TACLOBAN CITY- Leytes’ top Army official claimed that the members of the armed wing of the communist group are fast dwindling in numbers in the province.
And if there are still presence of New People’s Army in the province or if there are ambuscades reported in Leyte, they are mostly from Samar provinces, Brigadier General Francisco Mendoza, commanding officer of the 802nd Infantry Brigade, said.
“Rebel forces in Leyte are only more than 40 members but most of them are armed. The augmentation comes from Samar provinces like Northern Samar,” Mendoza, whose headquarters are in Ormoc City, said.
He also claimed that the recent ambushes staged by the NPA members in Leyte were just their “manifestation of their effort to regain their lost grounds” and should not be considered that they are gaining strength.
“The(y) are having a hard time to gather support, convincing and recruiting residents in Leyte to join the movement,” Mendoza said.
He said that people in the villages could no longer be convinced to join their outlawed armed group because the government is delivering services to them like infrastructure and health projects.
Mendoza added that this is also an indication that the military and the Philippine National Police in the Leyte are in full control of the security and peace and order situation.
“We intend to keep this until such time that we can declare Leyte as insurgency-free,” he added.
Brigadier General Mario Lacurom, commanding officer of the 803rd Infantry Brigade based in Catarman, Northern Samar, when asked to confirm on the statement of Mendoza, said that they also received information that rebel members in Samar are sending troops to Leyte as their augmentation force.
Lacurom said that based on the information they have gathered, there are about 150 rebel members operating in his area that covers the province of Northern Samar and the first district of Samar.
The military forces in Samar provinces are doing their share in addressing the problem but to totally end the insurgency, support and cooperation from the local government units is needed, he said.
(ROEL T. AMAZONA)

CARIGARA, Leyte-A total of P42.46 million has been earmarked by the Second Leyte Engineering District(2nd LED) of the Department of Public Works and Highways(DPWH) for its water pipeline installation project here to expand water distribution and to ensure a better water supply service.
The project is under the Tourism Water Infrastructure (TouWa) Program which is a joint project of the DPWH, Department of Tourism, Local Water Utilities Administration, and the National Anti-Poverty Commission with support from the United States Agency for International Development, seeking to facilitate tourism and economic growth in identified priority development areas in the Philippines.
The installation of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) pipes will run along the Palo-Carigara-Ormoc national highway covering the barangays of Tagak, Barugohay Central, Jugaban, San Mateo, Barugohay Norte in Carigara town up to the road leading to the next town of Barugo.
Engineer Carlos Veloso, head of the 2nd LED, said the installation and replacement of this distribution lines are also being undertaken to pave the way for the widening of bridges to four lanes located along these areas.
“We are expanding and rehabilitating old bridges and widening them to accommodate the burgeoning traffic along major routes in the district, and our water lines are likewise affected,” Veloso said.
Meanwhile, the Metro Carigara Water District (MCWD), the water utility in the area, pointed out this project is intended to address the vulnerability of the water main which has been installed more than 50 years ago.
MCWD noted increasing number of complaints such as “intermittent to no water supply, pressure fluctuation, and pipe leaks.”
(AHLETTE C. REYES)

BORONGAN CITY- The Sta. Fe National High School (SFNHS) of this city was able to defend its title as the grand prize winner in this year’s Padul-ong Festival, one of the highlights of the city’s annual fiesta.
The Padul-ong Festival, now on its 25th year, is being held Thursday (Sept.7)or a day before the annual city fiesta in honor of Blessed Virgin Mary.
SFNHS received P300,000 as their prize.
The Padul-ong festival depicts the legend of how the image of the Blessed Virgin Mary was mysteriously transported to Borongan from Portugal and how the enigmatic Lady in White who supposedly frequents the Hamorawan Spring located at the heart of the city gave the water its miraculous healing powers.

Unlike other festivals in the region where contingents wears ethnic costumes, Padul-ong guidelines specify the use of baro’t saya as costumes of their dancers and the use of live music in the ritual and dance presentation.
Aside from the Padul-ong Festival, another highlight of the city fiesta was Borongan City Native Pig Lechon Festival, now on its seventh year.
For this year, 12 entries competed for the cash prize with the entry of ‘Salabay Litson’ named as the best lechon and won P15, 000.
The entries of ‘Puya Litson’ bagged 2nd and 3rd place winning PP10, 000 and P7,000 respectively.
The Lechon Festival follows strict guidelines like entries must be cooked according to Boronganon standard which includes the spices used and mode of roasting and they must also include idea of a side dish that can be considered as best for the lechon.
Participants must also submit their entries to undergo the usual inspection with the veterinary office before they can be accepted as official entry in the competition.
Meanwhile, the 3rd ‘Aton Ini Pagkaon Paisan-isan’ that showcased the ingenuity of Borongan residents in creating dishes, the top winner was the ‘turon de cassava’ for the ‘kakanin’ category. They also won the People’s Choice Award.
For the veggie category, the ‘buco pansit’ dish won the grand prize.
(ROEL T. AMAZONA)

TACLOBAN CITY- An elderly man and a child figured separately in a hit-and-run incidents here in the city.
The elder man, Celso Telamban,79 and a resident of Lower Nula-Tula area was hit by a red-colored vehicle at about 3:30 am last September 4.
According to the victim, he was walking on the side of the street when the said vehicle sped towards his direction which resulted for him to fell down to a canal.
He sustained injuries in the different parts of his body.
The said vehicle, with a plate number EG-6267, sped off leaving the victim seeking for help from the passers-by.
Meantime, a Grade 6 pupil at the Kapangian Central School was hit by a white van with a plate number HUV-723, last August 31, 2017 around 7:30 in the morning.
The victim was walking on the side of the road along Congressman Artemio Mate Avenue when she was hit by the vehicle.
Both were declared out of danger.
Police authorities here are still conducting their operations to identify the drivers of the two vehicles. (JESSICA A. OLEVO, LNU Student Intern)

To help hasten ‘Yolanda’ housing projects

TACLOBAN CITY- The National Housing Authority (NHA) will now allow local government units to build houses intended for survivors of super typhoon ‘Yolanda.’
This was disclosed by Rizalde Mediavillo, NHA regional manager, during a congressional inquiry on the status of housing projects located in areas pummeled by Yolanda in 2013.
Mediavillo said that among the local government units that signified interest to construct housing units for typhoon survivors who totally lost their houses is the municipal government of Maydolong in Eastern Samar.
According to the NHA official, about 139 units are to be constructed in Maydolong, one of the towns in Eastern Samar that suffered destructions due to Yolanda that hit the region on November 8,2013.
Mediavillo said that they are only awaiting a formal letter from the Maydolong municipal government for the NHA to download the needed funds and for the project to start.
“The letter to NHA is to make it official that the LGU has the intent to implement the project and they want the NHA to download the fund to them,” Mediavillo said.
NHA will conduct monitoring once the LGU starts the construction of housing projects, he added.
Mediavillo made this disclosure during a public inquiry conducted by the committee on housing and urban development of the House of Representatives held in this city last Friday (Sept.1).
Lack of takers among contractors was among the reasons cited by the NHA why construction of housing units intended for Yolanda survivors appeared to be on a snail-paced.
Close to four years after Yolanda pummeled the Visayas, only 48,950 units were completed out of the 205, 125 housing units targeted by the government.
And out of this number, only 13, 997 or 28.6 are occupied.
Here in the region, Yolanda housing projects in the provinces of Biliran and Samar have zero occupancy, Eastern Samar with 289 units occupied, 988 units in Leyte has 988 units and 9,801 of these units are occupied in Tacloban, considered as the ground zero of the world’s strongest typhoon to hit inland.
Maydolong Mayor Henry Afable said that they are very much willing to do the housing work if only the NHA will provide them the needed funds.
At P290,000 of each unit, the municipal government need about P40.31 million for them to do the construction.
Afable also said that they have already identified the location where these houses are to be constructed.
This move of the NHA could also benefit the town of Hernani, among the worst-hit areas in Eastern Samar due to Yolanda.
Mayor Edgar Boco said that they have enough manpower and skilled personnel who could do the project.
“What we lack is the needed funds. But we are just willing to do the project ourselves,” Boco said.
It was learned from Boco that the NHA-funded resettlement project at their town consisting of 989 units has yet to be completed.
Committee chair Alfredo Benitez of Negros Occidental 3rd District welcomed the response of the NHA to allow local government units to do the housing projects.
Under the present setup, the NHA conducts bidding for contractors to build these houses.
But during the hearing, it was discovered that the winning bidders passed the work to another contractors which only result to the delay of the project or with a poor quality of work. ROEL T. AMAZONA