TACLOBAN CITY-About 2,688 farmers from different towns in Leyte have received their cash assistance from the Department of Agriculture (DA) the source of funds sourced from the Rice Tarrification Law.

The two-day payout that ended last Saturday (Oct. 22) was graced by Rep. Jude Acidre of the Tingog party-list group who said that the giving of P5,000 to the rice farmers was continued under the administration of President Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos, Jr. for them to tide over during this time of financial difficulties compounded by the pandemic caused by coronavirus disease.

The President is concurrently the DA Secretary.
The giving of cash assistance to the country’s rice farmers started during the administration of former president Rodrigo Duterte in the course of the implementation of the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund which was the result of the enactment of the Rice Tarrification Law or Republic Act 11203.

The party-list solon said that he hopes that the beneficiaries will make good use of the cash assistance given to them by the government.

It was learned from Francis Rosaroso, head of the regional roll-out committee, that the 2,688 rice farmers were from the towns of Sta. Fe, Tanauan, Tolosa, and Palo, all belonging to the first congressional district of Leyte which is under the congressional district of House Speaker Martin Romualdez.

For this cash distribution, the regional DA office released P13.44 million.
It was learned that for this year, DA target about 41,181 rice farmers in Leyte who are to receive the one-time P5,000 cash assistance.

Those entitled to receive the assistance are farmers tilling land of two hectares who are registered at the Registry System for Basic Sectors in Agriculture (RSBSA) which mostly source from the local government units.
(JOEY A. GABIETA)

TACLOBAN CITY– The decision of the city government of Tacloban to purchase and operate a hotel built by former first lady Imelda Marcos was welcomed by the head of the Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (TIEZA).

Mark Lapid, the chief operating officer of the TIEZA, said that they were glad and opposed no objection on this decision of the city government to take over the Leyte Park Resort Hotel.

“The mayor told us that they are pursuing it. Since we have a 40% stake of it, we oppose no objection on it,” Lapid said.

Lapid was interviewed during the switch-on ceremony of the aesthetic light and sound show at the San Juanico Bridge last October 19 with TIEZA providing the P80 million fund for the said project.

To recall, Tacloban City Mayor Alfred Romualdez disclosed that the city government will be P1 billion borrowing loan from the Land Bank of the Philippines of which P500 million will be used to purchase and rehabilitate the Leyte Park Resort, once the only five-star hotel in Eastern Visayas.

The said property, sprawling at six-hectare along Magsaysay Boulevard, was built in 1979 during the time of former first lady Imelda Marcos, aunt of the city mayor.

Lapid said that he had a discussion with Mayor Romualdez on this issue during his visit.
“We are very glad that the city government will take over the Leyte Park Hotel. If the city government will not take over the hotel, kami ang magta-take over,” he said.

“But since the city government is interested and very aggressive in pursuing to have it operated, we are very happy and supportive of that idea,” Lapid added.

He added that he is happy that the city government wants to operate the hotel as it means that it is engaging in tourism-related activity.

The hotel ceased to operate in 2021 after its private operator, whose been leasing the facility since 1994, did not renew its contract as it chose to build his own hotel, also in the city.

The Leyte Park Resort and Hotel is being managed by the Privatization Management Office (PMO), the Leyte provincial government, and the TIEZA, an attached agency of the Department of Tourism.

PMO serves as the national government’s marketing arm concerning transferred assets, government corporations and other properties assigned to it by the Privatization Council for disposition.

On the other hand, TIEZA is responsible for implementing policies and programs of the DOT related to the development, promotion, and supervision of tourism projects” in the country.
The Leyte provincial government owns the lot where the hotel is built.
(JOEY A. GABIETA)

TACLOBAN CITY– After 112 days in office, Ormoc City Mayor Lucy Marie Torres-Gomez delivered her State of City Address (Soca) last October 18 wherein she enumerated the accomplishments of her administration.

In her speech, Mayor Gomez emphasized her ‘Tree of Dream’ for Ormoc which consist of her vision for health, wellness, abundance, and prosperity.

The mayor said that once her dreams will be realized, Ormoc City will have happiness as the main indicator for success adding that it will become a blue zone city where people will have low rates of chronic disease and live longer than anywhere else.

She, however, acknowledges that whatever development that Ormoc and its people are enjoying at present was due to the efforts of former mayor and now congressman, Richard Gomez.

“We expand the attainment of peace from winning the war against the drug trade and controlling the volume of crime, to becoming the first truly disaster-resilient city in the country,” Gomez said, referring to the intensified campaign against illegal drugs of her husband during his term as mayor.

Mayor Gomez also recognized her ‘support units’ who help her in implementing her projects and programs for the city.

She also cited, in her Soca, the successful holding of the plebiscite merging several barangays whose purpose is for easy management for the city government.

“One of the best examples of positive, and in fact revolutionary change in the area of governance and public administration is the successful barangay merger,” Gomez said.
”I thank and applaud the congressman for the courage to take on the hardest parts of the job, which paved the way for me to do the softer, gentler ones. And it could not be more providential, that the historic barangay merger victory happened exactly on my 100th day in office,” Mayor Gomez said.
(LIZBETH ANN A. ABELLA)

TACLOBAN CITY – The high electricity rate in Eastern Visayas is a huge setback in attracting new investments in the region, an official of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) regional office here said.

NEDA Regional Director Meylene Rosales said that the high power cost has been hurting businesses and may discourage potential investors to start their businesses in the region.
“That would mean increasing our overhead expenses for business operations. A big chunk of profits of our small business will be spent to pay for electricity bills. How can you attract a business if the power rate is high?” Rosales said in an interview Friday (Oct. 21).
In the September 2022 billing, the Biliran Electric Cooperative (Bileco) charged the highest power rate among the 11 electric cooperatives in the Eastern Visayas region at P20.9563 per kilowatt hour (kWh).

The rate is way up than the P9.9365 per kWh by the Manila Electric Company (Meralco).
Earlier, Bileco said the power rate went up by P1.6268 per kWh for residential power consumers largely due to the rising cost of coal fuel used by its power source, GN Power Dinginin Ltd. Co. based in Mariveles, Bataan.

All electric cooperatives in the region also charged higher in the September bills compared to Meralco.

These are the Leyte IV Electric Cooperative (Leyeco) at P20.8455 per kWh, Samar II Electric Cooperative (Samelco) at P19.6569 per kWh, Southern Leyte Electric Cooperative at P19.5536 per kWh, Don Orestes Romualdez Electric Cooperative at P19.2700 per kWh, Samelco I at P18.2287 per kWh, Northern Samar Electric Cooperative at P18.1588 per kWh, Eastern Samar Electric Cooperative at P17.4085 per kWh, Leyeco III at P17.1556 per kWh, Leyeco V at P17.0340 per kWh, and Leyeco II at P12.4426 per kWh.

Evangeline Dinglasa, 53, from Burauen, Leyte who has been in the business of selling fried hotdogs for three years, said her electricity bill last month increased to P2,800 from P2,000 in August.

She has been using a large freezer and a refrigerator to store their product.
“Our monthly net sales is P15,000 and some 18 percent goes to the electricity bill. That’s a big expense for a small business,” Dinglasa said in a text message.

Earlier, the Energy Development Corp. (EDC) said the high power rate in Leyte is caused by their failure to participate in the competitive selection process (CSP) of local electric cooperatives in the region.

EDC is the operator of the Leyte Geothermal Power Field in the northwestern part of Leyte province.

The EDC was disqualified to participate in the CSP in 2015 in which the Federation of Rural Electric Cooperatives in Eastern Visayas required a power generator to possess a “new power plant or a power plant expansion to supply its power requirements.”
The EDC’s power plants have already been existing for years.

The EDC is First Gen’s 100 percent renewable energy subsidiary and has more than 1,480 MW total installed capacity accounting for 20 percent of the country’s total installed renewable capacity.

Unified Leyte and Green Core Geothermal, Inc. are EDC’s power supply subsidiaries. (PNA)

TACLOBAN CITY– Social pensioners who qualified for the unconditional cash transfer (UCT) program of the national government trooped to the CEO Gym, here in the city, to get their cash cards on Wednesday(Oct. 19).

Per the City Social Welfare and Development Office (CSWDO), there are 6,002 UCT beneficiaries from the different city barangays.

Beneficiaries will receive from P3,600 to P4,600, depending on the number of years they have been members of the SOCPEN Program.

The amount represents the accumulated P300 of monthly cash assistance from the government for the year 2020.

But the CSWDO clarifies that only regular SOCPEN members who were included in the roster of beneficiaries from 2018 until 2020 will be included in the cash card distribution.
For the first day of cash card distribution last Wednesday(Oct.19), Area 9B Barangay, namely 108, 107, 106, 105, 101, 98, 97, and 93, will get the cash card in the morning. The barangays scheduled to get the cash cards in the afternoon are 11, 37-A, 103, 103-A, 104, 100, 99, 94, and 95-A.

Before they can withdraw the cash assistance, the cash card will need to be activated first by the beneficiary at their assigned Landbank ATM. Cash card activation assignments are announced at the cash card distribution venue.

Last Friday (Oct. 21), recipients from Area 1 and Area 4 barangays have their distribution in the morning and afternoon, respectively.

For the Saturday (Oct. 22) schedule, Areas 2, 6, and 8 barangays will have their distribution in the morning, while Areas 5 and 10 barangays will be held in the afternoon.
Cash card distribution will be held at the CEO Gym from 8 AM to 5 PM until Saturday.
(HJROCA/CIO)