Last section of new Leyte road up for bid in May

CARIGARA, Leyte, April 18 (PNA) -- Bidding for the last 1.5 kilometer road section of the Burauen-Albuera road is up this May, according to the Second Leyte Engineering District of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH-2nd LED).

District Engineer Carlos Veloso said bidding for the concreting of this road section is among the two remaining major projects of the district for 2016.

Veloso said that concreting works of this last road section will immediately follow after the bidding as the Burauen-Albuera road faces full project completion this year.

Veloso expressed confidence that the project, at least, the Burauen side, will be completed.

Many see the project to be long overdue since it was started in 2008 during the term of President Gloria Arroyo. The 36.22-kilometer road opening project cuts through rebel-influenced villages between Western and Northern Leyte and has been on the planning board since the time of the late President Ferdinand Marcos, Sr.

If totally opened and concreted, travelers coming from the capital city of Tacloban to Ormoc City, a gateway to Central Visayas, will now only have to travel 89 kilometers instead of 107 kilometers.

Aside from shortened travel time, the new road will facilitate transport of farm produce from the previously hard-to-reach upland areas to major business hubs in Leyte. With the enhanced accessibility, the new road is envisioned to improve the peace and order and economic situation of the people where the road cuts through.

The Leyte side of the project has been continuous so far, except for the delays it faced when some parts of the roads and bridges were damaged during the typhoon Ruby and Senyang in 2014.

However, Veloso said all repairs have been completed in 2015 and this year the only focus is to finish the remaining 1.5 kilometer road section, then the Burauen side will be declared complete.

Meanwhile, residents of Albuera and Burauen is positive the road will improve the economic and trade aspects of the towns. (PNA)
LAP/SQM/Ahlette C. Reyes/egr

SM builds 400 houses for Tacloban ‘Yolanda’ survivors

TACLOBAN CITY, April 18 (PNA) -- SM Foundation has turned over on Saturday 400 newly-built houses for super typhoon Yolanda survivors, the biggest housing project of the country’s giant property developer.

The village is called Pope Francis CFC ANCOP Canada community-SM Cares Village. The village is the biggest of all four SM cares housing projects since other sites have only 200 houses.

The housing project in Kawayan Village is the third batch of the 1,000 houses committed by SM Foundation for Yolanda survivors.

SM Prime officials headed by SM prime president Hans T. Sy led the turn over ceremony accompanied by Tacloban City Mayor Alfred s. Romualdez and Yedda Romualdez, representing her husband, Leyte 1st district Rep. Ferdinand Romualdez.

Palo archbishop John F. Du graced the event and thanked all the donors for their contributions to the successful completion of the project.

The 400 houses were turned over to selected beneficiaries for free. Aside from the houses the SM Cares Village has amenities such as basketball court, street lamps, sewage treatment plant, materials recovery facility, rain catchment system and provisions for water and electricity.

SM Cares, a division of SM Foundation and corporate social responsibility arm of the SM Prime Holdings, Inc. launched the disaster-resilient housing project shortly after the onslaught of super typhoon Yolanda in November 2013.

The first housing village in Bogo in Cebu was turned over in November 2014 while the second village in Iloilo city was unveiled in October 2015. The fourth and the last site in Ormoc City will be turned over in July this year.

The project is funded by SM Foundation with the support of business partners, tenants and other stakeholders. The group was able to raise PHP300 million needed to build 1,000 houses.

Some of the donors for the SM Cares Village in Tacloban include Zonta Club, Duty Free Philippines, Forever 21, ANCOP, Philippine Daily Inquirer and Sultan 900.

All the houses are disaster resilient and have roofs made of concrete slab. To ensure sustainability of the project, community programs have been put in place to make the change work for all the beneficiaries.

For Tacloban housing project, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Palo (RCAP) and the Couples for Christ ANCOP (CFC-ANCOP) were the partners in charge of selecting the beneficiaries training, livelihood and values formation to enable the residents start a new life in the community. (PNA)
FFC/SQM/Lizbeth Ann A. Abella/egr

Samar’s Tribu Katbaluagan retains Aliwan Fiesta crown

TACLOBAN CITY, April 18 (PNA) -- Tribu Katbalaugan of Catbalogan City in Samar successfully defended their title during the Aliwan Fiesta in Pasay City on Saturday night.

Tribu Kabalaugan’s toughest contender was Iloilo City’s Dinagyang Festival, a hall famer of Aliwan Festival.

Mayor Stephany Uy-Tan said that their winning was the product of the dedicated performers who worked hard to achieve their goal of bringing home the title once again.

Tribu Katbalaugan is composed of more than 400 dancers and props men from various schools in Catbalogan.

Still a newbie in national competitions, Tribu Katbalaugan made its first appearance in the national scene of festival competition in 2015 when it joined Sinulog Festival, garnering the 4th place. In the same year, the group also bagged the top prize in the Aliwan Fiesta.

“It was a challenge to have won last year's championship more so with this year's win. But because of everyone's continued support, we have made another history for us all,” Uy-Tan said.

The lady mayor dedicated their achievement to St. Bartholomew, the patron saint of Catbalogan.

She added that winning Aliwan Festival this year is an early present for their parish that will celebrate its 400 year in August.

The festival contingent, the sole representative of Eastern Visayas to the Aliwan Festival also won best costume and best music while their festival queen Lou Dominique Piczon was 2nd runner-up for Miss Aliwan.

Dinagyang Festival’s Tribu Salognon bagged the 2nd place while Meguyaya Festival from Upi, Maguindanao ranked 3rd; Sagayang Festival from Datu Piang, Maguindanao was 4th place; and Niyogyugan Festival of Quezon Province was the 5th place.

“Their victory brings pride and joy to the people of Catbalogan City, Samar province and Eastern Visayas. It also reinforces our claim that Eastern Visayas is the national home ground of national festival competition champions,” said Department of Tourism Eastern Visayas Regional Director Karina Rosa Tiopes.

Buyugan Festival of Abuyog, Leyte and Lingganay Festival of Alang-alang, Leyte are some of the top festival contingents in the region that had bagged top awards in various national festival competitions like Sinulog Festival and Aliwan Festival.

“The DOT takes its hats off to Catbalogan for bagging the top award at Aliwan. After seeing their performance we are confident that they would retain the their title as champion, their choreography, smooth transition, precision and dazzling performance vibrant costumes, highlight use of props and the dynamic musical accompaniment spelled their victory,” Tiopes added.

Organized by the Manila Broadcasting Company, Aliwan Fiesta is an annual event that gathers different cultural festivals of the Philippines in Star City Complex in Pasay City wherein contingents compete in dance parade and float competitions, as well as in a beauty pageant. (PNA)
FFC/SQM/RTA/egr 

Framework set for RH implementation in Eastern Visayas

TACLOBAN CITY, April 16 (PNA) -- To ensure implementation of the Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health (RPRH) Law in the region, the Commission on Population presented a framework for the harmonization of work and financial plans, planning, monitoring and evaluation guide.

Commission on Population (PopCom) regional director Elnora R. Pulma, who sits as Regional Implementation Team (RIT)co-chair and head of the secretariat, said the framework addresses the need for a decision support system in undertaking policy and strategy reviews and improvements to accelerate the delivery of and access to reproductive health care services and information.

Pulma added the framework lays down detailed processes to guide member agencies of the RIT in crafting a unified annual work and financial plan for the implementation of the RPRH Law.

She added it could also be used in operationalizing a monitoring system that is able to regularly generate up-to-date and reliable information on the overall implementation status of programs, projects and activities set in the work and financial plan.

Apart from the presentation of the implementation framework, discussed in the meeting was to endorse to the local government units the creation of provincial and city implementation teams to further strengthen RPRH Law implementation at the local level.

Also agreed in the meeting was the designation of permanent representatives from member agencies to the RIT. (PNA)

PGL/SQM/AHLETTE C. REYES/EGR

Landmark bill on youth in DRRM pushed

TACLOBAN CITY, April 16 (PNA) –- Leyte’s ordinance mandating the youth’s participation and representation in disaster risk reduction and management is hope to be fully passed this year, according to Leyte Vice-Governor Carlo P. Loreto.

This as Youth Participation Ordinance of 2015 is slated for a third and final reading at the provincial board. The youth sector is a dynamic human resource that, when enhanced and properly utilized, could serve as a dynamic force necessary to bring into fruition any developmental goals, Loreto said.

The ordinance recognizes that while the youth are one of the most vulnerable and marginalized sectors in times of calamities, they are also potential and necessary partners in preparing for, responding to, and recovering from disasters.

“When a community lacks the active involvement of the youth at the local levels, addressing the problem during times of disasters will be uncoordinated, especially in preparing for, responding to, and recovering from disasters,” Loreto said,

He added that the legislation would also ensure that there is proper youth representation and mainstreaming of youth participation in disaster risk reduction and management, including climate change adaptation in the province of Leyte.

Leyte LGUs would also then be expected to engage the youth sector as a legitimate member of the Local Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (LDRRMC) in their community.

The youth group will represent the civil society organization in the LDRRMC to help the LGUs in disaster preparedness and other post-disaster activities including counseling of victims of tragedies.

If it fully passes through into law, it will be a landmark legislation for the province, Loreto added. (PNA)
PGL/SQM/AHLETTE C. REYES/EGR