MANILA-U.S. Marines and Sailors with the 3d Marine Expeditionary Brigade, together with their Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) counterparts, successfully concluded the inaugural exercise KAMANDAG yesterday during a closing ceremony at Marine Barracks Rudiardo Brown, Taguig, Philippines.
KAMANDAG, which ran from October 2 to 11, is an acronym for the Filipino phrase “Kaagapay Ng Mga Mandirigma Ng Dagat,” or “Cooperation of Warriors of the Sea.” The name emphasizes the close partnership between the Philippine and United States militaries.
In preparation for KAMANDAG, the service members partnered to complete humanitarian and civic assistance projects. Members of the AFP, Japan Ground Self Defense Force, and U.S. military renovated C.J. Torre Elementary School, Esperanza Elementary School, and Esperanza Daycare Center, in Casiguran. U.S. military medical teams also taught basic lifesaving skills, first aid, disease prevention, and dental hygiene to children and teachers in Casiguran as part of a cooperative health engagement.
During KAMANDAG, U.S. and Philippine service members practiced combat lifesaving techniques, live fire training, maritime search and seizure, urban terrain operations, and aviation support planning. U.S. Marine amphibious assault vehicles (AAV) embarked and launched from a Philippine Navy sea lift vessel, the BRP Tarlac (LD-601), for the first time ever. This success expands both militaries’ operational support capabilities to provide relief during humanitarian disasters, as well as move forces ashore during a terrorist crisis.
“This kind of integrated training prepares the Philippine vessel to carry Philippine Marine Corps AAVs in the future,” said Philippine Marine Corps Public Affairs Officer, Capt. Maria R. Dalmacio. She noted that the Philippine Marine Corps plans to acquire AAVs by 2019.
KAMANDAG increased overall U.S. and Philippine military readiness, improved bilateral responsiveness, and strengthened the working relationships that embody our illustrious decades-long alliance. (PR)
U.S. Armed Forces and AFP complete successful first KAMANDAG
To solve traffic woes, City Gov’t to start Transport, Traffic Study
TACLOBAN CITY- Following the directive of Mayor Cristina G. Romualdez to come up with an efficient traffic system and decongest traffic in main thoroughfares; the City Government has entered into a partnership with the UP National Center for Transportation Studies Foundation Inc. (UPNCTSFI) for the conduct of a transport and traffic management study.
On Monday, October 9, members of the City’s Transportation Technical Working Group (TWG) met with UP-NCTSFI Director Dr. Ma. Sheilah G. Napalong to discuss the salient points of the planned transport and traffic management study intended to start this October.
The TWG’s composition include among others, the Traffic Operation Management Enforcement and Control Office, the Business Sector, City Housing Department, Tacloban City Police Office and the City Engineering Office.
City Councilor Edward Frederick Chua, Chairperson of the City Council Committee on Transportation Chairperson also attended the meeting to air concerns on the planned study.
According to City Administrator Atty. Irene Chiu this development aimed at coming up with a traffic master plan that will solve the City’s emerging traffic woes.
Cited as among the transport and traffic concerns that the study will be focusing on are the rampant on street parking in the Central business district, the scattered locations of formal and informal transport terminal, and the influx of new businesses into the City, which contribute to the traffic volume. It will also focus on creating a sustainable traffic circulation system that will be advantageous to both vehicular and pedestrian traffic.
To be implemented in three phases, the study will have a series of surveys that will commence later part of October until November.
Meanwhile, the TOMECO welcomed the development, saying it has been five years in the offing; and underscored the need for a comprehensive traffic scheme before the City is overwhelmed by an increasing traffic volume. It also bared plans of the City Government to install 10 Hybrid Traffic light systems equipped with smart cameras in major intersections of the City –the installation of which will depend on the output of the study.
Meantime, to dialogue with the general public and the transport sector the local government is planning to hold Traffic Summit this November 14.
UP-NCTSFI had recently conducted traffic and urban studies in the cities of General Santos, Davao and Ozamiz.(Henry James G. Roca, Photo by Tim Canes/CMO)xxx
Caption: City Administrator presided a meeting to discuss how to address the worsening traffic problems of Tacloban City. Present during the October 9 meeting were several city officials and representatives of a private transportation sector.
Drop boxes for drug, crime reporting to be set up in brgys
Under a cloud of being abused
TACLOBAN CITY- Starting this month, all the 138 barangays of this city would be required to install drop boxes wherein names of suspected drug dependents, among others, would be dropped in.
Lawyer Darwin Bibar, city local operations officer, said that the drop box is one of the mechanisms wherein names of individuals who are suspected for committing illegal acts could be charged accordingly.
He, however, said that barangay residents who have a complaint against their co-residents or officials, fearing their security, and whom they claimed to have committed crimes like corruption or abuse of authority, could also use the drop box.
“We are doing this with the consent of the barangays and we have requested the (barangay people) to report all kinds of crimes to include illegal drugs,” Bibar said.
Asked on the possibility that this mechanism could be abused, Bibar said that they have devised a scheme to verify the information.
“There is a safety measure because we are aware that this could be subjected to abuse. We will ensure that this report will undergo validation process and will be forwarded to the concerned agency like the city police or PDEA (Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency) or Office of the Ombudsman,” he said.
“We will not just act on them without undergoing a validation, considering this will be done anonymously,” Bibar added.
He also added that their office has trained personnel on intelligence gathering.
Their office will issue an envelope to the barangays which they will use in writing the names whom they suspect to be drug dependents, for example, Bibar said.
Bibar said that the putting up of the drop boxes in the villages is in consonance to a directive from their central office in the light of their campaign dubbed as ‘Masa Masid’ or ‘Mamamayan Ayaw sa Anomaliya, Mamamayan Ayaw sa Iligal na Droga.’
Ronnie Dayon, barangay chairman of Brgy.71, this city, said that while he would comply with this directive, he still has apprehension on the putting up of drop boxes.
“There is no doubt that this could be abused. One who has an axe to grind against his neighbor, for example, could write the name and place it in the drop box,” he said.
About 27 drug users of Dayan’s village voluntarily surrendered under the government’s ‘Oplan Tokhang.’
Bibar said that while their office is behind on this campaign, it is the barangay which will shoulder the cost in the making of the drop box.
According to Bibar, each drop box would cost P1,300 and should be made from a fiberglass and placed outside the barangay halls.
“The fund should be sourced from their Badac (barangay anti-drug council),” he said.
He added that they target to put up all the drop boxes by October 25.
Aside from the barangay halls, they also intend to put drop boxes at the City Hall and even Church.
Tacloban council approves measure declaring every Nov. 8 as a day of ‘remembrance and gratitude’
‘Yolanda’ anniversary
TACLOBAN CITY- The Sangguniang Panlungsod of this city unanimously approved an ordinance declaring every November 8, the day Tacloban was devastated by super typhoon ‘Yolanda,’ as a day of remembrance and gratitude.
The measure, principally authored by Councilor Aurora Aimee Delgado-Grafil, was passed by the city council on September 20.
“November 8 of every year is hereby declared as ‘A Day of Remembrance and Gratitude’ in the city of Tacloban to pay tribute to the memory of all who died during the onslaught of (super) typhoon ‘Yolanda’, to the survivors whose resiliency inspired people around the globe, and to all volunteers and organizations who took part and contributed in the recovery and rehabilitation efforts of the city,” part of the ordinance said.
The same ordinance mandates that the Office of the City Mayor, through the City Tourism Office, as the lead agency to come up in the planning, implementation, and supervision of the annual activities with the coordination of non-government and government organizations.
The measure is deemed effective upon its approval by the city council.
A similar measure was earlier approved by the House of Representatives authored by Leyte Rep. Yedda Marie Romualdez.
Under House Bill 4383, every Nov.8 should be ‘Yolanda Commemoration’ and special non-working holiday across the region.
Aside from Grafil, who chairs the committee on environmental protection and waste management, the measure was also authored by Councilors Gerry Uy, Evangeline Esperas, Raissa Villasin and Jose Mario Bagulaya with Councilor Maria Elvira Casal as co-sponsor.
Tacloban is considered the ground zero of Yolanda, considered the strongest typhoon to hit inland.
More than 2,200 people from the city died while about P10 billion worth of properties were destroyed when Yolanda barreled the city on November 8, 2013.
The recovery of Tacloban became fast and smooth as various governments and international organizations, to include those under the umbrella of the United Nations, came to the city to help recover its people.
(JOEY A. GABIETA)
Shipyard starts operation in Leyte
ORMOC CITY- Leyte may receive one of the lowest investments in the country, but local capitalists are mobilizing their resources to industrialize the province.
Not many know it, but the region is now a hub of shipbuilding and repair with the operation of a shipyard in neighboring Albuera town over the past year.
Megaship Builders Inc. (MBI), owned and operated by the Chua Group of Companies, is the first and only shipyard in Eastern Visayas located in Barangay Benolho, Albuera, south of this city.
The area was originally and continues to be the crusher site of another subsidiary, Premium Megastructures Inc. (PMI).
Having a fleet of barges that deliver aggregates to different parts of the country, PMI experienced the long waiting time in securing a slot for dry docking of its vessels in Cebu’s shipyards which could take up to six months.
The conglomerate put up a ship repair facility that would not only cater to its own vessels but accommodate other customers as well.
Adjacent properties were acquired until the site grew to its present 50 hectares. The shipyard’s development began on August 2015 and operations commenced June 2016.
The 3,000 DWT capacity shipyard can repair three to five vessels with a total size of 2,503,000 gross tons simultaneously. Its biggest slipway is 35 meters wide to allow a 27-meter width barge to dock. The facility currently employs 25 workers, mostly welders.
MBI prides itself of being the first shipyard in the Visayas to utilize marine airbag technology in drydocking, a departure from the common carriage-type method.
Its other services are structural repair and fabrication, hull preservation and painting, electrical repair and drafting design. It also repairs, modifies and reconditions pumps, valves, and propellers.
MBI’s capability goes beyond ship repair as it was commissioned by its first two customers to manufacture vessels.
These are a landing craft type for Banton Liner Transport Services of Romblon and a 180-ton steel-hulled passenger boat for Camotes Ferry Services of Cebu.
With the congestion experienced by shipyards in Manila and Cebu, MBI hopes to secure a big chunk of the maritime industry’s fast-growing repair needs, says its president Francis Lloyd Chua.
Improvement of its site continues with the construction of more workshops and a three-story modern building that will house the corporate offices of PMI and MBI.
(FELIX CODILLA)
Leyte council approves P7.6 B investment plan for 2018
TACLOBAN CITY- More than P7.6 billion worth of projects and programs have been approved by the Provincial Development Council(PDC) of Leyte for its annual investment program(AIP) for next year.
The funding of the AIP, which will serve as the basis for the annual budget of the province, will come from its P2 billion annual internal revenue(IRA) as well as funding from government agencies, to include rehabilitation funding due to super typhoon ‘Yolanda’ and projected foreign assistance.
The 2018 AIP was approved by the members of the PDC, which is chaired by Governor Leopoldo Dominico Petilla, during their October 2 meeting.
Nex year’’s AIP is higher compare to the current P7.1 billion.
The P7,602,260,934 AIP will then be submitted to the provincial board for its approval.
Petilla said that next year’s AIP includes the required tagging tracking of the climate change expenditures of the programs, activities, and projects in the local budget.
The programs, activities, and projects on the AIP are categorized under the general public services, economic services, and social services.
Under the P7. 6 billion AIP for next year, economic services gets the huge chunk of the budget at P3.94 billion followed by general public services at P1.31 billion; and social services at P1.94 billion.
About P110.2 million has also been earmarked for the special education fund under the 2018 AIP. (LIZBETH ANN A. ABELLA)