TACLOBAN CITY – The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) has enforced precautionary measures in Samar coastal waters after laboratory test results show that red tide presence has intensified in Irong-Irong Bay. The government strictly imposed shellfish ban in Irong-Irong Bay in Catbalogan City, Samar last week after both water and shellfish meat were tested positive of red tide toxins. “We are worried that red tide toxins will spread to nearby Cambatutay Bay, Maqueda Bay, and Calbayog City waters. These areas have histories of red tide presence in the past,” said BFAR Regional Director Juan Albaladejo. Irong-Irong Bay, one of the collecting areas for mussel in Samar, drains its water to Cambatutay, a bay hit by red tide phenomenon last year. Cambatutay, which has been showing signs of red tide recurrence, in turn, drains to Calbayog Waters. BFAR detected cyst formation in nearby Maqueda Bay, an area known for commercial mussel production. “The presence of cyst indicates that red tide organisms may bloom anytime,” Albaladejo added. “There’s a big possibility that we will issue a shellfish ban for Cambatutay Bay this week. Since last week, mussel traders in Maqueda Bay have been asked to secure health certificate from BFAR before shipping mussels to Davao and Mania as a precautionary measure,” Albaladejo said.

Fish caught in affected areas are safe for human consumption provided that they are fresh, washed and cooked thoroughly, the BFAR regional director said.
From 1,120 cells per liter of toxins in water last week, the reading in Irong-Irong Bay rose to up to 2,074 cells per liter, way high than the 10 cells per liter of toxins in a normal situation. Red tide was found in 117 micro grams of every 100 grams of shellfish meat, or nearly double than the 60 micro grams per 100 grams in normal level. “This is very alarming because when two persons in Cambatutay Bay died of toxins last year, the reading was only 20 micro grams per 100 grams of meat,” the BFAR official recalled. Authorities test coastal waters in Samar twice a week to monitor the possible presence of red tide. “The prolong sunny weather since May followed by heavy downpour in the past few days may trigger red tide bloom due to discharge of waste water from mountains and residential areas,” he added. Red tide is a term used to describe all phenomena which the water is discolored by high algal biomass or concentration of algae. The discoloration may not necessarily be red in color, but it may also appear yellow, brown, green, blue or milky, depending on the organisms involved. (SARWELL Q.MENIANO)

TACLOBAN CITY-To empower the marginalized farmers with updated agricultural farm technology on high value crops so that they can produce a bountiful harvest even on a limited space, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) commits to continue the Kabalikat sa Kabuhayan Farmers Training (KSK-FT) that the SM Foundation has implemented in Tanauan, Leyte. The DSWD committed that they will continue what they have started in Tanauan using their own module under their livelihood program, Neny Regino of the SM Foundation said. She also said that the livelihood program of the DSWD has a module on social preparation which includes teaching the farmers on how to sell their products and handle their money. The DSWD has helped the SM Foundation to enhance their livelihood programs such as the social preparation in the farmers training. Before, The SM Foundation does not have any partnership with the DSWD but now that they joined the foundation in this endeavor. “We have realized that the social preparation is a big help to the program” Regino said.

She emphasized that without the DSWD, the social preparation will not be included in their program. “The farmers must know not just the proper way of planting but also the right way of selling their production and handling their money,” Regino said. With the module on social preparation of the DSWD, Regino said that their farmer- beneficiaries under the KSK-TF has become more interested for they will know many things not just planting and harvesting. On the other hand, the SM Foundation has coordinated with the local government unit of Tanauan to help the 108 farmer-beneficiaries under the program in finding business establishment that will buy their agricultural products that they will produce. The KSK-FT is a program the will provides farmers with more effective ways of producing high yielding fruits and vegetables. The program is much like backyard farming, only it is enhanced by new technology to produce better results. It is a 12-step program that teaches farmers seed culture and propagation, irrigation and fertilizer application, among other skills. The KSK-FT is a joint undertaking of SM Foundation with the private sector and government agencies. (RYAN GABRIEL LLOSA ARCENAS)

PALO, Leyte-Janelle Bonse, 9 and a Grade IV student expressed her gladness that she and her classmates at the San Joaquin Elementary School would now occupy a new classroom. “It is nice to study inside a classroom and inside a tent,” Bonse said. The new classroom to be occupied by Bonse and her classmates was part of the 11-classrooms building donated by Senator Cynthia Villar and Frances Ann Petilla, wife of Energy Secretary Carlos Jericho Petilla. The two donors raised P3.9 million to construct the classrooms at the San Joaquin Elementary School, among the public schools of Palo that sustained severe damages due to supertyphoon Yolanda. Bonse lost her mother, Lilia, 43, due to the storm surge that destroyed one of the classrooms of said school where they evacuated. Her mother’s body was found hours after the typhoon stopped and is now one of the hundreds of those who perished the typhoon buried at the grounds of the nearby San Joaquin Church on Barangay San Joaquin. “I will make good of my studies as I promised to my late mother,” Bonse said. She finished on the top of her class during her Grade III. Sen. Villar said that it is imperative to repair the school buildings damaged or destroyed by Yolanda to ensure that school children would have a better and conducive environment. “It is very important that the students go back to the return to their classrooms,” the senator said. She said that the money that she used in donating for the construction of the classrooms came from her personal funds as a senator, she no longer has her share on pork barrel or priority development assistance fund (PDAF). School principal Liberato Cobacha said that he could not contain his happiness that Sen. Villar and Petilla donated classrooms to their school. At present, the school has 390 enrollment with 17 classrooms. (JOEY A. GABIETA)

TACLOBAN CITY – Yolanda survivors in Leyte have accessed P26.64 million worth of benefits through legal assistance provided by the Initiatives for Dialogue and Empowerment through Alternative Legal Services (IDEALS). Lawyer Enrico Asis, area coordinator of the Access to Benefits and Claims after Disaster (ABCD), a major undertaking of IDEALS, said that thousands of families have been provided legal documents which are prerequisite to avail services. “For those people who have been enjoying their rights to education, jobs and housing, we cannot quantify the value of benefits to them,” Asis said in a press briefing. Among the benefits availed by storm survivors were claims from the Government Service Insurance System and insurance firms, loans from the Department of Trade and Industry and Social Security System, shelter assistance from donors, notarization, affidavits and deeds of contracts. Primarily, the NGO has provided legal representation to 140 displaced workers of a luxury hotel, workers of a furniture shop and a farmer’s group. Since December 2013, IDEALS and other international humanitarian organizations have been supporting lawyers in Leyte to carry out the legal mission project in villages where all legal documents were either blown away or swept away by Yolanda’s fierce winds and storm surges. “It all started with a single text I sent to my friends in November asking for office supplies for us to serve their legal needs. That text reached IDEALS and they have started supporting us,” said lawyer Ronan Christian Reposar, who has been practicing environmental law for a decade, before joining the legal aid advocate. He recalled that after the typhoon struck, almost all the people lost their identification cards, bank cards, certificate of ownership, civil registry documents and other papers that would establish their identity. “The need for legal services was enormous, yet some lawyers left the province and many law offices were badly damaged. We used all available resources left to provide legal assistance, even using pens and papers to produce affidavits,” Reposar recalled. Reposar and Asis are just two of the 10 lawyers hired by IDEALS to implement the ABCD project in badly-hit areas in Leyte and Samar. They are backed by 27 paralegals, tasked to draft affidavits, contracts and other documents. “This project changed the impression of poor families about the lawyer profession. They thought their services are very expensive, but the project provided it for free. Basically, we helped in pump priming the profession. It takes a lot of sacrifice for a lawyer to waive service fees,” said Edgardo Ligon, IDEALS executive director. Pamela Palma of Oxfam, one of the humanitarian organizations supporting ABCD, has seen the value for money of their P4 million assistance to the project. “P26 million is just an amount of money. We don’t know exactly the value of assistance and long term benefits to a child entering a classroom and family owning a new house,” Palma added. (PR)

TACLOBAN CITY- A seminar on water sanitation and hygiene promotion was initiated by the Plan International called “Post -Haiyan Rehabilitation Community Project,” on June 18. The meeting focused on teaching, particularly the sanitation and hygiene committee involving at least 10 participants from Barangays 62 and 62-A in Anibong District, this city. Plan International Wash Specialist, Mel Malgazon said that they are to teach the importance of handwashing, proper usage of toilet and drinking safe water among residents of the two villages, among the hardest-hit areas in Tacloban during the onslaught of super typhoon Yolanda on November 8,2013. In addition, he identified diarrhea as one of the most common problems in the two barangays. In addressing with this case he advised every household to exercise the proper water sanitation. (JELLY CARAAN, LNU Intern)