CATARMAN, Northern Samar– Rep. Harris Christopher Ongchuan (2nd district) recently met with the provincial director of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) where the two leaders vowed to strengthen each other support to help the local government units in the district in particular.
In her meeting with the solon, Geraldine Maquelabit, last November 11, she discussed with Ongchuan the different programs and activities of their department and the performance of the LGUS in the second congressional district.
Maquelabit also expressed her gratitude to Rep. Ongchuan for his support in making sure that LGUs will comply all national laws and guidelines. (EUGENE M. ENANO)
PALOMPON, Leyte-A pizza delivery man was arrested in a buy-bust operation in this town on Saturday (Nov. 13) at about 10:30 am.
Members of the station drug enforcement of the Palompon police station seized in total five sachets of suspected shabu from Melvin Baronda during the sting operation in Barangay San Juan.
Baronda, who work as a pizza delivery, declined to issue statement on his arrest, town police chief, Major Ronald Espina.
He is now detained at the Palompon lock- up facility as he was charged for possession and selling of prohibited drugs. (ROBERT DEJON)
TACLOBAN CITY – The Leyte Second District Engineering Office (L2DEO) has recently completed a preventive maintenance project along the Jaro-Dagami-Burauen-La Paz (JDBL) road in Barangay Malobago, Jaro, Leyte, an alternative road rather than passing the national highway.
The P19.22 million project involves the application of a 914.00 meters asphalt overlay in a 10.1 meters width to strengthen the existing pavement structure.
Also, the construction of a 457.28-meter-long concrete-lined canal is included in the scope of work.
Engineer Leo Edward Oppura, the district engineer, said that the department will keep constructing high-quality infrastructure to promote social and economic benefits because it is important to ensure mobility for the effective flow of people and products.
This project, sourced from the department’s general appropriations act for this fiscal year under the preventive maintenance program, will improve road conditions and traffic flow to ensure the safety of motorists going to and from the area.
Asphalt overlay is a paving method of applying a new layer of asphalt and a cost-effective approach to extend pavement life and adds superior value to the structure.
JDBL road section measures 47.93 kilometers and is considered a secondary road maintained by the district office. (LIZBETH ANN A. ABELLA)
Eastern Samar Gov. Ben Evardone said that is with security agencies to see the end of communist insurgency problem in his province. The problem is one of the factors why they are having difficulties in lifting the people out of poverty, he said. (Photo Courtesy)
TACLOBAN CITY – Eastern Samar Governor Ben Evardone vows to end local armed conflict in the province to usher in prosperity and development and end the stigma of it as among the poorest provinces in the country.
Evardone said that he is working closely with government forces to end the local communist group in the province which he said is affecting the delivery of services to the people.
The governor said that the province has at least one remaining communist front which he is confident that this will be dismantled soon.
The country has five remaining communist fronts and four of which are in the region are currently operating in the tri-boundary of the three Samar provinces, according to the 8th Infantry Division.
Currently, government programs including road network constructions are being implemented in various towns in the province to provide easier access and delivery not only of services but also produce to the market.
Of the 22 towns and one city in Eastern Samar, only Maslog town that has no access to the national highway though a road project is now underway.
“With our unity and cooperation we will graduate from that stigma of being backward, poorest and as an NPA hotbed, “he said.
Moreover, from the 49.5% poverty incident in 2018, this has lowered to 37.7% in 2021 due to the collective effort and interventions of the national government agencies and local government units.
The governor also noted an increase in unemployment status in the province from 5.6% in 2018 to 9.7% in 2021 but this is understandable because some businesses have temporarily shut down their operations and due to the lockdowns implemented for almost two years to prevent the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
Further, in the recent meeting with the Governors Sharee Ann Tan of Samar and Leyte Gov. Carlos Jericho Petilla with National Security Adviser Clarita Carlos, Evardone proposed the creation of equalization fund to help poor areas have better revenue allotments.
“The proposal is to re-allocate resources of the national government to those who are in dire need,” Evardone said during the meeting on Nov.11 citing that bigger and richer cities has the most share to the revenue allotments from the national government while poor provinces had lesser shares resulting to inequality and harder for them to implement developmental programs.
He also suggests that there should be a criteria for the equalization of fund which may include listing down LGUs that are high risks to natural disaster and calamities, poverty incidence, and the needs of people such as in infrastructure. (ROEL T. AMAZONA)
Esturia vow to help delivery of medical service in the province
Northern Samar has a new doctor in Ric Arthur Esturia(center) who passed this year’s licensure medical examination. The new doctor is a scholar of a medical scholarship program of the provincial government under Gov. Edwin Ongchuan(seen in photo). (Northern Samar Provincial Information Office)
TACLOBAN CITY – One of the scholars of the medical program of the provincial government of Northern Samar passed the recently-held medical licensure examination.
Ric Arthur Estuaria, who hails from the town of Allen was among the 3,826 passers of the licensure examination held last month was enrolled of the program initiated by Governor Edwin Ongchuan.
The program aims to help the province produce more doctors who will serve the community through their assignments in government hospitals in Northern Samar.
Esturia studied at the Remedios Trinidad Romualdez Medical Foundation here in the city when he was accepted to the program that gives full tuition fees of up to P100,000 per semester, living allowance, plus book and uniform allowances per semester, as well as review fees.
“The provincial government shares in the achievement of Dr. Estuaria hoping he will be with us soon in the service of our people,” Gov. Ongchuan said in a statement.
“May this inspire our other medical scholars to work hard in their medical study, and encourage those with the heart of improving healthcare service delivery in the province, to get on board, (and) pursue their dream of becoming doctors under our medical scholarship program,” he added.
For his part, the new doctor expressed his gratitude to the provincial government through Gov. Ongchuan for coming up with such a program.
“Thank you for your unwavering support, thank you for making me part of your family. It is an honor to be the first licensed grantee of the program,” Esturia said.
“I look forward to being part of the healthcare team and have the honor of serving our fellow Nortehanons,” he added.
Grantees of the scholarship program have to return service to government hospitals in the province upon becoming licensed doctors depending on the number of years they have availed of the program.
Since 2020, a total of 13 medical scholars from different municipalities in the province are currently enrolled in the program. (ROEL T. AMAZONA)
FINAL PUSH AGAINST REDS. Presidential Security Adviser, Sec. Clarita Carlos, said that the administration of President Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos, Jr. is determined to finally quell the decades-long insurgency problem of the country. Carlos was in Tacloban City Friday(Nov.11) to attend a regional conference on peace and security. Among those in attendance were Governors Carlos Jericho ‘Icot’ Petilla of Leyte; Sharee Ann Tan of Samar and Ben Evardone of Eastern Samar; and Major Gen.Camilo Layug, the commanding officer of the 8th ID. (PHILIPPINE INFORMATION AGENCY-8)
Carlos: Ending the five-decade problem among his priorities
TACLOBAN CITY-The administration of President Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos, Jr. is determined to finish the insurgency problem of the country.
Thus said his security adviser, Sec. Clarita Carlos, who said that right from the start of his presidency and on his first Cabinet meeting, he had discussed about the communist insurgency problem.
Carlos was in the city Friday (Nov. 11) to attend meeting on security concerns of Eastern Visayas attended by governors and mayors and security and other government offices.
“Right from the beginning of our first Cabinet meeting, the President has spoken ending the NPA, this communist insurgency,” she said during an interview.
Just like his immediate predecessor, Pres. Marcos is also engaging all government agencies to include the regional development and peace and order councils to finally stamp Asia’s longest-running insurgency.
To recall, the whole-of-nation approach as contained under Executive Order No.70 is being used to end the country’s insurgency problem through its National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTFELCAC).
Major Gen.Camilo Ligayo, the commanding officer of the 8th Infantry Division, based in Catbalogan City, Samar, said that they are projecting that by the first quarter of next year, all the existing guerilla fronts in the region would be dismantled.
He said that of the five existing guerilla communist fronts in the country, four are operating in Northern Samar with the other one in Mindanao.
“We are winning the (war on) insurgency. Hopefully, within this last quarter or the first quarter of next year, we can dismantle the four guerilla fronts but first we have to clear the few remaining barangays under their influence,” Ligayo said.
The Army general admitted that one of the factors why they are now gaining grounds against the communist rebels is due to the implementation of the whole-of-nation approach.
“With ELCAC implementation, this hastens our work. Insurgency is not only a military solution we need the whole of government here,” Ligayo said.
This projection of Ligayo was welcomed by Sec. Carlos saying that she is ‘happy’ to know on the progress on the fight of government forces in Eastern Visayas against the insurgency problem.
“I like the report of Gen. Ligayo. He said that by the first quarter of next year, the insurgency problem will disappear,” Carlos said.
