TACLOBAN CITY- Eastern Samar Vice Governor Marcelo Ferdinand Picardal has assumed the post of Governor Conrado Nicart as the latter took a leave of indefinite leave due to health reason.
Picardal, who is serving on his third and last term as vice governor, assumed the post as acting governor August 25.
The acting governor assured the people of Eastern Samar that the temporary change of leadership at the provincial government will not hamper the delivery of basic services, particularly on health.
He said that the Eastern Samar Provincial Hospital, based in Borongan City, will be stuffed with enough supply of medicines to ensure that those who will need them, particularly the poor, could immediately be provided.
As acting governor, Picardal also said that he would also push for further development of the province’s tourism industry and find employment opportunities for those who are looking for jobs.
He also issued a guarantee for all employees of the provincial government that their salaries and benefits will be released on time. (JOEY A. GABIETA)
MAASIN CITY- From a satellite office, the Maritime Industry Authority (Marina) located in Barangay Abgao, is bent on becoming an extension entity to better serve its clientele, the boat owners and seamen.
Engr. Delfin Calapre, Jr., Marina specialist II, in a phone patch interview with Infocen Manager Erna Gorne during the DyDM Kapihan sa PIA live Friday, on the sidelines of a maritime forum and consultative meeting with various stakeholders held at Jaimee’s Hotel in Brgy. Ibarra explained that as a satellite status, the office can only receive papers for registration and licensing and then forward these papers to the regional office, but as a Marina extension office there will be no need of forwarding for it can already be capable of registering or issuing licenses and franchises.
Calapre likened the function of his office to that of the Land Transportation Authority (LTO) which issues registration for motorized bancas and motorboats for fishing ventures, and professional licenses for seamen.
In addition, Calapre said Marina is also like the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) that gives franchise for passenger boats to operate in specific routes within their area of coverage, from Baybay City and the whole of Southern Leyte province.
Calapre hoped that as early as next year their office will be converted from satellite to extension, considering the continued increase in the number of sea-faring operators and individuals and the wide coverage area, so that processing of papers will be done at their level.
For this year, their office has facilitated the issuance of seaman’s book to about 700 seafarers, and provided registration and issuance of franchises to over 100 ship/boat operators, Calapre further said. (PIA8-Southern Leyte)
More than 250,000 Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) residing in the western provinces of Canada may now visit the newly opened Social Security System (SSS) foreign extension office located at the office of the Philippine Consulate General (PCG) in Calgary to inquire, file, or avail themselves of the services offered by the pension fund.
The SSS Calgary foreign extension office, the second in Canada, was opened last June in line with the Calgary PCG’s celebration of Philippine Independence Day.
SSS President and Chief Executive Officer Emmanuel F. Dooc said the newly-opened extension office will serve about 270,000 Filipinos located in Alberta, British Columbia, and other western provinces of Canada.
“We are expecting to reach more Filipinos for their continuing social security coverage under our programs with the opening of the new extension office in Calgary. Considering that the Filipino population in Canada now stands at more than 660,000 based on its latest census data, the newly-opened office will cater to the SSS needs of around 40 percent of our kababayans in the area. We are very thankful to the Consulate for sharing an office space for our operations,” Dooc said.
The remaining 60 percent of Filipinos in the eastern provinces of Canada will continue to be served by the SSS Toronto foreign representative office.
A memorandum of agreement between SSS and the PCG was signed, providing the pension fund an office space consisting of a service counter and a staff room inside the Calgary PCG premises.
“Our Calgary office started its operations last month, initially as an extension office under the supervision of our representative in SSS Toronto. To date, we already have 23 SSS foreign offices in top destination countries, with offices located at the Philippine Embassy/Consulate General/Overseas Labor Offices,” Dooc said.
The launching ceremony was highlighted by a ceremonial ribbon cutting, led by Social Security Commissioners Gonzalo Duque and Anita Quitain, with SSS Account Management Group Senior Vice President and International Operations Group Concurrent OIC Judy Frances See, and PCG Consul General Julius Torres.
SSS program briefing and onsite services for the Filipino communities in Alberta and British Columbia were also conducted by the SSS management team during their visit in Canada in order to encourage active SSS membership and also promote the new SSS Calgary extension office.
The services cater to Filipino migrant workers and overseas Filipinos, including former Filipinos who are now Canadian citizens, with or without dual-citizenship.(PR)
Tourism-related projects, dubbed as ‘Spark Samar,’ may just help the province of Samar leapfrog from underdevelopment. So said provincial administrator Mario Quijano. The provincial. Photo shows provincial and tourism officials led by Governor Sharee Ann Tan and Tourism Regional Director Karina Rosa Tiopes in a group photo with the Lulugayan Falls as their background.
(photo courtesy Gov. Sharee Ann Tan Facebook)
Tourism-related projects, dubbed as ‘Spark Samar,’ may just help the province of Samar leapfrog from underdevelopment. So said provincial administrator Mario Quijano. The provincial. Photo shows provincial and tourism officials led by Governor Sharee Ann Tan and Tourism Regional Director Karina Rosa Tiopes in a group photo with the Lulugayan Falls as their background. (photo courtesy Gov. Sharee Ann Tan Facebook)
As one of the country’s poorest provinces
CATBALOGAN CITY- The provincial government of Samar is targeting to reduce its poverty level to about 30 percent from its current level of almost 50 percent.
The target to lower its poverty level could be achieved within the five-year period, said provincial administrator Mario Quijano.
Quijano said that the provincial government under Governor Sharee Ann Tan could achieve the target through its Spark Samar Program.
The program, launched by Tan in 2015, aims to develop the tourism industry of the province but at the same time, giving focus in providing farm-to-market roads, health, livelihoods, agriculture, and irrigation.
“There is an integrated approach to development which the (provincial) government created for its implementation to be in unison,” Quijano, who also acts as the coordinator of Spark Samar Program, said.
Initially, the Spark Samar Program focuses on tourism-ready towns of Basey, Marabut, and Paranas but is expected to reach other towns in the province.
Samar is considered to be one of the country’s underdeveloped provinces with its poverty incidence placed at 49.6 percent in 2016.
Quijano heads the project management office (PMO) that oversees the implementation of the projects, including evaluation and ensuring the completion of the project.
The office is in charge in looking for funds for the projects from national line government agencies, organization or foreign-assisted funding if the provincial government has no capacity to implement it due to budget constraints.
Quijano added that to ensure the success of the target, the provincial government is putting emphasis to health by improving health services referral from rural health units to hospitals.
“We need to bring health to the rural areas, to the poorest of the poor; to the farthest barangays and this is a big challenge for all of us,” Quijano said.
(ROEL T. AMAZONA)
MAASIN CITY- The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) field office here is optimistic of hitting 85 percent accomplishment target for the year after attaining significant accomplishment in the first semester.
For regular infrastructure projects, the DPWH Southern Leyte office (SLDEO) posted a 45 percent accomplishment, surpassing the 40 percent goal for the period.
The field office is tasked to carry out P1.8 billion worth of projects this year.
“I’m glad that we are ahead of our target, making us one of the few district offices in Eastern Visayas that reached the target set by the central office for the first six months of the year,” Ma. Margarita C. Junia, DPWH-SLDEO district engineer, said.
As of June 30, the field office here has already completed 10 out of 50 projects. There are 23 other projects up for completion by the end of the year.
Among the finished projects are the P2.7 million reconstruction of Liloan-San Ricardo road and nine rehabilitation projects of permanent bridges along major thoroughfares in the province.
These are the P23 million bridge rehabilitation projects in Hinundayan, P15 million in San Juan, P22 million in San Francisco, and P5 million in Sogod town.
“We are doing everything to avoid delays in our projects, not only in the regular infrastructure projects but also to the projects funded by other government agencies. This is our way of upholding the mandate of the department in delivering the projects right on time,” said Junia.
The infrastructure department also implements projects funded by other agencies, such as school buildings from the Department of Education and farm-to-market roads from the Department of Agriculture. (PR)
UNFINISHED. Photo above shows a resettlment site in Hernani, Eastern Samar that remains unfinished and unused. The project is intended for families who lost their houses due to ‘Yolanda.’ This slow implementation of housing projects sparked a congressional inquiry held in Tacloban City last Friday(Sept.1). (ROEL T. AMAZONA)
UNFINISHED. Photo above shows a resettlment site in Hernani, Eastern Samar that remains unfinished and unused. The project is intended for families who lost their houses due to ‘Yolanda.’ This slow implementation of housing projects sparked a congressional inquiry held in Tacloban City last Friday(Sept.1). (ROEL T. AMAZONA)
Due to delayed ‘Yolanda’ housing projects
TACLOBAN CITY- The committee on urban housing and urban development is mulling for a possible filing of criminal charges against National Housing Authority and the contractors it hired relative to the construction of housing units for families who lost their houses due to super typhoon ‘Yolanda.’
The committee, chaired by Negros Occidental Rep. Alfredo Benitez, conducted a public inquiry here in Tacloban City Friday(Sept.1) on the status of housing units constructed in the aftermath of Yolanda’s onslaught.
Eastern Samar Rep. Ben Evardone, a member of the committee, said that he does not only see “massive corruption” on the Yolanda fund but sees criminal negligence why four years since the catastrophe hit Eastern Visayas, NHA and its assigned contractors have yet to finish the housing projects.
“Definitely, there is a massive corruption in the implementation of this housing project. The mere fact that the implementation is much delayed; they have deprived the people of their assistance and their needs,” Evardone said.
He also alleged that based on their ocular inspection of a housing project in Hernani, Eastern Samar, last Thursday(August 31), the project was “substandard,” without elaborating.
Hernani is one of the towns in the region that was devastated by Yolanda in 2013.
Up to this time, the construction of the 989 houses intended for typhoon survivors have yet to be finished. The construction of these houses started in 2015.
Rep. Vicente Veloso, another committee and from Leyte, said that the fact that the project has long delayed could constitute of criminal negligence on the part of the NHA and its contractors.
“We will just fix the factual basis that we will file to the Department of Justice and its now up to the DOJ to file the appropriate action,” he said.
Of the more than 205,000 housing units intended for areas hit by Yolanda, only 71,930 have been occupied.
In Tacloban City, considered as the ground zero of the world’s strongest typhoon to hit inland, only 9,801 housing units have been occupied out of the 14,433 housing units spread on the 11 resettlement sites in the city.
Rizalde Mediavillo, NHA regional manager, however, said that on his level, he can assure the public that the project was above board.
“I can say that at the regional level, there is no corruption. And those houses that we deemed to have been constructed below the standards, we ask the constructors to fix them,” he said.
He also said that the remaining 4,632 would be completed by 2019.
Asked why the Yolanda housing projects are facing delays, Mediavillo said that lack of land titles of the identified resettlement sites and no takers among contractors to the projects were the factors for the delay.
Rep. Benitez said that to solve this problem, it was agreed that tax declaration should be considered by the Commission on Audit which earlier wanted that land titles be required in procuring lots for resettlement sites and if local government units are willing, for them to undertake the housing project themselves.
