Marawi evacuees bullied in Tacloban, says vice mayor

 TACLOBAN CITY, Aug. 4 -- The local government here is looking at the plight of several families displaced by the ongoing conflict in Marawi City and now are victims of bullying in this city.

Vice Mayor Jerry Yaoksain on Friday visited the evacuees temporarily staying in two villages here. He said mothers have been bullied by their neighbors and their children by their schoolmates.

In Nula-Tula village, there are 20 evacuees staying with their friends and relatives and 31 people in Sagkahan District, mostly women and children who have been taking shelter in an old village hall.

“They are being discriminated and tagged as members of Maute terrorist group just because they are from Marawi City,” Yaokasin lamented.

The city government has been fully supportive of the refugees by coordinating with the national government agencies to provide for their needs, he said. 

Village and school officials were asked to protect them from bullying and to extend financial assistance, if needed. 

Those who are fit to work were endorsed to Public Employment Services Office to help them find jobs while waiting for their return to their home city. 

Earlier, the city police office profiled them and it was found that they have no links to the Maute group. Some of them are college graduates and teachers, according to Yaokasin.(Lizbeth Ann A. Abella/PNA)

Tacloban to join ASEAN 50th anniversary celebration

TACLOBAN CITY, Aug. 3 -- The city government here has lined up various activities in the nationwide simultaneous Association of Southeast Asian Nation (ASEAN) landmark lantern lighting on Aug. 8.

Mayor Cristina Romualdez said among the activities are ASEAN Quiz Bee, poster and slogan making contest for students, and ASEAN street parade around the main streets. The highlight is the lantern lighting at 7 p.m. at Kanhuraw Hill.

Tacloban City is one of the 50 areas in the country included in the nationwide simultaneous lighting in observance of the ASEAN 50th anniversary. 

“During the program, the flags of the 10 member-states will also be hoisted and will culminate with fireworks display,” Romualdez said.

Aside from Tacloban, Ormoc City and Palo, Leyte will join the 50 sites identified. Ormoc City will announce its activities this week.

Palo town Mayor Remedios Petilla said the lantern lighting activity will be an extension of their town fiesta celebration on Aug. 6. 

They have also lined up interesting activities to include day-time activities to be handled by the Department of Education, peace walk from the town plaza to MacArthur Landing Memorial Park, fireworks display, lantern lighting, and concert at the park.

There will be performances from top winning Pintados-Kasadyaan Festivals of Festival winners - Buraburon Festival of Burauen, Leyte; Buyogan Festival of Abuyog, Leyte; and Sanggutan of Barugo, Leyte. 

Meanwhile, cash prizes, certificates and trophies await the winners in the various contests and participants of the parade will be given Best in Costume, Best in Attendance and Jolliest Group awards.

The lantern was designed by artist Arvin Quiwa from Pampanga, the province that is home to giant lanterns. It measures six feet (1.83 meters) in diameter with 80 pieces of incandescent bulbs and is made of fiber glass.

Its design features the national leaf "anahaw", the national flower sampaguita and the traditional Mindanao sailboat vinta and has the flags of the 10 ASEAN members.

It will be mounted in the 50 sites until November 2017.

The ASEAN was formed in 1967, by Indonesia, Malaysia , Philippines, Singapore and Thailand to promote political and economic cooperation and regional stability. Brunei joined in 1984, shortly after its independence from the United Kingdom.

In 1995, Vietnam joined ASEAN as its seventh member. Laos and Burma were admitted into full membership in July 1997 as ASEAN celebrated its 30th anniversary. Cambodia became its tenth member in 1999. 

This year, the ASEAN celebrates its golden anniversary with President Rodrigo Duterte as its chairman. (Vicky C. Arnaiz/PNA)

Samar’s capital to celebrate 401st fiesta

CATBALOGAN CITY, Aug 3 – The city government here gears up for its 401st fiesta on Aug. 24, with emphasis on celebrating culture and modernization.

This year’s celebration is anchored on the theme “Karisyo (rejoice) Catbalogan: Forward, Farther, Further.” 

Several activities have been lined up to encourage people to celebrate the fiesta with adherence.

“Adherence for people to celebrate and adherence to our culture that gives us identity and future,” Mayor Stephany Uy-Tan said on Thursday.

“This is also a call to celebrate and continue the momentum of progress and development as well as to highlight the colorful and vibrant culture that the city enjoys today as shaped through the unique blend of faith, governance and society,” she added.

Activities and program this year, according to the mayor, is a continuation of the activities they lined up last year for the 400th year celebration since it was founded by the Jesuit Priests in 1616.

Highlight of the 401st fiesta celebration is the 2017 Manaragat (fishing) Festival where various schools in the city will present through dances the fishing heritage of the city since the Spanish colonization up to the present. 

“This unique show highlights the different fishing practices in the city in an effort to rediscover and reinvigorate old traditions of the city as well as to educate the community on sustainable practices in fishing as a climate change mitigation program,” Uy-Tan explained.

Officials from the City Tourism, Culture, Arts and Information Office and the Local Culture and Arts Council with cultural coordinators from primary, secondary and tertiary schools in the city are on the forefront in the preparation for the cultural presentations.

Other activities are beauty pageant, cooking contest, singing competition, and folk dance contest. There are also nightly activities intended for senior citizens, farmers, youth, women, person with disabilities, academe and business sector. 

Jesuit priests founded Catbalogan in 1616 and became the capital of the entire Samar Island. Today, the city is a major commercial area in Samar province with a population of 103,879. The city is 112 kilometers north of Tacloban City, the regional capital.(Roel T. Amazona/PNA)

E. Visayas islands to welcome 4 cruise ships in 2018

TACLOBAN CITY, Aug. 3 –- Expedition cruise ships will drop anchor off the three picturesque and historical islands of Eastern Visayas in 2018, making the year the busiest for the region’s rising cruise tourism, the Department of Tourism (DOT) announced on Thursday.

The tourism department said this is the first time the region will be visited by high-end expedition cruise ships four times in a single year – March, May, June, and October. 

“The fact that four ships owned by three cruise companies will be coming means they received good words about our destinations and hospitality of locals,” said DOT Regional Karina Rosa Tiopes.

MS Bremen, an expedition cruise ship owned by Hapag-Lloyd Cruises of Germany, will make a stopover in Limasawa Island in Southern Leyte and Capul Island in Northern Samar.

Another cruise ship of the famed US-based Zegrahm Expeditions will also bring tourists to these two islands.

L'Austral, a cruise ship operated by the French cruise line company Compagnie du Ponant, will make two stopovers next year in Cuatro Islas in Inopacan and Hindang in Leyte and Limasawa Island. 

For the first time, Cuatro Islas will be included in cruise tourism. 

“It is very difficult to convince these expedition cruises to visit islands in the Philipines because the basic requirements are excellent core products,” Tiopes said. 

Unlike leisure cruises, tourists in expedition cruises are more interested in culture, history and immersion in the community, according to her.

She added that tourists are willing to spend a lot for “authentic experience,” prompting the tourism department to prepare local government units and communities. 

“In Capul, we will take them to historical sites and let them experience coconut farming from climbing coconut tree to drying the nuts,” Tiopes told PNA.

Capul is known for the Acapulco-Manila galleon trade where a lighthouse was built in the island as a guidepost for vessels passing through the treacherous waters of San Bernardino Strait.

In Limasawa, tourists will visit the first cross planted by Magellan in Asia, learn how to write the traditional Visayan alphabet, and experience having tattoo artwork. 

The island is the site of the first Holy Mass held 496 years ago, offered by Portuguese world explorer Ferdinand Magellan who discovered the Philippines on its successful journey to the island. 

In Cuatro Islas, stakeholders will prepare communities there to develop existing tourism products and come up with new ones. 

The picturesque four small islands located off two towns in the southern part of Leyte have been considered as among the region’s destinations for cruise tourism this summer. The islands’ pristine waters, white sand and being declared as protected areas are among their come-ons for tourists to come.

The first time the region welcomed a cruise ship was in February 2015 in Capul Island with about 100 tourists on board the Caledonian Sky owned by Zegrahm Expeditions. (Sarwell Q. Meniano/PNA)

S. Leyte farmers get PHP33.4-M road project from DAR

SILAGO, Southern Leyte, Aug. 2 -- The Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) has turned over to the local government unit (LGU) of Silago, Leyte the remaining farm-to-market road project that would help raise the income of agrarian reform beneficiaries at the Katipunan Agrarian Reform Community.

DAR Undersecretary for Policy, Planning and Research David Erro led the turnover ceremony held in Barangay Katipunan on Tuesday to transfer the management of the 4.21-km. all-weather road traversing from Junction Katipunan to Barangay Catmon to Silago.

In a news release issued Wednesday, Erro said the DAR, aside from providing land, also provides support service projects, such as farm-to-market roads, to increase the beneficiaries’ agricultural production and family income.

Regional director Sheila Enciso said the PHP33.49-million total project cost of the Katipunan-to-Catmon road is shared by the LGU of Silago and the DAR under the third phase of the Agrarian Reform Infrastructure Support Project grant.

Enciso said the Katipunan-to-Catmon farm-to-market road would benefit 583 agrarian reform beneficiaries and 40 other residents from neighboring barangays.

He called on the recipients to manage and maintain the infrastructure in good condition since it will be subjected to monitoring for 10 years.

In her acceptance message, Mayor Pacita Almine thanked the DAR for the convenience and advantage the project would bring to her town, especially in making it accessible to other barangays, thus opening up other livelihood opportunities for the residents. (DAR PR)