TACLOBAN CITY– Authorities have confiscated an estimated 57 kilos of white crystalline substances suspected to be shabu, with an estimated market value of P387.6 million, in a major drug bust at the Liloan Port in Barangay San Roque, Liloan, Southern Leyte, early this morning, on Friday, November 8.
The drugs were discovered during a K9 inspection of an SUV that had arrived aboard a fast craft from Surigao City.
The operation was led by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) VIII Seaport Interdiction Unit-Southern Leyte, in coordination with the Liloan Municipal Police Station, Maritime Police, Philippine Ports Authority (PPA)-Liloan, and the Philippine Coast Guard-Liloan.
At around 1:50 am, officers conducting routine checks on vehicles unloading at the port found 57 tea bags containing the suspected shabu, each weighing approximately one kilogram.
While no arrests were made during the recovery, the driver of the SUV, identified in the manifest as alias “Toring,” will face charges under the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002 (RA 9165).
Investigations are ongoing to trace the driver’s whereabouts.
This seizure comes on the heels of another major drug recovery at a gateway port in Allen, Northern Samar, on September 5, 2024.
In that case, authorities uncovered 37 kilos of shabu with an estimated value of P277.5 million, found hidden in 37 black packages.
The Liloan Port drug haul is being hailed as the largest drug seizure by authorities in the region’s local ports, underscoring the heightened vigilance and coordination among law enforcement agencies in the fight against illegal drugs.
DEPED BUDGET. Rep. Jude Acidre of Tingog party-list group questioned how the confidential fund of the Department of Education during the time of Vice Pres. Sara Duterte during a House hearing last week.(PHOTO COURTESY)
DEPED BUDGET. Rep. Jude Acidre of Tingog party-list group questioned how the confidential fund of the Department of Education during the time of Vice Pres. Sara Duterte during a House hearing last week.(PHOTO COURTESY)
TACLOBAN CITY — Tingog Party-list Representative Jude Acidre raised concerns over the Department of Education’s (DepEd) use of confidential funds during a House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability hearing on Nov.
Acidre questioned the significant allocations aimed at addressing alleged student recruitment by subversive groups, citing a lack of concrete data to justify such expenditures. He underscored the importance of transparency, particularly when public funds are used for intelligence activities.
Acidre began by questioning retired Major General Nolasco Mempin, former DepEd Undersecretary for administration, regarding his qualifications for managing these funds, noting his administrative rather than educational background.
Mempin, who served briefly under Vice President Sara Duterte, explained that his appointment was based on his administrative expertise and leadership style.
Addressing the alleged student recruitment by subversive groups, Acidre sought data to substantiate these claims.
Mempin stated he did not have specific information but mentioned that the Armed Forces possessed intelligence reports on the matter.
DepEd Undersecretary Revsee Acuña Escobedo clarified that DepEd relied on external agencies such as the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) and the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (NICA) for data, as it lacked the capacity to independently gather intelligence.
Concluding his remarks, Acidre expressed doubts about the validity of the fund’s allocation, emphasizing that without empirical evidence, it is difficult to justify these expenditures.
He called for accountability to ensure public funds are used effectively, stressing that “every peso must serve the mission of education and the security of the next generation.” (LIZBETH ANN A. ABELLA)
ANGARA VISIT. Education Sec. Sonny Angara made his first visit to Tacloban on Monday, Nov.11 as he made an inspection at the Leyte National High School, the biggest secondary public school in Eastern Visayas.
(Photo: The & And Leytean)
ANGARA VISIT. Education Sec. Sonny Angara made his first visit to Tacloban on Monday, Nov.11 as he made an inspection at the Leyte National High School, the biggest secondary public school in Eastern Visayas. (Photo: The & And Leytean)
TACLOBAN CITY – Education Secretary Edgardo “Sonny” Angara, during his visit to Leyte National High School (LNHS) on Monday, November 11, assured that the Department of Education (DepEd) is addressing the shortage of school buildings in the region.
The visit was part of Secretary Angara’s itinerary for attending the DepEd national management committee meeting in Tacloban.
He was accompanied by DepEd Eastern Visayas Regional Director Evelyn Fetalvero and other regional and city education officials, as well as DepEd undersecretaries and assistant secretaries.
LNHS, one of the oldest and largest secondary schools in Eastern Visayas, serves more than 9,000 students from Grade 7 to Grade 12.
“We learned during our breakfast discussion with RD [Regional Director] that you have a deficit of 53 classrooms and are operating with double shifts,” Sec. Angara stated during his meeting with the LNHS administration and the Parents Teachers Association officers.
Addressing these logistical gaps is one of the Central Office’s priorities,” he added.
In addition to visiting LNHS, Angara also stopped by the City DepEd Division and the Leyte DepEd Division. He is also scheduled to visit the nearby towns of Tanauan and Palo.
The DepEd National Management Committee meeting, attended by top officials from all regions and the Central Office, runs from November 11 to 12.
AGAINST STORM SURGE. As the region marked the 11th year of Super Typhoon Yolanda’s onslaught, various local government units are implementing defenses against storm surges. Photo shows a mangrove forest were planted by residents of Barangay Carmen, Hernani in Eastern Samar as their natural barrier against storm surge. (HELEN CANTAY)
Yolanda’s lesson
AGAINST STORM SURGE. As the region marked the 11th year of Super Typhoon Yolanda’s onslaught, various local government units are implementing defenses against storm surges. Photo shows a mangrove forest were planted by residents of Barangay Carmen, Hernani in Eastern Samar as their natural barrier against storm surge. (HELEN CANTAY)
TACLOBAN CITY – In the small coastal village of Carmen, Hernani, Eastern Samar, residents learned a hard lesson about the importance of mangroves as natural barriers against flooding and storm surges.
Eleven years ago, when Super Typhoon Yolanda (international name: Haiyan) struck Eastern Visayas on November 8, 2013, it left unimaginable destruction in its wake. Homes and infrastructure were reduced to rubble, and lives were tragically lost.
Hernani was among the hardest-hit areas, with 78 lives lost—22 of whom were from the village of Carmen, including six children.
Marcelina Candido, 66, a village councilor in Carmen, recalled how mangroves along their shores had been undervalued.
“Many of our residents knew that mangroves could act as a natural barrier against storm surges, but they were often cut down for firewood, and children would sometimes uproot them for play. By the time Yolanda hit, only a few mangroves were still standing,” Candido said.
In the aftermath of the typhoon, efforts were made to replant mangroves. A year after the devastation, villagers were encouraged to restore their mangroves using propagules provided by the local government, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), and various non-governmental organizations.
“People in the village now understand the importance of mangroves,” Candido said. “They act as shields against storm surges and rising sea levels.”
Helen Cantay, another resident of Carmen, was among those who helped replant mangroves in 2014 and 2016. “I joined the effort because I realized that mangroves can protect us from storm surges. We have also noticed an increase in fish in the sea since the mangroves were restored, which has helped our fishermen,” she shared.
While Carmen residents rely on mangroves for coastal defense, those in Tacloban City, considered the ground zero of Yolanda’s devastation, depend on a massive tide embankment for protection.
Clarita Villalino, barangay chairperson of Barangay 90 in San Jose district, welcomed the construction of the tide embankment. “While we haven’t faced another typhoon like Yolanda since its construction, it gives us some peace of mind. At the very least, it can help break the force of incoming water,” Villalino, 56, said.
Her barangay was one of the hardest hit, with 56 lives lost—over 10 of whom were never found. The storm surge reportedly reached up to 20 feet in their barangay.
The tide embankment, located 30 meters from the shoreline, began construction during the administration of President Benigno Aquino III and has continued through the leadership of Presidents Rodrigo Duterte and Ferdinand Marcos, Jr.
According to the regional office of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), the project was 63.97% complete as of October this year.
The P12.17-billion project spans 43.355 kilometers from Barangay Diit in Tacloban through Palo and Tanauan, Leyte, aiming to protect communities from storm surges—the primary cause of over 2,200 deaths in Tacloban during Yolanda.
DPWH Regional Director Engr. Edgar Tabacon expressed hope that the project would be completed during President Marcos’s administration.
Since its inception in 2016, the national government has allocated over P9 billion. The embankment, also known as the “Great Wall of Leyte,” features reinforced concrete slope protection on a steel sheet pile foundation, with bike lanes, railings, ramps, street lights, box culverts with stainless steel flap gates, and river gates with actuators.
Tacloban’s city government, as part of its disaster response measures, has also established three permanent evacuation centers in addition to 123 identified centers, which include schools, barangay halls, and even churches.
Rizalyn Ariza, an administrative officer of the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office, explained that the permanent centers, located in Barangays Abucay and Cabalawan, aim to reduce the reliance on schools during disasters to prevent disruptions to classes.
“We only use schools as evacuation centers when our permanent ones are full. In total, these centers can accommodate about 5,000 people,” Ariza said.
She also emphasized the city’s efforts to enhance disaster preparedness through regular drills and community awareness initiatives.
Tacloban City Mayor Alfred Romualdez highlighted ongoing flood control projects designed to drain excess water into the sea during typhoons and heavy rains.
“Typhoons now bring massive volumes of water, leading to severe flooding. But we are learning and adapting,” Romualdez said, adding, “Of course, we should never forget the power of prayer. The prayers of many helped us endure Yolanda.”
And among the highlights for the 11th year anniversary of Yolanda, considered the strongest typhoon to hit inland, is candle lighting in all streets in the city, to remember those who perished to the disaster.
Countless tree-planting drives are held every year with enthusiasm, yet forests remain bare, and tree shortages persist. Deforestation continues at a disturbing rate, with newly planted saplings and mature trees alike falling prey to illegal logging and careless urban expansion. This signals the fact that tree-planting activities, while well-meaning, are failing to address the deeper issues behind forest loss.
We must remember that tree planting without follow-up care is akin to building homes but never maintaining them; the saplings require years of nurturing to thrive, but they are often left to fend for themselves after the initial planting ceremony. Without adequate protection from environmental stressors or safeguards against illegal cutting, most saplings do not reach maturity. It’s a waste of resources and manpower, creating an illusion of progress while the reality of deforestation remains unchanged.
Compounding this problem is the illegal logging industry, which shows no sign of slowing down. Trees, both young and old, are cut down indiscriminately to meet the demand for timber, while enforcement remains weak and inconsistent. Often, the individuals tasked with protecting these areas turn a blind eye, swayed by bribes or intimidated by powerful logging syndicates. This unchecked greed undermines not only conservation efforts but also the collective belief that forests can be preserved. Financial interests supersede ecological preservation.
Government-led campaigns to protect trees, while highly publicized, are falling short as well. There is often a mismatch between policy and enforcement, with a lack of resources and personnel devoted to policing vulnerable forested areas. The absence of meaningful penalties for offenders only emboldens illegal loggers, resulting in a vicious cycle where tree-planting initiatives are launched to great fanfare, yet the trees that should one day stand tall are felled before they even have a chance to take root.
There must be a shift from planting trees to actively nurturing and protecting them. Tree-planting drives should come with commitments to sustained care, regular monitoring, and tougher enforcement against illegal cutting. This requires collaboration at all levels—community, government, and individual action—to ensure that newly planted trees are safeguarded, not abandoned. The goal must be more than just planting trees; it must be to build forests that can endure.
Catastrophic events worldwide have taken on an uncanny, unpredictable edge. From historic flooding in places that have rarely seen such rainfall to uncontrollable fires in lands that used to hold their own against nature’s whims, these disasters don’t fit neatly into the familiar seasonal cycles or natural patterns we’ve long used to gauge risk. As I see it, these “new-age” disasters aren’t merely flukes or unfortunate weather quirks—they’re likely a blazing siren call, warning us of deeper problems we’ve brewed ourselves, rooted in human-caused climate change.
One particularly shocking example that comes to mind is the summer of 2023, when wildfires raged across Maui, a place many of us would never associate with infernos sweeping through its iconic coastal towns. I still remember scrolling through pictures of the charred remains of Lahaina, a historic town with deep roots, scorched beyond recognition. This wasn’t just an unfortunate accident or a case of dry weather; it was something different. Experts blamed rising global temperatures and unusual wind patterns that fanned the flames in unprecedented ways, making what might have been manageable into something monstrous.
We’ve also been seeing record-breaking floods in unlikely places—like the severe flooding that hit Libya in September 2023. Thousands lost their lives in just a matter of days when Storm Daniel struck, collapsing dams and sweeping entire neighborhoods away. It’s horrifying to think that, with everything we’ve learned and all the technology at our fingertips, we’re still blindsided by extreme weather. Scientists are consistently pointing toward global warming as a cause for these intensified storms, where warmer air holds more moisture, amplifying rains far beyond what infrastructure can handle.
Then, there’s the deadly heat. Who would’ve thought parts of Europe, known for mild summers, would hit blistering temperatures of over 45 degrees Celsius, as they did in the summer of 2023? Places like Rome, Florence, and Athens were not only uncomfortable but downright hazardous. They’re not built for this kind of heat. It’s like the entire world has found itself in an oven, with a broken thermostat that no one can seem to fix. While such heatwaves aren’t entirely new, their frequency and intensity have reached disturbing new heights.
And it’s not just the fiery or the flood-like destruction that worries people. Even cold regions are feeling the bite of climate change, but ironically, that bite’s coming with melting glaciers and permafrost. In Alaska and Siberia, the thawing permafrost has begun releasing methane, a greenhouse gas that’s even more potent than carbon dioxide. It’s ironic: the cold, which used to shield us from these emissions, is now contributing to global warming as it warms up. If that doesn’t make you want to pause and think, I don’t know what will.
Now, some might argue these are just exaggerated interpretations, perhaps media hype. However, when you line up the evidence from various scientific bodies, it becomes hard to keep brushing off these events as mere coincidences. Climate scientists have been sounding alarms for decades, warning us that “unprecedented” will become our new normal if we don’t act. As inconvenient as it is, human activities—our factories, our planes, our very lifestyles—are loading the atmosphere with greenhouse gases at a rate that nature can’t absorb.
It’s not hard to feel helpless, but at the same time, it’s frustrating because, deep down, we know there are solutions. Renewable energy, reforestation, and sustainable urban planning aren’t impossible dreams; they’re achievable goals that could start reversing the damage we’ve done. Yes, they come with challenges and upfront costs, but the longer we delay, the steeper the price we pay—financially and in lives disrupted, displaced, or lost.
I think it’s up to us to decide if we’ll keep ignoring these flashing signs. We can’t control nature but we can certainly control our contributions to the chaos. Perhaps it’s time we remember that we’re not above the planet, nor do we stand apart from it. Like it or not, we’re part of this whole dance, and if we don’t get our act together, we might find ourselves permanently out of tune with the world that sustains us.
