PALO, Leyte-Some 500 families of this town whose houses were totally destroyed during the aftermath of supertyphoon Yolanda would soon have their homes courtesy of the members of the Federation of Filipino-Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Inc. (FFCCCII).
Last April 11, 2014, a simple ground-breaking ceremony for the development of the relocation site located at Barangay Barayong was held attended by key officials of the FFCCCII led by its chairman emeritus, Lucio Tan.
The housing project, dubbed as Filipino-Chinese Friendship Village, would be the home of about 500 families coming from different villages of Palo whose houses were totally destroyed by Yolanda.
Aside from constructing houses to the now homeless typhoon victims, the area would also be constructed with five- unit school buildings with two-classrooms each, said FFCCCII president Alfonso Siy.
Siy said that if their chairman emeritus Tan will like the outcome of the friendship village, he might add more units of houses. “Dr. Tan is few of the most generous people in the Philippines,” Siy said.
“Right now we are constructing 300 houses for the people affected by typhoon Sendong in Compostela Valley, Cagayan. After that, we will proceed with the construction of the houses here,” Siy added.
The construction of the houses will cost P40 million to P45 million while the school buildings with 10 classrooms will be at P2 million.
Some five hectares have been identified by the local government to host the project in Barayong, a mountainous village about two kilometers away from the town proper.
“We are thankful to the Filipino-Chinese community. The local government unit of Palo and the Department of Social Development and Welfare will screen those who will stay in the friendship village which will comprise families from the different villages badly hit by the typhoon. We will prioritize those who are still staying in tents as their temporary shelter,” Leyte Governor Leopoldo Dominic Petilla said.
The governor added that a new community will be created in Barayong, the villagers will be given livelihood program, a public market aside from the school.
“It is definitely be a village, within a village,” Energy Secretary Carlos Jericho Petilla said in his speech, as he promised that power supply would be provided immediately to the area.
Petilla, who was among the invited guests, enthused that the province of Leyte is very lucky with its partnership with the group of Tan.
“So far this is the biggest housing assistance given by a private group to typhoon Yolanda survivors in Palo. We presented our development plan for a new Palo to our guests during a simple program after the groundbreaking as they might be interested to invest here,” Petilla added.
According to FFCCCII secretary general Fernando Gan, the materials are pre-fabricated and there will be 5-houses in a row. Each unit will have 21-sqm. and one common comfort room.
Gan said the funding for the projects came from the different affiliated organizations led by the FFCCCII Foundation Inc., Federation of Filipino-Chinese Associations of the Philippines, World News Daily, Filipino-Chinese Amity Club, Overseas Chinese Alumni Association of the Philippines, Filipino-Chinese Shin Lian Association, and the Philippine Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry Inc.
Go Tic Ching, president of the Tacloban Filipino-Chinese Chamber of Commerce, Inc. (TFCCCI) and other officers graced the affair. (VICKY C.LANTING)

TACLOBAN CITY – The Philippine Crop Insurance Crop (PCIC) in the region is providing a P215 million premium subsidy to farmers affected by supertyphoon Yolanda.
PCIC president Jovy Bernabe said that the three provinces in Samar Island got P165 million from the P1 billion funding intended for poorest provinces. Leyte, Southern Leyte and Biliran provinces got P50 million subsidy.
The initiative shoulders full amount of the premium plus an accident insurance. In the past, the government only shoulders half of the premium cost.
“We are stepping our effort to reach the target of 70,000 farmers who will benefit this crop insurance program this year. Crop insurance is really important because it will protect us if natural calamities happen again,” Bernabe said during the launching of the premium subsidy scheme.
Usually, a farmer pays P890 for every P10, 000 worth of insurance coverage for both rice and corn. The state-owned crop insurance firm also offers 46 types of insurance packages for high value commercial crops.
The P50 million aid for Leyte, Southern Leyte and Biliran farmers and fishermen is part of the P80 million subsidy for Yolanda-affected areas not classified areas in the 20 poorest provinces.
The PCIC’s principal mandate is to provide insurance protection to farmers against losses arising from natural calamities, plant diseases and pest infestations of their rice and corn crops as well as other crops. The agency also provides protection against damage to non-crop agricultural assets. (SARWELL Q.MENIANO)

TACLOBAN CITY- Five major civic organizations in Leyte have joined forces to deliver complementary missions to Yolanda victims.
Rotary Club (RC) of San Juanico, Rotary Club of Kankabato, Junior Chamber International (JCI) Tacloban, JCI Candahug and JCI Tanauan have all agreed to work together through a united fund drive for various projects in Yolanda affected areas.
The five civic organizations came up with a decision that whatever help that they could extend for the survivors of Yolanda, it would be a livelihood project.
Inspired by the move of Rotary and JCI, civic mover and “Haiyan (Yolanda) Chronicles,” local producer Jeff Manibay met with incoming Rotary International District governor Salvador Estudillo, former JCI Regional vice president Domingo Balintong, Jr. and JCI Tacloban president Cheryl Enrica Esperas to explore possibilities for a collaborative undertaking.
In a press conference, in a meeting held last April 12 at Catnetwork studios, Estudillo revealed Rotary Clubs San Juanico and Kankabato both agreed to look for donors to fund club projects in pre-identified areas of the region hit by Yolanda.
He believes Rotary’s vast experience in civic missions can contribute somehow in accelerating the recovery process.
“We have enough civic oriented members to make a difference. But the scale of destruction is so vast we can hardly make a dent. If we can find sources of funding other than ours I believe we can make a lot difference”, Estudillo said.
On the other hand, Esperas sees a need to utilize the youth and fuel their aspirations to contribute in the recovery process. She sees a lot of potential culled from years of experience and recent relief missions in the aftermath of superstorm Yolanda.
“We went as far as Guiuan, Eastern Samar to implement relief missions. Now that it’s done, our members are currently looking for ways to contribute in the recovery phase”, Esperas said.
Estudillo and Esperas both agree on the power of media while Manibay welcomed the need to incorporate civic initiatives into the documentary series.
“This is a good opportunity for us. From five clubs we found an extra hand in The Yolanda Chronicles who will carry our message,” Estudillo said.
Meanwhile Manibay informed that the Haiyan (Yolanda) Chronicles premieres worldwide on May 8, 2014 starting 10am Ph time, 7pm PST and 11PM EST in US & Canada exclusively on-line. (LIZBETH ANN ABELLA)

TACLOBAN CITY– The city government of Maasin City is among the three local government units vying this year’s Nutrition Honor Award (NHA), highest nutrition award conferred by the National Nutrition Council (NNC) annually.
This was announced last week by newly- designated Regional Nutrition Program Coordinator for Eastern Visayas Dr. Catalino Dotollo who said that a multi-sectoral member-team will make pre-evaluation in Maasin City during the Holy Week.
Assistant Secretary of Health and NNC’s Executive Director Maria-Bernadette Flores will lead the inter-agency National Evaluation Team (NET) in conducting the validation visits to these LGUs from April to May 2014.
“The NNC-8 gives its full support to the city of Maasin as they vie for nutrition’s highest award. They have passed many resolutions last year in support for the nutrition programs and to engage the people of Maasin to actively participate the local government unit’s nutrition programs,” Dotollo said.
According to Maasin City Mayor Maloney Samaco, they are hopeful they can bag the highest award this year, having worked hard for the good nutrition and the best interest of the pre-school and school-aged children of the city.
Last year, Maasin bagged the Crown Award for the second time with P500, 000 as cash incentive. The cash prize was used to further curb malnutrition and improve the nutrition needs of the children of the city.
“This is a challenge to us because Maasin City has 85,200 population based in the 2010 Census. To have a healthy populace, this is a big nutritional challenge,” Samaco said.
The other LGUs vying for the award are the Ifugao Province in the Cordillera Administrative Region and the municipality of Lal-lo, Cagayan in Region II according to the NNC website.
Annually the NNC honors LGUs that have shown efficient and effective management of their nutrition program consistently for the past five years.
The nutrition programs of the LGUs are expected in the low prevalence of underweight among its pre-school and school-age children.
The awardees of NHA will get a cash prize incentive of P1 million. In 2011, the municipality of Limasawa, Southern Leyte won the Nutrition Honor Award. It was the first for the province and the Eastern Visayas region. (VICKY C.ARNAIZ)