TACLOBAN CITY- Mayor Cristina G. Romualdez will lead the twin celebrations of the 66th Tacloban Charter Day Anniversary and the 121st Philippine Independence Day Celebrations in Tacloban on June 12, 2019.
The celebrations will highlight a Holy Mass and the traditional Flag Raising Ceremonies.
At 5:30 am on Wednesday, a Holy Mass will be celebrated at the Santo Niño Parish Church to be attended by City Hall officials and employees.
Following the Holy Mass, Mayor Romualdez will lead the Flag Raising Ceremony at the City Hall Grounds with members of the Sangguniang Panglungsod, regional directors, and representatives of civic and professional organizations and students.
Mayor Romualdez will deliver her Independence and Charter day messages during the program.
Meantime, coinciding with the twin celebrations an Independence Day Run will be held at the City Hall Grounds starting 5:00 until 6:00 AM.
Registration forms are available at the Human Resources Management and Development Office on the 2nd floor of the City Hall Building.
This year, Tacloban City is celebrating its 66th Cityhood Anniversary, having been proclaimed a Chartered City by virtue of Republic Act No. 760 on June 20, 1952. The law that took effect on June 12, 1953, was signed by then President Elpidio Quirino.
The late House Speaker Daniel Z. Romualdez (from which the Tacloban DZR Airport is named) sponsored the law that converted Tacloban into a chartered city.
In 2008, Tacloban was converted into a highly urbanized city after a successful plebiscite participated by a majority of Taclobanons.
Eleven years as a HUC, Tacloban is experiencing a business boom which is transforming the lone HUC in Eastern Visayas into one of the most viable Cities in the country today. The income of the City Government to date — the internal revenue allotment and the local revenue sources included currently amounts to more than a billion pesos.
(HENRY JAMES ROCA/CIO)

TACLOBAN CITY – The regional office of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD-8) has served over 69,000 day care children (DCCh) beneficiaries in Eastern Visayas as part of its implementation of the supplementary feeding program (SFP).
Yvonne Abonales, DSWD-8 officer-in-charge, said that for the 8th cycle implementation of SFP in the region, DSWD-8 has a total of P125,497,800 fund downloaded to partner local government units (LGUs) from the fund allocation of P137,389,000 for last year.
Abonales reported that a total of 69,721 DCCh beneficiaries were served from the targeted children beneficiaries of 76,327 enrolled in 1,967 child development centers (CDCs) from 57 LGUs served by the program across the region.
Based on DSWD-8 record, Biliran with 62 CDCs has served a total of 4,019 day care children (DCCh) beneficiaries; Leyte with 834 CDCs has served a total of 28,711 DCCh ; Sothern Leyte with 54 CDCs has served 2,165 DCCh; Eastern Samar with 244 CDC has served 6,897 DCCh; Northern Samar with 347 CDCs has served 15,566 DCCh ; while (Western) Samar with 426 CDCs has served 12,363 DCCh.
SFP program refers to the provision of food in addition to the regular meals to children currently enrolled in the day care centers as part of the DSWD’s contribution to the Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD) program of the government.
The food supplementation is in the form of hot meals being served during break/snack time in the morning session or during break/snack time in the afternoon session to children in Day Care Centers (DCCs), and Supervised Neighborhood Play (SNP).
(RESTITUTO A. CAYUBIT)

“No mafia can survive in the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) under the watch of Philippine President Rodrigo Roa Duterte.”
Thus declared PhilHealth acting president and CEO Dr. Roy Ferrer, laughing off the imagined fears of a former PhilHealth staff working with the past administration.
Dr. Ferrer scored a certain Minguita Padilla, erstwhile head executive staff of a former Health Secretary under the government of former President Benigno Simeon C. Aquino.
“The loser’s mind and defeatist attitude of Ms. Padilla cite ‘a culture of fear’ in PhilHealth, but that was the PhilHealth of the past,” Ferrer pointed out, “and such fear and trembling no longer exist in the present PhilHealth and under the strong government of President Duterte.
In a fast-breaking development, President Duterte was quoted by a television network saying, “I do not have the slightest doubt on the integrity and honesty of PhilHealth President Roy Ferrer,” in the midst of this controversy particularly related to the wrongdoing of a health center that had abused and misused PhilHealth benefits.
Mr. Duterte thenceforth ordered the arrest of the said medical facility which used deception and misrepresentation to enrich themselves.
“Ms. Padilla, who served a former Health Secretary (who figured prominently in the Dengvaxia mess), harks back to a weak-kneed and feeble government before the robust Presidency of my Boss, Rody Duterte,” Ferrer said.
“So when Ms Padilla spoke about the impotence and helplessness of the earlier PhilHealth leadership, she is referring to a thing of the past,” Ferrer added.
Acting PhilHealth President Ferrer said that the present PhilHealth board members were appointed by President Duterte, and our President’s principled stand and courageous stance have rubbed off on every Board member and, added Ferrer, “No members shrinks from the challenge to cleanse PhilHealth of shenanigans.
“Our top management executives who are directly under me are loyal to the higher ground principles and policies of a PhilHealth, and no villainous mafia member can survive within their ranks,” Ferrer emphasized.
The former PhilHealth staff “is like Rip Van Winkle who woke up after over three years, and she could not make sense of a PhilHealth that is strong and resonant,” Ferrer laughed off, adding “because she thought PhilHealth is like the cowardly, compromising, and powerless organization that it was during the time of Ms. Padilla and her boss.”
Ferrer’s advice to her: “Wake up to present day reality!”
He also clarified that so-called “mafia members” in the countryside are actually members of a syndicate of cheating, disloyal, and disgruntled PhilHealth officers who have colluded with hospitals and other health care facilities.
Due to the campaign launched by Ferrer, in coordination with the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and other enforcement agencies, “this syndicate will soon disintegrate,” predicted Ferrer as a fearless forecast.
“It is correct that these are ones who defrauded PhilHealth of funds,” Ferrer added, but some of them have already been suspended, others are being investigated, a few others will soon be charged in court for criminal offenses.”
“Congress first pointed out in July last year that a ‘mafia’ exists in the state agency, and they meant these cheating and colluding officials. Their sustained but sporadic activities do not qualify them as a ‘mafia’ – but they can be called economic saboteurs,” Ferrer declared.
Ferrer’s team have already launched a corporate-wide intensive fraud detection and enforcement activities that “will catch the thieving, deceiving, and villainous officials and their band of brothers among hospitals and other healthcare facilities,” he said without mincing words.
A few months into his tenure, Ferrer ordered a reshuffle of regional vice presidents who responded with threats, refusals and delaying tactics. Their resistance was no match, however, to the grit and determination of PhilHealth President Ferrer.
Crushing fraud and abusive practices,the PhilHealth chief reiterated that control measures and reforms have already been institutionalized and are continually put in place to check fraud.
He ordered an inventory of all administrative cases that have not yet been completed, and supported senior officers assigned to hear these cases towards speedy resolution. Aside from intensified investigations, spot checks of health care providers are equally stepped up.
It even set up a dialysis database, validation of multiple claims and of deceased patients, and the adoption of the Machine Learning Identification, Detection and Analysis System (MIDAS) that analyzes voluminous claims data to detect over utilization, among others.
As a result, in the first quarter of 2019 alone, the state health insurer has decided on 34 cases against 14 facilities and professionals; and is currently hearing 4,419 cases more.
As of April this year, it also reported completion of 1,432 investigations even as it continues investigating close to 9,000 more reports of fraudulent activities where the highest numbers of cases come from Calabarzon, Northern Mindanao, and Davao regions.
Geared for UHC The named source also doubted PhilHealth’s ability to manage the P257 billion funds required to bankroll the Universal Health Care.
“Again, this is baseless skepticism. They always attribute the entire amount to PhilHealth when the Department of Health requires a large part of the fund for its service delivery, governance and regulation functions – the fund is not entirely for PhilHealth alone,” Ferrer asserted.
“Our members and stakeholders can truly rely on us when we say that their funds are in safe hands, and if there really are who defraud the Program – we will not stop until they are put behind bars. And the stolen funds will be recovered for the sake of our members,” Ferrer assured.
“Under the Duterte government and under my watch, PhilHealth will move forward with uncommon courage and conviction, to fulfill the mandate of the Universal Health Care Law, to make a feeble PhilHealth a thing of the past that must be forgotten. A stronger PhilHealthis our present reality,” Ferrer conclude. (PR)

MAASIN CITY- The Department of Health (DOH) has called on officials and teachers of public schools to have a regular cleaning of the school surroundings in an effort to ward off presence of dengue-carrying mosquitoes.
Letty Tan and Dr. Verna Fernandez, DOH representatives for the city and province, respectively, made the call in front of school heads and district supervisors during the Oplan Balik Eskwela (OBE) convergence meeting at the city and province in two separate occasions recently.
Dengue awareness has always been part of the opening of schools, Tan said at the city Department of Education (DepEd) schools division meeting with other government agencies, May 27.
“Every 3 o’clock in the afternoon, teachers and students do the cleaning inside and outside their classrooms,” Tan stressed.
At the DepEd provincial division office, a similar message was aired by Dr. Fernandez in the inter-agency meeting on May 31.
“Stagnant water in flower vases and used tires, and other water-collecting containers must be emptied so mosquitoes can have no breeding spaces,” Fernandez said, adding that dengue has always been associated with the onset of the rainy season.
This week with the opening of classes, the city and province experienced heavy rains yesterday afternoon, Thursday June 6, while in previous nights it was also raining.
Aside from spreading awareness on dengue, Tan also discussed some health highlights for the month of June, such as taking care of one’s kidney by drinking eight glasses of water everyday to prevent kidney stones, the deployment of nurses, and blood donors’ day.
Fernandez, for her part, talked also about DOH’s continuing efforts at measles vaccination where she reported that the oldest affected so far was 80 years old, the high rate of teenage pregnancy in the province, and the regulation on the use of cellular phones among schoolchildren during class hours. (LDL/MMP/PIA-8, Southern Leyte)

Citing decrease of crime incidence

TACLOBAN CITY- The province of Leyte remains to be one of the peaceful areas in region, if not, in the entire country.
This was disclosed by provincial police director, Colonel Rolando Bade who made this assertion during the provincial meeting of the peace and order council held on June 7.
Bade used the reduction of the crime rate across the province as his basis on his claim.
Based on their record, the crime rate of Leyte, using the January to May period, declined by 1.07 percent compared to the same period of last year.
The crime incidence of the province covering the first five months of the year was 1,198 which is lower compared to the 1,211 of last year’s same period.
Bade credited the enhanced managing police operations mechanisms and the maximization of human and logistical resources as reasons why they were able to bring down the crime incidence of Leyte.
Of the 1,198 crime volume of the province, 963 of them were classified as non-index crime or those offenses involving properties and violation of special laws and 235 index crimes or those involving persons.
“While index crime was lowered from 332 reported incident in 2018 to 235 in 2019, the non-index crime for January to May increased to 963 cases from 879 cases due to intensive operation against illegal drugs, illegal gambling, illegal fishing, illegal logging and operation against loose firearms,” Col Bade explained.
Bade also said that crime solution efficiency increased to 1.46 percent or 81.72 percent in 2019 from 80.26 percent in 2018 and the crime clearance efficiency also went up to 98.05 percent in 2019 from 97.03 percent in 2018 or an increase of 1.02 percent.
The police provincial director also said that the average monthly crime rate went down from 15.8 percent of last year’s first five months to just 15.71 percent of the same period or a decrease of 4.01 percent while the average monthly index crime rate also declined to 3 percent from 4.30 percent compared to the same period last year or a 30.23 percent difference.
In the campaign against illegal drugs, Leyte Police Provincial Office (PPO) conducted a total of 95 police operations and arrested a total of 105 persons with two illegal drug personalities killed.
About 69.65 grams of shabu and 1, 012.45 grams of marijuana or a total value of P658, 401 were confiscated during the operations.
A total of 194 cases were filed in various courts by the Leyte PPO in relation to anti-illegal drug operations.
(ROEL T. AMAZONA)