TACLOBAN CITY – At least 16 towns in Eastern Visayas still lack firefighting facilities and manpower, the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) reported on Thursday.

Chief Supt. Adel Bautista, BFP 8 (Eastern Visayas) director, in a press briefing said the programming of the construction of fire station buildings and procurement of equipment per local government unit (LGU) depend on the national headquarters.

Samar province has the most number of areas without fire stations and fire trucks. These are the towns of Almagro, Daram, Sto Niño, Tagapul-an, Talalora and Zumarraga.
In Northern Samar, the towns of Biri, Lapinig, Rosario, San Vicente and Victoria; and in Eastern Samar, the municipalities of Lorente, Maydolong and Mercedes also do not have firefighting facilities.

In the entire Leyte Island only the town of Pintuyan in Southern Leyte has no fire station while in Biliran province, only the island town of Maripipi has no facility.

“In Samar, most of these areas are island towns and it is challenging to find a lot and transport construction materials,” Bautista said.

He added that the procurement concerns hindered BFP’s goal to put up a fire station, provide a fire truck, and have at least four personnel in every town.

The official said in the case of some towns where there were donated properties to build a fire station, they were confronted with problems however with requirements they need to comply with, such as the accessibility of the location and clearance from the Mines and Geoscience Bureau.

Bautista said the number of towns without fire stations has been decreasing every year with the support from local government units and BFP national headquarters. In 2020, there were still 23 areas without fire stations.

The BFP regional office released the report in time for the Fire Prevention Month observance.

The BFP prepares various activities nationwide for the month-long observance. These activities are set to reinforce fire safety awareness and strengthen the bureau’s community relations with the general public.

In Central Visayas, efforts are being pushed by BFP Region 7 to strengthen its community fire volunteer brigades and capacitate them as first responders in fire incidents in their barangays.

In a media forum, Supt. Raul Bustaliño, BFP-7 operations division chief, said the fire agency recognized the role of the community fire auxiliary group (CFAG) whose volunteers are the first to respond when a fire breaks out in their village.

He said village-based fire volunteers will get extensive firefighting training apart from the effort to equip them with apparatuses that they can use as first responders while waiting for the firefighters to arrive.

“We’re reaching out to the grassroots by organizing community fire auxiliary groups as part of the “Oplan Ligtas na Pamayanan” program of the BFP to equip and capacitate barangay volunteers so that they can deal with the fire that will happen in their community,” Bustaliño said.

The fire agency in Region 7 registered 974 fire incidents in 2022 with a total of P771 million worth of damage to property. The 2022 data showed an increase in fire incidents as compared to the 906 that happened in 2021 with P332 million worth of damage to property. (PNA)

TACLOBAN CITY – The Regional Project Coordination Office of the Department of Agriculture (DA) recently endorses five farm-to-market road (FMR) projects to be implemented in four provinces in the region.

The proposed FMR project has a total cost of P725 million to be implemented under the Intensified Building-Up of Infrastructure and Logistics Development (I-BUILD) component of the Philippine Rural Development Project (PRDP).

I-BUILD aims to establish strategic and climate-resilient rural infrastructures along priority commodity value chains to link production areas to markets and increase productivity.
The PRDP, on the other hand, is a six-year, World Bank-assisted national project under the DA that aims to establish a modern, inclusive, value chain-oriented, and climate-smart agriculture and fisheries sector.

The FMR projects are in Barangay Cambagguio-Brgy. San Andres in Villareal, Samar; Brgy. Libas-Brgy. Kauswagan in Sogod, Southern Leyte; Brgy. Paa-Imelda Marcos-Tambis-Sta. Margarita-Marangog in Hilongos, Leyte; Camparanga-Manahaw-San Ramon-Canjumadal in Pambujan and Brgy. Magsaysay-Brgy. Somoroy in Bobon, both in Northern Samar.

Jenny Lyn Almeria, PRDP deputy project director, said that these projects have been proposed earlier but were delayed due to processing documentary requirements.

Almeria explained that the RPAB review is part of the preparation for the PRDP scale-up for these to be enrolled for prioritization of PRDP projects nationwide.
(ROEL T. AMAZONA)

ORMOC CITY-Agents from the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) together with the station drug enforcement team of Padre Burgos, Southern Leyte police arrested a government employee in a buy-bust operation on Thursday (March 2).

Arrested during the sting operation was Ramil Clarin, 41 and said to be employed at the municipal government of Padre Burgos.

Recovered from the possession of the suspect were two sachets containing the suspected prohibited drug.

The suspect has been charged for violation of RA 9165, the Comprehensive Law against Illegal Drugs of 2002, and is now detained at the locked-up cell of Padre Burgos municipal police station.
(ROBERT DEJON)

ORMOC CITY-The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) – Biliran District Engineering Office (DEO) employees warmly welcome Engr. Irwin Antonio as its new assistant district engineer.

Antonio officially assumed his position on February 27, 2023, replacing Engr. Rosario B. Rosete.

Engr. Rosete reverted back to her old post as chief of the planning and design section of the Biliran district engineering office.

Meanwhile, Assistant District Engineer Alfredo Bollido will continue with his designation as OIC-District Engineer.

Bollido assumed the post upon the death of Engineer Ferdinand Briones last month.
Antonio said that his leadership style will always be in coordination with district engineer Bollido.

“I am here in Biliran to function as directed by the district engineer related to operation. I will consistently be talking to section chiefs, it might be personally or might be one on one, or I might be talking directly to the person concerned so that I can get an idea on the things that need to be addressed or improved,” he said.

Antonio also expressed his strong desire in helping Biliran district engineering office towards achieving a goal by emphasizing the importance of teamwork and commitment.
Prior to his assignment to Biliran DEO, Antonio was formerly the assistant district engineer of DPWH-Leyte 4th district office based in Ormoc City.
(ROBERT DEJON)

TACLOBAN CITY– The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) has allotted P1.626 billion in its 2023 General Appropriation Act (GAA) to the Leyte Second District Engineering Office (Leyte 2 DEO) for the construction of infrastructure projects for the second district of Leyte.

District Engineer Leo Edward Oppura reported that the allotted budget is composed of 71 projects, of which 9 are now ongoing and the remaining projects are under detailed engineering and pre-construction activities.

“We are targeting to implement all of the projects in the first half of the year. Expanding the road network, connect the by-pass roads, and accelerate the flood control projects to become useful, especially now that the region is experiencing torrential rains,” Oppura added.

These projects consist of preventive maintenance; rehabilitation/reconstruction/upgrading of damaged paved roads; rehabilitation/reconstruction of national roads with slips, slope collapse, and landslides; network development road widening; construction of by-pass and diversion roads; construction of missing links/new roads; retrofitting/strengthening of permanent bridges; construction/maintenance of flood mitigation structures and drainage systems; construction/rehabilitation of flood mitigation facilities within major river basins and principal rivers; and the Basic Infrastructure Program (BIP) – access roads and/or bridges from the national road/s leading to major/strategic public buildings/facilities will generate jobs and increase economic activities.

For CY 2022, DPWH allotted the district office a total of P1.38 billion for its 57 infrastructure projects, of which 47 were completed and 10 are ongoing.

The second congressional district of Leyte is made up of 14 municipalities, comprising La Paz, Julita, Burauen, Dagami, Dulag, Mayorga, Mac Arthur, Jaro, Tunga, Barugo, Capoocan, and Carigara. (LIZBETH ANN A. ABELLA)