TACLOBAN CITY— Vice Mayor Jerry “Sambo” Yaokasin of this city expressed his disappointment on the non enforcement of the “no build zone” policy of the government.
The policy restricts residents to live or build houses within the 40 meter from the coastlines. The policy was introduced after supertyphoon Yolanda generated storm surges that resulted for thousands of houses to be destroyed or washed inland.
Despite of the signages on this policy placed in areas identified, houses were seen to have sprouted.
It was learned from Yaokasin said that members of the council came into agreement that should the master plan for rehabilitation of the city comes out, this no build zone policy would be reviewed by them.
Still the vice mayor said that should the master plan came into effect, the affected residents should relocate to the resettlement sites identified under the master plan drawn by the city government with the help of the UN Habitat.
Yaokasin said that the plan need some changes like three meters should be observed for urban areas; 20 meters for agriculture area and the 40 meter policy should only be applied in forested areas.
“But the government’s geo-hazard mapping that points Tacloban as risk area should also be considered. That is why it is to be studied well if such measurements still apply is this kind of situation,” Yaokasin stressed.
But for the meantime that the city government is still waiting for the master rehabilitation plan, it will stick to the 40-meter rule and will not add any exemptions as of yet, the vice mayor added.
Yaokasin thus advised residents living in the no build zones to coordinate first to the newly-created City Housing Unit before constructing any permanent structures.
Meanwhile, the vice mayor also talked about the housing projects being pushed by the city government in the northern part of Tacloban.
Yaokasin said that the beneficiaries need not worry because it is to be distributed in “sweat equity” scheme, which means that residents have to help in its construction to avail the program.
“We are thinking of 6 months to 1 year for completion of 10 thousand housing units and this is going to narrow the housing backlog in the city by half. All they have to do is approach the City Housing Office and see if they will qualify and (as for) payment, we have to do sweat equity or bayanihan system,” Yaokasin further added. (Regin Olimberio/PR)

TACLOBAN CITY- The people of San Isidro, which was hit by supertyphoon Yolanda, continues to receive food assistance from the municipal government.
Thus said former town mayor and now Board Member Alan Ang of Leyte’s third district who said that all the 8,051 affected families coming from the town’s 19 barangays still receives food packs, over four months since Yolanda hit their town.
Ang’s wife, Susan, is the incumbent mayor of San Isidro.
Board Member Ang told Leyte Samar Daily Express that they are now conducting series of evaluations as to the extent of damage caused by Yolanda in their town.
The result of their assessment would then be submitted former Senator Panfilo “Ping” Lacson, the Presidential Assistant for Rehabilitation and Recovery.
Ang said that they hope that they could be given the necessary financial help from Lacson.
“We are happy that the Office of The Presidential Assistant for Rehabilitation and Recovery through Sec. Panfilo “Ping” Lacson will help rebuild the structures like our school buildings and other government office which were damaged by Yolanda and other government buildings,” he said.
The board member also said that both Leyte Governor Leopoldo Dominico Petilla and Rep. Andres Salvacion of third district are also helping them on their rehabilitation effort. (LITO A. BAGUNAS)

TACLOBAN CITY – Rhegina Jurilla, 22 years old from Tunga, Leyte underwent a blood transfusion at the Divine Word Hospital as she was afflicted with dengue fever.
Her family and friends helped get concentrated blood type B-RH+ from a government blood bank but they were turned down as there was no supply of such blood type.
Geron, Rhegina’s friend who requested his family name be kept confidential, has referred the Jurilla family to the Philippine Red Cross (PRC)-Leyte Chapter at Magsaysay Boulevard this city.
To make sure Rhegina could survive, he sought help from the PRC.
Of the three blood units needed by her, only two were available at the blood bank last March 11.
But Rhegina’s doctors still need three more bags of blood, making Geron do another request to the PRC.
The PRC blood bank after failing to get the blood supply from Ormoc and Cebu blood banks, requested 3 bags shipment of concentrated B-RH+ from PRC national headquarters.
Today, Jurilla is on her way to recovery thanks to the help of the PRC through her friend. She as confined at DWU Hospital since March 10.
The case of Jurilla made the PRC – Leyte Chapter appeal for more volunteers to donate blood.
“Each blood unit is 450ml and can help up to 3 patients depending on the needs. The blood you donate may help save the lives of your family members,” Edwin Pamonag, PRC officer-in-charge administrator, said.
The PRC National Headquarters has set up make-shift blood bank at the operation center of PRC at the Leyte Park Hotel last November 16, 2013 to serve the needs of the people of Leyte and the region.
It was only PRC that served the blood needs of the people in the disaster-hit area a week after the storm surges generated by Yolanda that killed close to 7,000 people with 2,000 more declared as missing.
PRC Chairman Richard Gordon saw the need of providing safe blood that he sent 120-capacity blood bank refrigerator right away with initial 40 units of whole blood of different types. He also instructed the PRC National Blood Bank and nearby Cebu Blood Bank to supply the needs of the chapter.
“It was great of Chairman Gordon to send blood supply right away in the make-shift blood bank at the operations center at Leyte Park Hotel. He later sent a container van converted to blood bank, equipped with two refrigerators, bed for extracting blood and office table,” said Blood Bank doctor Michieko Malou Modesto said.
The PRC has already served 732 patients and supplied 898 units of blood for operation needs in hospitals run by the locals and the international medical teams, Modesto added.
She also said that an instruction coming from PRC Secretary General Gwen Pang prohibits collection of processing fees for those who want to avail blood services from the PRC.
Nilda Quiero, medical technician, said that normally PRC collects processing fees to test each unit of blood for transfusion-transmittable infections, namely syphilis, HIV, hepatitis B and C and malaria.
“The fees ensure we have supplies of blood bags, reagents and other supplies, to ensure safe and quality blood. It is also to maintain our facilities and equipments,” Quiero, who lost a brother during the typhoon, added.
The PRC blood processing fees are in conformance with DOH Administrative Order No. 181 series of 2002 and per unit are: P1, 500 for whole blood, P1, 100 for packed red cells, and P700 for the rest of component blood products such as platelets, frozen plasma, cryoprecipitate and cryosupernate. (VICKY C. ARNAIZ)

TACLOBAN CITY – Typhoon-affected rice farmers in Babatngon, Leyte gets help as the provincial government distribute cash loans under Leyte province’s More Income in the Countryside thru Rice (MIC-Rice) Program.
Beneficiaries were from Brgy. E. Jaro of said town.
The MIC-Rice Program is a continuation of the ICOT-Rice Program implemented during the leadership of then governor and now Energy Secretary Carlos Jericho Petilla, brother of the incumbent governor.
Gov. Leopoldo Dominico Petilla deemed it necessary to continue the project as it helps the farmers ensure production for their livelihood and help the province attain rice sufficiency especially after the onslaught of supertyphoon Yolanda.
The same mechanism under the previous ICOT-P Rice Program is being employed by the MIC-Rice Program where farmers are offered cash loans amounting to P15, 000 per hectare to cover the expenses for labor, seeds, fertilizers, insurance and pesticides.
The farmers would pay back their loans in terms of good quality palay which the provincial government would itself buy from the farmers computed P1 higher than the prevailing market price.
Gov. Petilla said this project has been designed to spur farmers’ participation in the local government’s rice production enhancement program.
Gov. Petilla likewise said that because the project needs a big budget allotment, recipient towns and rice farmer beneficiaries are closely evaluated and monitored.
Meanwhile, the governor disclosed that while many organizations have donated rice seeds to Leyte, there is still a need for more seeds and even for technical assistance on rice farming in order to restore Leyte to its pre-Yolanda condition.
Leyte, the province that bore the full brunt of the typhoon, is a Category II rice–producing province, meaning it has more than 100,000 hectares of rice land. Between 2000 and 2009, Leyte posted the third biggest increase in rice production among all provinces, behind Nueva Ecija and Iloilo, and has the highest average annual growth rate in terms of yield per hectare output.
Typhoon Yolanda struck in the period between planting seasons in Leyte. Most farms had already completed their wet season harvest and were just starting to prepare for the dry season crop.
The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and the Department of Agriculture (DA) are also giving flood-tolerant rice seeds to farmers. IRRI continues to work on making rice more resistant to extreme weather conditions. This includes studying how rice can thrive despite salty soil, hot or cold weather, and drought. (AHLETTE C. REYES)

TACLOBAN CITY- Typhoon victims who belong to the Iglesia Ni Cristo (INC) did not only receive food packs but were also provided with houses and livelihood.
The influential religious bloc conducted its dental and medical mission in this typhoon-ravaged city on Friday attended by more than 60,000 people held at the Leyte Sports Development Complex.
The activity was attended by top officials of the INC led by its executive minister Eduardo Manalo amid heavy rains. Classes at the Leyte National High School, Leyte Colleges, Leyte Normal University and the Eastern Visayas State University located within the LSDC were suspended to avoid heavy traffic due to the one-day activity.
Aside from the dental and medical mission, the INC provided food packs to their members who were victims of Yolanda.
The INC readied 150,000 food packs although based on their records, 2,630 of their members in Leyte and Samar were directly hit by Yolanda.
Manalo, meantime, lead in the groundbreaking of the 3,000 hectares area owned by the INC at Sitio New Era, Barangay Langit in Alangalang, Leyte of a housing project dubbed as Self-Sustainable Community Rehabilitation Project.
Glicerio Santos, Jr., INC general auditor, said that about 1,000 of their members who completely lost their houses during the massive typhoon are to be given the free houses the construction of which are to be finished in four months time.
The houses, made of concrete materials and G.I. sheets, have 22 square meters of floor areas and 35 square meters per lot.
Joel Cerira of Barangay Minuhang, Barugo, Leyte , said that he is glad that their church has provided them not only a new home but even a livelihood.
“It’s actually a free house and a livelihood kind of thing. It’s easy for me to decide to live here and leave my hometown,” said Cirera, 50 and is a bachelor.
Inside the sprawling complex, which is more than 20 kms away from the town proper of Alangalang, are the proposed garment factory and an eco-farm.
The proposed garment factory and the eco-farm which is to be planted with rice and vegetables would serve as the livelihood component of the project with the INC members living in the resettlement is to be employed.
Santos said that the entire project is estimated to cost more than a billion pesos with P200 million set aside for the construction of houses.
“And the money were from the INC own funds. We did not solicit from anyone, to include politicians,” he said.
Leyte Rep. Ferdinand Martin Romualdez lauded the project of the INC saying it would be a big help to the victims of the typhoon.
He described the INC project as a “good example” how should assistance be extended to the victims, an apparent dig to the Aquino administration “slow” assistance to the victims of Yolanda.
“Malaking, malaking bagay itong ibinigay ng Iglesia. It’s a good example and its complete, may mga bahay, may mga pangkabuhayan,” Romualdez who attended the groundbreaking said. (JOEY A. GABIETA)