TACLOBAN CITY– The Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) admitted that there are business establishments that were not inspected for fire safety.

Most of these establishments involved boarding houses that are not registered.
With this, C/Supt. Adel Bautista, BFP regional director, has called on the public to help them on this to ensure their safeness.

“Actually, nalilikatan na iton namon pag inspection so kun may mga complaints la, dida la namon hiya naiinspection. Kay tungod diri na hera naagi ha business permits, that means illegal na ito nga era mga activity kun waray nera business,” he said.

Business establishments to check if these establishments have a business permit and fire safety inspection certificate. (ELLA MAE M. RITA, LNU Student Intern)

Manila—On February 22 and 23, more than 200 youth champions from 15 cities in the Philippines participated in the first-ever National Youth Development Alliance (YDA) Summit hosted by the United States government in Davao City to strengthen city government programs for employing and educating out-of-school youth (OSY).

Organized by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Opportunity 2.0 program, the YDA Summit provided a platform to share knowledge, best practices, and innovations to support OSY. These include programs such the Alternative Learning System of the Department of Education, online technical-vocational training from the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), and the Youth Entrepreneurship Program of the Department of Trade and Industry.

The YDA Summit hosted local leaders and representatives from 15 USAID partner cities: Angeles City, Pasig City, Valenzuela City, Quezon City, Legazpi City, Davao City, General Santos City, Cotabato City, Iligan City, Cagayan de Oro City, Cebu City, Iloilo City, Tagbilaran City, Zamboanga City, and Isabela City.

In a recorded message during the event, Vice President and concurrent Education Secretary Sara Duterte praised USAID for its support to education and workforce development in the Philippines. “Many USAID programs in the Philippines have strengthened education and workforce development systems, reached more out-of-school youth, and helped us get them ready for the transition to further education and training, immediate employment, and long-term success,” Vice President Duterte said.

“The Philippines has an estimated four million out-of-school children and youth. To make growth truly inclusive, we must provide each person the opportunity for a better tomorrow,” USAID Mission Director Ryan Washburn said. “USAID launched the Opportunity 2.0 program in 2020 to support our Philippine partners to do just that.”

Davao City Mayor Sebastian Duterte, in a message delivered by Vice Mayor Jesus Melchor Quitain, Jr., also expressed appreciation to USAID for hosting the first youth development alliance summit. “We are honored to host youth champions from across the Philippines here at the YDA Summit in partnership with USAID and the Education Development Center. We are proud to be leading the way in services, policies, and programs for one of the most vulnerable members of our society: the out-of-school youth,” he said.

USAID helped set up YDAs in cities across the Philippines to provide opportunities for OSY, including work and business readiness training, on-the-job training, youth leadership and empowerment seminars, and entrepreneurial support. Since 2020, YDAs have been instrumental guiding 30,000 OSY to obtain better jobs, open businesses, or acquire higher level education. (PR)

ORMOC CITY-A four-year-old boy died after he was hit by an ambulance in Catbalogan City, Samar Friday afternoon.

Killed on the spot was Romel Acbangin who was bumped by the ambulance driven by Mitchel Bajen, 39 owned by the municipal government of Basey, also in Samar.

Based on the report of the Catbalogan city police disclosed that the incident took place at about 1:10 pm within the vicinity of the provincial capitol grounds.

The report added that the driver of the ambulance hit by the boy while he was trying to maneuver his vehicle to look for a parking space.

While he was driving the ambulance, he accidentally hit the boy who was walking on the road.

The boy was brought to the Samar Provincial Hospital where he was declared dead on arrival by the attending physician.

The suspect is now detained at the Catbalogan city police lock-up facility and was charged with reckless imprudence resulting in homicide.
(ROBERT DEJON)

Though no transport group in EV joined the strike

TACLOBAN CITY – While Eastern Visayas was spared of a supposed nationwide strike from various drivers’ associations, the police in the region still deployed several of its vehicles on Monday (March 6) to ferry passengers.

The ‘Libreng Sakay,’ started at 6 am until 6 pm, is their way to ‘anticipate’ any passengers that may be affected by the strike, B/Gen. Rommel Francisco Marbil, the police regional director, said.

“We will continuously monitor for any possible changes and disturbances as well as provide assistance to the public,” he said in a statement released by the regional police information office.

Furthermore, a deployment of civil disturbance management (CDM) was also activated of any disruptive gatherings and protests.

The week-long protests were planned by various transport groups to oppose the government’s initiative for transport modernization.

The jeepney modernization program aims to gradually replace dilapidated jeepneys with more high-capacity and environment-friendly vehicles.

Based on the initial assessment and coordination by the different police provincial offices, none of the local transport groups in the region have joined the transport strike.
(LIZBETH ANN A ABELLA)