TACLOBAN CITY– A barangay councilor and a village police (tanod) were killed in a separate incident.
In Paranas, Samar, a village councilor, Tito Llamado, 59, was gunned down by a group of armed men while he was tending his farm in Barangay Anagasi on Saturday (Sept.16).
It was learned that the victim has filed a certificate of candidacy for chairman in their village in the forthcoming barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections.
Llamado was also said to be a former member of the New People’s Army with his former comrades as the possible perpetrators.
Meantime, a barangay tanod of Brgy. Catalina, Jiabong, also in Samar was killed on Monday (Sept.18).
The local police identified the victim as Wenifredo Dacles,47, who was gunned down by the suspect inside a covered court in their village.
The police has yet to identify the suspect and motive in killing Dacles.
ORMOC CITY– At least P40,000 in cash and P5,000 of goods were carted away by unidentified suspect during a robbery of a mini grocery at about 2 am on Tuesday(Sept.12) in Barangay Matanggo, Almeria town, Biliran province.
The local police said that at around 6:20 am, they received a call from the owner of the establishment, Erlinda De la Peña, informing them that her store was forcibly entered by an unidentified person.
The police who conducted an investigation disclosed that at about 3 am on the same day, the victim was awakened by her truck driver informing them that her store was already open when they arrived at their house.
When they checked inside the store, and discovered that her money amounting to around P40,000 and assorted cigarettes amounting to P5,000 were missing.
The police added that the unidentified suspect gained entry into the store by destroying the door of the grocery.
A thorough investigation for possible identification of the suspects is being conducted by the local police. (ROBERT DEJON)
Toby Espejon of Siargao dominates the junior shortboard and was declared as champion in said division at the 2nd leg of Next Gen Pilipinas National Surfing Tour held in Calicoan Island
Held at Calicoan Island
Toby Espejon of Siargao dominates the junior shortboard and was declared as champion in said division at the 2nd leg of Next Gen Pilipinas National Surfing Tour held in Calicoan Island
TACLOBAN CITY-Surfers from La Union and Siargao dominated the 2023 Calicoan Odyssey Wave, the 2nd leg of the Next Gen Pilipinas National Surfing Tour, held at Calicoan Island, off Guiuan town in Eastern Samar.
The highly fancied teams both bagged three championship titles, while Baler, Aurora, received one award during the September 15 to 21 surfing competition that attracted 165 surfers from all over the country.
Winning the championship title for the men’s open shortboard was Eduardo Alciso of Siargao, with his teammate Jolina Longos winning the women’s shortboard category.
Their other teammate, Toby Espejon, led the junior shortboard category allowing him to win the championship.
For the La Union team, Mara Lopez dominated the junior shortboard category while Daisy Valdez won the women’s open longboard and Reynie Ventura was declared champion for the men’s open longboard.
Rommel Rojo of Baler clinched the championship for the master’s men.
Winners in the longboard categories both won P130,000, while those who won in the shortboard category won P43,000, and P30,500 for the master category.
Despite not winning the championship, some local surfers in the region showed an impressive performance making sure that they would be part in the final round.
Among them was 15-year-old Marionil Capacite of Borongan City who secured second place in the junior shortboard category.
Borongan City is set to host the fourth leg of the Next Gen Pilipinas National Surfing Tour this November.
The 2nd leg of the Next Gen Pilipinas National Surfing Tour is sanctioned by the United Philippines Surfing Association (UPSA) and presented thru the Tingog party list, Office of House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez and sponsored by the provincial government of Eastern Samar, Office of Eastern Samar lone district representative, 4Ps party-list, Department of Tourism, Borongan City and private partners Jolibee, Andoks, Nissan, Maui and Sons, Casa Nala, and local sponsors.
This hosting of Guiuan is the comeback of the national surfing tour in the municipality after it was temporarily stopped in 2020 due to the coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19) pandemic.
The return of the national surfing tournament in Calicoan Island excites the local government unit of Guiuan as it will pave the way of its campaign to make the island the top surfing destination in the Visayas region. (ROEL T. AMAZONA)
TACLOBAN CITY– Various programs and services from different national government agencies will be offered during the two-day ‘Bagong Pilipinas Serbisyo’ fair -Leyte beginning today (Sept.23) to be held at the Visayas State University in Tolosa, Leyte.
Among those expected to grace the two-day occasion is Leyte Rep. and House Speaker Martin Romualdez.
According to Usec. Mark Gimenez of the Presidential Management Staff, the aim of the program is to bring all government services and programs closer to the people.
He said that at least 60,000 people are projected to benefit from the caravan.
Those who want to avail of the services are encouraged to register as online registration is also available on the day of the fair.
At least 10 buses will be available for the people who want to avail the services through a “libreng sakay” scheme.
As part of the preparation, at least P2 million were already downloaded to 22 local government units.
About 50 government agencies have signified their availability for the fair, some of the major agencies are social services, medical and dental services, distribution of medicines, and distribution of wheelchairs from the Department of Health; financial assistance for farmers, seeds and fertilizers distribution, farm equipment and machineries and Kadiwa ng Pangulo from Department of Agriculture; turn-over of fish cages, tilapia feeds and fingerlings distribution from Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources; national coconut farmers registration and coconut farmers medical services from Philippine Coconut Authority; palay procurement program from the National Food Authority; several assistance for agrarian reform beneficiaries, for persons with disabilities, senior citizens, indigenous people, teachers, transport section , fisher folks and converge with other agencies from the Department of Social Welfare and Development.
Under livelihood and educational services, certificate of land ownership award turnover and fair machineries and equipment turnover from the Department of Agrarian Reform, world café of opportunities from Technical Education, Skills and Development Authority(TESDA) Tulong Dunong Program from CHED, Pangkabuhayan sa Pagbangon at Ginhawa, Rise UP Financing Program, Online Business Name Registration and One Town One Product mini fair from Department of Trade and Industry( Small Business Corporation).
Under regulatory functions, issuances of license to own and possess firearms from the Philippine National Police; passport on wheels from the Department of Foreign Affairs; license renewal and student permit from Land Transportation;clearance form from Nation Bureau of Investigation; Philippine Identification System PHILSYS step 2 registration from Philippine Statistics Authority; application for license examination , initial registration of new professionals licenses, issuance of certifications and authentication of pre-issued documents from Professional Regulation Commission.
For other government services, SSS E-wheels sa Barangay from Social Security System, membership registration and loan inquiries from PAG-IBIG and member assistance, filing of claims applications, UMID mobile enrollment, UMID card releasing, pre-retirement seminar, new employee orientation, promotion of general insurance products (motor vehicle/ accident /fire). (LIZBETH ANN A. ABELLA)
IT’S BEGINNING TO LOOK LIKE CHRISTMAS. It’s 96 days before Christmas Day but Christmas decors of various sizes and colors are now up for sale like those in Sagkahan District, Tacloban City. The Philippines is considered to observe the longest Christmas season, starting with the ‘ber’ months. (Photo Courtesy)
IT’S BEGINNING TO LOOK LIKE CHRISTMAS. It’s 96 days before Christmas Day but Christmas decors of various sizes and colors are now up for sale like those in Sagkahan District, Tacloban City. The Philippines is considered to observe the longest Christmas season, starting with the ‘ber’ months. (Photo Courtesy)
Priest reportedly involved in sexual abuse
TACLOBAN CITY – A Catholic priest under the Diocese of Borongan was expelled from his clerical duties by the Vatican.
This was announced by the Diocese of Borongan in a circular issued on Sunday (Sept.17) posted on their social media account.
“Notice is hereby given that the Holy Father Pope Francis has dismissed from the clerical state Pio Cultura Aclon of the Diocese of Borongan,” the circular signed by Fr James Abella, Diocese of Borongan Chancellor, said.
“He is, therefore, no longer a cleric and cannot exercise priestly ministry in the Church,” the circular added.
The circular, however, did not state the reason why Aclon was expelled from his priestly duty by the Vatican.
It was not also clear why the notice carried a date of July 18, 2023 as signed by Fr. Abella but was only released on Sunday (Sept.17).
The Catholic Bishop Conference of the Philippines on its news website also carried a news article on the subject saying that “Pope Francis expelled a Filipino priest over sexual abuse involving minors.”
It also mentioned the name of Fr. Aclon.
The CBCPNews added that the CBCP has assured that there will be no cover-up in the investigation of the sexual abuse cases in which Aclon was involved and that every diocese had developed its own system of handling reports of sexual abuses or misconduct.
The Leyte Samar Daily Express could not contact Fr. Aclon for his side on his being expelled due to alleged sexual abuse.
Prior to his suspension, Aclon had served the minor seminary of the Borongan Diocese.
While it is not clear yet if Aclon is the first priest from the region to have been expelled by the Vatican of his priestly duties due to sexual-related cases, there were cases in the past of priests accused or were involved due to sexual abuses.
Fr. Pius Kenneth Hendricks, an American priest assigned in Biliran, was arrested on December 5, 2018 due to alleged sexual abuses he committed to several minors.
The 80-year old priest, however, was not able to serve his sentence as he died in 2022 due to health problems as he was also found to be positive for coronavirus (COVID-19).
Pope Francis earlier made a public apology for the sexual abuse cases involving priests, adding that the Church has ‘zero tolerance’ for abuses. (ROEL T. AMAZONA)
SURFING IN CALICOAN. The town mayor of Guiuan, Eastern Samar, Annaliza Gonzales-Kwan, led in the opening of a surf competition at Calicoan Island on Saturday (Sept.16) with over 160 surfers from all over the country participating. Kwan hopes that the week-long event would help restore Calicoan as one of the country’s surfing capitals. (ROEL T.AMAZONA)
Guiuan renews campaign to make it as a surfing capital
SURFING IN CALICOAN. The town mayor of Guiuan, Eastern Samar, Annaliza Gonzales-Kwan, led in the opening of a surf competition at Calicoan Island on Saturday (Sept.16) with over 160 surfers from all over the country participating. Kwan hopes that the week-long event would help restore Calicoan as one of the country’s surfing capitals. (ROEL T.AMAZONA)
TACLOBAN CITY – About 165 surfers from all over the country are currently in Calicoan Island in Guiuan town, Eastern Samar province for the Calicoan Odyssey Waves, the 2nd leg of the Next Gen Pilipinas National Surfing Tour.
This is the first time that Guiuan is hosting a national event since 2019 as the government imposed travel restrictions imposed by the national government in 2020 to prevent the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
Mayor Annaliza Gonzales-Kwan said that this is a good opportunity for them to start promoting Calicoan Island again as the surfing capital not just in Eastern Visayas but for the entire Visayas.
The local government unit of Guiuan is planning to re-launch their tourism program next month highlighting surfing as one of their main attractions for local, domestic, and foreign tourists to visit their municipality.
Located about 23 kilometers from the town proper, Calicoan’s eastern seaboard particularly the ABCD (Advance Base Construction Depot, a US Naval military base during World War II, is a surfing haven not just for locals but even tourists who are visiting the town.
Its reef breaks make it unique to other surfing destinations in the country. It has great left- and right-handed reef breaks between June and October.
But preparing the island for its relaunching as a surfing capital is not an easy task as several things need to be considered like infrastructure support and illumination of the road, according to the town mayor.
“At present, we were able to stall 25 solar-powered streetlights because it is costly, particularly along the ABCD beach,” Kwan said, adding that she hopes the provincial government will help them in this project especially since it will not only illuminate Calicoan but including Suluan Island which is one of the top pilgrimage destinations in Eastern Visayas.
Mayor Kwan added that aside from the surfing spots in Calicoan, the island’s western part facing the Leyte Gulf is a beautiful site for relaxation and other beach activities.
“We still need more support because our national tax allocation is very small from every sector and offices of the government,” Mayor Kwan added.
For the ongoing national surfing tour that will last for seven days, Mayor Kwan said that the LGU has allocated more than P900, 000 budget for the preparation and prizes for competitors with some private companies also donating relative to the competition.
Kwan is also thankful to Mayor Jose Ivan Dayan Agda of Borongan City for assisting them, particularly in hosting United Philippine Surfing Association (UPSA) members, especially in sponsoring their round-trip plane tickets for their national event in Calicoan.
This is the second leg of the national event which started in Pagudpud, Ilocos Norte then will be followed by Baler, Aurora, then Borongan City, and will end in Cabugao, Ilocos Sur wherein the winner through a ranking system after all competition will be selected to become member of the national surfing pool UPSA Coach John Carby.
Before they are sent to international competition, they will be trained first by the pool of coaches from UPSA to upgrade their skills and be at par with surfers from other countries.
Helping UPSA and LGU Guiuan in the presentation of the Calicoan Odyssey Waves is the Tingog Party List and House Speaker Martin Romualdez, and sponsored by the provincial government of Eastern Samar through Gov. Ben Evardone, Rep. Fe Abunda of the lone district of Eastern Samar, Department of Tourism Region 8, Borongan City, and 4Ps party-list, among others.
This event is recognized by the Philippine Sports Commission and the Philippine Olympic Committee. (ROEL T.AMAZONA)
