TACLOBAN CITY — The Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) has been releasing the P53.23 million incentives to coconut farmers in Eastern Visayas for planting banana after the 2013 super typhoon ‘Yolanda.’
As of March, the PCA regional office has already distributed P22.81 million checks to 6,821 coconut farmers who planted 912,650 suckers within the first two years after the destructive typhoon.
The PCA started the distribution in January.
“We have been going around provinces to inform coconut farmers that incentives for banana intercropping is now ready for release,” said PCA Regional Manager Joel Pilapil.
The official clarified that the incentive is intended for the 15,646 coconut farmers who planted 2.12 million banana suckers from 2014 to 2015.
“It takes time to release the money since we have to abide to some auditing rules. Even if it comes late, we see the happy faces of farmers receiving checks,” Pilapil.
The PCA prioritized the provision of cash to farmers who planted banana considering that it is very suitable to plant the crop under coconut trees, high demand in the market, and it is ready for harvest in less than a year.
“While waiting for the full recovery of coconut, we introduced banana intercropping for farmers to have alternative income. This is the first time that PCA provided cash reward to farmers engaged in intercropping,” Pilapil added.
Of the P53.23 million budget, P39.06 million was set aside for Leyte province, P1.41 million for Biliran, P250,000 for Southern Leyte, P5 million for Samar, and P7.5 million for Eastern Samar.
The PCA is targeting to finish the distribution of incentives within the first semester of the year.
About 33.90 million coconut trees in Eastern Visayas were destroyed by the monster storm in 2013.
Of the total, 13.90 million were categorized as totally damaged, 9.04 million severely damaged, 5.69 million slightly damaged, and 5.28 million moderately damaged.
(SARWELL Q. MENIANO/PNA)

MAASIN CITY – The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) field office here received nine new chariot-type maintenance crew service vehicles from Southern Leyte Representative Roger Mercado.
DPWH Southern Leyte district engineering office (SLDEO) chief Ma. Margarita Junia accepted the new vehicles during the turnover ceremony on April 6.
She expressed appreciation to Mercado and the provincial government for their support and contribution to the department’s projects.
“These new vehicles will help boost the agency’s capability to maintain roads and infrastructures in Southern Leyte,” Junia said.
The nine service vehicles will be given to each maintenance point persons (MPPs) designated in different locations in Southern Leyte.
MPPs are tasked to supervise road maintenance works such as vegetation control, manual ditch cleaning clearing of obstruction, cleaning of culverts and manholes, manual patching of shoulders, as well as sidewalk and gutter cleaning.
The point persons conduct daily inspection of their assigned road sections including bridges to identify defects and deficiencies.
“With these new vehicles for our MPPs, we will be able to improve our road rating and we can now adhere to the policy of quickly responding to restore road defects,” Junia said citing the department order directing personnel to fix road defects within two days.
These defects include potholes, alligator cracks, major scaling, shoving and corrugation, pumping and depression, faded road markings, inverted shoulder, lush vegetation, clogged drains, and open manholes.
“As a sign of our gratitude to the donors, rest assured that these new vehicles will be taken care of. We assure that the utilization of these equipment is in line with our duty to continually improve the maintenance service delivery to the public and to keep our national roads safe and convenient for the people of Southern Leyte,” said maintenance section chief Gideon Sacro.
The DPWH field office here is tasked to maintain 299 kilometers of national roads and 155 bridges, built in 18 towns and one city. (PR)

GOVERNMENT CENTER, PALO, Leyte- The controversy on Dengvaxia was blamed by the health officials in the region for the drop of their accomplishment on their anti-measles campaign.
Because of the controversy generated by the Dengvaxia issue, parents are now hesitant, if not outright reject, any vaccination campaign like anti-measles being administered by their department, Boyd Cerro, regional chief of epidemiology and surveillance unit of the DOH, said.
Last year, their measles immunization campaign has only reached 62.70 percent which was lower compared to the 71.08 percent in 2016.
The controversy on Dengvaxia, which generated so much media coverage, started to come to light in 2017 though the campaign was made in 2016 covering Central Luzon, Calabarzon, Metro Manila and some cities in Cebu involving more than 837,000 students in public schools.
Cerro said that while the region was not among the regions where the Dengvaxia vaccine was administered, the controversy it created result in negative impression to the department’s immunization campaigns.
“But because of the controversy, parents in the region are now hesitant to any immunization program of the DOH. Some even reject that their children be given any vaccines from the department. They are now afraid to have their children immunized because of the controversy generated by the Dengvaxia issue,” the health official said.
In 2017, out of the targeted 127,032 children below two years old, only 79,651 were able to be given with the anti-measles vaccine or just 62.70 percent.
And this drop of number of children getting the measles vaccine is a cause of alarm to them, Cerro said.
“This could result to a measles outbreak considering of the low turnout of our (coverage) campaign of anti-measles vaccine,” he said.
The DOH-8, however, has yet to monitor any outbreak of measles in the region.
Because of this situation, they have strengthened their campaign for parents to allow their children have the measles antidote.
Cerro said that while they have not administered the Dengvaxia vaccine in the region, they were still able to monitor 96 children, whose ages ranged from 11 to 19, to have been given the said vaccine.
He said that 80 of these children received the vaccines from private physicians while the 16 others were children who were from the places where the vaccine was administered like Zambales and Cebu but were in the region for a vacation or Christmas break.
“Eight of them were confined in the hospital with only six of them to have been confirmed to have dengue fever. Fortunately, we don’t have any fatality,” Cerro said.
Cerro said that the Bureau of Foods and Drugs (BFAD), an agency under the DOH, revoked the licenses of these doctors to further administer Dengvaxia vaccine.
“The products were also recalled from these private physicians,” he said.
Cerro, however, declined to give details on the private physicians who administered the vaccine adding that they have no liability as it was the DOH which earlier gave them the authority to use the Dengvaxia vaccine.
(JOEY A. GABIETA)

SAN ISIDRO,Northern Samar – Six persons have been arrested in an operation against illegal logging launched by the San Isidro Municipal Police Station(MPS) on April 8, 2018 at Barangay Seven Hills, this town.
Police Chief Inspector Antonio P. Montaño identified the suspects as Antonio Meregildo, 50; Catalino Albuera, 42; Ryan Monares, 28; Erlek Dalangpan, 29, and all residents of Brgy. E. Duran Bobon, Northern Samar; Erwin Cajandab, 29 and Richard Abenir, 26, residents of Brgy. Balite and Brgy. Alegria, this town, respectively.
He added that the suspects were caught in flagrante delicto of transporting the illegally sawn lumber while they were conducting mobile patrol in the said barangay.
Catalino Albuera, who was identified as the owner of said lumbers, failed to present permit to transport the items to the authorities.
Recovered from said suspects were 58 pieces of 2x8x12 lawaan or 928 board feet loaded in four motorcycles; one Rusi 150, one Honda 155, one Motoposh 155 and one Rusi 150 color blue, all bearing no plate numbers.
The lumbers have an estimate market value of P27, 840 and brought to San Isidro MPS for documentation and were turned over to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources for proper disposition.
Also, suspect will be facing charges for violation of PD 705 or the Forestry Act.
Meanwhile, S/Supt. Romeo P. Campomanes lauded the efforts San Isidro MPS for seriously taking into account the implementation of environmental laws. (PR)

TACLOBAN CITY- The regional office of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) said that more than 2,000 private workers have been regularized since the start of the year.
The 2,048 regularized workers represents 22.75 percent of the 9,000 workers that they hope to be given regular positions at their respective establishments for this year.
Last year, 1,753 workers from 124 establishments across the region became regular workers.
As regularized workers, they have now security of tenure and avail other benefits like the mandatory government benefits and contributions and 13th month pay.
The campaign of the DOLE is part of the program of the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte to end the ‘endo’ or end of contract practice of private establishments in the country.
Amado Ildefenso Roa, senior labor employment officer, said that they hope to achieve their target of 9,000 workers to become regulars by this year.
Roa said that of the 2,048 regularized workers as of April of this year, more than half of them or 1,480 were workers of the Energy Development Corporation (EDC) and Pasar (Philippines Associated Smelting and Refining Corp.).
EDC, located in Ormoc City, and Pasar located inside the Leyte Industrial Development Estate (LIDE), an economic zone located in Isabel town, Leyte, are two of the region’s biggest industries.
Roa, however, could not say as how many workers from EDC and LIDE, have been regularized.
Aside from EDC and Pasar, the regularized 2,048 workers were from over 50 establishments like hotels, restaurants, and shopping malls in the region.
“We are just glad that our business owners here are open to regularize their workers. But our campaign will still continue,” Roa said.
It was learned from him that the 9,000 targeted workers for the year was given by their central office.(JOEY A. GABIETA)

In Maasin City

TACLOBAN CITY- The anti-Drug elements of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA RO8) – Southern Leyte Provincial Office, Southern Leyte Police Provincial Office- Provincial Drug Enforcement Unit(SLPPO-PDEU), and Maasin City Police Station arrested a drug personality during the conduct of a buy-bust operation at Barangay Abgao, Maasin City on April 10, 2018 at around 2:50 pm.
In a report submitted to PDEA Director General Aaron N. Aquino, elements of PDEA- RO8 under Director Edgar T. Jubay, SLPPO-PDEU, and Maasin CPS identified the suspect as Joevil Lim, 29, single, businessman, and resident of Brgy. Canturing, Maasin City.
Confiscated during the said operation were 103 pieces transparent plastic sachet containing suspected shabu with a total estimated weight of 20.0 grams with an estimated market value of P 100,000, and drug paraphernalia.
The suspect will be facing charges for violations of Section 5 (sale of Dangerous Drugs), Section 11 (Possession of Dangerous Drugs) and Section 12(Possession of Drug Paraphernalia), Article II of RA 9165.
The suspect is temporarily detained at PDEA RO8 Detention Facility, this city. (PR)