TACLOBAN CITY- Slowly, they are seeing a ray of hope on the electoral protest filed by her brother against Vice President Maria Leonor ‘Leni’ Robredo.
Thus expressed Ilocos Norte Governor Imee Marcos, referring to the ongoing recount of votes for the 2016 vice presidential race where her brother, Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ narrowly lost to Robredo by over 200,000 votes.
“It’s been an uphill struggle for us but with the start of the counting, may liwanag na sa dilim kahit papaano. We’re pushing very hard, we’re hopeful that this will proceed and it looks like slowly we are inching towards our goal,” the governor said during a media interaction Tuesday(April 17) at the VIP Lounge of the Daniel Z. Romualdez (DZR) Airport.
“Our family is just pushing for the protest. It’s been a while. This is what we’ve wanted for the last two years and it’s only right because we prayed for this; that the recount of ballots pushes through” added Marcos.
Marcos was in Tacloban for a series of speaking engagement but failed to attend some of them due to delayed flight from Manila.
The Ilocos Norte said that they are positive that his brother will win on the election protest that he filed against Robredo.
Bongbong lost to Robredo, candidate of the Liberal Party, by about 263,473 votes.
Marcos claimed that they were cheated reason he initiated the protest before the Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET).
Meantime, Imee said that she is seriously considering of running for a Senate seat in next year’s elections.
“Napapagusapan sa pamilya naming dahil sa protesta ni Bongbong, its taking forever. Its two years na, nothing happens. My mother, my brother and I are concerned that somebody should run for a national office in next year’s national election,” she said.
She said that she’s been visiting the country to get the feel of the people and to see what’s happening outside her province.
Marcos is now on her third and last term as governor of Ilocos Norte. (LIZBETH ANN A. ABELLA)

TACLOBAN CITY- The last day of the filing of the certificates of candidacy for the May 14 elections appeared to be uneventful, at least at the office of the Commission on Elections (Comelec), this city.
This was because only, as of noon, about 200 candidates, both for the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) posts, filed their documents.
In contrast, there was a ‘massive’ turn out of filers on Wednesday (April 18) which was due to the belief of the filers that it would bring them luck as they aspire for village posts.
The deadline for the filing of the CoC for those who want to run for this year’s village elections is at 5 pm with no deadline set by the Comelec.
According to lawyer Ma. Goretti Cañas, city elections officer, the perceived lucky day or April 18, there were 902 candidates who trooped to their office to file their respective CoC.
“That day was really our peak day. They believed that April 18, having an eight number which is considered to be a lucky number to some, thus, there was a massive turn out of candidates who filed their certificates of candidacy,” Cañas said.
“So this last day of filing, we anticipate that we will not have a big turnout of candidates who will file their CoCs,” she added.
Since the start of the filing of the CoC last April 14 until noon of Friday, there were already 2,957 individuals who filed their CoCs for the barangay posts while 2,105 candidates filed their CoCs seeking for SK posts.
For Tacloban City, Eastern Visayas’ regional capital, up for grabs for both barangay and youth elections are 138 posts for chairpersons and 966 for councilors.
Among the candidates in this year’s elections are some media workers.
Among them is Mark Escol, who is on his last and third term as a councilor of Brgy.59, who is running for village chair.
Escol, who is a radio broadcaster of Magic FM, said that he want to serve more his people, adding that there was a ‘clamor from his constituents’ to run for their village top posts.
For Antonia Mendasa,55, she was egged on to run as a councilor in their village by her cousin, Pedro Ampatin who, incidentally, is in jail since last year due to illegal drugs possession.
“He asked me to run because he believed in me; that I have what it takes to become a leader in our village. He also asked me to help rid out illegal drugs in our village,” Mendasa, mother to four and presently the health service point officer of their village, Brgy. 77.
Meantime, Lourdes Bernadas, incumbent village councilor of Brgy.29, her family asked her mother, Sofia, who is serving on her second term as a councilor not to run in this year’s elections.
“She is already 83 years old. That’s why, we have asked her not to seek for reelection and just allowed me to seek for my second term,” Bernadas said.
Cañas said that so far, 10 candidates have withdrawn their CoCs due to their being not registered voters with their respective villages, or in one case involving an SK candidate who decided to run for the chairmanship from his original plan to just seek for a council seat.
(JOEY A. GABIETA)

CAMP RUPERTO KANGLEON, PALO, Leyte- Three unidentified suspects carted away P90,000 from victims who were on board a six-wheeler truck in Lapinig, Northern Samar on April 18.
Reports reaching at the regional Philippine National Police (PNP) headquarters, disclosed that the hold-up incident took place along a national of said town at about 9:30 am.
The victims, John Kevin Morallos, 23 and a resident of Barangay Bato, Gamay town, was driving the six-wheeler truck owned by the JB Mini-Mart with Ana Norombaba and Jessebel Duac, were flagged down by the suspects while cruising along Brgy. Alang-Alang of said town.
One of the suspects shot the leg of Morallos and immediately took a sling bag containing the P90,000, two mobile phones and three keys of the store.
The driver was brought to the Gamay District Hospital for medical treatment while the suspects fled towards the mountainous area of said place after the incident.
Recovered from the crime scene was one slug of Cal. 45 pistol.
Elements of the Lapinig Municipal Police Station are now conducting follow-up investigation for the arrest of the suspect. (PR)

TACLOBAN CITY— This city’s promotional campaign dubbed as “Home of the Happiest People in the world” has gone viral, currently racking up over 709,000 views after its campaign video was launched online on April 5.
“The branding, though received flak for its lack of consultation to stakeholders, was strategic in a public relations point of view, racking up hundreds of thousands of views from curious netizens that got wind of the video through negative comments,” said Aaron Almadro, a leading PR and advertising executive in the city.
In his experience in media and discussions within the creative industry colleagues in Manila, Almadro pointed out the lack of inclusive consultation of Tacloban’s new branding campaign.
“Though the process can’t be criticized since we are not aware of their procedures, the end product seems half-baked. It was proven recently when the original tagline ‘Happiest people in the world’ was slightly tweaked into ‘Home of the Happiest People in the world,’” he said.
“This change happened without any announcement nor clarification, just like how the original tagline was launched. But like what they say, negative PR is still PR. Intentional or not, it did gain traction, and the agency that produced this still got the results it must have targeted. If these hits will indeed turn into tourist arrivals, remain to be seen,” Almadro added.
Vic Abrugar, a known web developer and digital marketing strategist in Eastern Visayas, acknowledged that the city’s new branding video has reached its viral level.
“However, to really determine its digital marketing or viral value, we need to check its Facebook’s Insights and other analytics to determine the cost of the campaign and the demographic or relevance of the audience reached,” Abrugar said.
“For example, of these 709, 000 views, what portion is organic and what portion is acquired thru paid advertising? Did the video really reach its target audience—the locals or the potential foreign tourists?” he asked.
Overall, the campaign has done a good job since it created a buzz, especially with the branding ‘the happiest people in the world’, though some people may not agree with it, he said.
The city government, however, maintained that the campaign has “attained its purpose” based on the feedback they received.
“Actually, it’s a given. When you launched something it’s a given that there are good reviews and bad reviews about the campaign. But bottom line is, this campaign is intended for people outside Tacloban city. And so far, the city government has been receiving good reviews about this new branding,” Henry James Roca of the City Information Office, said.
Roca also belied the reports that the campaign was haphazardly produced, saying that city has been working on the project since last year.
“It was only sidetracked because of some other pressing concerns, like for example, the delivery of services in the northern barangays. The program came to fruition this year only. Actually, the city government asked the assistance of the technical team of an advertising firm plus it also formed a technical working group,” he said.
He assured the public that funds were “minimal” and were spent “wisely” in producing the new branding campaign of the city after its recovery from the onslaught of super typhoon ‘Yolanda’ on Nov. 8, 2013.
Meanwhile, Roca disclosed that their next plan is to invite bloggers around the country “so they could tour the sites around the city and in a way advertise it on their own blogs.”
“We are also encouraging local establishments to carry the tagline for sustainability. The mayor wants the local residents to own the campaign because it’s for them and for the local economy as well,” he added.
If there’s an influx of tourists to the city, it will redound to more jobs for our locals, he said.
According to Roca, the city had around 537,000 tourist arrivals last year where about 27,000 of them were foreigners.
“Hopefully, the number will double this year with our new branding.”
(RONALD O. REYES)

PALO, Leyte-Senator Edgardo “Sonny” Angara is pushing for the inclusion of darts as a full- fledged sport in local and international arena saying that it is comparable to other games that require skills, disciple and precision.
Angara made this statement as he graced the opening of the 1st Philippine Open 2018 international Darts Tournament on Thursday (April 19) held at the Leyte Academic Center.
The four-day competition, initiated by the Darts Organization of Tacloban(DOT) and former congressman Florencio ‘Bem’ Noel of the An Waray party-list group, is participated by over 1,000 darts enthusiasts, some of them came from 16 other countries.
“I am throwing my full support to efforts to make darts as a part of sports competition here and abroad, particularly in the upcoming ASEAN Games” Angara said.
Angara believes that darts is a sport wherein Filipinos can excel in, citing the international achievements in the past of the local darters like Melvin Kent Pelona and Lovely Mae Orbeta who won the Selangor 2018 Dart championship organized by the Malaysia Dart Association last February; Laurence Ilagan who clinched the top spot from compatriot Christian Perez during the world 2013 Soft Darts Championship in Hong Kong and Filipino-Austrian National Championships in 2010.
“Darts demand skills, precision, discipline and maybe enough athleticism to be considered a full pledged sport. It’s a game that anybody can play as long as they can throw an arrow,” Angara, who is the vice chair of the Senate sports committee, said.
Angara also expressed hope that that the 1st Philippine Open-international Darts Tournament would set the stage for more international competitions in the country.
“Now is the time for the rest of the world to know that not only Filipinos know how to play a good game of darts, they also know how to run world-class tournaments,” said Angara.
He also lauded former congressman Noel and his colleagues from the DOT and the National Darts Federation of the Philippines for organizing the event which has attracted participants from the US, Canada, Singapore, Hong Kong, South Korea, Thailand, Malaysia, Croatia, Poland, Austria, England, France, Indonesia and Brunei.
Noel said that he hopes that with the staging of the 1st Philippine Dart Open would lead for its recognition by the state sport’s governing body, the Philippine Sports Commission.
According to Noel, dart is a potential medal source of the country for international events like the ASEAN Games.
(LIZBETH ANN A. ABELLA)

TACLOBAN CITY—The provincial government of Leyte and the city government of Tacloban remain on speaking terms despite the legal battles over the management and control of the Leyte Metropolitan Water District (LMWD), according to Governor Leopoldo Dominico Petilla.
“As far as the mayor is concerned, we see each other from time to time. We talk. What is important is the action after talking,” said Petilla.
The governor further assured that their camp will not resort to any violent action to resolve the deadlock between his appointed LMWD board of directors and the new appointees of Mayor Cristina Romualdez who assumed office in January this year.
“We have a strong economy, and we don’t want to be distracted by this,” Petilla said in an interview.
“We will respect the law because the law is the only thing that protects us from chaos. We have to sustain. Being the chief executive of Leyte, I should set an example to my constituents that we should follow the law, otherwise the people will not also follow and we’ll have chaos,” said Petilla, adding that he is leaving the issue to the courts.
After the management row between the province and the city ensued, concessionaires are also faced with a dilemma on where they are going to pay their water bills as there are now two “main” offices of LMWD: the old one in Nula-Tula, Tacloban where Romualdez-backed officials are holding office and the newly-opened “main” office at Leyte Academic Center in the neighboring town of Palo managed by Petilla-backed officials.
However, Petilla said that any collections made by the agency’s office in Palo will go to its account.
“Nonetheless, if ano man yan, kung ang tao nag bayad here or the other side, it should go to LMWD, and that the people should not be charged twice. It’s unfair (to the people). Problema ito ng LMWD,” added Petilla while saying that they will work on the collection problem after the water management issue will be resolved.
“I believe that every problem has a solution. But we have to work on that solution,” he said.
Bernardita Valenzuela, a city-appointed board of director, maintained the legitimacy of their posts, citing the recent SC’s decision in Rama v. Moises case (G.R. No. 197146) and in accordance with LWUA’s mandate under Letter of Instructions 744 issued on September 28, 1978 as the “test case” of their appointments.
“How can an inferior court go against the decision of the Supreme Court?” asked Valenzuela.
Meantime, the city-backed LMWD officials continue to assure of the water services in the resettlement areas in the northern barangays of Tacloban along with the rest of the municipalities covered by the water district.
(RONALD O. REYES)