TACLOBAN CITY– Fifteen Maxim Rides & Food Delivery driver-partners rolled up their sleeves to support a blood donation drive organized by Barangay 84 in collaboration with the Eastern Visayas Medical Center on December 19, 2025.

The event, held at the Barangay 84 Multi-purpose Hall, collected approximately seven liters of blood to help replenish local blood supplies and assist patients in need of transfusions. Maxim participated after receiving a formal invitation from the barangay, encouraging private sector partners and community members to contribute to public health initiatives.
To recognize their generosity, Maxim rewarded participating driver-partners with one week of zero commission on the platform, allowing them to maximize their earnings while supporting a meaningful cause.

“We are proud of our driver-partners who willingly take part in initiatives that directly benefit the community,” said Sedpre Jabagat, head of Maxim Tacloban. “These efforts reflect our shared commitment to being responsible and engaged members of the communities we serve.”

Village councilor Carlos Mabansag, organizer of the bloodletting drive, highlighted the importance of the initiative.

“This activity helps address the shortage of blood at Eastern Visayas Medical Center, which serves patients across Region 8,” he said. “Ngayong Pasko, nagbigay tayo ng regalong hindi nabibili—ang dugo na nagliligtas ng buhay,” Mabansag, who is also a part-time Maxim driver, added.

The activity underscores how collaboration between local government units and private sector partners can promote public health and strengthen community welfare programs in Tacloban City.

(JOEY A. GABIETA, LIZBETH ANN A. ABELLA)

CATBALOGAN CITY– The Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) in Eastern Visayas closed the year 2025 by distributing 2,298 more land titles on Dec. 27.

DAR Assistant Secretary for Special Concerns Office, Rodolfo Castil Jr., represented Agrarian Reform Secretary Conrado Estrella III and led the distribution of individual land titles at the Samar State University (SSU) in this city to 2,396 agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs) coming the provinces of Samar and Northern Samar.

In his message, Castil stressed to the ARBs, “Let us value what the government has given us. And, let us not forget our responsibilities. That is the only thing the government, and those who worked hard to make this happen, are asking in return.”

DAR Eastern Visayas Regional Director, Atty. Robert Anthony Yu, likewise explained why the distribution rite was held here. According to him, Secretary Estrella instructed him to hold the distribution of titles in the provinces in order to bring the government closer to the people.

Of the 2,396 ARBs who received their individual titles, electronically generated under the Support to Parcelization of Lands for Individual Titling (SPLIT) Project, 1,829 were from the province of Samar, while 567 were from Northern Samar.

ARB Conrada Agte, 71, from Lope de Vega, Northern Samar, turned emotional that after more than three decades of waiting, she finally got hold of the individual title to the land she had been tilling for years. “Thank you that I finally received this document. Thank you so much really!” Agte exclaimed in local dialect.

Another ARB, Rolando Danday, 42, with three children, from Majaba Island in this city, said, “What a beautiful Christmas gift to us by the government. We have been waiting for this for so long.”

Meanwhile, Atty. Jana Dumaliang, Regional Director of the Land Registration Authority-Registry of Deeds in Region 8, expressed their continued support to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and the DAR. She shared that they do overtime to deliver the expected e-titles from them.

The 2,298 e-titles covered an aggregate area of 4,863 hectares of farmlands situated in the above mentioned provinces, strengthening the claim of the ARBs to land awarded to them under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP).

Yu further disclosed that providing land to the landless is DAR’s contribution to the government’s End Local Communist Armed Conflict (ELCAC) initiative, a whole-of-nation approach to solve the insurgency problem in the country.

(JOSE ALSMITH L. SORIA)