TACLOBAN CITY– The World Food Programme (WFP) has donated 16 units of disaster response equipment to the Department of Social Welfare and Development Field Office VIII (DSWD FO VIII) in a Ceremonial Handover held at the Regional Resource Operations Center, Pawing, Palo, Leyte on November 8.

The 16 units of disaster response equipment, one of which is a rice milling machine, included a reach truck, automatic box sealer machine, vacuum sealing machine, automatic roller conveyor, high volume low-speed ceiling fan, 110 kVA generator set, plastic pallet, an aluminum boat with a 40 HP engine, a trailer for an aluminum boat, two tower lights with generator set, and four hydraulic hand pallet trucks.

The WFP, DSWD FO VIII, and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), signed a deed of donation and acceptance during the ceremonial handover.
According to the DSWD Undersecretary for Disaster Management Group, Diana Rose Cajipe, the equipment that was handed over represented a shared determination to save lives and the well-being of fellow Filipinos, responding swiftly and effectively in times of crisis, ensuring that no one is left behind.

“The Department of Social Welfare and Development, through its Disaster Response Management Group, pledges to utilize these resources judiciously and efficiently,” Cajipe said.

“We will continue working with partners, local communities, and volunteers to build a nation that is not only prepared for disasters but also capable of providing swift and compassionate assistance to those in need,” Cajipe added.

According to WFP Country Director Dipayan Bhattacharyya, the WFP started collaborating with the DSWD after the onslaught of Super Typhoon Yolanda in November 2013, as the distribution of food, cash, and ready-to-use supplementary foods reached over 2 million people. This event strengthened the partnership between WFP and DSWD to jointly implement various initiatives, activities, and projects on social protection, food security, emergency preparedness, and response.

“WFP remains fully committed to supporting the Philippine government in these efforts beyond the handover of this equipment. WFP is very grateful for all these collaborations. Together, we are making a difference in the Filipino communities before and after a disaster strike,” WFP Country Director Dipayan Bhattacharyya said.

The WFP also worked closely with the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) to develop an innovative mobile operations vehicle called the Mobile Operations Vehicles for Emergencies (MOVE) project, allowing humanitarian workers and government responders to deliver immediate assistance and save lives during emergencies.
The event serves as a significant milestone in disaster preparedness, response, and recovery in Eastern Visayas, marking its 10th Super Typhoon Yolanda commemoration.
(MMP/AAC/PIA Leyte)

TACLOBAN CITY– A ‘peace center’ is soon to be established in the province of Northern Samar, considered the ‘last bastion’ of communist armed group in Eastern Visayas.
The building of the peace center, at a cost of P5, million will be funded by the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace, Reconciliation and Unity (OPAPRU).

The facility is another effort by the national government to encourage still active members of the New People’s Army (NPA) to surrender and give up their armed struggles.

The peace center will be a mechanism for ensuring the effective and efficient implementation of the provincial government of Northern Samar’s local peace engagement and transformation program, and the continuous monitoring of the program’s progress, Imelda Bonifacio, OPAPRU regional program manager, said.

“The reintegration program should be civilian-lead. It is the community that encourages the communist terrorist groups to surrender. The peace center becomes a sanctuary for former rebels that chose the path of peace and reconciliation,” she said.

Aside from Northern Samar, similar facility will be constructed in the provinces of Negros Occidental, Masbate, Agusan del Sur, Agusan del Norte, Zamboanga del Sur, Surigao del Sur, and South Cotabato as these areas continue to struggle problem on insurgency.
It was learned that a peace center will also be established in the provinces of Samar and Eastern Samar by next year.

“This will be the consolidator for all peace efforts in Northern Samar in terms of database, resources (logistics and human resources) and as a repository of all documentation of best practices which will serve as the basis for enhancement of peace programs,” Bonifacio said.
“Planning, implementation and evaluation, and monitoring will be the primary function of the peace center. That is why, it will be equipped with trained staff and facilities necessary in the cascading of programs and activities, including capacity building, for all stakeholders,” Bonifacio added.

The center will also include consolidated data of people’s organizations for former rebels who will act as an ‘augmentation force’ to counter activities of the active rebels, she added.
According to Bonifacio, Northern Samar under the leadership of Governor Edwin Ongchuan, was selected as one of the areas for the building of a peace center due to its readiness to accept the program.

Also, it has already an existing ‘Darangpan Center,’ a halfway house for former rebels in the province, and for coming up with a village for rehabilitated NPA members located in the town of Mondragon, where the peace center could be located.

The other proposed site of the peace center is Catarman, the provincial capitol.
Bonifacio said that the construction of the peace center is expected to start before the end of the year with her office only waiting for the needed memorandum of agreement to be signed by Gov. Ongchuan who is on travel.

Aside from the provincial government and OPAPRU, the Department of Interior and Local Government is also part of the agreement.

Meantime, 260 former rebels received financial assistance from Senator Ronaldo de la Rosa on Nov.10 in a ceremony at the headquarters of the 8th Infantry Division at Camp Lukban in Catbalogan City, Samar.

Of the 260 former rebels, 46 of them received P10,000 each as they also surrendered their firearms while the remaining 214 received P5,000 each.

The senator’s chief of staff, Macky de la Rosa, led in the distribution of the financial assistance to the rebels together with Major Gen. Camilo Ligayo, the commanding general of the 8th ID, and a representative of the regional office of the Department of Social Welfare and Development.

One of the beneficiaries, ‘Dio,” who was a member of the armed group for six years, expressed his gratitude to the government for providing them the cash assistance.

“We are very happy with this assistance provided to us by the government, aside from the fact that we are now with our respective families. Rest assured that I will do my part to also encourage my former comrades still active in the organization to surrender and avail the benefits extended by the government to us,” he said.

Maj. Gen. Ligayo is hopeful that the financial aid received by the former rebels will be put to good use.

“The financial assistance distributed goes beyond the allocation of resources. It also symbolizes the unwavering support of the government to the former rebels who are now our partners in the pursuit of peace and development in the region. It represents a pledge to assist them (FRs) in their reintegration into mainstream society, to help them rebuild their lives, and to provide them with opportunities for a brighter and more secure future,” he said. (JOEY A. GABIETA)

TACLOBAN CITY – A town mayor from Pangasinan expressed her amazement at how this city has risen from being a ‘rubble city,’ 10 years after it was devastated by Super Typhoon ‘Yolanda.’

Mayor Riza Peralta of Balungao town was in the city to join the 10th-year commemorative program of Yolanda’s onslaught on Wednesday (Nov. 8).

She was in the city days after Tacloban was pummeled by Yolanda as a volunteer.

“The people really did an amazing job and I love what I see now,” Mayor Peralta said.
“During that time, the scene was really heartbreaking and you need to learn how to endure for you to survive,” she said adding that she could no longer identify the city terrain now compared to what she saw 10 years ago.

As a local chief executive who saw the devastation of the super typhoon, Peralta said that this gives her a better understanding of how important preparation is when an impending calamity or disaster is approaching.

“Nobody could always be prepared for a disaster but as much as possible if there is preparation to mitigate its effect, maybe we could lessen its impact and devastation that it may cause,” Peralta emphasized.

Cooperation between local government officials along with support from the national government and other entities makes it easier to recover from any effects of disaster and calamities no matter how big the catastrophe is, the town mayor added.

During the 10th Yolanda commemoration at the Tacloban City Astrodome graced by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., he urged Filipinos to support the national government in strengthening the country’s disaster preparedness, recovery, and resiliency to overcome whatever adversities brought by natural disasters and calamities.

“It is an opportunity to become stronger, wiser, and better as we as people and we as a country,” the President said highlighting the applications and technologies developed such as GeoRiskPH and PlanSmart that aim to save people’s lives.
(ROEL T. AMAZONA)

TACLOBAN CITY-The town of Salcedo in Eastern Samar became the first local government unit (LGU) in the Philippines that had passed a municipal resolution on climate accountability.

The resolution, which is fully supported by Mayor Ma. Rochelle Mergal, was sponsored by Councilor Joselito Esquierdo, and co-sponsored by all members of the committee on environment.

It was approved on November 6, 2023, two days before the 10th anniversary of Super Typhoon ‘Yolanda’, according to the climate advocacy group Greenpeace.

“Salcedo and our neighboring municipalities are coastal communities—we bear the brunt of extreme weather here. Repeated climate change impacts make it hard for our people to recover each time, and severely limits our capacity to address this crisis,” Mayor Mergal said.

“This resolution means the municipality of Salcedo stands with its people in demanding that climate polluters be held accountable for their role in worsening climate change—and we urge our fellow vulnerable communities, whether in Eastern Samar or in the rest of the Philippines, to join us in this call,” she added.

Felisa Castro, president of Kusog han Kababayen-an han Salcedo Federation (Kakakasa), also lauded the passage of the said resolution.

“If the weather wasn’t constantly changing, then our families wouldn’t be struggling. Even when our livelihood is starting to thrive, another storm comes our way and we’re back to recovery again. Our demand here is for polluters—the big oil and gas companies—to pay their destructive emissions, and for the loss and damage here in Salcedo,” she said.
“What happened today in Salcedo is a historic moment—communities will no longer take the climate crisis sitting down, and will no longer bear the burden of climate destruction while fossil fuel polluters continue to evade justice,” added Jefferson Chua, Greenpeace campaigner.

Chua also hoped that the initiative of LGU-Salcedo “can be the spark we need to bridge the gap of empathy felt by people who may not be aware of the true scope of impacts caused by climate change, for the communities that are only seeking what they deserve: to make polluters pay.”

According to the advocacy group, the resolution seeks “accountability for conduct directly contributing to climate change and its consequent impacts on the people of the municipality of Salcedo.”

It also directs the local government to “pursue any and all actions on behalf of the people of Salcedo for the losses and damages inflicted upon the communities due to the impacts of extreme weather events.”

The announcement of the resolution coincided with a community forum organized by Greenpeace to present the policy brief entitled “Enforcing accountability: holding fossil fuel companies liable for the climate crisis—unveiling loss and damage of extreme weather events, the Salcedo, Eastern Samar perspective.”

Salcedo, a fifth-class town located along the eastern seaboard of Eastern Samar and composed of 41 barangays, with 26 coastal barangays and two island barangays, was among areas that was hit by Yolanda in 2013.
(RONALD O. REYES/ROEL T. AMAZONA)