TACLOBAN CITY- The resumption of peace talks between the national government and the communist group in the country will be good for the region which is still facing the problem on insurgency.
And with a peaceful environment, projects located in the remote areas can proceed unhampered, Imelda Bonifacio, regional program manager of Pamana (Payapa at Masaganang Pamayanan), said.
Pamana, which is under the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace Process (OPAPP), has funded several road projects in the region, mostly in conflict areas in Samar provinces.
President Rodrigo Duterte has again declared his desire for his government and the leadership of the Communist Party of the Philippines-National Democratic Front (CPP-NDF) to resume peace talks, describing it as the ‘last chance’ on this matter setting several conditions which include, among others, no extortion activity or destruction of properties; no expansion or recruitment on the side of the communist group.
According to Bonifacio, this call of the President to return to the negotiation table is being welcome by all and not just by the Pamana and OPAPP.
She said that with a peaceful environment, projects funded by them in Samar provinces can proceed without delay and harassment from the rebel members.
“Everybody is waiting for the (resumption of the) peace talks except of course those who have lost their trust that this effort will not lead to nowhere. But we are progressing (towards this direction),” Bonifacio said.
She added that the conditions set by the President should be followed by the communist group like on no extortion activities “so that the government can pursue the Build, Build, Build program.”
“It’s a big factor to the realization of the construction of tri-boundary roads. This will show the government’s sincerity to address the development gaps in geographically isolated and disadvantage areas-which the CNN (Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army-National Democratic Front) have been fighting for (ideologically),” the regional PAMANA head said.
“As of the moment, contractors are apprehensive (on the reported) massive harassment (by the communist rebels) if they do not give in,” the PAMANA regional chief said.
Earlier, there were reports that PAMANA-funded projects in different towns in Samar provinces were being harassed by the NPA, the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines, unless they give them money.
Road constructions funded by PAMANA is ongoing in the towns of Las Navas, Mapanas, Lope de Vega and Silvino Lubos, all in Northern Samar; Dolores Maslog, Can-avid and Gen.Macarthur, all in Eastern Samar.
For next year, PAMANA- road projects will also be constructed in Silvino Lubos (Northern Samar)-Matuguinao (Samar); Maslog (Eastern Samar)-San Jose de Buan (Samar); and Las Navas (Northern Samar) – Jipapad (Eastern Samar).

By Joey Gabieta

TACLOBAN CITY-More than a million youths from the region are to vote in the Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections this May 14.
Based on the records of the regional office of the Commission on Elections(Comelec), about 1,173,514 young voters are to cast their votes for the SK elections which are to be held together with the regular barangay balloting.
The number of SK voters in the region has ballooned compare to the 2010 record, the last time the country held a youth election.
For that particular youth election, there were only 188,018 SK registered voters of which 174,547 casted their votes.
Lawyer Felicisimo Embalsado, Comelec-8 assistant regional director, said that the increase of the SK registrants were due to the implementation of RA 10742 which raised the voting age of SK.
From the previous 15 to 17 years of age, considered as SK voters are those from 15 to 30 years of age, Embalsado said.
However, the same law mandates that only those who are 18 to 24 years could run and be elected as SK officials.
“But during the elections, SK voters ages 18 to 30 are to be given two ballots, one for the SK and the other for the regular barangay elections,” Embalsado said.
Under our laws, those who reaches 18 and above are qualified to vote during a local or national election.
Those who will run for the SK and barangay polls are to submit their certificates of candidacy (CoCs) starting on April 14 until April 20.
However, the Comelec local offices will not accept CoCs on April 15 which falls on Sunday, Embalsado said.
Of the six provinces of Eastern Visayas, Leyte has the most number of SK voters at 477,845 followed by Samar,229,505 voters.
Eastern Samar has 135,821 SK voters; Northern Samar (181,335); Southern Leyte (103,081); and Biliran, 45,927.
Meantime, registered for the regular barangay elections in the region is at 2.84 million.
(JOEY A. GABIETA)

TACLOBAN CITY – All elected Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) officials will undergo a mandatory orientation for them to learn how to do their job, the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) regional office here said.
The orientation will be held within 15 days before the official assumption of SK or the youth council of their respective positions, said DILG Regional Director Marivel Sacendoncillo.
“The idea is to bring all the SK officials elected to academic institutions to attend the orientation all over the region. Each area has an assigned campus where they will join the orientation,” Sacendoncillo said.
The orientation will gather more than 300,000 youth council officials from the region’s 4,390 villages.
“Each province will partner with state universities and colleges. In the case of big provinces, there would be instances that they will need the help of private institutions,” Sacendoncillo said.
The orientation will run from the third week of May to early June, but preparations have started as early as March.
“We need to help each other for the success of this mandatory orientation since modules are now ready and the educational institutions will find their resource speakers to help the SK learn their job,” Sacendoncillo added.
The village and SK polls will finally push through on May 14 after a series of delays. The last village elections were held in October 2013, while the last SK elections were held in October 2010.
Under the SK Reform Act of 2015, the youth council is composed of one chairman and seven members, who must be aged 18 to 24 at the day of the election, picked by majority of youth resident in the community.
Each elected youth official has a three-year term.
Section 10 of SK Reform Law includes an anti-dynasty provision prescribing that candidates should not be related within the second degree of affinity or consanguinity to any incumbent national, regional, or local elected official at the city, town, or village level.
(MELVA MAE C. MENIANO)

TACLOBAN CITY – The province of Leyte posted the highest rice production in the region last year, a report from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA-8) said.
Wilma Perante, PSA regional director, told Leyte Samar Daily Express that Leyte produced the highest volume of palay (fresh from the farm not yet milled rice or unmilled rice) at 481,487 metric tons which comprised 50.9 percent of the total palay production of the region.
Eastern Samar, meanwhile, had the lowest volume of production at 59,754 MT accounting for only 6.3 percent, she added.
Perante also said that regional palay production plummeted by one percent from 954,844 MT in 2016 to 945,565 MT in 2017.
She added that the total harvest area for palay in the region, on the other hand, inched up by 1.8 percent, from 268,110 hectares in 2016 to 272,889 hectares in 2017.
Increase in palay area harvested were observed among all provinces, except for Biliran and Southern Leyte which exhibited decreased of 2.6 percent and 2.4 percent, respectively.
The PSA director said that Leyte recorded more than two-fifths or 43.4 percent (481,487 hectares) of the total palay area harvested in 2017, while Biliran contributed the least (14,383 hectares) accounting for only 5.3 percent.
Yield for palay in the region went down by 2.7 percent, from 3.6 MT per hectare in 2016 to 3.5 MT per hectare in 2017, Perante said.
Perante said that among the provinces, Biliran posted the highest yield per hectare at 4.5 MT per hectare in 2017. Eastern Samar registered the lowest yield per hectare at 2.6 MT per hectare.
(RESTITUTO A. CAYUBIT)

PALO, Leyte – Presidential Communications Operations Office Undersecretary Lorraine Badoy visited the residents of the shelters constructed by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) in the region to check on their conditions.
Badoy, who was a former DSWD assistant secretary before she was appointed to her current post, visited the Reception and Study Center (RSC) where abandoned and neglected children are temporarily staying before they are taken by adopted parents; the Haven for Women, a shelter for sexually abused women; the Home for Girls; and the Regional Center for Children in Conflict with the Law (RCCCY) which is a regional rehabilitation facility for boys.
The shelters are located in the municipality of Palo and Tanauan.
Usec. Badoy said that compare to other similar shelters that she visited in Luzon and Mindanao, the facilities of DSWD here in the region are in better condition and well-maintained by the personnel of the agency.
She disclosed that for this year, P3 billion has been allocated for the improvement of shelter centers in the country of which P60 million has been budgeted for the region.
During her visits to these shelters, Badoy had an interaction with the residents, as the boys and girls are addressed, and gave them her encouragement.
Psycho-social interventions and livelihood training skills are being provided by the DSWD in these temporary shelters for the abused and abandoned children. (ROEL T. AMAZONA)