TACLOBAN CITY-The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) said that job fairs are to be conducted in the different provinces in the region during next month’s Labor Day.
On April 30, a job fair will take place at Catarman Freedom Park covered court in Catarman, Northern Samar.
On May 1, Labor Day, a similar event will be held at the Tacloban City Convention Center; municipal covered court in San Jorge Samar and at the provincial capitol gym in Borongan City, Eastern Samar.
On May 2, a job fair will be held at Eastern Samar State University (ESSU) in Borongan City.
On May 3, the event will be at the Southern Leyte provincial coliseum in Maasin City, and finally, on May 8, the job fair will be held at the capitol grounds of the provincial legislative building in Naval, Biliran.
This year’s 122nd Labor Day will have a theme “Sa Bagong Pilipinas: Manggagawang Pilipino, Kabalikat at Kasama sa Pag-asenso.” (MARY ANN M. OLAYA, LEYTE NORMAL STATE UNIVERSITY STUDENT INTERN)
TACLOBAN CITY– The Department of Health (DOH) is taking a proactive move to discuss the pertussis threat by hosting a virtual town hall session for public and private elementary schools across the region on Monday (April 15).
The session was attended by different key stakeholders, including school superintendents, division supervisors, school heads, principals, teachers, school nurses, and representatives from the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP).
As part of World Immunization Week, the DOH Eastern Visayas NIP Regional Program Manager, Chiradee Clardidad, addressed the immunization program updates in the region.
She also highlighted the importance of immunizing infants or children against common vaccine-preventable diseases to reduce sickness and death.
The region is also focusing on intensifying routine immunization programs and closely monitoring diseases like measles and pertussis.
Based on the latest data from the DOH, out of 101,728 children, a total of 58,791 were successfully vaccinated, resulting in an overall coverage rate of 57.97%.
Biliran province leads in vaccination, with a 70.98% vaccination rate.
Of the 3,673 eligible children, 2,607 received the necessary vaccinations, reflecting the community’s proactive approach to child health.
Conversely, Northern Samar faced challenges, with only 49.77% of its eligible population of 15,211 children receiving vaccinations.
Meantime, Tacloban City exhibited a moderately successful performance, achieving a 63.02% vaccination rate among its 5,930 eligible children.
“A little down in Tacloban from the 2022 accomplishments because we still need collective accomplishments from the private health facilities since people are getting vaccinated in private facilities. So, we also need to account for this, especially in our City Health Office,” Claridad said.
Meanwhile, Leyte, with the highest eligible population of 34,410 children, also recorded a lower vaccination rate of 57.41% with a total of 19,756 vaccinated children, which reveals a notable gap in immunization efforts.
“We are here to assist you, to continue influencing parents, especially mothers, to bring their children to the nearest health facility or rural health unit for vaccination. In this case, since we do not yet have the pentavalent vaccine, whatever vaccine is available and necessary for the child at the time, they should receive it as much as possible,” Claridad said. (MISSY G. TUBIANOSA, LEYTE NORMAL STATE UNIVERSITY STUDENT INTERN)
Publication staff of An Lantawan of Leyte Normal University in Tacloban City receive the “Campus Press of the Year” award during the Regional Tertiary Schools Press Conference at the Visayas State University in Baybay City on April 7, 2024. Some 400 campus journalists from 28 college and university publications across the Eastern Visayas region joined the event, which focused on battling against campus repression, artificial intelligence, and disinformation.
(Photo from An Lantawan)
BAYBAY CITY– AT 22, Troy Ortega almost had it all when it comes to facing hardship as a student journalist.
Publication staff of An Lantawan of Leyte Normal University in Tacloban City receive the “Campus Press of the Year” award during the Regional Tertiary Schools Press Conference at the Visayas State University in Baybay City on April 7, 2024. Some 400 campus journalists from 28 college and university publications across the Eastern Visayas region joined the event, which focused on battling against campus repression, artificial intelligence, and disinformation. (Photo from An Lantawan)
“It was never easy,” said Ortega, shortly after An Lantawan publication bagged the “Campus Press of the Year” for main campuses of state universities and colleges in the Eastern Visayas region and the “Ben Domingo Jr. Award of Campus Press Freedom” on April 7, 2024.
Ortega recalled that prior to his appointment as publication editor-in-chief, An Lantawan faced attacks against press freedom through the filing of a cyber libel case by a university student leader against their former editor-in-chief Gio Costuna on July 17, 2023.
The publication also faced shutdown allegedly due to an alleged non-accreditation in October 2023.
“Winning these awards is not only for An Lantawan, but also for all of the student publications who up to this day, continue to fight against repression,” said Ortega, a fourth-year political science student.
Ortega, along with some 400 other campus journalists from 28 campus publications in the region, joined in this year’s return of the Eastern Visayas Regional Tertiary Schools Press Conference (RTSPC) at the Visayas State University (VSU) in Baybay City.
The event was the biggest regional gathering of campus writers, editors, journalism educators, communications experts, and national and international journalists who served as resource speakers.
“RTSPC has brought together student publications from State Universities and Colleges and Local Universities and Colleges to showcase their talents and dedication to journalism…You live here not just as competitors but as allies in the relentless pursuit of truth, justice, and excellence in journalism,” said Prose Ivy Yepes, VSU president.
Uldarico Alviola, head of the VSU Development Communication department and the interim president of Regional Tertiary Press Advisers Association, said that the “very role of campus journalists is vital in encouraging critical and creative thinking.”
A survey from Social Weather Stations in December 2021 alone showed that 51% or the majority of Filipinos had difficulty spotting fake news on social media, television, and radio.
Beyond laurels
International award-winning journalist Jeff Canoy, the ABS-CBN Integrated News chief of reporters, urged the young journalists to keep telling the stories of their communities.
“You don’t stop being a journalist. When something happens in front of you, you want to tell the story, and you want to tell it right,” said Canoy, who also encountered attacks against press freedom firsthand when their giant media network was shut down on May 5, 2020, during the watch of the firebrand then-president Rodrigo Duterte.
“We’re not sure where we’re going, but we have to boldly go, we have to keep on going,” added Canoy, who served as the keynote speaker during the event.
Another award-winning Filipino investigative journalist, Jamela Alindogan, called on campus writers to start looking at their journalistic crafts as “real, timely, and professional journalism.”
“You are not just students practicing one day to become journalists. You are already journalists,” said Alindogan, who covered stories for the Qatar-based Al Jazeera network.
Fight against AI
During the event, the campus writers were guided how to use Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the changing media landscape.
Veteran Filipino journalist Maria Ressa, the first Filipino Nobel Peace Prize awardee and CEO of online news site Rappler, said the strength of the Philippine democracy “depends on the quality of its journalists.”
“This is a time of creative destruction, and what you do today will determine the future of our country,” Ressa added, as she urged the young journalists to do their part for the betterment of the country.
“RTSPC was really a necessity for the campus journalists especially that we have witnessed what happened to An Lantawan publication, and in the midst of AI, and as majority of the people say that we can easily be replaced,” said Angelene Ave Crucillo of Palompon Institute of Technology’s Fulcrum publication.
“With this kind of event, our voices will be heard. Despite how little it is, if those ‘little voices’ collide, it can enforce strong power, and that was what happened during the said event,” Crucillo later told Leyte Samar Daily Express in an interview.
Zean Clifford Dellera of the Eastern Visayas State University (EVSU) publication, The Industrial Wheel, lauded the RTSPC event.
“In this age where fake news is rampant, the RTSPC is an avenue for campus journalists to learn ethical standards, and critical thinking skills from the best people to combat fake news,” she said.
In the 2023 Global Impunity Index, the Philippines still found itself on the list of worst countries for journalists, with the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) saying that for 16 consecutive years, perpetrators of journalist killings have gone unpunished in the country.
BRIDGE REHAB. The Leyte 2nd Engineering District Office of the Department of Public Works and Highways has completed the retrofitting work at the Naliwatan Bridge in Tunga town at a cost of P3.9 million. (L2DEO)
BRIDGE REHAB. The Leyte 2nd Engineering District Office of the Department of Public Works and Highways has completed the retrofitting work at the Naliwatan Bridge in Tunga town at a cost of P3.9 million. (L2DEO)
TACLOBAN CITY – To prevent further deterioration and to have a sturdier concrete bridge, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), Leyte 2nd District Engineering Office (L2DEO) have completed the retrofitting and strengthening of the Naliwatan Bridge in Tunga town along the Palo-Carigara-Ormoc road portion to ensure the continued efficiency of transportation networks.
District Engineer Leo Edward Oppura mentioned that the project has an allotted amount of P3,908,921.15 million under the Bridge Program—Retrofitting and Strengthening of Permanent Bridges program of the DPWH General Appropriation Act of 2024 and was undertaken by Ztatik Mktg & Engineering Services.
“The completed project will minimize traffic disturbance and transportation disruption and maximize the long-term benefits for the public, especially in terms of smoother utilization, and contribute to a smoother travel experience for commuters, motorists, and all users,” DE Oppura added.
The Naliwatan Bridge retrofitting project will help extend the lifespan of the bridge and provide a reliable and convenient passage for residents and travellers in the area.
Additionally, the project involves the installation of 160.81 square meters of carbon fiber sheets on both sides of the bridge span and 153.48 cubic meters of stone masonry with concrete facing to make the bridge structure sturdy and resilient.
Naliwatan Bridge, which is 62 linear meters in length and included in the DPWH list of national bridges, is located along the path that links the Leyte towns of Palo-Carigara-Ormoc road section. (LIZBETH ANN A. ABELLA)
CHARITY FOR A CAUSE. Personnel from the regional headquarters of the Philippine National Police and Highway Patrol Group conducted a ‘charity ride for an animal bite victim.’ The event was participated by 170 riders led by B/Gen. Owen Andarino, deputy director for administration, was able to raise funds of P30,500 which they gave to the mother of baby Sheila, a 2-year-old girl from Calbiga, Samar who was attacked by four dogs last month. The girl has now returned home and is recuperating from the wounds she sustained from the attack. (POLICE REGIONAL OFFICE 8)
CHARITY FOR A CAUSE. Personnel from the regional headquarters of the Philippine National Police and Highway Patrol Group conducted a ‘charity ride for an animal bite victim.’ The event was participated by 170 riders led by B/Gen. Owen Andarino, deputy director for administration, was able to raise funds of P30,500 which they gave to the mother of baby Sheila, a 2-year-old girl from Calbiga, Samar who was attacked by four dogs last month. The girl has now returned home and is recuperating from the wounds she sustained from the attack. (POLICE REGIONAL OFFICE 8)
TACLOBAN CITY – Eastern Visayas recorded a 3.4 percent inflation rate in March, the region’s slowest in six months and sixth among all regions, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported Friday (April 12).
The previous slowest rate of price increase in the region was 4.9 percent in September 2023, while the February level was at 3.7 percent.
In a press briefing, PSA Eastern Visayas Director Wilma Perante traced the downward trend to the faster annual decrease in the housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels index at 3.2 percent in March 2024 from an annual decrease of 1.6 percent in February.
“The slower inflation rate in the indices of food and non-alcoholic beverages at 6.5 percent this month from 6.7 percent in February, and alcoholic beverages and tobacco at 6.7 percent from eight percent last month also contributed to this downtrend,” she added.
The inflation rate is a measurement of the rise in the price of a good or service over a period reflected as a percentage.
Among the region’s six provinces, Samar posted the highest inflation in March at 4.3 percent, followed by Leyte, 3.7 percent; Biliran and Southern Leyte, both at 3.5 percent; Northern Samar, 2.5 percent; and Eastern Samar, 2.2 percent.
Contrary to common knowledge, Perante said low inflation does not necessarily mean that prices of commodities are decreasing.
Instead, it means that prices continue to increase but at a slower rate.
Data collection for the consumer price index is done by the PSA provincial twice monthly, except for petroleum products which they monitor every Friday.
MALNUTRITION PROBLEM. Northern Samar Governor Clarence Dato met with a team from the Johns Hopkins University and Hellen Keller International on April 8. Agreed during the meeting was how to address the problem of Vitamin A deficiency stalking among children in the province.
(THE PROVINCIAL NORTHERN SAMAR INFORMATION OFFICE)
MALNUTRITION PROBLEM. Northern Samar Governor Clarence Dato met with a team from the Johns Hopkins University and Hellen Keller International on April 8. Agreed during the meeting was how to address the problem of Vitamin A deficiency stalking among children in the province. (THE PROVINCIAL NORTHERN SAMAR INFORMATION OFFICE)
TACLOBAN CITY – The provincial government of Northern Samar welcomed its partnership with the Helen Keller International and Johns Hopkins University team on addressing the nutrition problem of school-age children in the province.
Vice Governor Clarence Dato warmly welcomed the Helen Keller International (HKI) team headed by Dr. Rolf Klemm, vice president for nutrition and research project director, and Dr. Amanda C. Palmer from Johns Hopkins University, who visited the province last April 8.
The Helen Keller International (HKI) and Johns Hopkins University (JHU) are set to embark on a collaborative project that aims to reduce vitamin A deficiency among schoolchildren in the Philippines, with Northern Samar as one of the few beneficiary areas in the country.
Vitamin A deficiency can result in night blindness and blindness, and complications with the skin, heart, lungs, tissues, and immune system.
Northern Samar was first chosen as a beneficiary of the program in 2023, with the project implemented by HKI in San Roque town.
The nonprofit organization will again implement the program this year in Northern Samar as a follow-up aid for the province, in support of the government’s health and nutrition initiatives.
This follow-up program is expected to be completed by December 2024.
Prior to the implementation, the HKI and JHU conducted a comprehensive scoping visit from April 7-10, 2024 to assess the on-ground realities and lay the groundwork for the upcoming nutrition intervention. (ROEL T. AMAZONA)
