TACLOBAN CITY – The city of Borongan and Philippine Airlines (PAL) reaffirmed their collaboration with the renewal of a memorandum of agreement (MOA) for the continued operation of the country’s flag carrier, servicing the Borongan-Cebu-Manila route.

The MOA signing was held at the Borongan City Mayor’s Office last Dec.19 with Mayor Jose Ivan Dayan Agda representing the city government and PAL executives Matthew Llamas, senior specialist for development and sales; Joery Falloria, PAL Tacloban branch manager; and Mary Jane Ocop, PAL Tacloban senior account executive, representing the airline.
Joining the ceremony were Vice Mayor Emman Tiu Sonco, City Councilors Victor Ohoy Franco, Kathlyn Cainday, Glaiza G. Tiu, Frich Baylon Uy, Board Member and Philippine Councilors’ League Region 8 President Ralph Vincent “RV” Evardone, along with other city officials.

Mayor Agda highlighted the significance of the partnership saying it manifests that Borongan is a growing city.

“We know for a fact that having regular flights in Borongan is a catalyst for economic growth. But more importantly, it’s about hope. Providing hope inspires our people to achieve more. It’s about showing that reaching these milestones is possible—and that, for me, is tangible progress,” he said.

Agda also recognized the city’s top 20 frequent fliers for 2024, based on data provided by the local ticketing office, acknowledging their role in supporting the sustainability of local flights.

Tourism Officer-in-Charge and Flight Operations Chair Rupert Ambil shared updates on Borongan’s growing tourism sector, reporting a record-breaking 85,000 tourist arrivals from January to September 2024.

“We’ve hit the highest mark since 2017. Pre-pandemic, we had 80,000 visitors. Now, we’ve already surpassed that at 85,000, and the year isn’t over yet,” Ambil noted.

PAL began its Borongan operations on December 19, 2022, following the initial MOA signing that established twice-weekly flights to cater to the transportation needs of both tourists and Eastern Samar residents.

In September 2024, the airline expanded its service to thrice-weekly flights (Monday, Wednesday, and Friday) and started offering cargo shipment services.

To support the operations, the Borongan city government set up a local ticketing office. It also financed and built its departure terminal, completing the planning and construction process within three months.

The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) commended Borongan’s modular construction design and has since started replicating the model in other airports nationwide.

The partnership between Borongan City and PAL underscores the city’s commitment to improving connectivity, fostering economic growth, and enhancing opportunities for its residents and visitors, Agda said.
(ROEL T. AMAZONA)

TACLOBAN CITY – More than three thousand agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs) from different towns of Leyte, Southern Leyte and Biliran rejoiced after they were relieved from paying their unpaid land amortizations amounting to P136,764,576, which included interests.

On Wednesday, December 18 this year, Ubaldo Sadiarin Jr., Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) Assistant Secretary for Support Services, represented Secretary Conrado Estrella III in handing the 4,492 Certificates of Condonation with Release of Mortgage (COCROMs) at the Tacloban City Convention Center freeing 3,142 ARBs from financial burden. Sadiarin was assisted by DAR Eastern Visayas Regional Director Robert Anthony Yu.

Both officials repeatedly reminded the ARBs not to sell their awarded lands so their children and grandchildren could inherit them.

Seventy years old Alberto Carel from Naval, Biliran, who was among those who received COCROMs during the said occasion, expressed his gratitude to President Ferdinan Marcos Jr. for relieving him from paying his P147,596.51 land amortization at the Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP), one of the highest unpaid amortizations.

According to Carel, he was not able to start paying his amortization because he always run short of his income until he learned that the President ordered the condonation of the ARBs’ debts.

The President signed the New Agrarian Emancipation Act (Republic Act No. 11953) on July 7 last year, which condoned P57.557-billion of ARBs’ debts.

Aside from the COCROMs, 669 individual electronically generated Certificates of Land ownership Award (e-CLOAs) issued under the Worl Bank-funded Support to Parcelization of Lands for Individual Titling (SPLIT) project were distributed to 502 agrarian reform beneficiaries. The land titles covered an aggregate area of 758 hectares situated in the above-mentioned provinces.

Tacloban City Mayor Alfred Romualdez, who at the same time is the chairman of the Regional Peace and Order Council, graced the said occasion and disclosed that the President instructed him to make sure that landless farmers receive their CLOA and are properly installed.

Land distribution is DAR’s contribution to End local Communist Armed Conflict (ELCAC), a whole-of-nation approach in addressing insurgency problems in the country, Yu explained.
Meanwhile, as assistance to ARBs in making their awarded land productive, nearly P2-million worth of farm machineries and equipment were turned over on the same occasion to the Barangay Anahawan Farmers Agriculture Cooperative from Bato, Leyte.
(JOSE ALSMITH L. SORIA)