DULAG, Leyte- A beach resort, this town, was transformed into a venue where 18 transgenders sashayed in colorful gowns and swimwears to win the title as ‘Queen of the Philippines Visayas’ held on August 10.
While the pageant has all the hallmarks of the run-on-mill beauty pageant like the gown and swim suit competitions and the question and answer portion, it has a ‘higher’ aim, said its organizers.
Jojo Mesa, whose D&S Events and Production is the franchise holder of the beauty pageant, insisted that the ‘Queen of the Philippines’ is aiming for respect among transgenders who are participating the pageant.
“It’s sad that we have several beauty pageants for our gays that only depicts them like funny characters which result for them not to be respected and only result to further discrimination against members of the community,” Mesa said.
“This contest, Queen of the Philippines, aims to change that perception. We want our gays and transgenders be respected and accepted as they are,” he added.
According to Mesa, one of the qualifications of the contest is for the candidates to really look like a woman in physical aspect.
In this contest, he said, gone are those gay candidates who still display their masculine side.
“They are all transgenders. They all look like women-having breasts and long hair. They don’t sport muscles unlike in gay contests we seen in the barangays,” Mesa said.
The 18 candidates who vied for the title came from various parts of the Visayas like Cebu, Biliran, Tacloban City and other parts of Samar and Leyte.
Mesa said that they hope that pageants involving members of the LGBT community will be totally accepted by the public just like the regular beauty pageants involving natural women.
“That is our aim. That is why, we carefully screen the candidates and we get respected members of the community as our judges,” he said.
Among the judges of the pageant was the mayor of Dulag, Joy Que who provided security detail at the ShayDan’s Beach Resort and Spa, the venue of the first ever staging of the Queen of the Philippines in Leyte. (JOEY A. GABIETA)
Leyte town hosts first ever contest for transgenders
Army chief eyes end of insurgency before 2022
EV as a ‘priority area’ fight against NPAs
BY: JOEY A. GABIETA
CATBALOGAN CITY- With President Rodrigo Duterte identifying Eastern Visayas as a ‘priority area,’ the government troops in the region are determined to end its insurgency problem.
And they will accomplish it on or before Mr. Duterte steps down from Malacañang in 2022.
Major General Pio Diñoso III, commanding general of the 8th Infantry Division, based this city, said that as one of the ‘national priority areas’ in crushing the armed movement of the New People’s Army(NPA), they will be given the ‘best’ both in personnel and in assets.
“The President said that Samar (Island) is one of the priority areas meaning we have the support; they will bring in all the best-officials, armor assets, and air assets,” Diñoso, who assumed the post on July 5, said in an interview.
“There is a marching order that before the President steps down, we can at least contain, not necessarily totally eliminate, the insurgency problem to a manageable level and it’s doable,” he said.
The President earlier issued Executive Order 70 which calls for a ‘whole of nation’ approach in ending the insurgency problem of the country.
Samar Island comprises the provinces of (western) Samar, Eastern Samar, and Northern Samar where the presence of the rebel NPA members is still felt and where most of the fire fights involving the government troops and the rebels commonly happens.
It was learned from Diñoso that as part of the campaign, he wanted the return of two battalions belonging to the 8th ID to the region that are now detailed in Mindanao to help quell the terror groups operating there.
These are the 19th IB and the 34th IB, now based in Arakan and Midsayap, both in North Cotabato.
He also said that they also expect to be given at least two choppers out of the 32 choppers to be procured by the national government.
The general said that having an air asset, it would now be easy for them to track down the rebels hiding or operating in the mountains.
At present, the 8th ID has two choppers under its Tactical Operations Group (TOG).
Diñoso, meanwhile, asked all local government leaders to support on this campaign of the Duterte administration in addressing the region’s insurgency problem.
“Executive Order 70 is an order issued by the Chief Executive so supporting the order is not an option but mandatory. So the mayors have to follow the President and non-compliance will be dealt with by the DILG (Department of Interior and Local Government),” he said.
And so far, there are no leaders from the region like mayors, who appears not to supporting the order, Diñoso said.
Meantime, Diñoso said that as they will strengthen their fight against members of the rebel group, they are conscious in protecting and respecting of the human rights of the civilians who are directly affected in the campaign.
He noted that for the past five years now, there is no complaints of human rights violation against the soldiers, an indication that they value and respect the civilians’ rights.
“In the entire Philippine Army, for the past three to five years, no case of human rights violation have been reported. In our campaign, we respect human rights and we know we will not win in our campaign if we will not respect human rights (of the civilians),” Diñoso said.
DTI-8’s KMME graduates undergo money, market encounter
TACLOBAN CITY-Over a hundred mentee-graduates of the Kapatid Mentor ME (KMME) program of the Department of Trade and Industry 8 (DTI-8) underwent a one-day Money and Market Encounter (MME) with partner financial institutions and market platforms held on July 12 at the Summit Hotel, this city.
OIC Regional Director Celerina Bato of DTI-8 said MME compliments the KMME program which gathered national and local partner financial institutions and market platforms to present their products and services for the participants to explore and scale up their businesses.
“Our desire is to see every entrepreneur explore all the possibilities in the market and every opportunity to expand,” Bato said.
Bato added that the most common problem entrepreneurs are experiencing is on how to find opportunities and alternatives to increase their finances in order for them to expand their market reach.
Together with Go Negosyo and the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise Development (MSMED) Council, DTI’s first Money and Market Encounter rollout in Eastern Visayas saw bigger opportunities for the graduates to interact with the speakers-mentors during the Money Forum, Market Forum, and Digital Talks Forum.
DTI-8 invited representatives of financial institutions and national and local mentors to help increase access to finances, access to brick and mortar, and digital marketing platforms of assisted micro, small and medium entrepreneurs (MSMEs).
Side-by-side with MME was the business-to-business matching wherein the KMME graduates had a one-on-one encounter with the speakers/panelists who guided and helped them match their concerns on financial, marketing and digital matters.
“MME is in partnership with financial institutions as well as our market platforms, and our role continues even after these mentees graduate to sustain their businesses,” she said.
KMME program is a 10-week module aimed to help MSMEs scale up their businesses through mentoring on the different functional areas of entrepreneurship and be equipped with the right mindset, business-knowhow and help them scale up their enterprises.
Since 2016, DTI-8 had already produced seven KMME batch of graduates in Leyte province and three batches in the other provinces in Eastern Visayas, Bato informed.
(LDL/PIA-8, Leyte)
College teacher, drug user arrested in sting operation in Leyte town
TACLOBAN CITY- A woman college instructor and an alleged target listed drug personality were arrested in a buy-bust operations in Matalom, Leyte over the weekend.
Authorities identified the suspects as Mary Jane Laroa, 23, single, licensed teacher, and Kevin Lalic, 21, jobless, a drug surrenderee.
Joint elements from the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) and Philippine Army together with the local police of Matalom arrested them at Barangay Sta. Fe of said town at around 9:35 p.m., July 21.
Purchased and confiscated from the suspects were eight pieces plastic sachet containing suspected “shabu” weighing around 0.25 gram with an estimated market value of P6,000 and drug paraphernalia.
The two were charged for violation of Section 5, 11, 12, and 26, Article II of RA 9165, otherwise known as the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002, police said.
(RONALD O. REYES)
E. Visayas tour operators earn spots in international travel fest
(Contributed photos)
TACLOBAN CITY- At least three tour companies based here in the region have earned spots in this year’s 6th edition of the International Travel Festival (ITF) in Cebu City.
“As in the years before, we brought three Eastern Visayas Tour Operators, namely, MarsDennise Travel and Tours, Hero Travel and Tours, and Kamp Kulambo,” said Bing Lumbre, product and market development officer of the Department of Tourism (DOT) in the region.
“We have been actively participating this annual event held at Ayala Center in Cebu in 2012, 2014, 2018, and 2019,” Lumbre added.
According to the tourism officer, the operators had the chance to meet, market and sell their tour packages to buyers and tourists alike in the Cebu areas for three days.
“The products mostly marketed and asked included the San Juanico cruises, island tours to Kalanggaman, the historical Limasawa, Cuatro Islas and Sambawan Islands. Others also inquired about Sohoton Caves and the Torpedo Boat Adventure in Paranas, historical tours to Balangiga, the celebration of the Leyte Landings, and the 500th year of the First Mass Anniversary,” Lumbre said.
He also thanked the support of DOT Regional Director Karen Tiopes and the travel operators for the successful event.
Hero Travel and Tours, owned and managed by Rhoel Ladera, is the top tour operator when it comes to San Juanico cruises, island tours in Kalanggaman, Cuatro Islas and Sambawan, along with tour to Sohoton caves, among other destinations in Eastern Visayas.
“The San Juanico Sunset Cruise by Hero Travel Solutions will be a big help in promoting our most iconic tourist destination in Tacloban which is the famous San Juanico Bridge. Not only can one have that instagrammable picture under the bridge but one can also explore the different islets in the strait, like the Isla de San Juanico,” Ladera said.
“Also as part of our corporate social responsibility we are helping promote the San Juan by the Bay as a stopover for our tour so we can help the people’s organization behind it, which is The San Juan by the Bay Service Cooperative. This is a project of Ms. Gina Lopez of ABS-CBN Foundation,” he added.
Meanwhile, Kamp Kolambu Travel and Tour operator disclosed that they “would like to highlight this early the upcoming 500 years commemoration of the 1st Mass in Limasawa, where we expect a lot of guests.”
Named after Rajah Kolambu, supreme ruler of Limasawa Island at the time of Magellan Landings in 1521, Kamp Kolambu offers a glamorous camping experience which vary from the usual ones in terms of size of tent with complete amenities like air conditioning, air beds with beddings, lights and full board meals.
“Limasawa Island, with its historicity and natural wonders, is a personal favorite of the outfit. We decided to make it the litmus test for a unique travel experience to include glamorous camping and activities which are curated according to the guests’ desired,” the company said.
“The camping rates vary from the kind of services requested by guests. Rates are affordable for middle class tourists,” wrote the Kamp Kolambu in its Facebook page.
Kamp Kolambu can also offer the same concept in other tourist destinations in the region, provided that there is electricity supply.
“We also offer Tacloban City tours with a twist- remembrance tours like Leyte Landings and Yolanda tours, Kalanggaman and other island destinations, faith and pilgrimage tours, and general adventure tours,” the Kamp Kulambo operator said.
The recently-concluded 6th ITF was attended by more than 100 exhibitors from airline companies, hotels, and resorts.
(RONALD O. REYES)
Tacloban Chamber Volunteer Fire Brigade in need of emergency medical responders
TACLOBAN CITY- The Tacloban Chamber Volunteer Fire Brigade Association Inc. is now accepting new applicants to be trained as emergency medical responders.
Those interested should be 18 to 30 years old male or female, must have a strong spirit of volunteerism, and preferably finished medical-related courses.
Also, an applicant must be physically and mentally fit and willing to undergo intensive training.
With its almost 100 volunteers, the chamber fire brigade has been saving and protecting lives and properties since 1980, according to its fire chief Arjan Antig.
In an interview, Antig called on the public to continue to support local volunteer fire brigades.
At present, the chamber fire brigade has two firetrucks and one ambulance.
Interested applicants must bring two pieces 2×2 ID pictures, barangay and police clearance, medical certificate, and fill out an application form at Chamber base at TFCCCI Building, 174 Justice Romualdez Street, Tacloban City.
They may also contact 555/ 321-3331/ 523-8515/ 0917-782-1555/ 0918-315-0300.
Recruitment is until August 31, 2019 while the training will start on September 2019.
(RONALD O. REYES)