DPWH Southern Leyte completes roads, bridges check

MAASIN CITY, Southern Leyte, April 28-- The inventory of roads and bridges in this province has concluded on Friday after three months of survey. 

Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Southern Leyte District Engineering Office (DPWH-SLDEO) maintenance section chief Gideon Sacro said the inventory, which started February this year, had deployed 30 personnel from the maintenance, planning and construction sections.

They were grouped into two teams to check the condition of 298-kilometer highway, including 152 bridges. 

“Basically, the annual inspection covered all the roads and bridges in the district as this is necessary for allocation of funds next year. We have to make sure that it being done in accordance with existing rules to maintain data integrity,” Sacro said. 

The information gathered from the survey will be an input to the Road and Bridge Information Application (RBIA). 

RBIA is an online system which will provide a new approach in maintaining data on the national road network which will enable users who are connected to the Wide Area Network to receive rapid answers to almost any question related to the road inventory.(DPWH-PR/PNA)

Police intensify security in Eastern Visayas tourist spots

PALO, Leyte, April 28 -- The Philippine National Police (PNP) regional office here has strengthened its tourism police assistance program as part of the 2017 summer vacation security plan.

Thousands of tourists are expected to visit top destinations this summer such as Kalanggaman Island in Leyte, Biri Rock formations in Northern Samar, and caves in Samar.

Chief Insp. Ma. Bella Rentuaya, PNP regional spokesperson, said more tourist-oriented policemen had been deployed to police assistance desks to ensure safety of visitors.

“Our tourism police officers are also in closed coordination with the local government units and Philippine Army to secure destinations especially those located in remote areas,” Rentuaya said.

"We are just happy that all local government units with known tourist destinations are supportive to the police summer vacation security plan," Rentuaya added. 

The PNP has been guarding coastal villages to prevent entry of terrorist groups from Mindanao after the Abu Sayyaf entered nearby Bohol province. 

The police also activated their village intelligence communities in the coastal areas and also ensured that coordination with village links is well secured.

Rentuaya asked the public to be vigilant and report any suspicious activities in their areas to police.(Lizbeth Ann A. Abella/PNA)

DPWH widens major road in Southern Leyte

MAASIN CITY, April 29--The conversion of a major road in Southern Leyte into a four-lane highway is on the way as the national government set aside PHP235.79 million for the widening project. 

Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Southern Leyte Assistant District Engineer Allan Eway said their office would bid out on May 23 the project.

The project aims to widen the road in Libagon town, a portion of the highway connecting the progressive towns of Sogod and Liloan.

The PHP235.79 million is on top of the multi-millions earmarked for road widening in nearby Sogod town last year under the supervision of the regional office.

Eway said the road project in Libagon was considered as a major infrastructure development in Southern Leyte as it could further lead to the economic development in the Pacific side of the province.

In 2016, the infrastructure department started the road widening activity in Southern Leyte, particularly the conversion of roads from two lanes to four lanes in Sogod.

“This year, we will focus in developing the Libagon section and we continue to commit building a four-lane highway leading to Liloan,” Eway said. “These much improved roads will benefit both the local residents and tourists, allowing better and safer transport of people, goods, and services.’

The project will add 3.35 meters to both sides of the highway. The existing width is 6.7 meters.

Sogod, a second class town, is about 49 kilometers from Liloan Ferry Terminal with regular trips to Surigao.(PR/PNA)

DOLE Eastern Visayas announces 21,000 Labor Day job offerings

TACLOBAN CITY, April 28 -- About 21,000 jobs are up for grabs on Monday’s Labor Day jobs fair in Eastern Visayas, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) said on Friday.

The employment fair to be joined by 32 local business and eight recruitment agencies offering overseas jobs, will be held at the Leyte Academic Center in nearby Palo town.

The fair will also have a livelihood component for those interested in self-employment such as counselling, product display and sales, franchising exhibits, sharing of success stories, skills training, and job generation tips.

“This is to give the unemployed the opportunity to find a job, and those with entrepreneurial bent, an opportunity to earn an income,” said DOLE Regional Director Exequiel Sarcauga in a press briefing on Friday at the regional office.

Before May 1, applicants are encouraged to pre-register at the DOLE regional office in the bid to match qualified applicants with an employer.

Unlike last year, the labor department is setting targets for hire-on-the-spot applicants. “It is unrealistic to set goals for hired on the spot because there are series of tests required for hiring.”

Of the 21,008 jobs, at least 867 are for employment within the region. The remaining are for jobs abroad.

For the local, participating employers are hardware stores, retail shops, car sales, manpower services, food chain, government agency, hospital, private school, mobile phone shop, lending firm, pawnshop, and funeral parlor.

“With the adjustment the government has been doing through skills training, I hope this time we’re now able to define squarely what should be produced by suppliers to address the needs of employers. We have been doing this in the past 20 years,” Sarcauga said.

The region, composed of six provinces – Leyte, Samar, Biliran, Southern Leyte, Eastern Samar, and Northern Samar - has about two million people in the labor force. The region’s employment rate is at 93.6 percent as of January 2017.

Although jobless rate is low at only 6.4 percent, underemployment rate is still high at 23.2 percent, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

The PSA defines the underemployed as “employed persons who express the desire to have additional hours of work in their present job, or to have additional job, or to have a new job with longer working hours.” (Sarwell Q. Meniano/PNA)

Leyte road worker wins DSWD music fest

CALBAYOG CITY, Samar, April 27 -- A road maintenance worker won the 2nd Kamurayaw (peace) Music Festival of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan – Comprehensive Integrated Delivery of Social Services (Kalahi-CIDSS).

Nazel Kalaque, 30, bested six other composers from the provinces of Southern Leyte, Biliran, and Leyte during the festival on Wednesday night held in this city to promote peace in the region.

His winning entry, Kapawa (light) talks on how to achieve peace by starting it from within one self.

“I was doing chores when the first stanza of the lyrics came into my mind,” Kalaque recalled. After writing the lyrics, he went on putting a melody to it.

The following day, Kalaque composed two more songs intended for the Kamurayaw Music Festival.

“I submitted three songs, but only two passed for the finals. I send it 11:30 p.m. just few minutes before the deadline,” he shared. Kalaque received PHP30,000 for winning the competition.

He also bagged three special awards - the people’s choice, best in musical arrangement and best interpretation.

Part of the amount he won will be used for the celebration of his daughter’s birthday next month.

He started composing in 2013, but he was still young when he discovered his talent in music. “My parents are against it as they said that there’s no money in music and I won’t achieve anything in it,” Kalaque shared.

But this did not stop him from pursuing his talent. In 2013, he joined a music festival in La Paz, Leyte where he was adjudged as champion. After two years, he joined another music festival in Tabon-tabon town where he also bagged the top prize.

“I don’t want to stop composing because music is my only way to share my talent to the people,” Kalaque said.

Kamurayaw Music Festival of Kalahi-CIDSS was first held in this city last year. Composition depicts the achievement of Kalahi-CIDSS and the community in fighting poverty and empowering community to participate in the local governance and rising above challenges like disasters, conflict and sectoral discrimination. (Roel T. Amazona/PNA)

DSWD steps up info drive of programs, services

CALBAYOG CITY, Samar, April 27 PNA) -- The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) vowed to be more visible in rural communities, heeding directives to raise public awareness of the agency’s programs and services.

“Secretary Judy Taguiwalo told us that we should be the one to knock on their doors and tell them the role of our agency in improving their conditions,” said DSWD Regional Director Restituto Macuto.

Bringing their office closer to the people is a way of living with the slogan of President Rodrigo Duterte that is “Gikan sa Masa, Para sa Masa”. 

The DSWD held its first caravan, dubbed as “DSWD May Malasakit” (DSWD with compassion), in this city on Thursday with beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) as their audience. 

Calbayog City has more than 11,000 4Ps beneficiaries, one of the local governments in Samar province with most number of recipients. 

“Through the caravan, we can announce to people the gains and achievements of the various programs that the DSWD implements,” Macuto added.

These programs are the sustainable livelihood program, social pension, 4Ps, Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan – Comprehensive Integrated Delivery of Social Service, anti-human trafficking, social pension, anti-child pornography, and the assistance to crisis and emergency situation. 

After here, the regional office of DSWD will bring the caravan to remote towns and villages of the region. (Roel T Amazona/PNA)

Calbayog City steps up fight vs. dynamite fishing

CALBAYOG CITY, Samar, April 27 (PNA) -- The city government here has intensified its fight against dynamite fishing amid enforcement of four-month commercial fishing ban on Samar Sea.

Mayor Ronald Aquino said many coral reefs in Calbayog waters have been destroyed due to destructive fishing, affecting income of small fisherman and tourism activities.

“We will not tolerate these illegal fishers who come and steal our resources. Our livelihood, economy, and our food all depend on our seas and we wanted our children and grandchildren to enjoy these resources,” Aquino said on Thursday.

A task force composed of local police, Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, and Bantay Dagat team have been working together to end the destructive fishing.

The team has been conducting massive information drive to fisher folks from different island villages regarding fisheries crime and its consequences, according to Aquino. 

“Fishermen will be trained on how to detect potential illegal activities to effectively combat destructive fishing,” he added.

The mayor said local fishermen had been sharing information on the identity of commercial fishing ban violators and dynamite fishers. Some lawbreakers have been apprehended and now facing charges.

Dynamite fishing is a highly destructive illegal means of catching fish using explosives to send a shock through the water and kill fishes. 

To counter this activity, the local government provided alternative livelihood to fishermen in 10 coastal villages to reduce their dependency on marine resources.

Calbayog waters are part of the Samar Sea, a small sea in the country’s archipelago, situated between the Bicol Region of Luzon and the Eastern Visayas.

The fishing ban on Samar takes effect from April to July 2017. The closure aims to protect the spawning season of small pelagic fishes such as nemipterus, short mackerel, big eye scad, sardines and some demersal fish species. (PNA)

(Jazmin Bonifacio/PNA)

June 7 arraignment for Supt. Marcos, 18 others

BAYBAY CITY, Leyte, April 26 (PNA) -- The regional trial court here has again reset the arraignment of 19 Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) poliocemen led by Supt. Marvin Marcos charged with the murder of Albuera, Leyte Mayor Rolanda Espinosa, Sr. to June 7. 

Marcos and 18 other accused policemen arrived at the Baybay City Regional Trial Court before 8 a.m. on Wednesday for the scheduled arraignment previously postponed by Branch 14 Presiding Judge Carlos Arguelles.

Also appearing before the court was the panel of prosecutors led by Provincial Prosecutor Arlene Cordovez, assigned by the Department of Justice to head the prosecution panel.

The counsel of the accused immediately filed a motion to postpone the arraignment for 60 days.

The counsel in their motion said they have pending petition for review of the case at the Department of Justice (DOJ) submitted last April 5.

Judge Carlos Arguelles granted the motion and rescheduled the arraignment to June 7.

“Within that period of time and it is not resolved by the DOJ Secretary, the court can proceed with the arraignment,” said Arguelles.

Arguelles told reporters that the court had already anticipated this to happen, including the possibility that the accused would file a motion for reconsideration if their petition for review was unapproved. 

This was the second time the arraignment of Supt. Marcos and the others was reset.

On March 29, counsel of the accused filed a motion to reset the arraignment for their client to be given the right for full preliminary investigation.

Marcos and 18 other CIDG and maritime police personnel are accused of plotting the death of Mayor Rolando Espinosa and Raul Yap on November 3, 2016 inside the Leyte sub-provincial jail in Baybay City. 

Marcos and his fellow accused are detained at the jail facility of CIDG regional office in Tacloban due to cell congestion at the Baybay City Jail. (Roel T. Amazona/PNA)

75% of Eastern Visayas towns with insufficient banks - report

TACLOBAN CITY, April 26 (PNA) -- Eastern Visayas remains to be one of the underbanked region in the country with 75 percent of towns have no bank offices, according to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).

Out of 140 towns in six provinces, only 33 areas have operating banks as listed in the BSP website. In contrast, banking penetration is high in seven cities and two capital towns.

Of the 33 towns in the region with operating banks, two are in Biliran province, six in Eastern Samar, 15 in Leyte, six in Southern Leyte, and four in Samar.

Northern Samar, the farthest province from the regional capital is the most underbanked in the region with 22 out of 25 towns having no access to banking services.

No BSP official from field office here is available for interview this week when reached for comments about the report.

Bank of the Philippine Island Tacloban main branch manager Francisco Barredo said that high banking penetration was expected in cities because of large population.

“With the recovery of agriculture after super typhoon 'Yolanda' in 2013, we have to spread the good effects of economy to the countryside by advocating for bank expansion in provinces,” said Barredo, also the banking sector representative to the Regional Development Council.

Barredo supports the promotion of micro-financing in unbanked and underbanked areas for people to gain access to financial services.

The Philippine Deposit Insurance Corporation reported that bank deposits in Eastern Visayas grew by 11.23 percent to PHP94.61 billion last year.

Bank deposits in this region managed to maintain its double-digit annual growth rate in the past four years despite impacts of the 2013 monster typhoon that worsened the region’s poverty incidence.

The growth concentration is still in Tacloban and other cities, according to Barredo.

Out of 206 banks in the region as of end of last year, 45 are in Tacloban. The city’s PHP36.74 billion deposit portfolio accounts 39 percent of the regional total.(Sarwell Q. Meniano/PNA)

BIR E. Visayas upbeat to attain PHP9.44-B tax collection goal

PALO, Leyte, April 26 (PNA) -- The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) is optimistic to hit the PHP9.44 billion tax collection target in 2017 even if it is 9.3 percent higher than last year’s goal.

BIR Eastern Visayas Regional Director Teodoro Galicia said higher government spending and voluntary compliance of the region’s taxpayers would largely contribute to achieving the goal.

As of March 2017, BIR Eastern Visayas has already earned PHP2.72 billion, higher than the PHP1.75 recorded in the same period last year.

“Usually if the collection is higher in the first quarter of the year, it continues until the end of the year. We are positive because we’re done with the information drive and we are now moving to the enforcement phase of tax collection,” Galicia added.

“The government will be spending more for infrastructure and we expect higher withholding taxes from contractors.”

In 2016, the region only collected PHP7.83 billion or suffered a shortfall of PHP800 million from the PHP8.6 billion goal. However, earnings were PHP1.3 billion higher than in 2015.

“We’re not able to attain the target last year, but our growth is 20 percent. The rate is double than in the national level,” Galicia said.

BIR Commissioner Caesar Dulay ordered field officials to visit taxpayers and monitor those with reduced tax payment.

“We have to find out why their payment has decreased than in the previous quarter. We will submit the list of taxpayers with lower payments to the central office,” Galacia said.

Of the PHP9.44 billion target, PHP5.99 billion is from income tax, PHP2.69 billion from value added tax, PHP412.98 million from other taxes, PHP313.55 million from percentage tax, and PHP25.09 million from excise taxes.

Among revenue district offices (RDO), Tacloban City RDO in northern Leyte has the highest target with PHP4 billion. It is followed by Ormoc City RDO in western Leyte with PHP1.67 billion and Catbalogan City RDO in Samar with PHP1.34 billion.

Other RDOs got higher collection goals this year – Catarman RDO in Northern Samar with PHP875.36 million, Borongan City RDO in Eastern Samar with PHP826.94 million, and Maasin City RDO in Southern Leyte with PHP739.96 million.

The tax agency is also counting computerization projects such as online system for transfer tax transactions, electronic certificate registration, and electronic tax information system to enhance revenue generation.

BIR will step up compliance monitoring through existing programs such as the run against tax evaders and Oplan Kandado.(Sarwell Q. Meniano/PNA)

Cops step up hunt for Leyte town plaza blast suspect

PALO, Leyte, April 25 (PNA) – The Philippine National Police (PNP) has intensified their search for the main suspect of the town plaza bombing in Hilongos, Leyte that injured 32 people late last year.

Chief Insp. Ma. Bella Rentuaya, PNP Eastern Visayas spokesperson, said on Tuesday that all police units in the region have been directed to hunt down the principal suspect, Jake Anthony Perez Macuto.

“Macuto is said to have resided in Concepcion village, Hilongos, Leyte before the bombing.

He also resided before in Lanao del Norte and is said to be roaming freely in Maguindanao area,” Rentuaya said.

The police regional office here has closely coordinated with their counterparts in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao to arrest the suspect.

Judge Suarez Abando, of the Hilongos, Leyte Court Branch 18, issued the warrant of arrest for Macuto on April 11, almost four months after the explosion that spoiled the town fiesta celebration on Dec. 28.

Macuto, 26, a Muslim convert, was reportedly involved in plotting the foiled bombing near the United States embassy on Nov. 28 and the failed Black Nazarene attack recently.

Macuto, together with two John Does, was charged before the court with multiple frustrated murder.

Macuto is said to be a recruit of the Maute group, a radical group that pledged allegiance to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria or ISIS. (Vicky C. Arnaiz/PNA)

Leyte power co-op upbeat of first consumer summit outcome

PALO, Leyte, April 25 (PNA) – A key official of the Leyte II Electric Cooperative (Leyeco II), the power distributor in this regional capital and nearby towns, is optimistic of better policies for rural electricity distribution in the country after the first summit of electric consumers in Tagum City.

Leyeco II general manager Fernan Paul Tan said the national summit on Wednesday is expected to pass and approve certain resolutions that would further protect the rights of consumers.

“The gathering is a venue where concerns of member consumers and their rights will be highlighted," Fernan said in a mobile phone interview on Tuesday. 

Electric cooperatives (ECs) in Eastern Visayas started their two-day trip on Monday to join the first summit for 121 ECs in the region.

Among the issues that will be tackled is the national government’s assistance to ailing ECs, ensuring right of way for electric projects, privatization of ECs, conversion of ECs into government-owned and controlled corporation, funding of renewable energy projects, and amendments of the Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001, among others.

Tan said they are upbeat that their concerns will be addressed through better policies with the presence of House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri, Senator Sherwin Gatchalian and other key officials in the first gathering of all ECs in the country.

ECs are entities owned by the end-users within the vicinity covered by the power cooperative. They are controlled by board of directors elected by the end-users. There are 121 cooperatives in the country recognized by the Energy Regulatory Commision.

Eastern Visayas has 11 ECs – six in Leyte province, two in Samar, and one each in Biliran, Southern Leyte, Eastern Samar and Northern Samar. These ECs have combined connections of 794,386 consumers.

The event organized by the National Center of Electric Cooperative Consumers will gather around 5,000 delegates from different parts of the country.

The activity is aimed at finding solutions to address the urgent and strategic issues confronting electricity consumers. (Lizbeth Ann A. Abella/PNA)