TACLOBAN CITY– Despite the wet weather recently, the Leyte Second District Engineering Office (L2DEO) of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) is proceeding as scheduled with the construction of a slope protection along a coastal road in Capoocan, Leyte.
The Capoocan coastal road covers the villages of Cabul-an, Talisay, Tolibao, Guinadiongan, Libertad, Potot, Gayad, and Talairan.
The DPWH through its Tourism Road Infrastructure Program (TRIP) has allocated P49.498 million for the project which entails the construction of 225 meters of crib walls for slope protection and their placement in areas prone to landslides along the coastal road section from Barangay Talisay to Tolibao in the said town.
Also included in the scope of work is the construction of a 350-meter lined canal with a cross drain that will serve as a waterway to allow extra water to flow into one channel, and to prevent road slips.
District Engineer Leo Edward Oppura said that these structures will ensure that local community will be protected from possible landslides and falling debris when heavy rains occurs causing the softening of the soil.
He added that faster mobility of basic and essential services will no longer be hampered once the project is fully completed, and the local community will have an opportunity to have livelihoods since this road network is leading to Calumpijan Island and the Capoocan diving spot a tourist destination. (LIZBETH ANN A. ABELLA)
ORMOC CITY– A farmer from Naval, Biliran was arrested in a buy-bust operation Monday (Jan. 23).
Reports from the local police identified the arrested suspect as Julius Jorge,45, and a resident of sitio Lomboy, Barangay Calumpang where the operation took place at about 8:40 am, Major Chamberline Ludevise, Naval town police chief said.
Recovered from the possession of the suspect was one sachet containing a white crystalline substance suspected to be shabu procured by an operative in the amount of P500.
During a body search in the presence of barangay officials and a representative from the Department of Justice (DOJ), the searching cops recovered from the suspect one P50 bill and another P500 which is a court-subscribed money intended for the operation.
Charges of violation of RA 9165, the Comprehensive Law against illegal Drugs of 2002, was filed at the Provincial Prosecutors Office against the suspect who is presently detained at the locked-up cell of Naval police station. (ROBERT DEJON)
CAMP RUPERTO KANGLEON, PALO,Leyte-Eight years after the Mamasapano incident that shocked the nation, the families of the 44 Special Action Force (SAF) killed are calling for justice.
Kristine Clemencio, the widow of PO1 Mark Lory Clemencio from Carigara town, Leyte, said that while they have received the promised benefits, mandatory and specially granted, have been released to them, justice remains to elude them.
“They say that since we have all received the benefits promised to us by the government, justice has been served to us,” the 38- college instructor said.
“But the justice that we are seeking is for those responsible to be put behind in bars,” Clemencio added.
She asked President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. for them to achieve the justice that they have been seeking for years now.
“We hope the President will support us and will not leave us as we continue to seek justice for our loved ones,” Clemencio said.
On Wednesday, the Philippine National Police (PNP) in Eastern Visayas honored the gallantry and bravery of the fallen SAF 44 of which six of them were from the region.
In a program marking the eighth year anniversary of the tragedy held at the regional PNP headquarters in Palo, Leyte, Lt.Gen. Michael John Dubria, chief of the directorial staff of PNP national headquarters, paid tributes to the fallen SAF 44.
Dubria said that the heroism and bravery displayed by the fallen SAF 44 should not be forgotten.
“The heroism of SAF 44 will forever be etched of our country’s history that will never be forgotten like the generation of warrior heroes before them. Our fallen SAF 44 gave everything they have,” he said.
“The least that we can do is not to remember them and their ultimate sacrifices,” Dubria said.
In the region, aside from Clemencio, those who died on that fateful day of Jan.25, 2015 were PO3 John Lloyd Sumbilla; PO2 Noel Balaca; PO2 Glenn Berecio Bedua; PO2 Rodel Eva Ramacula; and PO1 Joseph Sagonoy.
The 44 members of the elite force of the PNP were massacred in Tukanalipao, Mamasapano, Maguindanao while they were in an operation to arrest Malaysian terrorist and bomb-maker Zulkifli Abdhir and his companions who were high-ranking officials of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. (JOEY A. GABIETA)
ARRESTED. Former PDEA chief Erwin Ogario was arrested and handcuffed by no less than PNP-8 Director B/Gen. Rommel Francisco Marbil on Wednesday before members of the local media. Ogario, whose family hails from Eastern Samar,was earlier named by former president Rodrigo Duterte as a drug protector.
(ROEL T. AMAZONA)
Tagged by Duterte as a drug protector
ARRESTED. Former PDEA chief Erwin Ogario was arrested and handcuffed by no less than PNP-8 Director B/Gen. Rommel Francisco Marbil on Wednesday before members of the local media. Ogario, whose family hails from Eastern Samar,was earlier named by former president Rodrigo Duterte as a drug protector. (ROEL T. AMAZONA)
CAMP RUPERTO KANGLEON, PALO,Leyte– A former regional director of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) named by former President Rodrigo Duterte as a drug protector ‘voluntarily appeared’ before the police director of Eastern Visayas on Wednesday (Jan. 25).
However, from voluntarily surrendering, Erwin Ogario was arrested and handcuffed after a warrant of arrest against him was verified by the PNP officials in the region.
Ogario, who served as PDEA’s director for National Capital Region and Region 13, was arrested and handcuffed by B/Gen. Rommel Marbil in front of other top regional police officials and members of the local media at the conference room of the PNP headquarters at Camp Ruperto Kangleon in Palo town, Leyte.
While he was being handcuffed, the warrant against him was read as he was informed of his constitutional rights.
Ogario, who was clad in a black shirt and a cap, did not speak with the members of the local media.
Marbil said that on Tuesday, he received a call from Ogario of his decision to appear to him and ‘clean his name’ against accusations that he is a drug protector.
But in the course of the press conference, he was informed by one of his assistants that Ogario has a standing warrant issued by Judge Elvira Panganiban, presiding judge of Regional Trial Court Branch 237 in Quezon City issued on Jan.3, 2019.
Based on the warrant, the former PDEA chief was accused of violation of RA 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act, particularly in section 4 which refers on the importation of dangerous drugs.
The court set P200,000 for his temporary liberty.
Marbil said that he could not provide any details regarding the crime accused against Ogario whom he admitted he has seen for a couple of times while he was assigned as the provincial director of Agusan del Norte from 2014 to 2015.
Ogario was the PDEA director for Region 13 at that time.
“He chose to appear before me because of his trust to the police personnel in the region. He wanted to clean his name and he believes that he can achieve a fair degree of justice under the (current) administration,” Marbil said when asked the reason for Ogario’s decision to come out in the open.
Marbil also disclosed that the other reason why Ogario surfaced was due to the ‘threats’ he has been receiving.
It was learned that Ogario traces his roots in Eastern Samar.
Marbil, however, said that he has no idea as where Ogario could have hidden himself during all this time.
To recall, Duterte, who launched an all-out war against illegal drugs, named Ogario as a ‘high-value target’ being an alleged protector of drug lords and accepted bribes from them.
He was held liable for obstruction of justice for facilitating the release of an arrested drug importer after claiming a parcel containing 1,358 ecstasy tablets at a post office in Pasay on June 29, 2015, without filing any criminal charge against the suspect.
Marbil said that after undergoing the booking procedure, Ogario will be turned over to the Quezon City court which issued the warrant against him.
NSSDEO, Brgy. Burabud, Laoang, Northern Samar- As the year 2022 draws to a close another high impact project implemented by the DPWH Northern Samar 2nd District Engineering Office under the leadership of OIC District Engineer Charlito S. Carlobos has been completed.
With 98.88% work accomplishment as of December 2022, the Mapanas By-Pass Road in the municipality of Mapanas, second district of the province will soon shorten the travel time of motorist plying the 71. 5-kilometer Pangpang-Palapag-Mapanas-Gamay-Lapinig Road in the Pacific Area of Northern Samar.
Under contract with JUPA Construction, this project involved the opening of 2,366 meters roadway in pre-designated kilometer stations including the construction of reinforced concrete box culvert along the said PAMAGALA Road.
DE Carlobos said that the construction of the Mapanas By-Pass Road was funded under the DPWH Regular Infrastructure Fund thru the CY 2021 General Appropriations Act (GAA).
Its completion will decongest traffic within the Mapanas town proper by providing alternative route for vehicles just passing thru the said municipality.
With no purpose of entering the town proper these vehicles are diverted to the by-pass road thus making their travel faster and convenient.
With this project, DE Carlobos said the NSSDEO has provided a quality and safe infrastructure facility in the Pacific Area of Northern Samar interconnecting the whole province thru an integrated transport system.
Meanwhile, about 14,025 population of Mapanas and the nearby communities will benefit from this project. (JOEMAR M.PATILAN,PIO Staff)
