TACLOBAN CITY- The Mahagnao Volcano Natural Park (MVNP) is attracting more tourists nowadays.
Leyte Governor Leopoldo Dominico Petilla in an interview said that an increase in the number of tourists has been noted for the last few years.
He cited that in 2015, more than 5,000 tourists visited the park and increased by 50 percent the following year.
Governor Petilla said that MVNP, located in the boundaries of Burauen and La Paz towns, is another promising tourism attraction which his administration is promoting.
Petilla said that they projects that more tourists will visit the park upon the completion of the concreting of the road leading to the MVNP in the middle of this year.
Meantime, Regional Director Leonardo Sibbaluca of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, regional office 8 (DENR-8) said in an interview that recognizing the tourism potentials of MVNP, his office has spearheaded the Second Mahagnao Volcano Natural Park (MVNP) Outdoor Festival, February 3, 2017 with the aim of promoting environmental protection and conservation and ecotourism.
More than 1,000 people attended the festival, he added.
Sibbaluca said that the volcano with its visible crater has its natural wonders and attractions to include multi-colored mud, hot springs, waterfalls and a diversity of flora and fauna. He also added that the park has twin volcanic crater lakes – Lake Mahagnao and Lake Malagsum.
Sibbaluca said that the park has the prevailing cool or temperate environmental conditions.
He added that Mahagnao Volcano with an elevation of 860 meters (or 2,820 feet) from the sea level and which is the focal point of the natural park, is classified as a dormant volcano by the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS) with last eruption reported in 1865.
Proclamation no. 184 dated August 27, 1937 created Mahagnao Volcano National Park with an area of 635 hectares (1,570 acres) and was renamed under its present name under Proclamation no. 1157 dated February 3, 1998.
(RESTITUTO CAYUBIT)

ORMOC CITY- Mayor Richard Gomez of this city that he would regulate the holding of cockfighting saying staging such activity should be within what the laws allows.
Gomez, who is serving on his first term in office, noted that cockfighting is rampant in the city that even in sitios its being regularly held.
According to the city mayor, cockfighting is only allowed during a fiesta celebration or should be staged cockpit arena.
Gomez claimed that cockfightings were allowed to be held in the sitios even without occasion by the previous administration for days.
“If we will allow to have cockfighting in all villages including sub-villages, we might have cockfighting all year round in this city,” Gomez said.
He stressed that cockfight will only be limited in cockpit arena and during fiestas.
Ormoc City has two cockpit arenas.
Under Presidential Decree No 1310, a municipality or city with more than 100,000 population is allowed to have two cockpits.
Based on 2015 census, Ormoc City has a total population of 215,031.
Mayor Gomez also vowed to address other illegal activities like gambling.
“We need to address the problem in the family wherein husbands are going home without giving money to their wives because they lost in the gambling,” he said.
(ROEL T. AMAZONA)

TACLOBAN CITY- Mayor Cristina G. Romualdez led a two-day team building workshop attended by heads of the several departments and offices of the City Hall.
The team building focused on organizational effectiveness held February 17-18 at the Caluwayan Beach Resort in Marabut, Samar.
The two-day team building seminar workshop of had group activities and lectures on leadership capabilities, logical decision making and motivational skills that would aid every one of them on actual situations encountered in respective offices in line of duties.
As a leader, they should be equipped with leadership skills that would aid them in decision making, inputs on how to think as an office head, some leadership frameworks, what inspires them and drives them as a good leader, and how to work as one team for the betterment of the city, Mayor Romualdez said in an interview.
City Cooperative head Ruena Mate sees the team building training as an indication of the department heads support on the programs and projects of Mayor Romualdez for Tacloban City.
“All of us were made to practice and say positive words and actions in dealing with fellow participants to show support and expectedly to be duplicated when we return to our respective post,” she added. (GAY B.GASPAY, TISAT)

Benefited “Yolanda” survivors in EV

By: Sarwell Q.  Meniano

TACLOBAN CITY – Nearly P5 billion medical expenses have been paid by the national government to survivors of supertyphoon “Yolanda” who were confined in various health facilities in the region for the last three years.
This was disclosed by Renato Limsiaco, regional vice president of the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth), during a press conference Monday (February 20).
The state health insurance firm reported 623,145 typhoon survivors who were non-PhilHealth members and those who missed paying their premiums benefited the claims.
“From 2014 to 2016, Eastern Visayas was the only region in the country that experienced the universal coverage in terms of benefits with the implementation of all-can-avail policy after the super typhoon,” Limsiaco said.
The policy, meant for all patients in typhoon-hit region regardless of their membership status, ended on Dec. 31, 2016 or three year after Yolanda hit the Visayas on November 8, 2013.
“Without this policy, we would deprive the 623,145 people from healthcare services,” Limsiaco said, referring to the benefit of the program specially implemented in all areas hit by the world’s strongest typhoon to hit inland.
But the number could still increase as there are still claims that are being processed by their office, Limsiaco said.
The PhilHealth in the region paid claims P4.88 billion. Of this amount, P25.18 million were paid in late 2013, P1.82 billion in 2014, P2.08 billion in 2015, and P962.92 million last year.
To include benefits payment to active members, the government has paid more than P9 billion health insurance claims between late 2013 until last year.
Limsiaco admitted that the regional office suffered losses with the massive claims payment for Yolanda survivors, but it somehow uplifted the regional economy.
In 2016, for instance, the state health insurance firm only earned PHP900 million premium contributions from regular members and PHP2.4 billion from national government’s subsidy for poor families.
“We are thankful that the Philhealth management provided the region with this benefit,” Limsiaco said.
Total collection was P200 million less than the P3.5 million actual benefits payment last year.
Excess contributions from other regions covered the deficiency in Eastern Visayas.

MAASIN CITY- This city will get an alternative link to the commercial district – a 4.71-kilometer coastal bypass road with reclamation component meant to ease traffic woes and expand the city’s development.
The planned road, which will cost P1.5 billion, will get an initial budget of P50 million this year, said Ma. Margarita C. Junia, chief of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Southern Leyte district engineering office.
The proposed road, one of the key infrastructure projects in the region, will connect the city’s commercial center in Barangay Lib-og to nearby populated village of Mambajao. It will traverse coastal barangays of Abgao, Tunga-Tunga and Combado.
The preliminary release, strongly lobbied by Rep. Roger Mercado for inclusion in the 2017 appropriations, will be used for the preparation of feasibility study for multi-year implementation, initial road construction, and some slope protection.
“The main roads leading to the city center are already congested even if those roads are restricted to one lane,” Junia said, referring in particular to R. Kangleon and Tomas Oppus Streets.
“We cannot expand to the other side of the city since it’s mountainous,” she added.
Maasin, a fourth class city and capital of Southern Leyte province, has a land area of 211.70 square kilometers with a population of 85,560.
The city’s terrain is characterized by relatively flat lands along the coastal plains where population areas lay, and becomes rugged and mountainous towards the interior
DPWH Southern Leyte planning section chief Vincent Sy said the proposed budget for the project in 2018 is P200 million.
“Releases in the next years will mainly depend on the outcome of feasibility study, which will be completed within the first half of the year,” Sy added.
The project is in compliance to Secretary Mark Villar’s directive to decongest traffic through construction of by-pass roads in populated areas. (PR)