Kalanggaman Island to start accepting tourists this August
Region’s tourism crown jewel
TACLOBAN CITY- The Kalanggaman Island in Palompon town, Leyte province is set to open to tourists this August, almost seven days after it was closed due to quarantine.
And initially, the island known for its white powdery sand beaches and crystal clear blue waters, would only cater among residents of the town who will be required to show a barangay certificate stating that they are indeed local residents, Paulette Tuan, municipal tourism officer, said.
“We will strictly observe the health protocols like the wearing of face masks and social distancing,” she said.
Kalanggaman Island is being managed by the local government unit of Palompon and is considered to be the top tourist attraction not only of Leyte but the entire Eastern Visayas region.
While they are excited for the reopening of Kalanggaman Island, they are still a little bit worried considering of the current situation, Raoul Bacalla, municipal environment and natural resources officer, in another mobile phone interview
“It’s more of calculated risk kind of excitement rather than fun excitement we are feeling right now because everything is a whole new ball game. We are hoping for the best but preparing for the worst,” he said.
“The local government unit will be using Kalanggaman Island as a pilot project relative to reenergizing the tourism industry of the locality. Hence, it is not an economic augmentation initiative but rather a strategy to ready tourism sector in adapting the new normal,” he added.
Initially, only 50 percent of the island’s carrying capacity of 500 a day would be allowed to set foot on the island once it open in August, he added.
Tuan said that they hope that by next year, they could fully open to tourists the Kalanggaman Island saying that much of their local income are generated from tourist receipts.
She said that last year, they generated P29 million from the more than 100,000 tourists who visited Kalanggaman Island.
“We are really depend on the coming of tourists as much of Palompon’s local income are derived from our tourism sector. And this will also help our micro- entrepreneurs like those in the restaurant and transportation business and even those in souvenir-making industry,”Tuan said.
(ROEL T. AMAZONA/JOEY A. GABIETA)
As part of Tacloban city gov’t effort to regain status as rabies-free city
TACLOBAN CITY- After losing its status as a rabies-free, this city’s veterinary office is intensifying its vaccination among dogs in particular.
For the past 14 years, Tacloban City was the only rabies-free area in the entire Eastern Visayas.
But such distinction was lost after a 27-year old man from Barangay 94-A died on June 30 of this year after he was bitten by their six-month old dog.
Both the man and the dog died hours apart on that day.
Dr. Eunice Alcantara, head of the City Veterinary office (CVO), said that they were ‘sad’ of the incident saying Tacloban has never had such a case for the last 14 years.
“The last time we have such a case of human rabies death was in 2004 involving a 19-year old man who butchered a dog as their pulutan(appetizer),” she said.
But with this latest rabies incident, their office will intensify further their anti-rabies vaccination campaign in the city to ensure no similar incident will happen again.
And for the city to reclaim its being a ‘rabies-free city,’ it need to have a zero case for the next five years or until 2025, Alcantara said.
“We have further intensified our anti-rabies vaccination in all barangays of the city, sometimes we do this through door-to-door vaccination to ensure that all dogs will be vaccinated,” she said.
According to Alcantara, for this year, they are targeting 16,800 dogs for vaccination and so far, they have already inoculated more than 8,400 dogs.
“We are encouraging our pet owners to have their dogs vaccinated for their own safety and this is free,” she said.
She said that they have 1,800 vials of vaccines which is more than enough of their needed 1,600 vials. Much of these vaccines were provided by the city government under Mayor Alfred Romualdez.
One vial could vaccinate 10 dogs.
As part of their campaign, the CVO also continue its campaign against stray dogs.
As of last month, around 1,279 dogs have been impounded. Owners of these dogs could recovered them once they pay a fine of P2,000 based on an ordinance, or the Animal Code of Tacloban.
(JOEY A. GABIETA)
Samar ex-rebels tapped to find more NPA graves
TACLOBAN CITY – Government troops in Northern Samar thanked rebel returnees for providing vital information that led to the recent discovery of a burial ground of the New People’s Army (NPA) in the province.
Maj. Edwin Oloan, Philippine National Police 1st Northern Samar Provincial Mobile Force Company commander, said police and soldiers have been coordinating with rebel returnees to locate the grave of other NPA members who died in clashes with government troops.
“Terrorism is a threat to peace, security, prosperity, and people. Let us all be united in exterminating violence, I encouraged other civilians to help in giving more information to eradicate terrorism in the province,” Oloan said in a statement issued on Wednesday.
On July 10, a composite team of the police and the military discovered the NPA’s burial ground upland E. Duran village in Bobon, Northern Samar.
Authorities identified one of the remains as Emma Termo, an active member of the Communist NPA Terrorists (CNT) from Calbayog City.
“A reliable information given by a rebel returnee revealed that sometime in the year 2009, CNT members buried the dead body of Termo who died during an encounter incident in E. Duran,” Oloan said.
Locals identified the three other bodies as NPA members Cesar Bantasan who died of natural death, and a certain Menang Nordan and her child, who both died while the former was giving birth.
The skeletal remains and clothing were brought to the Northern Samar Provincial Crime Laboratory for proper documentation and processing and were given a decent burial afterward.
The Communist Party of the Philippines-NPA is listed as a terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the Philippines.
(GERICO SABALZA/PNA)
Former NPA leader arrested in Leyte town
Part of the mass purging in the 1980s
TACLOBAN CITY- An alleged ranking member of the communist group was arrested by government forces in Inopacan town, Leyte province on Tuesday (July 14) afternoon.
Arrested was Felomino Salazar, Jr., 69, at his house in Barangay Tinago of the said town at about 3 pm.
Salazar, who also carried aliases of ‘Jun and Leo,’ was said to be a member of the executive committee of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army (CPP-NPA) Southern Leyte Front, was arrested by virtue of a warrant of arrest issued by Regional Trial Court-Branch 32 of the National Capital Judicial region based in Manila.
The alleged rebel leader has 15 outstanding warrants for murder in connection to the mass killings in Inopacan and nearby areas in Leyte carried out by the leadership of the CPP-NPA back in the early 1980s, Major Ryann Velez, civil-military officer of the 802nd Infantry Brigade based in Ormoc City, Leyte, said during a mobile phone interview.
He said that information received by them from the residents of the village led to the arrest of Salazar.
“When we received the information, we verified it and upon confirming, we right away conducted our operation which resulted to his arrest,” he said.
The military official said that Salazar has been living in Tinago since 2015 where his nephew is said to be a village councilor.
“He is in the village as if he was a free man,” Velez said.
Velez said that Salazar was part of the group of the CPP-NPA responsible in the implementation of the so-called ‘Operation Anti-Venereal Disease’ of the communist group back in the early 1980s.
This group was said to be behind on the murder of hundreds of civilians and their members suspected by the communist group to have provided information to the government.
A mass grave was discovered last August 31,2006 in Mt. Sapang Daku in Brgy. Caulisihan, also in Inopacan town, where the victims of the mass purging were said to have been buried.
About 67 human skulls and over hundreds of bones were discovered at the mass grave.
Velez said that the rebel is now under the custody of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) in Ormoc City for documentation and booking procedure before he would be presented to the Regional Trial Court-Branch 32 of the National Capital Judicial region based in Manila.
“This is not our victory but victory of the people who were victimized by their group,” he said.
(ROEL T. AMAZONA/JOEY A. GABIETA)
Maasin City’s new quarantine facility now ready for returnees
TACLOBAN CITY – Maasin City Mayor Nacional Mercado disclosed that their new quarantine facility is almost complete and ready to accommodate arriving locally stranded individuals (LSIs).
The facility can accommodate around 50 individuals, the mayor said.
“This may not be as comfortable compared to your own rooms but we are doing our best in giving quality service to our constituents most especially on times of crisis,” Mercado said.
The facility is in addition to the existing quarantine areas identified by the city government and to the quarantine facility provided by Philippine Red Cross-Southern Leyte chapter.
Meanwhile, the city government will make it mandatory that all returning residents of the city should undergo swab testing within seven days counting on their arrival.
However, returning residents of Maasin City who remain asymptomatic after 21-days of isolation in quarantine facilities will be discharged despite pending test results.
Those who will be tested positive and have finished their isolation would no longer be asked for another swab testing.
Those with negative results before the end of the mandatory 14-day quarantine must stay in the designated facilities to complete the prescribed isolation period.
The city government have separate quarantine facility for health workers that can accommodate up to seven individuals in separate isolation areas with two separate disinfection tents.
As of July 15, Maasin City had recorded eight confirmed COVID-19 patients, where six had already recovered while two are still active cases.
(ROEL T. AMAZONA)