TACLOBAN CITY- Roderick Yape first tried taekwondo back in his high school years in 1995 and eventually got hooked on it.Then, he married his co-taekwondo player in college and have two children who are now national taekwondo winners.
“I feel happy because we have the same interest so we always go together in every taekwondo activities,” says Yape who is currently teaching at the Kananga National High School in Kananga, Leyte.
“I’m passionate about martial art since I was a kid. Before I tried taekwondo, I was also trained in alamid, sikaran, and suntok sikad,” says Yape while thanking his taekwondo trainer Jed Lerios of the Leyte Normal University (LNU), this city.
Alamid (bob cat), sikaran (kick), and suntok (punch) are elements of Philippine martial arts.
After he got trained in taekwondo, Yape also started teaching the sport to others in 2002.
“I’ve been teaching taekwondo for 16 years. I’m Third Dan Black Belt in taekwondo,” adds Yape who is set to be promoted to Fourth Dan Black Belt (master) this year.
In Korean martial arts, the Ninth Dan (Black Belt Degree) or grand master is considered the highest degree of certification normally given or achieved by a living person in a taekwondo system, while the 10th Dan Black Belt is an honorary or is given posthumously to a 9th Dan Black Belt holder who spends a life-long dedication to the art of taekwondo.
At 38, this talented yet unassuming martial artist is also a licensed national referee, national instructor, and member of the board of the Eastern Visayas regional management committee on taekwondo.
His wife, Joyce Ann, 39, is also a teacher and a Second Dan Black Belt licensed national referee and national instructor.
The two first met at LNU and were always together in training and sports competitions.
Their 15-year-old daughter, Stella Nicole, is now a Second Dan Black Belt and member of the national taekwondo team training pool, while their 13-year-old son, Jeus Gabriel Derick, is First Dan Black Belt in taekwondo.
“But I see to it that my children do not skip classes so they excel also in academics,” Yape says.
“Parents should encourage their children to join sports and support them all the way. Being into sports is not enough, the support of the parents is crucial for them to develop in their own fields. Children also learn values and virtues in sports like humility, respect, courage, sportsmanship, diligence, and perseverance,” he adds.
Unlike others, the Yape family normally spends their weekend together for taekwondo training schedules.
“We almost have no rest time because even Saturdays are used for training. And we can’t go home after work immediately because we have training schedules,” says the taekwondo parent.
Yet this also paid off as Yape’s children continue to harvest medals during sports competitions from school, division, regional and national levels–like in the prestigious 2018 Carlos Palanca Jr. National Taekwondo Championships and in the Palarong Pambansa, the country’s top annual multi-sport event participated by student-athletes across 17 regions.
In this year’s Palarong Pambansa held in Vigan, Ilocos Sur, Yape’s children won the silver medal in mix pair as rank two out of 17 performers and got a rank three for bronze in individual poomsae (taekwondo’s defined pattern of attack-defense motions) category out of 17 performers.
Yape says they are “lucky enough” to win during the event, noting that most of the competing players are members of the Philippine taekwondo team.
“We’re very happy because this is the first time that we won as a pair, as siblings. We’re also proud of our medals because the officials in our town in Kananga are very supportive to us,” says Stella Nicole, who likes to be a doctor or accountant someday.
“We’re happy because our training has paid off. Above all, we’ve made papa and mama very happy,” adds Jeus Gabriel Derick, whose dream is to become an engineer.
Yape hopes to compete in Korea this July and in other national competitions in preparation for the next Eastern Visayas Regional Athletic Association (EVRAA) meet in Ormoc City and Palaro Pambansa in Davao City.
He also expressed his gratitude to the local government of Kananga thru Mayor Rowena Codilla and her husband-Vice Mayor Elmer Codilla, along with their school officer-in-charge Dalisay Pellero, retired school principal Catalino Sabanal Jr., and education officials in Leyte division, for their “untiring” support during their competition.
As summer vacation still lingers on, the Yape family, just like others, is also having fun, kicking together to promote taekwondo sport through summer clinic at their school in Kananga.
(RONALD O. REYES)

TACLOBAN CITY – A Commission on Election (Comelec) official of this highly urbanized city urged aspirants for barangay positions on Wednesday (May 2) to ensure peaceful, clean and honest elections.
City Election Officer Ma. Goretti Cañas issued the call during the peace covenant signing held at the Tacloban City Convention Center which gathered the city’s 304 aspirants for barangay chairmen, 2,195 hopefuls for “kagawads” and 1,137 contenders for positions in the Sanggunian Kabataan.
The half-day event also highlighted a talk on the use of proper election propaganda and the requirements that the candidates should comply with, such as the selection of poll watchers, among others.
Cañas encouraged the candidates the prompt and accurate reporting and disclosure of campaign-related expenses and urged them to honor the covenant by not offering bribes or gifts that will compromise the integrity of the electoral process.
Executive Assistant to Mayor Cristina G. Romualdez Pinky Brosas delivered the message of the chief executive during the event.
Mayor Romualdez enjoined election hopefuls to abide by the tenets of the Constitution, election laws, rules, and regulations by respecting the sanctity of the electoral exercise.
Meanwhile, Department of Interior and Local Government City Director Atty. Darwin Bibar said that the activity is one way of ensuring a secure and peaceful election this May 14.
According to him they fully support the activity of the Comelec and the Philippine National Police as this is in lined with the DILG’s election advocacy campaign dubbed “Matino, Mahusay, at Maasahang” Barangay and SK Officials that encourages the public to vote for good leaders.
Meantime, the Tacloban City Police Office (TCPO) said no election-related violence or incidents have been reported so far to their office.
According to TCPO Director Police Senior Superintendent Rolando Bade, elections in Tacloban have been generally peaceful and orderly, and there is no cause for concern.
However, Bade assured the public that the joint Comelec and PNP checkpoints with the Philippine Army 78th Infantry Battalion will be continuously manned throughout the election period.
The police director also disclosed that a canine team from the city government will be deployed in public places and that the security plan for the upcoming Election Day has already been prepared.
The TCPO said that 197 police personnel will be deployed on May 14 to the 37 polling centers throughout the city which are composed of 419 clustered precincts.
The election campaign period will start this Friday, May 4 and will end on May 12, a day before the Barangay and SK elections. – H.J. Roca/CIO. (Photos by D. Abarquez/CIO)

PALO, Leyte- For Senior Supt. Leonardo Suan, the deputy regional director for operations of the Philippine National Police (PNP), private armed groups(PAGs) are non-existence in the region.
Any armed groups suspected to be operating in the region are just ordinary armed criminals, he said.
Suan said that for a group of armed men to be considered as members of a private armed group, there should be a clear evidence who are behind them.
“There is no such thing as private armed groups in the region. What we have are just ordinary criminals,” the police official stressed.
“We have been mentioning PAGs. (But) we should refrain from mentioning them especially so that we haven’t identified who are maintaining these groups or who are financing them. We just treat these persons as ordinary criminals,”Suan added.
The presence of these so-called PAGs have been tagged as reason for the series of killing incidents, particularly in Samar province.
Reports have indicated that these PAGs are being maintained and financed by certain politicians.
Former PNP Director General Ronaldo ‘Bato’ de la Rosa and several former regional police directors have acknowledged the presence of PAGs in the region, notably in the several areas in Samar.
They have vowed to dismantle these PAGs which were also identified as one of the factors why certain localities have been tagged as concerned areas during elections.
Suan said that while PAGs have been mentioned before, there is still no ‘link’ that they have been existing because they are being supported by certain politicians.
“To date, we cannot say that there is an existing PAGs because we don’t know who are maintaining them. We don’t have witnesses. We don’t have solid evidences that would link that these groups are maintained by somebody. So the treatment of the PNP with them is that they are crime groups,” he stressed.
“But whatever groups they are, we will still hunt and crush them,” Suan added.
(LIZBETH ANN A. ABELLA)

TACLOBAN CITY – At least 2,093 workers in Eastern Visayas have been regularized from January to mid-April this year as the central government steps up drive to end labor-only contracting or “endo”, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) here reported Wednesday.
Of the number, 1,677 benefitted from the campaign when their employers voluntarily complied with the directive to stop “endo”.
Some 414 workers attained regular employment status after labor inspection activities.
DOLE Regional Director Cyril Ticao said over a thousand of these workers were given permanent employment status by the Philippine Associated Smelting and Refining Corporation, the country’s largest copper smelter based in Isabel, Leyte.
“We have been inspecting shopping malls, hotels, restaurants, food chains, gas stations, manufacturing, construction, transport, and fishing industry since these are the establishment vulnerable to labor-only contracting,” Ticao told the Philippine News Agency (PNA) on Wednesday.
The regional office has only 20 labor inspectors tasked to check the compliance of thousands of business establishments in the region’s six provinces.
The signing of an executive order prohibiting “endo” by President Rodrigo R. Duterte on Tuesday is a big help in achieving their target of 9,000 workers to be regularized this year.
The inspection from January to April 19 has covered 53 establishments. This was pushed after conducting employer’s forum on DOLE Department Order (DO) No. 174.
On March 19, 2017, the labor department released the DO no. 174, laying down its new regulations governing contracting and subcontracting arrangements.
The DOLE adopted two tracks in eliminating illegal contractualization, including labor-only contracting or “endo”.
In the first track, the DOLE regional offices conducted series of consultations and meetings to encourage employers to voluntarily regularize workers under the unlawful arrangements.
For the second track, labor laws compliance officers inspected establishments, principals and contractors practicing labor-only contracting arrangements.
Those found to be engaged in labor-only contracting are subjected to mandatory conferences to assist them in their compliance with labor standards.
In 2017, about 1,733 workers were given regular employment status in six provinces of Eastern Visayas.
(SARWELL Q. MENIANO/PNA)

RODRIGO R. Duterte’s presidency has altered and controlled the public discourse so radically in its favor in ways rude and bold. One tragic result: it has restricted and narrowed the celebrated freedom of the Philippine press and the people’s cherished right to know.
In his first 22 months in power, Mr. Duterte has earned the dubious honor of logging 85 various cases of attacks and threats on these dual values that the Constitution upholds as inalienable rights of the citizens. The number far exceeds those recorded under four presidents before him.
Separately and together, these 85 cases have made the practice of journalism an even more dangerous endeavor under Duterte.
From June 30, 2016 to May 1, 2018, these cases include the killing of 9 journalists, 16 libel cases, 14 cases of online harassment, 11 death threats, 6 slay attempts, 6 cases of harassment, 5 cases of intimidation, 4 cases of website attack, revoked registration or denied franchise renewal, verbal abuse, strafing, and police surveillance of journalists and media agencies.
These cases project the force of presidential power dominating the political sphere, with zealous support from Duterte allies and appointees, and their sponsored misinformation army online and off. They have hurled at members of the press insults and unfair labels, and allegations of corruption and misconduct without firm basis in fact or in law.
These cases linger amid effete efforts at solution by state agencies, and in the context of the hostile and vicious discourse against the administration’s critics and the critical media.
The President, Cabinet members, and the House of Representatives have imposed and proposed unprecedented restrictions on journalist access to official news events. Congress and executive agencies have denied or delayed the corporate registration or franchises required for operation of media companies.
Some journalists and media groups have also reported police surveillance of their movement and their places of work.
Attacks on press freedom diminish not just the news media. These weaken the capacity of the news media to sustain the people’s unfettered exchange of ideas about public issues. Presidential intolerance of criticism is now a well-established aspect of Duterte’s leadership. While he is not the only chief executive who has become sensitive to press criticism, Duterte has made sure that everyone understands that misfortunes could hound and befall his critics.
And yet Duterte had promised change; his government should thus tell the people when and where change has come to fruition, and whether it has triggered better or worse results. By keeping citizens and voters fully informed about what and how those they have raised to power are doing right or wrong, a free press sustains and strengthens democracy.
That is not quite the situation under Duterte as yet. Intimidated, restrained, and threatened with consequences, the news media have been significantly constrained to report well and fully on the war on drugs, the siege of Marawi, cases of alleged corruption in high office, questions about the wealth of the Duterte family, the public debate on Charter change and federalism, the shutdown of Boracay, and not the least significant, the incursions of China in the West Philippine Sea.
Rodrigo R. Duterte has brandished the power of fear. His threats and attacks bear the full weight of his office, the highest in the land. No need to test constitutional limits. All he seems to want to do is to make enough journalists understand that they should be very afraid.
But, like fear, courage could be contagious. And unlike fear that disempowers, courage built on the power of truth and the unity of all in media is a force that empowers.
To stand firm and to stand united for press freedom and democracy, to speak truth to power and to keep power in check — this much the press owes the people. And whoever is president, the paramount duty of a free press in a democracy is to defend and uphold the people’s right to know, with unqualified courage and unity.

TACLOBAN CITY – The local government unit of Naval in Biliran is now bent in pushing its Higatangan Island as a tourist destination after it was listed as one of the 183 beaches in the country that could serve as an alternative for tourists while Boracay Island is close for six months to undergo rehabilitation .
Mayor Gerard Espina said that aside from promoting the island for relaxation, Higatangan Island is also being packaged by them as an adventure destination.
Recently, the island hosted various tourism-related activities like jet ski, beach volleyball, and kite flying competition as part of the campaign of the municipal government to make it as a tourist destination.
But positioning Higatangan Island as an alternative destination comes with a great challenge not only in promotion but ensuring that its natural environment would not be destroyed, the town mayor said.
The island has several residents who relies mainly on fishing as their main source of livelihood.
“We want to make something that is different that would help others and also preserve our island. So we are very meticulous how we work here, especially in terms of waste management maayos and activities to ensure that the island will not be destroyed,” Espina said.
Higatangan Island, which is about an hour away from the mainland via a pump boat ride, is known for its 200-meters long ‘shifting’ sandbar, located at the southern tip of the island, and is ideal for swimming and sunbathing, among other activities.
Mayor Espina said that aside from swimming, tourists could also do some activities in the island like snorkeling and diving, particularly at the northwest part of the island.
Situated in the northern part of the island, located along Higatangan Rock Formation is the Hagdan beach.
Hagdan beach is accessible through a pump boat ride from Barangay Mabini or by using the 45-steps stairway from the circumferential road down to beach area.
A less popular site among tourists, Hagdan beach offers a quiet and peaceful setting for unwinding, relaxation, exploring the rock formations, trekking, scuba diving and snorkeling.
For those who want to have an overnight stay, they may rent a cottage or do camping on its white sand.
Mayor Espina revealed that they will add a cliff diving board in an area within the rock formation as an additional activity and for tourists to see the whole island and not just enjoy its sandbar.
Earlier, the municipal government has inaugurated the “Capilla del Mar” as added tourist attraction at Higatangan Island.
Capilla del Mar is an underwater chapel which features a 12-foot cross and eight benches, symbolizing the number of the towns of the province, as a new destination for divers of Higatangan Island.
(ROEL T. AMAZONA)