CARIGARA, Leyte- Mayor Eduardo Ong of this town is pushing for the revision of its revenue code with the aim of shoring up its income.
Ong said that their current tax code is no longer applicable with the current situation, thus, there is an urgent need to revise it.
The town mayor also said that a bigger income for the town could mean more projects and programs that are to benefit the people.
He added that he is also seeking help from the Department of Public Works and Highways to allocate P200 million that he would need to construct the expanded commercial center where new investors could be located.
“We have to accept that the value of peso now is not anymore the same than during the time our revenue code was enacted. It has to be revised to suit present times,” Ong said.
It was learned from Ong that the municipal government earned P22.17 million last year from its local sources, namely, P 1.13 million from real property tax collection; P 3.12 million from tax on businesses; P 1.91 million from regulatory fees, P 8.51 million from economic enterprises and P5 million in taxes.
Meanwhile, its non-tax revenue such as certification/secretarial fees, rentals on provincial government facilities buildings/hall/equipment), permit fees, miscellaneous income amounted to P12.59 million of the same fiscal year.
“The collection is already good but we can do better if we enforce tax reform policies that would improve local tax sources,” Ong stressed.
Increased revenue collected could also mean, more projects and programs for the towns, the mayor added.
Meantime, Mayor Ong said that more investors are expected to do business in Carigara.
He mentioned that the opening of Puregold, one of the country’s leading supermarket chains, in Carigara that is expected to provide employment and not just income for the local government.
He also said that Metro Bank will also open its branch in the town.
At present, there are 520 business establishments operating in Carigara.
(LIZBETH ANN A. ABELLA/AHLETTE C. REYES)
Leyte mayor pushes revenue code revision to increase income
Tacloban beauty vies for Binibining Pilipinas crown this Sunday
TACLOBAN CITY – A lass from this city whose advocacy is for children with disabilities is one of the 40 lovely ladies vying for the crowns up for grab in this year’s Binibining(Bb). Pilipinas 2017.
The coronation for new beauty queens will be held on Sunday (April 30) at the Smart Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City.
Ana Patricia Lauzon Asturias, 24, has the attributes of a Bb. Pilipinas queen as she is beautiful, confident, and has passion to help others, especially those who are in dire needs.
The Tacloban beauty queen hopes to win the titles up for grabs on Sunday night coronation, namely, Miss International, Miss Globe, Miss Intercontinental, Miss Supranational and Miss Universe, considered as the most prestigious title.
A licensed interior designer who graduated from the Sto. Tomas University, Asturias nicknamed Patrik, is 5’6 tall, weighs 110 pounds, well-travelled and worked as a model in Singapore before settling in Manila.
She is the daughter of Joselito and Arlene Lauzon Asturias, owner of Jose Karlo and Rovinaire, among Tacloban City’s most popular coffee shops.
The young Asturias, who is also a trained barista, helped design and manage their coffee shops.
In an interview, Asturias said that joining the Bb. Pilipinas pageant has given her an avenue to know herself better and to be able to reach out to more people.
“It has been a challenging and fun journey so for.I met great and inspiring people. My days have been constantly filled improving every aspect of myself physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually, and that is what joining a pageant is all about aside from stage performance,” Asturias said.
Arlene, a former beauty queen herself, said that her daughter has received offers for her to join beauty pageants in the past but turned them down.
After her Singapore experience and upon the prodding of friends, she finally entertained the idea to undergo trainings with Aces & Queens of Jonas Gaffud, the same mentors of Miss Universe 2016 Pia Wurtzbach.
Asturias said that she feels she has a crown on her head. So whether she makes it or not on Sunday night, still the experience is gold.
(VICKY C. ARNAIZ)
DPWH employees: What happened to our Yolanda aid?
GOVERNMENT CENTER, PALO, Leyte- Several employees of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), based here, have issued their gripe over the none release of financial assistance in the aftermath of the massive devastation of super typhoon “Yolanda’ in the region.
An employee, who requested not to be named, said that they have been waiting for the release of the financial assistance but close to three years after the occurrence of Yolanda, they have yet to know if the aid would be given to them at all.
About P2.8 billion was said to have been allocated for this purpose to be distributed to government workers whose houses were either totally or partially destroyed due to Yolanda.
More than 45,000 workers from various line agencies in the region have been identified to receive the assistance due to Yolanda. (LIZA MARIE LEGION, LSDE Student Intern)
Farnacio says Abu sightings in EV not true at all
CATBALOGAN CITY- Major General Raul Farnacio denied reports that members of the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) have been sighted in several parts in the region.
Farnacio, commanding general of the 8th Infantry Division based in Catbalogan City, said that the reports being circulated by certain groups are not true at all.
Earlier, there were reports that alleged ASG members were seen in Dolores, Eastern Samar and Santa Fe, Leyte.
But Farnacio said that Muslims who are members of the Balik Islam group were the ones seen in these places and certainly, they are not members of the terror group.
“A lot of information are coming out but none of them are airtight though it really means that there’s a lot of work to be done in terms of monitoring activities of the group,” the Army official said.
Farnacio said Muslim communities are assisting the government in hunting down members of the terror groups like the Abu Sayyaf.
The Army general assured the public that they are closely monitoring the developments in Bohol to preempt any possible moves from the ASG to come to the region and spread their terroristic activities.
A joint effort and deployments were conducted both by the Army and police to ensure the security and safety of the public, including tourists who come to the region, Farnacio said.
Meanwhile, in a separate interview with Eastern Visayas Police Director Elmer Beltejar, he warned the public to be vigilant and to be extra careful in going to possible target areas like shopping malls, car parks, and tourist attraction areas.
He urged the public to remain calm despite the warning though he insisted that the region remains to be peaceful.
Beltejar advises also those who are spreading false reports so as not to instill fear to the public but rather consult the police first.
(JAZMIN BONIFACIO)
“Floating” swimming pool open in Catbalogan City
CATBALOGAN CITY- A very ingenious way for the city government to have a swimming pool where children could learn how to swim and in the process, help bring medals and honors for the city.
Last week a “floating” swimming pool or a “swimming pool at the sea” was formally opened located in Barangay Cagutsan, one of the seven island villages of Catbalogan City that lie along the Sierra Islands.
The Olympic-size swimming pool at the sea is the first in the region and is second in the entire country.
The unique facility was constructed primarily to hone young swimmers in Catbalogan and in the process, bring medals for the city.
The “swimming pool at the sea” was conceptualized by Cristito Eco, head of the city schools division in Catbalogan City.
Eco was inspired to come up with the said facility after he saw one in Panabo City which served as the host of the 2015 Palarong Pambansa.
According to Eco, putting up a floating swimming in the middle of a sea is more economical for the city to construct as it only cost less compare to constructing a regular swimming pool which costs around a million pesos.
The city government only spent P400,000 for the putting up of the floating swimming pool which has nine lanes and a submerged wall needed for swimmers when they do their laps.
“Our budget is not enough to construct and maintain a standard swimming pool unlike the floating swimming pool which has a lesser budget,” Mayor Stephany Uy-Tan said.
The city mayor added that they chose to put the floating swimming pool in Sierra Island because based on their record, most of the medal winners from their city in swimming competitions at the city athletics and from the Eastern Visayas Regional Athletics Association are students from the island.
“The city is very supportive of training local athletes to become more competitive,” the city mayor said.
Mayor Uy-Tan added that the facility will not only help train swimmers from the city but will also increase the eco-tourism potential of Sierra Island. (ROEL T. AMAZONA)
PNP raises full alert in EV
In the wake of Bohol terror due to Abu Sayyaf Group
TACLOBAN CITY- Police personnel in Eastern Visayas are in full alert in the wake of the incident in Bohol province that saw members of the terrorist Abu Sayyaf Group, sowing threat in the said area.
Chief Inspector Ma. Bella Rentuaya, regional information officer of the Philippine National Police, said that the full red alert mode is just a precautionary measure to ensure safety across the region.
On December 28, 2016, bombs exploded at a public plaza in Hilongos, Leyte that injured 32 people.
Police authorities later claimed that those responsible for the bombing incident were members of the Maute terror group.
“We are in full alert. (We are conducting) close intelligence monitoring and intensified our security in all provinces, particularly along shorelines to seal off (for any possible intrusion) from the (terror) groups,” Rentuaya said.
She added that they have not received any intelligence report of any terror group in the region.
About 11 members of the Abu Sayyaf Group went to the town of Inabanga, Bohol reportedly to conduct kidnapping activity among tourists.
However, their act was thwarted due mainly to the help of the local residents. About five Abu Sayyaf members were killed by government forces in a firefight.
Rentuaya said that with a full alert status as directed by Chief Supt. Elmer Beltejar, police regional director, all police personnel in the region would not be allowed to take any vacation leave unless for extreme cases like being sick.
Rentuaya could not say how long the full red alert status would be enforced in the region that is experiencing a booming tourist industry.
Last year, more than 1.18 million tourists visited the region contributing around P10 billion to the economy of Eastern Visayas.
Rentuaya said that tourist police were also assigned to all major tourist destinations in the region like the Kalanggaman Island off the town of Palompon Leyte.
Kalanggaman, with its pristine water and long sand bar, is now considered to be the region’s top tourist destination.
By: JOEY A. GABIETA