ORMOC CITY-Following a post-mortem examination conducted by the attending physician of the rural health unit (RHU) in Las Navas, Northern Samar, no evidence of foul play was discovered in the death of a pedicab driver, whose lifeless body was discovered at the river in Barangay Tagab-Iran on Sunday (May 12) at around 6 am.
The victim, known only by the alias “Julius,” was 58 years old, married, and worked as a pedicab driver. He resided in Brgy. Quirino Poblacion, of the said town.
Local authorities received a report of a potential drowning incident around 10:40 in the morning. Responding promptly, they arrived at the scene to find that the victim, showing no signs of life, had already been transported to the RHU by the local rescue team.
An investigation conducted by the authorities revealed that the victim had been bathing in the river when he accidentally drowned. Despite efforts from the local rescue team, the victim was pronounced dead by the attending doctor RHU.
A subsequent post-mortem examination conducted by the municipal health officer found no indications of foul play.
The cause of death was determined to be accidental drowning and submersion.
COMMENDATION. Interior Sec. Benjamin Abalos (left) lauded Northern Samar Gov. Edwin Ongchuan (next to Abalos) for his efforts to end Northern Samar’s insurgency problem during a meeting on Monday (May 6). Also in photo are M/Gen. Camilo Ligayo, the commanding officer of the 8th ID, and Tacloban city administrator Lila Czarina Aquitaña, representing City Mayor Alfred Romualdez, chairman of the Regional Peace and Order Council.( THE PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT OF NORTHERN SAMAR)
On his anti-Red campaign
COMMENDATION. Interior Sec. Benjamin Abalos (left) lauded Northern Samar Gov. Edwin Ongchuan (next to Abalos) for his efforts to end Northern Samar’s insurgency problem during a meeting on Monday (May 6). Also in photo are M/Gen. Camilo Ligayo, the commanding officer of the 8th ID, and Tacloban city administrator Lila Czarina Aquitaña, representing City Mayor Alfred Romualdez, chairman of the Regional Peace and Order Council.( THE PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT OF NORTHERN SAMAR)
CATARMAN, Northern Samar-Interior Sec. Benjamin Abalos commended Governor Edwin Ongchuan for his campaign to eradicate its insurgency problem.
Abalos, who was the guest of the peace and development dialogue held here on Monday (April 6), said that the interventions being made by the province under Gov. Ongchuan could eventually end the insurgency problem.
The insurgency problem of Northern Samar is often cited as why its poverty incidence remains relatively high.
As of last year, the poverty incidence of the province stood at 23.1 percent as of the first quarter of the year.
“I would like to commend the good governor for his efforts (to address the insurgency in his province),” Abalos said during a brief media interview.
He assured Ongchuan of the continued support of the national government as he addressed the insurgency problem of his province.
“Tuloy-tuloy ang pag sustain ng mga projects dito. Ang ganda ng tulungan ng gobyerno natin at ng provincial government, tinatapatan nila,” Abalos said.
Among the interventions being made by the provincial government include hiring former rebels as farm workers.
At present, there are over 50 rehabilitated members of the New People’s Army who were hired by the provincial government as farm workers, receiving a daily wage of P350.
They work at a four-hectare lot located in Barangay Cablangan, some 10 kms away from the town proper of Mondragon.
It is also in this village where the provincial government put up a housing project intended for the former rebels.
The provincial government is also into opening of roads in interior villages as a means to address the insurgency problem.
During his meeting with Abalos, Gov.Ongchuan asked for help for roads to be opened in villages located on the shared borders of Northern Samar and the provinces of Eastern Samar and (western) Samar, two other provinces which are also stalked by the insurgency.
Major General Camilo Ligayo, the commanding general of the 8th Infantry Division based in Catbalogan City, said that they are on the right target to quell the insurgency problem of the region.
“The trend is irreversible. We can end the communist terrorist movement by the end of the year,” he said.
According to Ligayo, what remains of the present armed group operating in Northern Samar, were just regular “armed bandits.”
Northern Samar has been considered to be the last bastion of the insurgency problem in Eastern Visayas.
TACLOBAN CITY – The representative of the second district in Southern Leyte province is optimistic about the approval of the proposed bill for the creation of a Department of Health (DOH) supervised hospital in his area.
House Bill 2715 aims to convert the Sogod District Hospital in Sogod town into a Level II General Hospital to be named Sogod General Hospital. The bill also proposes increasing its bed capacity from 25 to 150 within a five-year period after its enactment into law.
Congressman Christopherson Yap, who authored the bill alongside House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez and Tingog Partylist Representatives Yedda Marie Romualdez and Jude Acidre, shared that it was filed on July 28, 2022, and was finally approved by the Committee on Health on May 17, 2023.
“We are very appreciative to them for their assistance in filing this bill. Their support is crucial for the passage of this proposed law,” Yap expressed.
Yap elaborated that having a DOH-administered hospital in their district would benefit not only the people in the second district but also residents in the southern part of Leyte province, including the towns of Mahaplag, Abuyog, and even Baybay City.
Southern Leyte’s second district comprises municipalities such as Sogod, Libagon, Liloan, San Francisco, Pintuyan, San Ricardo, Saint Bernard, Anahawan, San Juan, Hinunangan, Hinundayan, and Silago.
These towns are located two to three hours away from the Eastern Visayas Medical Center, the region’s end-referral hospital located in Tacloban City.
“Having a DOH-supervised hospital will enable us to access medicines and health services that are typically provided by government-run medical facilities,” Yap added.
Established in 1972, Sogod District Hospital is situated along the national highway at Osmeña Street, Brgy. Zone I, Sogod town, covering patients from nearby towns of Malitbog and Tomas Oppus, Libagon, and other areas surrounding Sogod Bay.(ROEL T.AMAZONA)
Regional Development Council (RDC) chairman for Eastern Visayas Lucy Marie Torres-Gomez
Regional Development Council (RDC) chairman for Eastern Visayas Lucy Marie Torres-Gomez
TACLOBAN CITY– The Regional Development Council (RDC) chairman for Eastern Visayas Lucy Marie Torres-Gomez presented the top three priority programs and projects (PAPs) of the region to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. during a meeting with all RDC chairs of the country.
In a statement released by the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) regional office, said that the top PAPs from the region are the tuna development program, basic education facilities, and the completion of the road heightening and tide embankment project in Leyte.
Although still subject to a feasibility study and targeted to start in 2026, the RDC VIII chairperson also presented the Eastern Visayas Railway System as one of the region’s priorities.
Also discussed during the April 30 meeting were proposed amendments to Executive Order 325, aimed at strengthening the roles of the RDCs in shaping the development directions of the regions.
The meeting was part of a series of activities on the President’s instructions for concerned national agencies and the Department of Budget and Management to include the RDCs’ priority PAPs in the FY 2025 or 2026 budget. (LIZBETH ANN A. ABELLA)
The Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) holds first quarter assessment on the implementation of the Support to Parcelization of Lands for Individual Titling (SPLIT) project in Western Samar, Eastern Samar and Northern Samar. (ENGR. SERKIN BALEROS)
The Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) holds first quarter assessment on the implementation of the Support to Parcelization of Lands for Individual Titling (SPLIT) project in Western Samar, Eastern Samar and Northern Samar. (ENGR. SERKIN BALEROS)
MARABUT, Samar – “MARPOs should be at the forefront of the field validation process!”
This was the stern order of Atty. Robert Anthony Yu, Regional Director of the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) in Eastern Visayas, to the municipal agrarian reform program officers (MARPOs) during the first quarter assessment of the Support to Parcelization of Lands for Individual Titling (SPLIT) project for the provinces of Western Samar, Eastern Samar and Northern Samar held on April 17 to 19 this year in this town.
He explained that though field validation teams (FVTs) were hired to conduct the validation process, MARPOs should closely supervise them and take the lead.
Yu issued this order in reaction to the accomplishments of the above-mentioned provinces.
Though Northern Samar accomplished 116.55 percent or 2,588.65 hectares of its 2,221-hectare target in field validation for the first quarter, Western Samar was just able to accomplish 47.97 percent or 1,868.08 hectares of its 3,894-hectare first quarter target. Eastern Samar was also short by almost three percent as they were only able to meet 97.11 percent of its 3,499-hectare target by validating 3,397.98 hectares.
Since the project is expected to be completed by the end of 2024, Yu emphasized the significant role of the provincial and municipal implementers in achieving the regional target, particularly in field validation, which is crucial in the effective implementation of the SPLIT project since it is a pre-requisite in the generation of individual titles.
He reiterated the directive of Agrarian Reform Secretary Conrado Estrella III to complete the validation of landholdings by the second quarter, except for Leyte, which has been given an extension until the end of the third quarter, considering the large volume of landholdings to be validated.
Meanwhile, in the registration of the electronically-generated individual titles (e-titles), Northern Samar accomplished 69.43 percent of its 517-hectare first quarter target with 212 e-titles registered involving 168 agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs).
Western Samar accomplished 30.49 percent of its 106-hectare target with 21 e-titles registered involving 16 ARBs, while Eastern Samar reported an 8.89 percent accomplishment against its 721-hectare target for the first quarter with 68 e-titles registered involving 62 ARBs.
SPLIT project, which is funded by the World Bank, subdivides landholdings covered by collective Certificates of Land Ownershp Award (CLOAs) issued under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) for the eventual issuance of individual CLOA to improve land tenure security and strengthen property rights of ARBs. (MARVIN R. ORQUIOLA/PR)
TACLOBAN CITY – Officials across Eastern Visayas are urgently requesting a supply of anti-venom following a series of fatal snake bites in the region.
In Mapanas town, Northern Samar province, Mayor Ronn Michael Tejano reached out to the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) of the Department of Health (DOH) last April, seeking assistance in procuring anti-venom for his municipality.
The request came after two local farmers were killed after they were bitten by a cobra while working in their fields.
“Both victims accidentally encountered the cobra,” Mayor Tejano explained.
Given that Mapanas is approximately two hours away from the provincial capital of Catarman, where the nearest hospital is situated, having a readily available supply of anti-venom is crucial for timely medical intervention, he added.
Mayor Tejano stressed the importance of swift access to anti-venom, especially considering Mapanas’ distance – about six hours’ travel – from the Tacloban City-based Eastern Visayas Medical Center, where regional supplies are typically available.
Meanwhile, in Southern Leyte province, Rep. Christopherson Yap is also advocating for anti-venom supply from the DOH.
Yap revealed that two residents have already succumbed to snake bites in his district, including a tragic incident involving a 10-year-old girl who accidentally stepped on a venomous snake.
Given the remote location of his district, Yap emphasized the critical need for local access to anti-venom.
“In cases like this, time is of the essence. Transporting patients to Tacloban for medical attention may prove too late, especially with venomous snake bites,” the solon, representing the province’ second congressional district, explained.
Efforts are underway to secure anti-venom supplies to ensure prompt medical responses to such emergencies. (ROEL T.AMAZONA)
