To take long vacation before
he takes oath as Bucor chief

CAMP RUPERTO KANGLEON, PALO, Leyte- Retiring police Director- General Ronald ‘Bato’ de la Rosa said that he has no regret on his stint as the country’s top enforcer of the controversial anti-illegal drug campaign of President Rodrigo Duterte.
If at all, his only regret was there were several of his policemen who were killed in the course of the campaign, he said.
De la Rosa, who is to retire next week as the head of the more than 170,000-strong Philippine National Police, even made an unsolicited advice to his successor, Director Oscar Albayalde, to further continue the anti-illegal drug war, and temper his leadership with love and discipline among his men.
“Very happy ako. Very thankful ako sa Presidente for appointing me sa PNP (as its director general) and for giving me all the support that he could give. (But as I retire) malungkot na malungkot ako. I love the job. I love everything about the PNP. Mahiwalay ka na; its very lonely,” the country’s outgoing police chief said Thursday night.
The controversial police director general visited the regional PNP headquarters at Camp Ruperto Kangleon in Palo, Leyte which is under the command of Chief Supt. Gilberto Cruz as part of what he called ‘farewell tour’ among the organization’s regional offices, expressing his gratitude to them for their support.
He said that in his stint as PNP chief, they have accomplished several things which include bringing the organization ‘closer to the ordinary Filipino people’ and ‘restoring’ their trust as well.
“Nakita nila na ang PNP hindi lang puro kutong, sindikato.Hindi puro sakay sa illegal (activities),” de la Rosa said.
He was also proud of his accomplishments in the implementation of the illegal drug campaign of the Duterte administration.
He said that while illegal drugs continue to proliferate in the country, “at least nabawasan.”
“Kulang pa hindi pa 100 percent drug-free ang Pilipinas. May droga pa din. Dami pa din. Yan ang pangarap ko na maging drug-free ang Pilipinas pero hindi pa natin naabot. At least nabawasan,” de la Rosa said without giving figures to support his claim.
As to successor, he want Albayalde to continue the illegal drug campaign, describing it as the ‘mother of all projects’ of the President.
“I (advise) him to continue (the illegal drug campaign). Tuloy-tuloy yan. I will also advise him to continue loving his men. Love does not come from pampering your people but disciplining also. That’s how we express our love to our family, subordinate and everyone. Mahal mo ang tao, disiplinahin mo,” he said.
Asked what will be his immediate plans before he assume as head of the Bureau of Corrections(Bucor) as promised to him earlier by Mr. Duterte, de la Rosa said that he would take a vacation with his wife and children.
“Gusto ko munang magbakasyon. Matagal akong nagtrabaho. I want to hug my children and my wife. I want to be there with them. It’s payback time,” he said.
And if ever he will be asked by the President to run for a public position comes the 2019 elections, he will abide it, de la Rosa said.
“I’m not making my own plans. Dependent ako sa kanya. Kung ano ang gusto niya ipagawa sa akin, gagawin ko,” he said.
(JOEY A. GABIETA with ROEL T. AMAZONA )

CARIGARA, Leyte—A group of super typhoon ‘Yolanda’ survivors criticized the local government officials of this town and its other organizers after they were allegedly barred from joining the provincial grassroots consultation intended for them on Wednesday (April 11).
“We came to attend the grassroots or public consultation for Yolanda survivors but what happened was that we were denied entrance because we don’t have an invitation. But why named it as public consultation if it was only for selected people and being held in an exclusive area?” asked Pete Carlos, a person with disability and resident of the town.
Carlos, along with more than 60 members of the Community of Yolanda Survivors and Partners (CYSP), had to wait at the side of the road holding his crutches for about seven hours while organizers escorted visitors onboard their marked vehicles to and fro the campus of a private Catholic school.
Inside the small meeting hall of the college, presidential assistant for special concerns Usec. Wendell Avisado spoke about the importance of “consultation, cooperation” for the national government to succeed in implementing its various rehabilitation programs in Yolanda corridors.
In attendance were Leyte Governor Leopoldo Dominico Petilla, municipal mayors, regional directors of national government agencies led by National Housing Authority, several government employees and non-governmental organizations, among others.
In his speech, Carigara Mayor Eduardo Ong also apologized for the sudden change of venue due to the problem of the cooling system of their local government unit.
He then thanked Avisado for gracing the event and for giving attention to the rehabilitation problems of the affected local government units five years after Yolanda pummeled the province.
The Rina Reyes of the land rights group Rights Network and CYSP was not assumed on the shabby treatment they received from the local organizers.
“April 11 was supposedly the 4th leg of the Provincial Grassroots Consultations, spearheaded by the Office of the Presidential Adviser for Special Concerns and Oversight Office for Yolanda Rehabilitation. But the community of San Mateo and Jugaban, Carigara, along with the CYSP was refused entrance,” Reyes said.
“The events point to depriving the communities a chance to participate. It was this morning, the day of the consultation, that the change in venue was confirmed. Then, we were refused entry,” she added.
Reyes said that organizers were into a “security overkill” when they were required that names should have been listed in the attendance and each must secure a gate pass.
“National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) and the Avisado’s office negotiated for our entry. First, we were told that five, two from CYSP and three from the communities, will be allowed inside. When we were on our way up the stairs to, hopefully, at least join the open forum, we were stopped dead in our tracks. We were asked to write down our names. Then, they asked NEDA to compare our names to the records upstairs.
“Two, three minutes were enough for us to get the clearer message, we were on pity roll,” she said.
According to Reyes, the leaders decided to leave and were wanting to hold a meeting when they returned to the garbage post of Land Transportation Office just a few meters away from the venue of the dialogue.
“A few minutes later, however, we are being requested to return. The leaders stood their ground. It was at this moment, that Dir. Kim de Leon (of Usec. Avisado’s office) committed that they will be coming to us. After all, what public consultation would matter, without the public?” Reyes said in a statement.
“But as everything went wrong, in the end, things favored the communities. Avisado, along with NEDA, met the communities at the very place where we were seated – on the road, under the sun and the rain, beside LTO’s garbage can. The communities had 15 minutes with him,” Reyes said.
Avisado met with the group at about 2:30 pm already, yet the survivors thanked him the commitment that housing will be free for the beneficiaries.
“Avisado promised that before anything happens, a dialogue will be held. For the meantime, the people considered these enough. They won, this time,” Reyes said.
Leyte Gov. Petilla maintained that the dialogue is “not for local officials, barangay officials, but for the benefits of those who were hit by Yolanda.”
(RONALD O. REYES)

TACLOBAN CITY – Some 3,907 patients were served by the MASA Health Service Unit of the city government under Mayor Cristina G. Romualdez during the first quarter this year.
The number includes 1, 400 adults and 1697 pediatrics.
The health unit, which was started during the incumbency of former Mayor Alfred S. Romualdez, is located on the second floor of the Tacloban City Supermarket and caters to the health needs of indigent residents of the city.
Among the health services offered by the office are community visits, pre-natal check-ups, HIV testing, drug dependency examination and physical examinations.
Consultations were also made on patients with upper respiratory tract infection, hypertension, bronchial asthma, urinary tract infection, and pneumonia, among others during the same period.
From January to March, the unit also conducted health education to its clientele on tuberculosis management and prevention, dengue; lifestyle modification, proper use of antibiotics and oral health.
It also conducted medical missions in Barangays 98 Camansihay, 106 Sto. Nino, 77 Bañezville, 105 Suhi, 97 Cabalawan, 3 Upper Nula Tula and Living hope Christian Church as part of the “Barangayan” Caring Giving and Reaching out Program.
‘Labs ko an Lawas ko’, a healthy lifestyle advocacy program of the MASA also led a number of activities like zumba, BMI CBG testing, and medical consultation.
MASA is a priority program of Mayor Cristina G. Romualdez that seeks to improve healthy lifestyle, prevent diseases and alleviate the suffering of indigent Tacloban residents through its different programs and services. (HENRY JAMES ROCA/CIO)

TACLOBAN CITY — The Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) has been releasing the P53.23 million incentives to coconut farmers in Eastern Visayas for planting banana after the 2013 super typhoon ‘Yolanda.’
As of March, the PCA regional office has already distributed P22.81 million checks to 6,821 coconut farmers who planted 912,650 suckers within the first two years after the destructive typhoon.
The PCA started the distribution in January.
“We have been going around provinces to inform coconut farmers that incentives for banana intercropping is now ready for release,” said PCA Regional Manager Joel Pilapil.
The official clarified that the incentive is intended for the 15,646 coconut farmers who planted 2.12 million banana suckers from 2014 to 2015.
“It takes time to release the money since we have to abide to some auditing rules. Even if it comes late, we see the happy faces of farmers receiving checks,” Pilapil.
The PCA prioritized the provision of cash to farmers who planted banana considering that it is very suitable to plant the crop under coconut trees, high demand in the market, and it is ready for harvest in less than a year.
“While waiting for the full recovery of coconut, we introduced banana intercropping for farmers to have alternative income. This is the first time that PCA provided cash reward to farmers engaged in intercropping,” Pilapil added.
Of the P53.23 million budget, P39.06 million was set aside for Leyte province, P1.41 million for Biliran, P250,000 for Southern Leyte, P5 million for Samar, and P7.5 million for Eastern Samar.
The PCA is targeting to finish the distribution of incentives within the first semester of the year.
About 33.90 million coconut trees in Eastern Visayas were destroyed by the monster storm in 2013.
Of the total, 13.90 million were categorized as totally damaged, 9.04 million severely damaged, 5.69 million slightly damaged, and 5.28 million moderately damaged.
(SARWELL Q. MENIANO/PNA)

MAASIN CITY – The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) field office here received nine new chariot-type maintenance crew service vehicles from Southern Leyte Representative Roger Mercado.
DPWH Southern Leyte district engineering office (SLDEO) chief Ma. Margarita Junia accepted the new vehicles during the turnover ceremony on April 6.
She expressed appreciation to Mercado and the provincial government for their support and contribution to the department’s projects.
“These new vehicles will help boost the agency’s capability to maintain roads and infrastructures in Southern Leyte,” Junia said.
The nine service vehicles will be given to each maintenance point persons (MPPs) designated in different locations in Southern Leyte.
MPPs are tasked to supervise road maintenance works such as vegetation control, manual ditch cleaning clearing of obstruction, cleaning of culverts and manholes, manual patching of shoulders, as well as sidewalk and gutter cleaning.
The point persons conduct daily inspection of their assigned road sections including bridges to identify defects and deficiencies.
“With these new vehicles for our MPPs, we will be able to improve our road rating and we can now adhere to the policy of quickly responding to restore road defects,” Junia said citing the department order directing personnel to fix road defects within two days.
These defects include potholes, alligator cracks, major scaling, shoving and corrugation, pumping and depression, faded road markings, inverted shoulder, lush vegetation, clogged drains, and open manholes.
“As a sign of our gratitude to the donors, rest assured that these new vehicles will be taken care of. We assure that the utilization of these equipment is in line with our duty to continually improve the maintenance service delivery to the public and to keep our national roads safe and convenient for the people of Southern Leyte,” said maintenance section chief Gideon Sacro.
The DPWH field office here is tasked to maintain 299 kilometers of national roads and 155 bridges, built in 18 towns and one city. (PR)

GOVERNMENT CENTER, PALO, Leyte- The controversy on Dengvaxia was blamed by the health officials in the region for the drop of their accomplishment on their anti-measles campaign.
Because of the controversy generated by the Dengvaxia issue, parents are now hesitant, if not outright reject, any vaccination campaign like anti-measles being administered by their department, Boyd Cerro, regional chief of epidemiology and surveillance unit of the DOH, said.
Last year, their measles immunization campaign has only reached 62.70 percent which was lower compared to the 71.08 percent in 2016.
The controversy on Dengvaxia, which generated so much media coverage, started to come to light in 2017 though the campaign was made in 2016 covering Central Luzon, Calabarzon, Metro Manila and some cities in Cebu involving more than 837,000 students in public schools.
Cerro said that while the region was not among the regions where the Dengvaxia vaccine was administered, the controversy it created result in negative impression to the department’s immunization campaigns.
“But because of the controversy, parents in the region are now hesitant to any immunization program of the DOH. Some even reject that their children be given any vaccines from the department. They are now afraid to have their children immunized because of the controversy generated by the Dengvaxia issue,” the health official said.
In 2017, out of the targeted 127,032 children below two years old, only 79,651 were able to be given with the anti-measles vaccine or just 62.70 percent.
And this drop of number of children getting the measles vaccine is a cause of alarm to them, Cerro said.
“This could result to a measles outbreak considering of the low turnout of our (coverage) campaign of anti-measles vaccine,” he said.
The DOH-8, however, has yet to monitor any outbreak of measles in the region.
Because of this situation, they have strengthened their campaign for parents to allow their children have the measles antidote.
Cerro said that while they have not administered the Dengvaxia vaccine in the region, they were still able to monitor 96 children, whose ages ranged from 11 to 19, to have been given the said vaccine.
He said that 80 of these children received the vaccines from private physicians while the 16 others were children who were from the places where the vaccine was administered like Zambales and Cebu but were in the region for a vacation or Christmas break.
“Eight of them were confined in the hospital with only six of them to have been confirmed to have dengue fever. Fortunately, we don’t have any fatality,” Cerro said.
Cerro said that the Bureau of Foods and Drugs (BFAD), an agency under the DOH, revoked the licenses of these doctors to further administer Dengvaxia vaccine.
“The products were also recalled from these private physicians,” he said.
Cerro, however, declined to give details on the private physicians who administered the vaccine adding that they have no liability as it was the DOH which earlier gave them the authority to use the Dengvaxia vaccine.
(JOEY A. GABIETA)