TACLOBAN CITY- Pedro Noval Jr. bids goodbye on August 10, 2016 (Wednesday) as the regional director of Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) for Eastern Visayas after 41 years in government service.
Director Noval, who rose from the ranks, said that his most fulfilling accomplishment is helping the region rise from the devastation of supertyphoon “Yolanda” on November 8, 2013.
To date, nearly 100% of the first batch of projects for repair of municipal and city halls, markets and civic centers has been completed, while more than half of barangay facilities have been completely rebuilt or repaired, with the remaining projects nearly completed.
Likewise, Director Noval assisted then-DILG Secretary Manuel Roxas in the relief and recovery efforts right after the typhoon.
He proudly notes that aside from looking after the rehabilitation of LGU facilities, he helped ensure that damaged office structures of DILG were not neglected.
A mechanical engineer, Noval supervised the rehabilitation of the DILG-8 regional office which houses the training center and Local Governance Resource Center in the second floor, motor pool, records room and supply room as well as construction of wellness center, guardhouse, power generator, dormitory, and the two-story DILG Leyte and DILG Tacloban City offices.
The employees’ dormitory will save the office funding in the long-term by providing field officers and central office staff accommodation instead of having to billet them in hotels.
Director Noval will be succeeded by Director Marivel Sacendoncillo, a native of Villareal, Samar.
Director Sacendoncillo will serve as director of DILG – 8 in concurrent capacity as Executive Director of the DILG Local Government Academy (LGA) to which she has been connected for 28 years. (PR)
DILG Director-8 Noval out; Sacendoncillo in
Mother and child building now open at the new EVRMC
TACLOBAN CITY – The Department of Health (DOH-8) has opened the new four-storey Mother and Child Building at the new Eastern Visayas Regional Medical Center (EVRMC) on Monday (August 8).
The government constructed the new facility located in Barangay Cabalawan through a P300 million donation from the Bloomberry Cultural Foundation Inc.
This is the first building completed at the new regional hospital site in the northern part of the city.
DOH Regional Director Minerva Molon has called on the public to maximize the use of this birthing facility especially those living in Samar provinces.
The 100-bed capacity hospital which has a floor area of 4,715 square meters, formally opened on Monday after 16 months of construction.
“The EVRMC Mother and Child Hospital will be a globally competitive center of excellence in health care delivery that provides highest standards for safe quality care for birthing mothers and healthy newborns and as the leading maternal and newborn care training resource in Region 8 by 2030,” Molon said.
Its outpatient department offers prenatal immunization, preventive care, growth monitoring, program for young parents, family planning, newborn screening, under five clinic, and care for small babies.
In-patient services include normal deliveries, uncomplicated pre-term labor, unang yakap, kangaroo mother care, exclusive breastfeeding, newborn care, human milk bank, and caesarean section.
The hospital also offers ancillary services such as radiology, laboratory, dietetics nutrition, and blood bank.
Part of the EVRMC modernization program is to transfer the entire facility from the city center to a storm surge-safe area in Brgy. Cabalawan. The transfer has started this year and will be completed in 2018.
There is an ongoing construction of a new six-storey hospital and ancillary building in a new site. It has a total floor area of 30,000 square meters with 420-bed service wards and 180-bed private rooms.
The P2.2 billion modernization program is expected to enhance the quality of services of the medical center, improve health outcomes, and achieve equity in access to healthcare in the region. (SARWELL Q.MENIANO)
Mayor Romualdez: Trees are essential in protecting the environment
TACLOBAN CITY- Planting trees will help increase the public awareness on the importance of trees in protecting our environment. Thus said City Mayor Cristina Gonzales Romualdez as she led a tree planting activity in Barangay Tagpuro, a village located in the northern part of the city where a community-based tree planting program was piloted on Tuesday (August 9). “We don’t just want to plant trees. We also want to increase local awareness why the forests matter so much to us and to the local community,” Romualdez said. “We’re trying to enable local people to carry out similar projects by themselves. This will allow our efforts to have greater impact and make them ultimately sustainable in the long term,” she added.
According to the mayor, similar undertaking will be carried out in other barangays in the city which witnessed what scientists and environmentalists all over the world claimed a climate change-induced typhoon. On November 8, 2013, Tacloban was devastated when it was hit by supertyphoon “Yolanda” considered the world’s strongest typhoon to hit inland that resulted to the deaths of more than 2,200 people and destruction of properties of almost P10 billion. “We are promoting tree planting activities in and near the city and it will be a good opportunity for raising people’s awareness on its importance to our environment,” Mayor Romualdez said.
“We will carry out a reforestation program to try and restore degraded areas of the local forests. These will eventually be repopulated with not just trees but also local fauna. We will be working with the local village councils to do this, to include children from the local school,” the mayor added. Around 500 trees of different varieties like mahogany, talisay, bituon and tuog were planted by those who joined the tree planting activity who included other city officials, City Hall workers and those coming from non-government organizations. (JAZMIN BONIFACIO)
Samar Gov. Tan, others undergo drug testing
TACLOBAN CITY- Samar Governor Sharee Ann Tan led on Thursday (August 11) officials of the province for a drug test underscoring her cooperation with the anti-drug campaign of the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte.
The members of the Scene of the Crime Operatives (Soco) of the Philippine National Police took urine samples from the officials who also included Vice Governor Stephen James Tan and the 10 members of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan.
“We should be an exemplar in following the law and must be clean and free from any abuse of illegal drugs,” Board Member Lee Zosa said in a phone interview.
“This is our way of showing our full support on the relentless campaign of President Duterte to stamp out the proliferation of the illegal drugs in the country,” he added.
The result of the drug tests taken from the Samar officials will be known probably by next week.
Asked what would happen if any one of them would be discovered to be positive of using illegal drugs, particularly shabu (methamphetamine hydrochloride), Zosa could not say what could be its sanction.
According to Zosa, they will first consult with the Civil Service Commission on this matter and what particular law would apply to them.
The board member also said that after them, all heads of the various departments and offices as well the close to 1,000 employees of the provincial government will also be asked to undergo drug test.
“But this will be a surprise drug test,” Zosa said.
It was learned from Zosa that the Thursday drug testing activity was the first time to be ever conducted at the provincial capitol. (JOEY A. GABIETA)
Espinosa’s surrender paves way for other drug lords to give up – Vice Gov. Loreto
TACLOBAN CITY- The surrender of Albuera Mayor Rolando Espinosa Sr. to the police authorities should be taken positively.
And this only shows that the embattled town mayor subjected himself to the rule of law, said Leyte Vice Governor Carlo Loreto.
“The majesty of the law stands supreme” he said.
Espinosa, who identified himself as a businessman, ran for the first time for public office for mayor of Albuera which he handily won.
His fortune, however, changed after he was publicly named by President Rodrigo Duterte as among the country’s mayors who are engaging in the illegal drugs activity.
Last August 2, he surrendered to Police Director General Ronald de la Rosa denying though that he is in the illegal drug trade.
His son, Rolan or Kerwin, was branded by the police authorities as Eastern Visayas number one drug lord.
The embattled mayor has denied that he is involved in the illegal drugs activity.
Mayor Espinosa, 53, is said to be confined in a private hospital in Cebu City but his 34-year old son remain at large.
Vice Gov. Loreto admitted that with the branding of Mayor Espinosa, his town was pushed to national shame.
He, however, said that the good thing that happened on this issue was some of the country’s notorious drug pushers and drug lords came out and surrendered to the police.
The vice governor added that he is positive that the campaign against illegal drugs being waged by the administration of Pres. Duterte will cause the end of the proliferation of the prohibited drugs.
Loreto said that they are one with the President on this campaign.
(LIZBETH ANN A. ABELLA)
Military camp in Samar eyed as possible drug rehab center
CATBALOGAN CITY- A military camp in Hinabangan, Samar has been identified as a possible drug rehabilitation center in the region.
This was disclosed by Brigadier Gen. Cesar Idio, assistant division commander of the 8th Infantry Division.
Idio said that this idea was advanced to President Rodrigo Duterte during his visit to the 8th ID camp last Tuesday (August 9).
“The camp is big and there is no signal there,” he said.
The proposed drug rehabilitation center belongs to the 801st Infantry Brigade located in Barangay Fatima, Hinabangan.
It serves as the training camp for newly-hired soldiers of the 8th ID.
Records from the Philippine National Police shows that about 16,000 individuals in the region have surrendered since the administration of Pres. Duterte implemented it intensified campaign against illegal drugs.
The huge number of those who surrendered caught the government off guard, to include the President himself.
There is no existing drug rehabilitation in the region except the government-run rehabilitation center in Dulag, Leyte.
However, the facility remains not operational after it was damaged after supertyphoon “Yolanda” hit the region on November 8, 2013.
While there is an existing private drug rehabilitation center in Tacloban, ordinary drug dependents could not afford its high price of P20, a month. (ROEL T. AMAZONA)