Accused of financing terrorism

TACLOBAN CITY– The German Embassy in the country has called on the Philippine government to conduct a ‘quick review’ relative to the freezing of the accounts of a local nongovernment organization.

In a statement dated May 27, the German Embassy in Manila said that the freezing of the accounts of the Leyte Center for Development (LCDe) has affected their efforts to helping poor in communities in Eastern Visayas.

“The recent freezing of the accounts of the LCDe by the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) including the private accounts of the founder of the NGO, Ms. Jazmin Jerusalem and her family, are detriment to our efforts to improve the living conditions of the beneficiaries in poor and marginalized regions of Samar and Leyte,” it said.

“We expect the quick review of the freezing in order to allow the NGO to continue their work,” the statement added.

Jerusalem extended her gratitude to the German embassy for their statement seeking for a possible unfreezing of their accounts.

“I am very thankful to the German Ambassador to the Philippines and his staff for trusting and supporting us, and acknowledging LCDe as partners in the effort to aid poor communities with livelihood in these difficult times,” she told the Inquirer Friday (May 31).
She hope that this statement of support by the German embassy would convince the AMLC to unfreeze their accounts for them to continue their works in remote and depressed communities in the region.

It was learned that the German Embassy is one of the funders of the LCDe, a NGO based in Palo, Leyte extending assistance to poor far-flung communities in Leyte and Samar provinces, especially during the onslaught of Super Typhoon ‘Yolanda’ in 2013.

Last January 18 of this year, Ambassador Andreas Pfaffernoschke visited the town of Marabut, Samar to personally turn over a rice mill to a group of farmers in the said town.

The embassy said that Ambassador Pfaffernoschke, during his visit to Marabut, was happy to personally learn on the ‘positive impact’ the rice mill they donated to the local farmers as it help them process their harvest more cost efficiently and thus, increase their income.

It described LCDe as a ‘reliable partner’ in the implementation of said project.

“Through its small-scale development projects with local partner organization, the German Embassy aims to directly improve the quality of life of indigent and marginalized people on issues related to education, livelihood, women and children, agriculture, education, health, and the environment,” the embassy said.

To recall, the AMLC froze the accounts of the LCDe citing ‘financing terrorism’ as the reason with Jerusalem discovering it on May 2 as she was to withdraw from a bank here in Tacloban.

Jerusalem, in a press conference on May 16, said that their LCDe accounts contained around P2 million received from their funders.

The freezing of their accounts have paralyzed their operations.

The LCDe is been in operations for 36 years but during the Duterte administration was ‘red tagged’ as a front of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army(CPP-NPA), a claim it strongly denies.
(JOEY A. GABIETA)

TACLOBAN CITY – This year’s fiesta of the city will showcase the highly anticipated ‘Parade of Lights’ and a dance drama presentation on June 29.

This was disclosed by Ma. Lumen Tabao, the officer-in-charge of the City Tourism Office during a media conference held on Tuesday (May 28).

Tabao said that the Sangyaw Festival will kick off on June 1, with one of its major highlights being the Parade of Lights, set to illuminate Tacloban’s downtown area.

The parade will include both a float category and a dance drama presentation, adhering to recommendations from the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA).

With 12 confirmed participants and the possibility of three more, the Parade of Lights promises a dazzling display of creativity and cultural pride, Tabao said.

Participants will be screened by the Leyte-Samar Heritage Society, Incorporated with the farthest contingent will come from San Jose, Northern Samar.

Each participating group will receive a subsidy of P100,000.

Prizes for the float competition include P500,000 for the champion, P300,000 for second place, and P200,000 for third place.

Consolation prizes of P20,000 will be awarded to other participants.

The dance drama presentation, to be held at Tacloban’s Balyuan Amphitheater, offers prizes of P200,000, P150,000, and P100,000 for the top three, with a P20,000 consolation prize for others.

Logistical preparations are being finalized with the Tacloban City Police Office (TCPO) and the Traffic Operation Management Enforcement and Control Office (TOMECO). A security plan will be presented by the PNP to ensure the safety of participants and spectators.

The city is optimistic about surpassing last year’s tourist arrival count of 300,000.

The city observes its annual fiesta on June 30 in honor of its patron, Senior Santo Niño.
(GOLDA MEIR C. CABIDOG, LEYTE NORMAL UNIVERSITY STUDENT INTERN)

With multi-billion projects in the pipelines

TACLOBAN CITY– The head of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) in Eastern Visayas said that they are optimistic that several of their lined up big ticket projects for the region would be completed before the end of the term of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in 2028.

The President’s mother, former first lady Imelda Marcos, is from Leyte who include House Speaker Martin Romualdez among the province’s five congressional representatives.
Engr. Edgar Tabacon, the regional director of the DPWH for Eastern Visayas, disclosed that they have several big ticket projects that they hope to be completed before the end of the term of the Marcos administration.

For this year, the DPWH in the region was given an allocation of P58.6 billion, which is not enough to finance these big projects as these are also to be used for the construction or maintenance of their other projects like roads and bridges, health facilities, and schools, among others, Tabacon said.

Tabacon said that the release on the funding of these projects are being done by phases reason why these projects are delayed or behind their schedule of completion.

“(But) we are hopeful that considering that our current House Speaker is from Leyte and we have a President who is also considered to be a son of the region, these big- ticket projects or at least some of them would be (completed) by 2028,” Tabacon said on Tuesday during a media conference sponsored by the Philippine Information Agency.

Among these big-ticket projects now in various stages of construction are the causeway project in Tacloban with a budget allocation of P4.5 billion; Tacloban by-pass extension, P3.8 billion; Tacloban-Palo diversion road project, P3.8 billion; Basey (Samar-Maydolong (Eastern Samar) project, P2.74 billion; and the Samar Island Medical Center at P3.8 billion.
Also in the pipeline is the ‘total’ rehabilitation of the Maharlika Highway in the region which needs an allocation of more than P29.7 billion.

Projects that were started before the start of the Marcos administration like the Leyte tide embankment project are also seen to be completed under the current administration, Tabacon said.

The Leyte tide embankment project was started during the Aquino administration and continued during the Duterte administration but has only managed to cover a length of 19.5 km out of its projected length of more than 38 kms covering the towns of Palo and Tanauan and Tacloban City.

The project was conceptualized after these three areas were heavily devastated by storm surges when Leyte was pummeled by Super Typhoon ‘Yolanda’ in November 8, 2013.
Its total budget requirement was placed at more than P9 billion with funding released at only P3.8 billion so far.
(JOEY A. GABIETA)