TACLOBAN CITY-Police in Arteche, Eastern Samar arrested an alleged carnapper on June 23.
Authorities identified the suspect as Mark Lito Cerera, 32, single, and jobless.
The victim, a certain Omaimah Matanog, earlier told the police that his vehicle was carnapped in Leyte, Leyte and it could be located in Arteche.
Acting upon the tip from Leyte Municipal Police Station, operatives in Arteche through Police Lieutenant Lysander Camacho conducted an intel-driven operation at Barangay Central in Arteche town which led to the arrest of Cerera, who is a resident of Biliran,Biliran.
Confiscated from Cerera’s possession and control were one white color Toyota Hi-Ace van with plate number VN 8985, one unit Samsung mobile phone GT-E2202, one back pack containing assorted clothes, and personal documents, police said.
The suspect was brought to Arteche Municipal Police station for documentation.
(RONALD O. REYES)

TACLOBAN CITY-At least one person was dead and three others were wounded in two separate attacks by still unidentified gunmen in the region from June 21 to 22.
Police identified the fatality as Alan Barcelon, 43, who was shot in the head while onboard his motorcycle along with his wife Salve, 40, in Barangay McKinley, Catarman, Northern Samar on June 21.
A gunman, who waited along the area, fired at the couple, resulting to Barcelon’s death.
His wife, who sustained gunshot wound on her body, was brought to the nearest hospital.
Motive of the shooting is yet to be determined, Catarman police said.
On June 22, two unidentified gunmen who were standing along the side of the road also fired at another couple onboard their motorcycle in Barangay Puting Bato, Isabel, Leyte.
Police said the victims Jerson, 39, and Jennifer, 27, sustained gunshot wounds in their arm and leg.

They were brought to a hospital for immediate medical attention.
Police recovered three empty shell of cal. 45 pistol from the crime scene.
Police are investigating the incident.
(RONALD O. REYES)

BY: MELISSA R. REATAZA

June 12 Thought: Respect Flag rites:
“We can’t make our mistake twice. The second time we make it’s so no longer a mistake. It’s a choice.
A flag ceremony, whether it be a flag raising or a flag retreat is sacred. Therefore, it should be observed with all the solemnity and sacredness of a Filipino citizen that can be mustered. But, as we go far away from the past years or declaration of our being independent, we are much getting too far from respecting our own flag and our own National Anthem.
The National Anthem (Pambansang Await) like the national flag should be treated with ceremonial respect. On this, the anniversary of the declaration of Independence in Kawit in 1898m it is perhaps timely to remind all to behave during flag ceremonies.
But, sad to say, many students, during the everyday flag raising ceremonies, instead of standing at attention while singing the national anthem, and while reciting the Patriotic Pledge(Panatang Makabayan), students prefer to move around, have some gossips and make fun which completely disregarding what is going on.
Those acts simply make the reason that students are calling the attention of all. We have to be more forced to give more emphasis to our country, love our nationality, respect the flag, the veneration f heroes and most important for students, the proper behavior during the flag ceremonies.
If flag ceremony cannot be held properly, why do we hold them at all?
(Note: The author is a Teacher III of the Lusad Elementary School of Burauen South District)

PALO, Leyte-In its continuing advocacy and campaign to address various adolescent health and related sexuality issues and needs the young people of today are facing, the Commission on Population and Development (Popcom) will be establishing a teen center at the Carigara National Vocational School (CNVS) and the Information and Service Delivery Network (ISDN) for Adolescents in Carigara town.
Popcom through its Adolescent Health and Development (AHD) Program sees the need to provide a mechanism where it can further promote better quality health services for the adolescents which are responsive to the needs and protection of their rights. The teen center and the establishment of an ISDN for adolescents are among this mechanism.
The teen center will become the physical facility where adolescents can go for adolescent health information, entertainment, while the ISDN is the organizational linkage which will provide the needed adolescent health services.
The new teen center, to be launched at the CNVS on July 5, will serve as a resource of information, aid, skills building or simply a place of recreation or amusement for their in-school adolescents, as well as from other schools in the municipality of Carigara.
The proposed teen center will have available counselling, skills training, values formative skills, employment services, medical and dental health and even reproductive health services.
All these will be provided by the ISDN for Adolescents linkage such as the Rural Health Unit, Carigara District Hospital, the barangay health stations, Municipal Social Welfare Office, Municipal Population Office, Municipal PNP through its Women and Child Protection Desk, Youth Development Office, PESO, PhilHealth, SK Federation and the private and public secondary schools who have been linked to form part of the ISDN.
The ISDN, meantime, will become a network of facilities within municipality of Carigara that offers information, training, and core packages of health and social care services in an integrated and coordinated manner.
To firm up the partnership for the teen center and ISDN, a memorandum of agreement will be signed between Popcom VIII, CNVS, ISDN partners and the local government unit of Carigara through Mayor Eduardo Ong.
It was learned during the orientation and organizational meeting for the members of the ISDN that the municipality have a number of cases on teenage pregnancy, children in conflict with the low and a rising number of adolescents with sexually transmitted infections.
“With the establishment of a teen center, the young people can have facility they can go to while the ISDN links can ensure that the comprehensive needs of adolescents are addressed accordingly,” Reyan Arinto, Popcom information officer, stated during the meeting.
More school-based teen centers are set to be opened in other areas in the region this year and expected to be fully functional to provide greater, effective and sustained impact among target young audience.
(LIZBETH ANN A. ABELLA)

TACLOBAN CITY – The Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan-Comprehensive Integrated Delivery of Social Services (Kalahi-CIDSS) program of the regional Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD-8) has announced the completion of 694 child development centers (CDCs) in Eastern Visayas.
Engineer Gerry Piñeda, the focal person of the Kalahi-CIDSS program in region, told Leyte Samar Daily Express in an interview that the total cost of these 694 child development centers (CDCs) formerly known as day care centers is P408.82 million.
He said that in Leyte there are 163 CDCs worth P86.18 million; in Southern Leyte 18 CDCs worth P7.49 million; 12 in Biliran with the total amount of P6.85 million; 225 in Northern Samar worth P128.10 million; 195 in Samar with the total project cost of P119.40 million and 81 in Eastern Samar worth P60.77 million.
Piñeda said that these CDCs are now being used in the implementation of the supplemental feeding program (SFP) of the DSWD-8 in the region.
DSWD officer-in-charge Yvonne Serrano-Abonales reported that for the 8th cycle implementation of SFP in Eastern Visayas last year, her office has served a total of 69,721 day care children (DCCh) beneficiaries enrolled in 1,967 CDCs from the targeted 76,327 DCCh from 57 LGUs served by the program.
She added that her office had a total of P125.49 million fund downloaded to partner local government units from the fund allocation of P137.38 million for last year.
(RESTITUTO A. CAYUBIT)

TACLOBAN CITY- The Pintados-Kasadyaan Festival of Festivals parade will push through as planned on Thursday (June 27) at 8 am.
Thus said the organizers of the twin-bill festival amid information that the event has been cancelled or been moved to another date.
The Pintados-Kasadyaan Festival of Festivals is being held days ahead of the annual June 30 fiesta of Tacloban City paying homage to its patron, Senior Santo Niño.
The organizers said that the street parade will start at the Leyte Sports Center or Grandstand and will pass the major streets of Tacloban heading back to Grandstand for the ritual dance presentations.
Pintados Festival will only have three contingents, while four groups will participate in the Kasadyaan Festival of Festivals on June 27, expected to last less than in four hours.
The Kasadyaan participants are Pasaka Festival of Tanauan Leyte, Tolo-Usa Festival of Tolosa Leyte, Haru Tambalan Festival of Jaro, Leyte, and Macarato Festival of Matuguinao, Samar.
Palo Mayor Remedios ’Matin’ Petilla, chairperson of the Kasadyaan Festival of Festivals, said all participating contingents will receive P500,000 from the provincial government of Leyte as financial assistance and seed money for contingents.
Petilla and Eugene Tan, president of Pintados, said that despite of the few numbers of participants in this year’s festival, the Pintados-Kasadyaan Festival of Festivals will continue to stage the annual festivities as this is already part of the Tacloban fiesta celebration.
Now on its 24th year, the Leyte Kasadyaan Festival of Festivals brings together the diverse, vibrant and colorful festivals from the different towns in the province of Leyte and other participating festivals from its sister islands of Samar and Biliran, as well as other provinces in the Visayas.
It is one of the most awaited events of Tacloban City’s fiesta celebrations this month in honor of its patron, the Señor Sto. Niño de Tacloban.
Leyte’s festivals have brought fame and fortune to various champions, among them the Buyogan Festival of Abuyog, Burauen’s Buraburon, Tanauan’s Pasaka Festival, and Lingganay Festival of Alangalang, having bested other festivals in the country; and emerged as champions in such prominent festivals as Sinulog of Cebu and the annual national Aliwan Fiesta-Battle of Festival champions in Manila.
On the other hand, the Pintados Festival was first celebrated on June 29, 1987 when a group of businessmen belonging to the Pintados Foundation, Inc. came up with this event to showcase Leyte and Samar’s early tattooed inhabitants called Pintados, and their rich cultural heritage and indigenous music and dance.
In 1998, the Pintados and the Leyte Kasadyaan were merged into one big attraction called the Pintados-Kasadyaan Festival of Festivals.
(LIZBETH ANN A.ABELLA)