.
“Thank you very much. You can expect that we would take care of this bridge so we can benefit much longer from the project,” Dagohoy said.
Atty. Kazel C. Celeste, DAR Undersecretary for Field Operations Office (FOO), and Rene E. Colocar, Assistant Secretary for Special Projects under the Foreign Assisted and Special Projects Office (FASPO), led the inauguration and turnover of the said bridge to Vice Mayor Marian Donayre-Pelin.
Celeste said that DAR Secretary Conrado Estrella III, will provide more support services to the farmers upon the directive made by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.
“The Secretary’s intention is to link the remotest barangays or villages to the town and market proper, so that farmers can feel that they belong and play a big role in nation-building,” Celeste said.
Atty. Robert Anthony P. Yu, DAR Eastern Visayas regional director said the 22.80 linear meters two-lane bridge will benefit 17 barangays and one sitio namely: Calag-itan, Calinao, Catublian, Ilaya, Ingan, Libas, Lumbog, Manlico, Matin-ao, Nava, Nueva Esperanza, Palongpong, Patong, Pondol, Sto, Niño II. Tuburan, Upper Bantawon, and Sitio Tabjon. (PR)
WHEN Christ told his disciples to be the salt and light of the earth (cfr. Mt 5,13-16), we too should feel addressed by such divine command and make ourselves good influencers in a world that is increasingly wracked by confusion and error despite the apparent lights it seems to enjoy due to the powerful developments in the sciences and technologies today.
We can readily conclude from that gospel that what Christ wants is for us to provide Christian flavor in a world that is fast evolving, as well as help in preserving the true Christian spirit in a world that is so exposed to a lot of changes, many of them with their luggage of dangers even as they also offer a lot of benefits.
We also are meant to give light to the others by giving good example and by actively doing apostolate, leading people to God along the right if prudent and tortuous and treacherous paths of this world. With rectitude of intention, we have to inspire others to follow us so that with us they can come to Christ. This is what a good influencer is.
This means that we have to see to it that we inspire others properly. And by that, we mean that the spirit we ‘breathe into’ the others by our mere presence or by our words and deeds, should be the spirit of God.
In other words, to inspire is to infuse the spirit proper to us, the spirit that gives us life and that animates our thoughts, desires, words and actions. And that spirit is ultimately nothing other than the spirit of God who is our Creator and Father, in whose image and likeness we have been created. We need to correspond to that spirit of God.
It’s, of course, good and indispensable that we enjoy our human right of free speech and expression, but we should also give due consideration to the serious duty of exercising that right with a deep sense of responsibility. We should avoid the practice of simply making off-the-cuff comments and shooting from the hip, pure gossiping, backbiting and idle talk, etc.
Especially in the world of public opinion, we should try our best that our views are properly studied and expressed. We should express our opinions, despite contrary positions from others, in a way that would at least leave people enlightened and edified. This can always be done if we truly live by our Christian standards where truth, charity, mercy, fairness, patience and courtesy are always upheld.
We may disagree with others in their views and opinions, but we should avoid being disagreeable. Even in matters of faith and belief, when we feel that a party is clearly in error, we should not feel as if we are entitled to be rude to him. In fact, he should be treated with utmost delicacy.
What is helpful in this regard is to see to it that we do everything always in the presence of God. We should be wary when we would only be guided and driven by our own emotions and passions, if not by our own biases and prejudices. It would be good to know where everybody is coming from in order to facilitate understanding and a meaningful exchange of views.
Let’s always remember that in matters of opinion, we cannot make ours the only right or fair one. We have to respect the opinions of others, even if we do not quite agree with them. In fact, the greater the variety of opinions expressed, the better for all of us, since more things would be put into consideration.
The crystal ball of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), flashes positive sign of year 2023 having an extension of the importation of rice and corn – staple foods of many Filipinos.
The USDA prediction is based on the 2022 data, but mainly on the low rice production and the extension of lower tariffs by the Marcos administration. Thus, the USDA data reported through its Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) forecasting an importation of 3.8 million metric tons (MT) in 2023, up from 3.4 million MT targeted in 2022. The higher forecast was resorted to offset the production shortfall shown in the figures above.
The country’s Department of Agriculture (DA) leadership debunked the apprehension from the Federation of Free Farmers (FFF), viz., “the country may need to import at least three million MT of rice due to the looming shortage” in production the higher food consumption this year.
The USDA reported that the country’s milled rice production is expected to be lower down to 11.975 million MT from the earlier forecast of 12.411 million MT for the year – the lower production attributed to the damage from Super Typhoon Karding in September 2022. Their observations included the decline in the importation of fertilizer from April to July 2022 as well as the lower nitrogen content by 46 percent of fertilizers imported from July to August of the same year.
Per FAS Manila report showed a reduced corn production, tempered by the high production cost considering that fertilizer plays a major factor. Thus, the USDA sees the country’s corn importation up by 300,000 MT from the earlier projection. The same expectations on corn feed consumption deemed to increase by 300,000 MT due to extension of lower tariffs and competitive future quotes. Corn is a popular component for broilers and layers feeds.
MY COMMENT:
PBBM’s signing for another year of extension of Executive Order 171, means that tariffs rates on select agri-products will be pegged at 35 on imported rice and will return to 40 percent for in-quota and 50-percent out-quota tariffs by January. And for corn, the Philippines will import and consume less wheat in 2023 – lowered the in-quota tariffs on corn imports to 5 percent from 35 percent until end of January 2023. I concur with the USDA expectations on the importations of rice and corn attributing it to low production in the country and the one-year extension of EO 171 – even if the EO (signed by former President Rodrigo Roa Duterte), was meant “to bring down prices and stabilize the supply of agricultural products in the country.
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