TACLOBAN CITY — Air passenger traffic at the Daniel Z. Romualdez Airport in Tacloban Airport rose to 21.38 percent in the first semester of 2018, primarily driven by additional flights to the regional capital, airport and tourism officials confirmed on Thursday.
From 589,160 inbound and outbound passengers in the first six months of 2017, the figure rose to 715,131 in the same period this year, the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) said in its report.
“The major factor is the additional flights going to Tacloban. In the past, there were only 14 flights daily from Manila and Cebu to the city, but now we have 21 flights every day from Manila, Cebu, Davao, and Clark,” said CAAP Tacloban officer-in-charge Allan Cahingcoy.
The official noted that more flights were added to the city after the closure of the country’s premiere destination, Boracay Island last April 26.
From 1,104 flights in April, the number increased to 1,236 in May.
In terms of passengers, the city’s airport accommodated 152,059 travelers last May, more than the 123,673 recorded in April.
In May 2017, the airport only served 114,935 passengers.
“We really benefitted from the closure of Boracay because tourists looked for alternative beach destinations in other parts of the country,” said Trina Dacuycuy, the supervising tourism operations officer of the Department of Tourism (DOT) regional office here.
Likewise, the region welcomed a lot of returning residents last May due to fiesta celebrations in different communities, the DOT observed.
Dacuycuy, who was the officer-in-charge of the DOT regional office from January to July 30 this year, said many of the region’s destinations are becoming popular through massive social media promotions.
“The growing number of tourism-related businesses in different parts of the region is a proof that we have been welcoming a lot of tourists,” she added.
In a statement, the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) said the notable uptrend in both passenger and aircraft movement is a clear indication of a high demand for air transport.
“It points to a need to improve the conditions of the airports in this part of the country. The regional airport has to be modernized to meet international aviation standards, not only in its services but also in equipment and facilities,” the NEDA regional office said.
From 2017 t0 2019, the central government has set aside P1.03 billion for the improvement of the airport, including P716 million for the construction of a new terminal building, which was bid out last June.
The Tacloban Airport, officially known as Daniel Z. Romualdez (DZR), was named after the late former House Speaker and uncle of former First Lady Imelda Romualdez-Marcos. It is classified as class 1 major domestic airport.
It is the main gateway from Manila and Cebu to the Eastern Visayas region. The airport was ranked as the country’s 9th busiest in 2016, with 1.1 million inbound and outbound passengers.
(SARWELL Q. MENIANO/PNA)

TACLOBAN CITY-Three children who were victims of online sexual exploitation were rescued while two of the suspects, including a mother, were arrested on July 28.
Operatives from the Women and Children’s Protection Center (WCPC) – Visayas Field Unit and Samar Provincial Police Office caught the suspects in two separate entrapment operations in Sta. Margarita and Calbayog City, both in Samar province.
The victims, ages 10, 12 and 16, were offered money by the suspects to live stream their sexually-explicit acts before their alleged customers abroad who watched them online.
The first suspect, a 33-year-old mother, in Barangay Cautod, Sta. Margarita, was caught after she offered her 10-year-old daughter in exchange for P5,000 from an online customer who watched her performed live sexually explicit acts.
The name of the mother was withheld by the responding policemen.
Four other children – ages 12, 7, 5 and 2, who were found inside the suspect’s house at the time of the arrest, were also removed by the authorities.
The second suspect was identified as 20-year-old Mary Grace Soronel, in Barangay Obrero, Calbayog City.
She was arrested after she offered two children, ages 12 and 16, to be sexually exploited online.
Police found smartphones believed to be used by the suspects for online sexual exploitation of children.
“The arrest of these perpetrators means protection of not only the children rescued from their ongoing abuse but also the protection of other children whom they would have eventually abused if they were not arrested. Every single child protected is worth it,” said Atty. Lucille Dejito, IJM Cebu’s Director of Legal Interventions, in a statement.
“With just a smartphone, inexpensive access to the internet and enough English words to communicate in cybersex trade, perpetrators think that the cost of engaging in online sexual exploitation of children is low and that they can perpetuate it with impunity.
WCPC Visayas Field Unit Chief Romeo Perigo warned online traffickers to stop the sexual exploitation of children as they continue to intensify their surveillance operations through confidential intelligence reports that they receives.
The two rescued children are now under the safe custody of the Samar provincial social welfare and development office while the two suspects are detained at Calbayog City Police Station.

By: Ronald Reyes

TACLOBAN CITY – The Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities (ICSC), a non-government organization, and residents of sitio Costa Brava in Barangay 88, San Jose in this city conducted an evacuation drill to culminate the observance of National Disaster Resilience Month.
The use of ‘TekPak’, a portable solar-powered kit that can be used for lighting and powering emergency communications and medical equipment highlighted the evacuation drill.
The drill coincided with a power-outage that hit Tacloban that lasted for 14 hours. The participants used TekPak to charge their gadgets like the two-way radio and cellular phone. It was also used to power nebulizer.
TekPak and RE-Serve Humanitarian Corps is one of the 40 innovation supported under the Tuklas Innovation Labs, a program of Plan Philippines in disaster affected areas that encouraging ideas to meet the needs of vulnerable groups.
They are part of the five innovations from Eastern Visayas selected to receive P 1 million in seed funding, training, and mentorship to test their disaster preparedness innovations from March to November 2018.
Just like food and water, access to energy is also important during a disaster as it plays important role in humanitarian response and development both in communication and medical situations said members of RE-Serve Humanitarian Corps.
RE-Serve Humanitarian Corps is a volunteer group composed of respondents from various local government units, humanitarian organization, community groups and students.
The group helped the community by training them on how to use the TekPak.
“Electricity or energization is one of the neglected aspect in disaster preparedness. We in Re-Serve advocates the use of alternative energy in times of disaster once the regular source of electricity backs-down,” Jayson Mendiola, RE-Serve Humanitarian Corps member, said.
“The technology is already here and we can use it by harnessing energy from the sun through solar panels for us to have electricity to charge our mobile phones and other means of communication devices that we can use to relay information in the villages to the municipality,” Mendiola added.
Mendiola added that the ICSC is developing a handier TekPak more lighter than the one they are currently using the TekPAk 4.
“They are coming up with TekPak 5, which is about a size of a first-aid kit box and the solar panel is foldable so our can bring it easy anywhere and anytime,” Mendiola said.
Emelita Montalban, Brgy. 88 chairwoman, said that they were blessed to be selected as the site of the drill and to receive one unit of TekPak from the humanitarian organization.
“Having this TekPak will really help our village by ensuring that our place is lighted and communication will continue because we have source of electricity to power our communication devices even there is no power from regular energy source,” Montalban said.
The entire Brgy. 88 is classified by the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office as a danger zone due to its location sandwich between Cancabato Bay and San Pedro Bay.
When Tacloban City was pummelled by super typhoon ‘Yolanda’ on November 8, 2013, San Jose was considered as its worst-hit area with most of the 2,200 people killed in Tacloban during the massive disaster were from the said village. (ROEL T. AMAZONA)

TACLOBAN CITY- Illegal recruitment and trafficking of persons particularly women and children continue to plague the world, not sparing the weak and hard-up Filipinos.
This was stated by DSWD Regional Director Restituto Macuto in the interaction with media as a kick-off activity for the upcoming observance of the “World’s Celebration of Trafficking Against Persons Day,” on July 30.
Thus, in their bid to stop the transporting of people to the profit of illegal recruiters, some members of the Regional Inter-Agency Committee on Anti-Trafficking in Persons (RIACAT) met the press to seek help in raising public’s consciousness and understanding about the ill-effects of forced recruitment and transport of innocent victims across the archipelago.
This act is termed trafficking in persons, which is prohibited under Republic Act 10364.
Director Macuto further disclosed that from January to March 2018 alone, about 32 persons from the city, had been recruited to work in a Fishing Industry in a far Luzon province.
“So sad, that one victim gathered it from co-workers that, some of their friends are sent out to feed Milk Fishes in far offshore fish cages, and when one is hit by lightning and die in the open sea, he is just left to decay,” Macuto shared.
“Fortunately, one recent victim was able to post on FB their sad plight, prompting the family in Tacloban to seek help of the authorities to recover their children who were recruited with some adults,” Macuto added.
As of press time, the victims were being transported back to Tacloban and to their respective families, though the stormy weather hampered their crossing the Matnog-Allen Strait.
Asked why trafficking of persons prevails despite the heightened advocacy, Atty. Rugy de Veyra of NBI-08, a RIACAT member replied that, it is just like asking why crimes do not stop.
“I think, for as long as poverty prevails, trafficking in persons stays, it is for economic reason that the illegal act is committed,” he added.
Nevertheless, Donabelle Abalo, Project Manager of Terre des Hommes (TDH), said that as a community, particularly the local government units, which they closely work with, we can do so much, if only every everyone cooperates for the safety and welfare of the most vulnerable members of society – women, children, young boys and girls.
“Prompt reporting to the police or social workers of illegal trafficking act, counts much,” she said.
Fondly called “Babet,” Abalo works with TDH, an international non-government organization, a leading Swiss child relief agency, that is largely involved in stopping child exploitation.
Spearheaded by DSWD08, PLAN International, DILG, PNP, NBI, CHR and City Social Welfare and Development Office, PIA among others compose the region’s RIACAT that is in its thick and thin for the upcoming July 30 Celebration.
(AURORA FROLINDA J. CASIMPAN/PIA-8)

TACLOBAN CITY- A tourism official in the region lauded the effort of the An Waray party-list group and the city government of Tacloban in coming up tourism promotional billboards.
Norberto ‘Bing’ Lumbre, senior tourism promotions officer of the Department of Tourism (DOT), said that the campaign launched by the An Waray party-list group and the Tacloban city government through its tourism office, complements with their campaign to attract local tourists to visit the region’s tourist destinations.
He also said that the information contained in the promotional campaign billboard like the distance of these tourism attractions to Tacloban City, the regional capital, is very helpful.
Found in the billboards are basic information on the tourist destination, tour rates and contact information.
On July 27, former An Waray party-list congressman Florencio ‘Bem’ Noel and city tourism officer Malou Tabao unveiled the tourism promotional billboards at the Tacloban new bus terminal and in one of the city’s private passenger van terminals.
“This will encourage locals to patronize local tourist destinations and give information on what to expect in these places. Many people in region 8 have visited destinations in other parts of the country and even outside the country, but never visited local destinations” Noel said.
Photos of the unveiled tourism destinations were the Sambawan Island in Maripipi Biliran; Biri rock formations in Northern Samar and the Kalangaman Island in Palompon, Leyte.
Tabao said that the initiative is supported by the city government as tourists drop by the city being the regional capital.
“This will benefit the city being the commercial center of the region. So let us help promote destinations to create more opportunities in the region,” she added. (LIZBETH ANN A. ABELLA)

PALO, Leyte- While the mayor of this town is the driving force behind a multi-million cultural extravaganza, the Kasadyaan Festival, she frowns in holding a local beauty search due to high cost of staging it.
Mayor Remedios ‘Matin’ Petilla said that holding a Miss Palo during its annual town fiesta would not only entail lots of preparation but especially, would cost a lot.
Petilla, who is now on her third and final term as mayor of this bustling town, said that the money that they would spend in staging a Miss Palo could better be used to other activities relative to their town fiesta.
“It’s very expensive to have a Miss Palo. You have to spend a lot in inviting judges, for one. The money that we will spend for the holding of the Miss Palo could better be used to other activities,” Petilla said during a media press conference.
Palo will observe its 188th fiesta on August 6 with series of activities been lined up by the municipal government.
Among these activities include sports competitions, agriculture and trade fair and nightly activities which include presentation of local dances and culture.
Mayor Petilla, who is known for being a perfectionist, said that if ever they would stage a Miss Palo activity, she would make it sure that it would be a grand presentation.
“It should not pale in comparison with the Miss Universe or Miss World staging,” she quipped.
Mayor Petilla, while she was the governor of Leyte, initiated the staging of the Kasadyaan Festival, a high-level cultural festival event in the province held during the annual fiesta of Tacloban City.
The Kasadyaan Festival, which has now fused with another festival, Pintados Festival, is now considered as the region’s premier cultural festival.
Mayor Petilla said that while they make sure that the people of Palo and their guests will have a good time during the entire town fiesta celebration, the funds allocated by the municipal government will still be minimal.
It was learned from Councilor Wilson Uy that for this year, the municipal government has allocated P2.8 million to be spent for all fiesta-related activities.
He also said that the entire amount may not be dispense as they also sought financial assistance from private donors as well as from the provincial government of Leyte.
(JOEY A. GABIETA)