CATBALOGAN CITY- The New People’s Army (NPA) in the region has suffered a major blow as they failed to successfully carry out their attack on a police station in Victoria, Northern Samar.
Thus said Major General Raul Farnacio, commanding general of the 8th Infantry Division, based this city.
What made the failure doubly frustrating to the rebels was it happened while they were to celebrate their 50th founding anniversary, Farnacio said.
The NPA observed their founding anniversary on March 29.
To recall, about 80 NPA rebels attacked the police station in Victoria on March 28 but was frustrated by 15 policemen, led by their chief of police, Lt. Eladio Alo, who engaged them to a two hour gun battle.
This resulted to the death of three rebels and the captured of three others.
At least two policemen were hurt during the predawn attack.
Farnacio said that the NPA rebels further suffered defeat with the surrender of a top rank rebel leader in Leyte.
He said that ‘Ka Bayong’ of the Apoy Platoon, informed them that more rebels are planning to surrender and return to the folds of the law and want to avail the program of the government for those who want to surrender.
“What we can assure the public is that members of the Philippine Army is always ready and willing to do what is necessary for the triumph of the government,” Farnacio said.
The region’s top Army official also said that their forces are further augmented with the return of their forces earlier assigned in Mindanao and Negros and the assignment of the elite force of the Philippine National Police, Special Action Force, to the region.
(LIZBETH ANN A. ABELLA)
NPA suffers major defeat with failure of Victoria attack
DPWH Region 8 eyes better spending amid 2018 poor performance
TACLOBAN CITY- The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) is hoping to improve its budget utilization rate for Eastern Visayas projects this year despite bottlenecks that are out of the agency’s control.
DPWH Regional Director Nerie Bueno said they have mapped out plans to fast-track spending this year after seeing reports that only P17.32 billion or 41.95 percent of the P42.64 billion allotment last year has been disbursed as of Dec. 31, 2018. The figure is way below than the 70 percent to 75 percent ideal budget utilization rate.
“The regional office is fully aware of the problem and we have to address it in 2019. We don’t want to commit the same mistakes over and over again,” Bueno told the Philippine News Agency (PNA) on Wednesday.
Although P41.29 billion or 96.84 percent of the 2018 outlay has been obligated, actual disbursement remains low due to some factors considered by DPWH as out of their control.
These include bad weather, insufficient workforce provided by the contractors, road right of way acquisition issues, difficulty on transportation of construction materials and scheduling of equipment, peace and order problem in Samar Island, and repeated bidding failures.
“Some contractors are not interested to build infrastructure in remote areas because they have many choices with a lot of projects being rolled out under the ‘Build, Build, Build’ program. Road right of way problem is major setback since we have to talk to people and deal with a lot of legal issues,” Bueno added.
Last year, the region completed 716 out of the 1,040 regular projects listed under the 2018 General Appropriations Act. Some 271 projects were ongoing while 52 others have not yet started as of Dec. 31, 2018, according to DPWH records.
To curb project delays in the future, the department has started pre-detailed engineering activities as early as first quarter of 2019 for projects programmed in 2020.
For 2019, the DPWH is eyeing a P27.62 billion budget under the 2019 National Expenditure Program. The proposal went up to P61.11 billion in 2020.
No single project for 2019 has started its construction this year due to pending approval of the 2019 budget bill after months of budget deadlock as Senate and House of Representatives failed to reach consensus.
The 2019 proposed budget has been submitted to the President for scrutiny but Malacañang could not say when it will be signed.
(SARWELL Q. MENIANO/PNA)
“It’s More Fun In the Philippines” showcases at NBA Wizards Halftime
WASHINGTON DC- On its 7th year, the Filipino Heritage Night (FHN), organized by Filipino-American Basketball Assn (FABA) of Metro DC’s Ken Mendoza, staged another successful “all tickets sold out” day of showcasing Filipino Heritage through the Philippines’ favorite sports- basketball during the NBA Wizards vs. Miami Heat game, Capital One Arena, Washington D.C. FHN endeavors to bring the Filipinos and non-Filipinos closer together in this annual event where FABA players are given a chance to play in the prestigious NBA court, meet their favorite NBA stars up-close inspiring them to do better in basketball.
Both US and Philippine national anthems were sang by Fil-Ams from New York City – the TOFA Artists & Performers led by Elton Lugay.
This year at the NBA Halftime show, two multi-awarded groups, the Migrant Heritage Commission (MHC) of Metro Washington D.C. spearheaded by Grace Divina Valera, Jesse A Gatchalian/ Arnedo S Valera and the Richmond Pilipino Class from Central Virginia (RPC) led by Maria Cielo Sinsioco, performed “It’s More Fun in the Philippines” dance to the music of “Piliin mo ang Pilipinas”.
Other performers with the group were from the Ilocano Society of America/ ISA’s Miss Teen Philippines-America beauty queens, some Mabuhay Inc. members and the eskrimadores of the Pinakatay Eskrima (c/o Lexi Crisostomo) in DC.
The two groups’ choreographers were Dennis Michael Hona-Hansinger and Ludwig Osorio.
A total of 90 dancers (56 from MHC and 34 from RPC) proudly performed waving US and Philippine flags, signifying the friendly ties between the 2 countries.
The dance showcase was initiated by MHC’s Executive Director & former Philippine Embassy’s Cultural Officer/ Attache’ Grace Valera who thought of encapsulating the diverse, vibrant and colorful cultures of the Philippines in one production number.
And to ensure a bigger participation, Grace asked the collaboration of Maria Cielo Sinsioco of Richmond Pilipino Class- a highly dedicated cultural group from Central Virginia, who agreed to do the Southern Philippines/Muslim suite while the rest of the suites will be done by MHC.
Both Valera and Sinsioco believed that showcasing the Philippines to the American mainstream is a great way to spread Philippine goodwill and promote the good image of the Philippines in the U.S.A.
With the big banner of “It’s More Fun In The Philippines”, the Halftime showcase in the US capital, featured the Philippines’ diverse cultures of 5 cultural suites namely: the Spanish/Maria Clara Suite, the Cordillera/ Mountain Province Suite, the Southern Philippines/Muslim Suite, the Tribal & Ati-atihan suite and the Rural/Barrio Fiesta Suite.
To the delight of over 20,000 arena audience, the two pride of the Philippines- Manny “PACMAN” Pacquiao (a Pacquiao look-alike Rudy Merc) and the Philippines’ Miss Universe (played by the 2011 Miss Teen Philippines-America title holder Chessa Taboada), joined in the halftime performance. The big event was also televised thru the NBA channel and Pay for View.
Ken Mendoza, the indefatigable president of FABA Metro DC, said “Through the annual Heritage Night at NBA Games, we can inspire the young generations that anything is possible if we put our mind into it, and that as Filipinos, we are proud of our heritage and culture”.
Popcom forges partnership with gov’t info association to better promote family planning program
TACLOBAN CITY – The Commission on Population and Development (Popcom) and the Association of Government Information Officers (AGIO) in the region recently forged a memorandum of agreement to strengthen the Responsible Parenthood and Family Planning (RPFP) program through the conduct of classes in the workplace of government offices.
Popcom Regional Director Elnora Pulma said that there is a great demand for information and discussion on responsible parenthood, family planning, and clarification on the common myths and misconceptions of various contraceptive methods in workplaces, thus, RPFP is now being brought to the workplace.
Under the re-strengthening of the National Program on Family Planning (NPFP) under President Rodrigo Duterte’s administration, workers’ access to family planning information and services need to be increased by promoting RPFP in the workplace to include those in large companies, in various, informal economies and government offices.
“We have been bringing RPFP to the grassroots. It’s about time we bring it to our partner government offices because our workers also need family planning information and services,” Pulma said.
RPFP Program aims to help couples/parents exercise responsible parenting to achieve their desired number, timing and spacing of their children, and to contribute in improving the maternal, neonatal and child health, and nutrition (MNCHN) has been made in harmony with DOLE’s Family Welfare Program to which its first component is the RPRH.
The AGIO-8, which is under the auspices of the Philippine Information Agency, is a group of government information officers, who assists in all program advocacies of all its government partners.
Popcom tapped the AGIO-8 recognizing their role as potent partners in advocacy and help to ensure women workers to have access to comprehensive family planning, and to support their right to decide whether, when, and how many children they want to have.
As part of the agreement, AGIO member-agencies are to identify participants to undertake the appropriate programs/ lectures/ symposia and trainings in relation to RPFP who will be made aware of the FP programs and services under the principle of Informed Choice and Volunteerism (ICV) during the orientation; cascade and disseminate content information on RPFP through social media; and institutionalize the program by including RPFP as part of their Gender and Development and Health and Wellness Program.
(LIZBETH ANN A.ABELLA)
Sec. Andanar brings FOI closer to Region 8
TACLOBAN CITY- Close to 500 students, barangay officials, and sectoral representatives got clearer understanding on the Freedom of Information (FOI) Bill as the roadshows of the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) rolled out in the region on March 28 and 29, 2019.
PCOO Secretary Martin Andanar led the team that flew-in for the special event in Calbayog City and Tacloban City.
In both fora, Andanar informed that the FOI Team has been holding fora around the country because they want people to get a clearer view of what FOI is and how people can better understand and appreciate it.
He said that the FOI of President Rodrigo Duterte is unprecedented that it was one of his top priority agenda when he assumed office.
In fact, soon after his assumption, Pres. Duterte signed Executive Order No. 2 which is aimed to “encourage people’s participation for a better transformation of their lives for the better.”
“Freedom of information is freedom for you to choose what is right that given the correct information, it will be your option to choose which can be better for you, your actions and behavior,” the PCOO Secretary said.
He cited for an example, the number of people who perished in the war on drugs.
According to him, it has been spread that more than 20,000 people have already died in the campaign but in truth, if one would just check the FOI portal, it will be gathered that no more than 5,000 people died in actual operation.
In the midst of fake news proliferated by a number of critics with their self-vested interests, Sec. Andanar further urged the audience to avail of the information that are made available in the FOI portal, where everything is true and correct.
“The FOI ideal is information for transformation. Clearly, it is not merely about knowing how our government functions, but a matter of acting about that knowledge for improving the work in government and the status of our people,” said Andanar.
The FOI team members included Usec Joel Egco and Asec Mon Cualuping who both welcomed questions during the open forum to the delight of the participants. (LDL/AEN/PIA-8)