MAASIN CITY – Southern Leyte Governor Christopherson Yap said that he had asked President Rodrigo Duterte that a ‘Malasakit Center’ be put up in his province.
A Malasakit Center is a one-stop shop to provide assistance to poor patients, in particular, from various government agencies like the Philippine Health Insurance Corp., Department of Social Welfare and Development, and the Department of Health.
The first Malasakit Center in the region was established at the Eastern Visayas Regional Medical Center with Special Assistant to the President Sec. Christopher Lawrence ‘Bong’ Go and presidential spouse Honeylet Avanceña leading the inauguration on May 22.
“For people who have nothing, the Malasakit Center can really help them a lot if they seek for medical assistance,” Gov. Yap.
“Before we can position our self as economically viable to any market, we have also to take care of our human resources,” he added.
Gov. Yap said that he made his request during his audience with Pres. Duterte during his visit to the province on July 2, coinciding with the 58th founding anniversary of the province.
According to Yap, the President would discuss the matter with Health Sec. Francisco Duque III and Presidential Assistant for the Visayas, Michael Lloyd Dino.
The Office of the Presidential Assistant for the Visayas is the lead agency behind the Malasakit Center and funded by the socio-civic funds of the Office of the President.
Gov. Yap said that the location of the Malasakit Center in Tacloban is very far from their province which is about four hours travel from the capital city of Maasin and more than five hours travel from San Ricardo, the farthest town.
If their request is granted, the Malasakit Center will be established at the Southern Leyte Provincial Hospital located in Maasin City.
(ROEL T. AMAZONA)

TACLOBAN CITY – Carlos Cabrales Awa-ao, Jr., 57 and Gina Lacbayen Lectojas, 48 both considers July 5, 2018, as the most memorable date in their companionship.
After several years of living together, the two were solemnized as a legal couple through Mayor Cristina G. Romualdez’s Mass Wedding Program – a regular program of the City Government through the City Civil Registrar’s Office (CCRO).
Mayor Romualdez solemnized the union of 54 couples from 18 barangays in the presence of Philippine Statistics Authority-8 Director Wilma A. Perante and CCRO chief Imelda Roa at the Tacloban City Training Center on Thursday, July 5.
The chief executive reminded the couples to remain steadfast in their relationships as this is not only a covenant among themselves but also with God.
The couples came from Barangays 3 Upper Nula-Tula, 5-A, 23-A Avenida Veteranos, 37-A Palanog, 39 Calvary, 44 Quarry, 62-B Sagkahan, 68 Anibong, 69 Anibong, 78 Marasbaras, 89 San Jose, 91 Abucay, 94 Tigbao, 97 Cabalawan, 100 San Roque, 105 San Isidro, 106 Sto. Nino North Hill Arbours, 110 and the Mission of Charity.
The application for marriage and the marriage license fees were waived for the beneficiaries of the ‘Kasalan ng Bayan’ Program, and a wedding reception was sponsored in their honor by the city government.
Before the wedding ceremony, the couples attended a marriage orientation activity and a health and wellness talk spearheaded by the City Population Office and the Special Health Program Unit of the city.
Meanwhile, Director Perante lauded the initiative of the city government to provide free marriage services to indigent Taclobanons, she said that the program will help minimize the number of illegitimate children and establish a strong foundation of couple and family life. (HENRY JAMES ROCA/CIO)

NAVAL, Biliran-The public information officers (IOs) of Biliran District Engineering Office (DEO) are seriously taking up the challenge of fighting fake news.
Public IOs Chelsea Q. Salloman, Engr. Gene F. Delfin, and Penny Lloyd E. Batoto attended a workshop under Communication Development Program (CommDev) of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) on June 7-8, 2018.
The workshop was held during the 2nd Quarterly Meeting of DPWH Region VIII Public IOs at Eastern Samar District Engineering Office (ESDEO), Borongan City.
According to District Engineer (DE) Manolo A. Rojas of ESDEO, the DPWH has been allocated by the government with the biggest budget this year.
“With great power comes great responsibility,” DE Rojas said quoting the fictional character Spiderman. “This is the reason why all eyes are focusing on our performances,” he added during his welcome remarks to public IOs.
“Because of the technology and accessible social media, a lot of information are now displayed on the internet and everything is only one click away, fake news is very rampant,” he said.
According to DE Rojas, the public has to know the good news on what the DPWH is doing, that they deserve to know the truth and that they are privileged.
“That is now the work of Public Information Officers, and that is also the reason why you are important,” DE Rojas said.
“You are the voice of the department, you are the warrior of fake news, and you are the communicator of good news,” he added.
Fake news/ disinformation is an information that is false, and the person disseminating it knows it is not true, therefore it is an intentional lie.
Resource speaker, Ninfa Ilumida B. Quirante, officer-in- charge of Public Information Agency (PIA)-Eastern Samar Provincial Information Office, gave some refresher course on news writing to DPWH public IOs through workshop.
In fighting fake news, public IOs of Biliran DEO together with other district IOs of DPWH pledged to write only what is the truth, what is verifiable, and what is accurate and timely. (PR)

CARIGARA, Leyte- The “Build Build Build” program of the Department of Public Works and Highways under the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte is very beneficial, not only to the agency but to the grassroots level,Engr. Carlos Veloso district engineer of the Leyte’s second engineering district,said.
“Aside from the regular flow of funds, because of the program, the ultimate goal of improved living condition and convenience of every Filipino is achieved because of the program,” he said.
Veloso said that the Build Build Build program is very good as there is the ready available of funds, with the right time, right cost, right project, right people and with quality control.
The projects under the Build Build Build program, according to Veloso, are hasten because of the department’s compliance to international standard or ISO, where all activities are documented and are computerized.
Next year where the engineering district is expected to have as much as P5 billion budget with the continuation of the widening of national roads and bridges, as well as the flood programs and construction of school building, Veloso is hopeful that an additional personnel will be employed by the district to augment the number of key personnel and office staff.
The Build, Build, Build program is the medium-term goal of the Duterte’s administration to increase infrastructure spending from 5.4 percent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2017, to 7.3 percent by the end of President Rodrigo Duterte’s term in 2022.
A major project under the “Build Build Build” program in Leyte is the Leyte Tide Embankment Project, a 27.3-km project from Barangay Diit in Tacloban City to Brgy. Ambao in Tanauan, Leyte, which is expected to protect at least 33,185 houses from the destructive effects of storm surges.
(LIZBETH ANN A. ABELLA)

MAASIN CITY-Southern Leyte Rep.Roger Mercado was thankful to President Rodrigo Duterte for giving instructions to the Department of Transportation (DOTr) to improve the connectivity and accessibility of their province.
Mercado said that even before the President made the order to DOTr Secretary Arthur Tugade, the agency chief had already committed to provide fund for the implementation of various transportation-related projects in Southern Leyte.
These include the expansion of the Maasin City Airport runway and the improvements of several sea ports across the province.
“The seamless connectivity and efficient travel of tourists from airports or ports to tourists’ destinations can encourage visitors to come again,” Rep.Mercado said.
Mercado, in coordination with the provincial government, conducted the first-ever two-day Tourism, Environment, and Agriculture (TEA) Summit which aim to help boost primarily the tourism and agriculture sectors of the province.
The expansion of the airport runway will allow bigger planes to land at the Maasin City Airport which currently operates for Air Juan plane using a nine-seater Grand Cessna Caravan for Cebu-Maasin flight.
Airline passengers from Southern Leyte who will travel by plane to Metro Manila needs to take three to four hours land travel to the Daniel Z. Romualdez Airport in Tacloban City which has a daily Cebu, Clark, and Manila flights.
“I am confident that the national government will provide funding for this project not because the President gives us favor because he was born in Maasin but because these are development projects that will support the sustainable livelihood of our people and better economy of the province,” Rep. Mercado said.
DOTr Sec. Tugade, who attended the July 3-4 TEA Summit re-echoed Pres.Duterte’s message to the residents on Southern Leyte on the importance of connectivity.
Tugade said Southern Leyte’s ‘connectivity’ will help boost its local economy, to include its tourism industry.
Sec. Tugade led in the inauguration of the Maasin City Airport Terminal expanding its passenger capacity from 50 to 150.
(ROEL T. AMAZONA)

TACLOBAN CITY – The Leyte provincial government is pushing for skills training for the children of farmers who have been receiving assistance over the past years.
The program is in partnership with the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), tasked to raise the capability of youth to process and market farm produce.
Governor Leopoldo Dominico Petilla said the training intended for children of farmers belonging to established associations, is designed to hone their skills to process raw farm products into high value processed food.
The month-long training has started this month for the first batch.
Training will be done in TESDA-accredited training centers closer to residence of recipients. No educational attainment is required to avail the program, according to the governor.
“We want children to learn these skills because food processing is more complicated than planting crops or raising animals,” Petilla added.
This training by TESDA is primarily funded from the office of Senator Loren Legarda.
The provincial government has been training thousands of farmers on producing high-value crops using new technologies.
As of June, the initiative has covered 180 villages all over the province. Priority areas are those with high poverty incidence and areas known to be former hotbeds of the New People’s Army.
The program, officially dubbed as More Income in the Countryside (MIC) compact farming for high-value vegetables and fruit crops, also covers areas with organized group of women and persons with disabilities.
Petilla said the program was conceptualized in the province seven years ago to raise the income of poor farmers, ensure stable local supply of high value crops, link farmers with institutional buyers, increase school participation rate, and curb malnutrition among children.
(MELVA MAE C. MENIANO)