TACLOBAN CITY- Despite several announcements from various government agencies like the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), food items have seen their prices increase due mainly to the implementation of a new tax law.
At the public market here, chicken seller Judy Rose Mortega said that she has to adjust to the prices of her items as her suppliers have raised their prices.
And because of the increased price of chicken, there were instances that she had more chicken unsold than disposed, she said.
“There are instances that I could not sell most of my chickens due to high price. This means my daily income has declined to the extent that I could not sustain our daily needs and I have two children who are still in school,” Mortega said.
According to her, she gets her chicken per kilogram at P133 from her suppliers and she sells them at P150, at least to just break even.
The increase of food and non-food items like gasoline was a result of the implementation of the TRAIN (Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion) Law that took effect early this month.
The law aims to provide tax cuts to ordinary taxpayers but at the same time, raise needed funds for the various infrastructure projects being implemented by President Rodrigo Duterte.
For consumer Joel Panganbiron while he sees a good benefit of the law among small taxpayers, he also feels its impacts to buyers like him.
“I’m against that law because a lot of people whose income is barely enough to meet their daily expenses will suffer compared to those who have higher income,” he said. (IRISH A. CONCRENIO/ROSE ANN E. SALCEDA, EVSU Student Interns)

TACLOBAN CITY- A 13-year old boy and his younger sister were drowned in a river in Palo, Leyte on Wednesday afternoon while he tried to rescue her who was playing a paper boat.
The young fatalities were identified as John Israel Pedrosa, a Grade 7 student at the Palo National High School and his younger sister Jasmin Ieon, 7, a Grade 1 pupil at the Tacuranga Elementary School.
Chief Inspector Joselito Villas, police chief of the Palo Municipal Station, said that based on their investigation, the incident took place at about 3:30 pm on Wednesday in sitio Kantuklin, Barangay Tacuranga of said town.
“Based on our investigation, the young girl was playing a paper boat when she accidentally slipped into the river. Her elder brother, who was with her at that time, tried to rescue her but he too was drowned with his sister,” Villas, in a phone interview, said.
At the time, the river was swollen due to the incessant rains brought by the tail of a cold front.
The dead bodies of the two were recovered on Thursday morning far from where they were last seen, Villas said.
(JOEY A. GABIETA)

TACLOBAN CITY –The Leyte Metropolitan Water District Employees Association (LMWDEA) has expressed their overwhelming support to the board of directors (BOD) appointed by Mayor Cristina G. Romualdez to run the Leyte Metropolitan Water District(LMWD) saying that they have lost confidence in the current set of BOD appointed by the provincial government as they are not “pro-employee.”
Engr. Daryl Makabenta, spokesperson and board member of LMWDEA, said on Wednesday that the provincial government-appointed BOD has turned a deaf ear on their request to implement the Collective Negotiation Agreement (CNA) entered into by the management and LMWDEA in 2006.
Makabenta said that they are fed up with the dilly-dallying of the current set of the provincial government appointed BOD to implement the CNA, saying that the benefit due the LMWD workers was stalled for 11 years.
In a mass action of the union coinciding with the dialogue, the majority of the union members signed a statement of support to the city government-appointed BOD.
Meanwhile, the BOD appointed by the city government had said that they support the implementation of the CNA.
Engr. Roberto Muñoz, BOD chairman in a dialogue with the LMWDEA said that they had issued resolution No. 2017-12-02 ratifying the CNA.
He added that a satisfied workforce will redound to better services to water consumers.
Since Tacloban residents have been suffering from water shortage for the past ten years and since most of the consumers are from the city – the city government has deemed it necessary to initiate steps to solve this water problem in the city by taking over management of LMWD by legal means.
Last December 11, Mayor Cristina Romualdez appointed 5 members of the board of directors of the Leyte Metropolitan Water District (LMWD), namely Engr. Roberto Muñoz, Atty. Bautista Corpin, Jr., Atty. Jenny Lyn Manibay, Atty. Sharilee Angela Gaspay and Ms. Bernardita Valenzuela.
The appointments were made after the Supreme Court handed down a decision declaring Presidential Decree 198 unconstitutional. The decree mandated that an LGU that has 75% of water consumers of a Water District has the authority to manage the agency.
However in a case elevated to the Supreme Court declared P.D. 198 unconstitutional – ruled that a city – highly urbanized – chartered – component that does not vote for provincial officials need only 51 percent of the total number of water consumers to have the authority to manage the water district.
A written and published report of the LMWD in 2014 stated that 67.5 percent of water consumers are in the city of Tacloban. (CIO)

By: RACHEL V. ARNAIZ

CATARMAN, Northern Samar- A task force was created involving several government entities which aims to conduct an investigation on a Chinese registered cargo vessel that drifted in the territorial waters of Pambujan, this province, on January 2.
The ‘Task Force Jin Ming No.16’, headed by Captain Gregorio Adel of the Philippine Coast Guard, was created to make a more systematized and faster investigation on the ship and its crew, Commander Lawrence Roque, information officer and spokesperson of the task force, told Leyte Samar Daily Express.
And among the issues that the task force will look into is why the said cargo vessel, which measures 65 meters in length and 12 meters in width, was using a Philippine flag, Roque said.
“It is part of the investigation to be looked upon. Kasi it’s a sign that they want to mislead us. It’s part of our investigation,” he said.
It was learned that the ill-fated cargo vessel is a Chinese-registered cargo vessel and owned by one Chen Zi Wen, a Taiwanese.
But an official of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in the Philippines (TECO) denied that such cargo vessel exists on their database.
The cargo vessel made a distress call on Jan.2 after it was pummeled by heavy rains and strong winds spawned by tropical storm ‘Agaton.’
It was carrying nine crew members and said to be loaded with 1,700 cartoons of liquor with Chinese characters and blue-colored fish crates.
On January 3, a cocaine valued at P125 million was discovered in Matnog, Sorsogon which prompted speculation that the contraband may have come from the said sunken vessel.
However, Rommel Tepace, information officer of the municipal government of Pambujan, dismissed it saying that no cocaine was found inside the Ji Ming No.16.
“That’s not true, wala pang lumabas na ganyang information from the investigating team. The investigation is still ongoing,” Tepace said.
He also said that no oil spill occurred since the cargo vessel made its emergency docking off the waters 300 meters from the town proper of Pambujan.
Commander Roque said that the inspection that they have done in the past days only involved ocular inspection on the safety of the vessel and environmental protection concerns.
They have also secured a copy of the vessel’s navigation map.
On Saturday, January 6, a floating asset of the Philippine Coast Guard arrived and started extracting oil from the ship.
The task force, created last January 8 during a meeting at the regional office of the Office of Civil Defense, has four committees, composed each of a chairman, an information officer, and members from different government agencies.
These four committees are the committee on salvage headed by Roque; security chaired by S/Supt. Felix Diloy, Northern Samar police provincial director; investigation chaired by Supt. Carlito Abriz and welfare headed by Rei Josiah Echano, provincial disaster risk reduction and management officer of Northern Samar.

TACLOBAN CITY- Controversial Chief Inspector Jovie Espenido was a no-show during the preliminary conference on the charges filed against him by Ormoc City Mayor Richard Gomez at the regional office of the National Police Commission (NAPOLCOM) on Thursday(January 11).
With his failure to attend the preliminary hearing, the lawyers of Gomez submitted their motion citing Espenido to have waived his right to answer the complaint filed against him which was granted by the three-member ad hoc committee of the NAPOLCOM.
Espenido, who was then the police chief of Albuera, Leyte, was accused by Gomez of grave misconduct, grave abuse of authority, dishonesty and conduct unbecoming of a police officer.
Gomez originally filed his complaint against Espenido and two others before the national NAPOLCOM office on November 16, 2016.
Also included in his complaint were PO3 Hydie Yutrago and Chief Inspector Leo Laraga who both appeared together with their respective lawyers.
Gomez said that he is determined to have Espenido, in particular, be held liable and remove him from the police organization for maliciously maligning his name and reputation, both as a mayor and an actor.
“We were tagged as drug capital of Eastern Visayas so when I became mayor, I worked hard to make Ormoc City as drug-cleared to show that I hate illegal drugs. And for me to be accused (of engaging in the illegal drug trade), talagang kakasuhan ko sila,” Gomez said.
The complaint filed by Gomez against Espenido, who is now the police chief of Ozamiz City, stemmed from his reported act releasing four prisoners who were held at the Ormoc City Police on October 17,2016.
The four, Marcelo Adorco, Jose Antipoesto, Jessie Ocares and Jernie Estrera were said to be henchmen of drug lord Kerwin Espinosa, himself detained at the Camp Crame custodial facility.
According to Gomez, the release of the four through the intercession of Espenido posed a threat to the security of the people of Ormoc. The whereabouts of the four remain unknown up to this time.
Gomez filed a complaint against Laraga for publicly tagging him using Espenido as his source as among those involved in the illegal drug trade during his appearance during a Senate investigation on November 10,2016 while Yutrago was allegedly responsible in forcing Max Miro, Gado Stephen Bobares, and Brian Anthony Gates Zaldivar, all said to be trusted men of Espinosa, signed a ‘ready-made affidavit’ listing down names said to be in the illegal drug trade.
Lawyer Haidee Borja, a member of the panel, said that during the preliminary hearing which lasted close to two hours, lawyers of Gomez submitted their position papers with their documentary evidences attached on them.
They are to submit their report within 15 days and will submit it to their commission en banc which will render its decision.
“Despite our due notice, respondent Chief Inspector Espenido did not appear, (so) we granted the motion of the prosecution to have waived his right to appear and file his position paper,” Borja said.
Arvin Avisado, Jr., one of Gomez’ lawyers, said that aside from the complaint they filed against Espenido at the NAPOLCOM, they are also set to file a string of criminal charges against the controversial police officer.(JOEY A. GABIETA)

GOVERNMENT CENTER, PALO, Leyte- The two Daguitan-Marabong flood control projects in Barangay Caridad, Julita, Leyte, are now being assessed on the extent of damages in the aftermath of tropical storm ‘Urduja’ last December 16, 2017 and tropical storm ‘Agaton’ in January 2, 2018.
The two flood control projects amounting to P170.685 million collapsed due to heavy rains which led to scouring and riverbed degradation along the foundation of revetment.
Project Engineer Wilma Mesias of regional office of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), based here, has coordinated with Leyte 2nd District Engineering Office to step up appropriate action for the two projects.
Thus, Engr. Gabriel Tomenio, DPWH- Leyte 2nd maintenance point person, reported that his team has already conducted on-site inspections and assessed the damages amounting to P21 million.
The field office is now preparing program of work and plans and requested funding for the repair of the flood control projects.
The Daguitan-Marabong flood control projects are located under the jurisdiction of the municipalities of Dulag and Julita, Leyte where the river basin has a catchment area of 292 sq. km.
Both projects were completed on April 25, 2016 and July 30, 2016, respectively. (PR)