TACLOBAN CITY- “We should help bring in more investments in terms of agricultural infrastructures and livelihood, especially in areas severely hit by calamities. The opportunity is there under the project (PRDP).”
Thus said Director U-Nichols A. Manalo during the recent Philippine Rural Development Project(PRDP) Regional Project Coordination Office 8 (RPCO) and LGU Management Implementation Units’ 1st Quarter Coordination Meeting held in separate sessions at the Department of Agriculture -8’s office building, in Kanhuraw Hill, here.
He pointed out that the usual occurrence of typhoons in the region poses a major challenge for the agriculture sector.
“There are still areas in our region which have not yet fully recovered from calamities. Some displaced farmers still need badly our assistance for them to find better income opportunities,” the DA-8 director said.
“We have more work to do this year. It is high time we push ourselves higher and work together as a team for a much better performance this year,” he added.
In particular, Director Manalo cited the need to fast track the completion of the value –chain analysis and correspondingly, the formulation of the commodity investment plans of the different provinces.
“We could not proceed with any proposed enterprise and infrastructure subprojects without complying with this basic requirement,” he stressed.
Under the project enterprise component, Region 8 has already a total of 45 subprojects submitted with a budgetary requirement of P59 million, 44 of which were approved and funded while 3 more are still subject for approval.
On the other hand, under its infrastructure component, out of 39 subprojects requiring P2.5 billion, 4 are already under ongoing implementation, 7 more had been approved, and 29 are still in the pipeline.
Last December 19-20, 2016, a conditional approval was made by the Regional Project Advisory Board for the concreting of Brgy. Conception to Sitio Morena, Hampangan farm-to- market road, in Hilongos, Leyte involving a total cost of P136.6 million.
The board also unanimously approved 9 micro-enterprise subprojects for the different farmers associations in the province of Northern Samar requiring a sum of P11.3 million.
The funding support under the project for micro-enterprise subprojects partake as part of the DA’s rehabilitation assistance for the farmers affected by typhoon Nona.
“The challenge goes even enormous for Region 8 this year as we will be hosting two important activities for the Visayas cluster. First, will be the World Bank implementation support mission to be held possibly in April and, the mid-term implementation review in November,” Director Manalo said. (PR)

CATBALOGAN CITY- The Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) Regional Office VIII conducted a values re-orientation and financial management with simple book-keeping to the 29 members of Catbalogan Overseas Workers and Families Association (COWFA) last January 24, 2017 at SP Session Hall, here.
Director Meilou C. Macawile, provincial director of Department of Trade and Industry (DTI)-Samar steered the morning activity with her talk about entrepreneurship and values re-orientation.
Director Macawile focused her discussion on the process of achieving self-mastery and on what it takes to be an entrepreneur.
Furthermore, she also advised the participants to have a positive outlook in life and to continue pursuing their dreams and start their own business.
After the inspirational talk of Director Macawile, Zeyric D. Tan, DTI-Samar technical assistant facilitated the conduct of the financial literacy Seminar.
The financial management, which as requested by the organization to be conducted, aims to help them be equipped with the proper knowledge in handling their organization’s resources.
Tan taught the OFC members on how to use cashbook for easy bookkeeping and gave them a basic understanding of the financial statement. After the short discussion the participants did a practical application of what they learned and made their own financial statements for the business they want to have in the future.
The COWFA, which was organized last October 17, 2017, is the 22nd OFW Family Circle organized by the RWO 8 in the province of Samar.
The organization was also awarded a certification of registration during the event, which was received by the OFW Family Circle president Hilda Samante.
Maila G. De Guia, Peso manager and OFW Help Desk Officer, also graced the occasion.
Future plans of the organization includes a counselling session with DTI-Samar this February 2017 and looking forward to avail of the free IT training offered by OWWA RWO VIII.(PR)

MANILA-To help fund the proposed pension hike, the Social Security System (SSS) will intensify its collection efforts and improve its collection efficiency by going after non-complying employers, this was disclosed by Social Security Commission (SSC) Chairman Dean Amado Valdez, recently.
“It can’t be denied that there are employers who fail to remit the contributions of their employees or who even fail to report their employees for coverage. I am warning them, we will employ the full force of the law in going after them. Either they pay their obligations including penalties or they go to jail,” Dean Valdez said.
As of December 2016, SSS has initiated legal actions such as issuance of demand letters and filing of cases against over 34,000 delinquent employers since 2010, bringing in almost P1.4 billion in collections to date.
The efforts of SSS also resulted in a total of 38 employer convictions since 2010, with a corresponding collectible delinquency of P61.66 million.
“The SS Commission will formulate policies and improve our monitoring systems to ensure that employers, regardless of its size, comply with their SSS obligations. We warn all erring employers to start changing their ways and start doing things right or face legal sanctions,” said Dean Valdez who added that this is a primary strategy of the agency to improve collections.
Another strategy to improve revenues is in the area of investments.
Dean Valdez reiterated SSS plans to diversify assets by directly investing in up to 25 percent ownership in a wide range of industries, including infrastructure projects like toll roads, real estate and even lotto operations.
“The return on SSS investments has an average of seven percent for 2016, and we hope to bring it up to 15 to 20 percent next year following the enhancements in investment practices and the new investing projects and activities we plan to carry out in the next several months,” Dean Valdez said.
On the issue of operating expenses, Dean Valdez said that SSS has cut down its operating expenses in its 2017 budget by P1 billion as it seeks measures to improve its performance and address the existing structural imbalance in funding. (PR)

TACLOBAN CITY- In the light of President Rodrigo Duterte’s directive to release the P5,000 financial assistance to the survivors of supertyphoon “Yolanda”, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) is coming up with a clean list – checking on the spelling of names, ensuring no double entry and the recipients have not received any housing assistance and the emergency cash assistance (ESA) earlier given to the survivors.
According to Vina Aquino, DSWD regional information officer, DSWD Director Marita Pimentel Field Operations Officer under Secretary Judy Taguiwalo, visited Tacloban City to explain the criteria and the mechanics in facilitating the validation of some 62,196 claimants from the region.
The President has released P2 billion to the DSWD after the third commemoration of the Yolanda tragedy last November 8, 2016.
On his visit last January 25, he reminded Taguiwalo why the new cash assistance of P5,000 has not been released to the survivors.
Pimentel said the final list will be submitted to the Office of the President on February 10 of this year.
She, however, emphasized that there would be no additional lists submitted beyond the Yolanda’s third anniversary anniversary where Pres. Duterte made the pronouncement.
She said that the last count is 194,000, with over 61,000 claimants coming from Eastern Visayas.
Pimentel said that those who will have access to the grant are those from the list submitted by non-governmental organizations and people’s organizations, the list of unfunded ESA beneficiaries submitted to the Department of Budget and Management, and those grievances validated by the DSWD.
Those identified for shelter assistance from the government or have already acquired housing, will be excluded from the benefit, Pimentel pointed out.
Families who totally lost their houses received P30,000 as their ESA while those whose houses sustained damages received P10,000.
Pimentel said the DSWD is also finalizing on the mechanism, adding that the funds from the Office of the President will be coursed to the DSWD and then go direct to Land Bank of the Philippines.
She also stated that for Pantawid Pamilya beneficiaries who are included in the list, there would be no problem as they have already the cash card.
The beneficiaries of the new cash grant will come from the Yolanda corridors or the provinces affected from Eastern Visayas, Panay, Cebu and Palawan.
(VICKY C. ARNAIZ)

TACLOBAN CITY- The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) leads this year’s Civil Registration Month (CRM) celebration with the theme “Pilipinong Rehistradao, Matatag na Kinabukasan ay Sigurado”, in consonance with the global advocacy of getting everyone registered and of promoting awareness on the importance of civil registration in the lives of every Filipino.
The 2017 CRM celebration in the region will kick-off with a caravan last Friday 2.
This will be participated in by PSA Regional Statistics Services Office 8 (RSSO 8), PSA – Provincial Statistical Offices (PSOs), and Local Civil Registry personnel in the region. This will be followed by a Program hosted by LGU-Burauen at the Burauen Gymnasium.
In the provinces, the CRM will be launched consecutively from February 1-7 with a mass, motorcade and a short program.
PSA lined up activities to highlight the month-long celebration. Among them are symposia, data dissemination seminars, trainings, exhibits, slogan and poster making contests, tree planting, information and education campaign such as press conference, media interviews, and hanging of CRM streamers and tarpaulins.
Provincial Civil Registration Quiz among secondary schools will be conducted by the respective PSOs in preparation for the Regional Civil Registration Quiz which will be held early in March.
Other activities related to the CRM celebration initiated by the different Local Civil Registry Offices (LCROs) in coordination with PSA are mass weddings, mobile registrations and free issuance of certifications. For more details on these activities, please contact or visit the respective LCROs.
The CRM is celebrated in February of every year pursuant to Proclamation 682 issued on January 28, 1991 and signed by then President Corazon C. Aquino. (PR)