“City Prosecutor Oñate has already made a request to Malacañang before but up to now, the request has yet to be given action,” Aparis said.

TACLOBAN CITY- For close to three years now, the prosecutor’s office in Ormoc City is being run by only by one man. And this dearth of city prosecutors has resulted for thousands of cases to be pending in various courts in Ormoc, an independent component city in Leyte with more than 200,000 people. With at daily 10 cases, at the average, being received by their office, they need at least four lawyers assisting City Prosecutor Marcelo Oñate and his deputy, Erwin James Fabriga, says Thelma Aparis, assistant administrative officer of the City Prosecutor’s Office, in phone interview. Fabriga has been designated at the City Prosecutor’s Office by the Regional Prosecutor’s Office two years ago and not on a permanent assignment. Also designated at the Ormoc City Prosecutor’s Office was Melissa Macapugas.

“City Prosecutor Oñate has already made a request to Malacañang before but up to now, the request has yet to be given action,” Aparis said. There are two applicants for needed posts, she added. In contrast, Tacloban, the regional capital of Eastern Visayas, there are 13 lawyers assisting City Prosecutor Ruperto Golong. With only Oñate, who was named to his post in 2012, the disposition of cases handled by the office is affected. In fact, there are more than 1,200 pending cases before the two regional trial courts in Ormoc and another over 500 cases pending before the city court that need the attention of city prosecutors.

Aparis herself sought an appeal to Malacañang to appoint new city prosecutors for Ormoc. She added that she hopes that the appointments should come within this month to avoid ban on appointments next month due to the forthcoming elections. Otherwise, they would wait until a new President to appoint lawyers for Ormoc City Prosecutor’s Office. “With an average of about 10 cases received by our office, our (two) lawyers could not totally handle them. This situation results for our cases to be pending,” she said. Many of these cases, Aparis said, involving inmates at the City Jail and at the Leyte sub-provincial jail. Aparis said that this odd situation very well sums up of the old-age maxim “justice delayed, justice denied.” “They have to wait for the disposition of their cases until additional lawyers will be appointed. Meantime, all their cases are pending because of the slow disposition of the cases,” she added.

Aparis said that she pities Oñate’s situation adding that with so many cases to be handled by him, the prosecutor most of the time stays at his office to work with the cases instead of appearing before the courts. “It might affect his health,” Aparis, who has been with the City Prosecutor’s Office for 38 years now, said.  According to her, this is the first time that the office has experienced lack of prosecutors. Two of Oñate’s assistants, Gorgonia Encina and Jun Romero, were named as municipal trial court judges in 2012. (JOEY A. GABIETA)

TACLOBAN CITY- Close to three years after this city was devastated by supertyphoon “Yolanda,” its economy appears on the upswing with big-ticket investments coming in.

The latest to invest in this city of more than 220,000 people is the Cebu-based shopping mall, the Metro Gaisano. The opening of the Metro Gaisano in this city would not only benefit to the city government in terms of taxes it would pay but more so, generate employment and livelihood opportunities to the people, said Marilou Tabao, chief of staff of Mayor Alfred Romualdez. The proposed Metro Gaisano will be located along Real Street at a twohectare lot owned by the United Church of Christ of the Philippines (UCCP). The Metro Gaisano, owned by Frank Gaisano, will lease the lot for 25 years, Tabao said.

Tabao said that if plan will push through the construction of the two-storey mall will start next month and is expected to be finished within the year or early next year.
Last January 27, Romualdez met with the representatives of the said shopping mall informing him on their decision to invest in Tacloban, considered the ground zero of the world’s strongest typhoon to hit landfall on November 8, 2013. “The operation of the Metro Gaisano in Tacloban will not only help the city government in terms of taxes but will also create more job opportunities and generate livelihood as well,” Tabao said.

The city official said that about a thousand of people, coming from the city and other parts of the region, could find employment when the Metro Gaisano opens. Tabao, however, could not say on how much the Metro Gaisano will be pouring in in Tacloban as it opens a branch in the city. She said with the opening of the Metro Gaisano, even local producers could sell their products there. She added that the city government under Mayor Romualdez will extend all possible assistance to the owners of the Metro Gaisano to ensure that their planned opening in Tacloban will be smooth.

The Gaisano shopping mall was the first to set foot in Tacloban back in 1988. At present, there are two Gaisano-owned shopping malls operating in the city- the Gaisano Capital and the Gaisano Central. Aside from the Gaisano shopping malls, another Cebu-based shopping mall is operating in Tacloban, the Robinsons Mall as well as the hyper market of the SM Group of Companies, SaveMore.

TACLOBAN CITY- The municipal government of San Miguel in Leyte recently signed a memorandum of agreement with the Leyte Normal University that aims to help improve employees of said local government unit in dealing with their clients.  Mayor Cheeryl Enrica Esperas said that the agreement will surely help the employees to improve their skills in terms of human behavior in dealing with the public. “Dako gud it gamit hini nga MOA signing para an ngatanan nga mga empleyado han municipyo in mahibaro hin maupay nga pagtagad ngada han mga San Miguilnon nga makanhi ha municipyo or ano pa man it ira mga transaction dinhi ha LGU San Miguel,” Mayor Esperas added.

They are to teach customer relations, records management, financial management project, personality development and many others. Mayor Esperas said that those who will conduct the training are master teachers of the LNU who are doctorate holders. The town mayor appeals to the employees to avail the free skills training citing its benefits. Meantime, Mayor Esperas said that the improvement of the town water system will proceed as the needed funds of P12 million will be released. The water system project, located in Barangay Caray-caray, is funded under the Bottoms Up Budgetary of the Department of Interior and Local Government. (LITO A. BAGUNAS)

TACLOBAN CITY– At least eight projects under the first batch of the Reconstruction Assistance on Yolanda (RAY) for Eastern Visayas is not yet complete nearly two years after the national government downloaded the budget to recipient local government units (LGUs).

Concerned LGUs are given until the end of this year to finish the construction of state-owned buildings, according to Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Eastern Visayas Regional Director Pedro S. Noval, Jr. These projects are the town hall in Guiuan, Eastern Samar; public market in Tanauan, Leyte; civic center in Palo, Leyte; city hall extension and public market in Tacloban City and the city hall in Ormoc City.

“Based on our assessment, majority of these remaining sub-projects will be completed on or before the end of August 2016,” Noval said. “We’re extending technical assistance and regularly monitor the progress of implementation. Through this, the DILG can immediately provide technical assistance to address concerns,” he added.
The delay is attributed to the local government unit’s decision to strictly follow the Government Procurement Reform Act, which requires lengthy bidding and procurement processes.

“Very few opted to negotiate contract which is allowed in view of the fact that the President declared the state of national calamity,” Noval told PNA. Under RAY batch 1, the national government has poured P937 million funds for repair of 54 buildings owned by 61 town and city governments along supertyphoon Yolanda’s path in Eastern Visayas region. The second batch focuses on rebuilding of village facilities. RAY is the government’s strategic plan to guide the recovery and reconstruction of the economy, lives, and livelihoods in the affected areas. The objective of the plan is to restore the economic and social conditions of these areas at the very least to their pre-typhoon levels and to a higher level of disaster resilience. (SQM)