Group cites int'l support vs. child trafficking in east Visayas

TACLOBAN CITY, June 16  -- The International Justice Mission (IJM), a global organization protecting the poor from violence, has credited the continued entrapment operations against suspected online child traffickers in Eastern Visayas to the support of international authorities. 

“Collaboration between local law enforcement and international law enforcement is crucial in ensuring that the victims of online sexual exploitation receive justice,” said lawyer John Tanagho, field office director of IJM-Cebu City, on Friday.

Tanagho noted that a senior investigator from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) Internet Child Exploitation division came all the way from Canada to Region 8 (Eastern Visayas) to testify at the Regional Trial Court Branch 10 in Abuyog, Leyte against a suspected online trafficker, who was arrested in the neighboring town of McArthur late last year.

“We’re grateful for the support of the RCMP in this prosecution. That they traveled all the way to Leyte shows their deep commitment and professionalism,” Tanagho said.

IJM reported that on May 31, 2018, Corporal Jared Clarke, accompanied by RCMP liaison officer Jay Schooley, arrived in the province “to authenticate the referral letter RCMP sent to the Philippine National Police (PNP).”

“It is an investigation like this which demonstrates the international and border-less nature of ICE (Internet Child Exploitation) investigations. Saskatchewan is not immune to these horrific crimes. Through our international ICE partners, we can bring offenders to justice almost anywhere,” said Staff Sgt. Scott Lambie of the Saskatchewan Integrated Child Exploitation Unit in Saskatchewan province in Canada.

“Corporal Clarke of our unit recently travelled to Leyte province to testify at an ICE trial and conduct important child exploitation training locally. While in the Philippines, he also had the opportunity to meet with some rescued victims -- a rare and rewarding experience. We want to thank our international partners for the work they continue to do to rescue victims and prosecute offenders,” added Lambie in a statement.

The referral letter led to a PNP investigation and entrapment operation wherein Lorna (real was withheld because one of the victims is her daughter) was arrested on Nov. 10, 2017 by the PNP Women and Children Protection Center’s (WCPC) Visayas field unit.

IJM said Lorna allegedly produced and transmitted sexually explicit images of children to foreigners overseas in exchange for money. She was caught by police in the act of offering to perform sex acts on her own eight-year-old daughter and livestream those acts from her house in McArthur, Leyte.

The police operation last November also saw the rescue of nine children, with ages ranging from two to nine, from online sexual exploitation.

IJM added that Clarke’s court testimony came four days after the arrest of Lorna’s spouse who was a village councilor in McArthur during the time of the operation.

The husband, who was not around during the November operation, was served an arrest warrant by personnel of the McArthur Police last May 27. Both Lorna and her husband were charged with qualified trafficking under Republic Act (RA) No. 9208 or the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act as amended by RA 10364.

IJM expressed their gratitude to other government agencies that collaborated during the operation, including the Interagency Council Against Trafficking Region 8, the Leyte Police, Leyte Women and Children’s Protection Desk (WCPD), Leyte Provincial Public Safety Company, and the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s regional office here.

Online sexual exploitation of children (OSEC) can cause severe psychological trauma on children and sometimes, physical injuries, said Rebelander Basilan, partnership development coordinator of IJM-Cebu City.

“Rescued victims of OSEC need many social services, including therapy and rehabilitation. OSEC victims would only be returned to the community after a comprehensive family home and risk assessment is conducted to confirm that the home is a safe place for the children and that they will no longer be sexually abused or exploited by their parents or relatives,” he said.

As of last month, the group worked with Philippine law enforcement agencies in various operations that led to the arrest of 135 suspected OSEC traffickers and the rescue of 319 victims around the country since 2011.

IJM reported that at least 35 accused have already been convicted for trafficking children into online sexual exploitation in the Philippines.

On Feb. 23 this year, IJM, along with the National Bureau of Investigation Anti-Human Trafficking Division and other government authorities, also helped in the arrest of three suspected traffickers in two separate entrapment operations in Tacloban City and in Culaba, Biliran province.

The operations led to the rescue of nine minors aged 4 to 17, and four other adults. (ROR/PNA)

Leyte’s best festivals to be showcased in Tacloban fiesta

TACLOBAN CITY, June 16 -- Leyte province will showcase its best cultural-religious celebrations in the upcoming Pintados-Kasadyaan Festival of Festivals.

Although only five contingents are joining the parade and ritual presentations on June 27, some of them were champions in previous competitions.

Joining this year’s festivals are the Tribu Buraburon of Burauen, Leyte; Heraite of Leyte, Leyte; Sanggutan of Barugo, Leyte; Tribu Pasaka of Tanauan, Leyte; and Solosogui of Balangiga, Eastern Samar.

Tribu Buraburon was last year’s grand champion of Pintados-Kasadyaan and the winner of Aliwan Fiesta 2018 in Pasay City.

Groups from the towns of Tanauan and Barugo were champions in the past province-wide competition.

Palo, Leyte Mayor Remedios Petilla, Pintados- Kasadyaan Festival executive committee chairperson, said some local government officials backed out of the contest due to budget constraints and lack of preparations.

“All contingents wanted to win. They don’t want to join the festival if they’re not well-prepared. For this year, dancers from these five festivals are ready to awe spectators,” Petilla told reporters during a press briefing at the RTR Plaza Friday afternoon.

The official is optimistic that showcasing local festivals is an effective way to attract tourists as it presents local culture and history through ritual dance, music, and merry-making.

“Towns with much improved festivals attract visitors during fiesta. People who are in Manila and abroad are proud of their festivals and share photos in their social media accounts,” Petilla said.

Now on its 23rd year, the Leyte Kasadyaan Festival of Festivals brings together the diverse, vibrant and colorful festivals from the different towns in the province of Leyte and other participating festivals from its sister islands of Samar and Biliran, as well as other provinces in the Visayas.

It is one of the most awaited events of Tacloban City’s fiesta celebrations this month in honor of its patron, the Señor Sto. Niño de Tacloban.

Leyte’s festivals have brought fame and fortune to various champions, among them the Buyogan Festival of Abuyog, Burauen’s Buraburon, Tanauan’s Pasaka Festival and Lingganay Festival of Alang-alang, having bested other festivals in the country and emerged as champions in such prominent festivals as Sinulog of Cebu and the annual national Aliwan Fiesta - Battle of Festival champions in Manila.

On the other hand, the Pintados Festival was first celebrated on June 29, 1987 when a group of businessmen belonging to the Pintados Foundation, Inc. came up with this event to showcase Leyte and Samar’s early tattooed inhabitants called Pintados, and their rich cultural heritage and indigenous music and dance.

For Pintados, seven contingents are joining the smaller festival, mostly from this city and nearby towns.

In 1998, the Pintados and the Leyte Kasadyaan were merged into one big attraction called the Pintados-Kasadyaan Festival of Festivals. (SQM/PNA)

P52-M earmarked for solid waste management in Eastern Visayas

TACLOBAN CITY, June 14  -- The national government has released about PHP52 million in the past seven years to improve the capability of local government units in Eastern Visayas to comply with the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act.

Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) regional coordinator for the solid waste management program, Maribel Munsayac, said financial assistance has been provided to cities and towns in the region, whose officials are more committed to comply with the environmental law.

“With the very limited resources, we prioritize those areas with initiative to manage their solid waste. Since the fund is already handed to them, there’s no reason they won’t close open dumpsites,” Munsayac said on Wednesday.

About PHP26 million has been released since 2012 for the establishment of the materials recovery facility (MRF) of three cities and 58 towns in the region’s six provinces.

The MRF receives waste for final sorting, according to its type for composting and recycling. It is designed to receive, sort, process and store compostable and recyclable material efficiently.

Of the PHP52 million, PHP20.29 million was given to six local governments for the closure of open dumpsites. These were Tacloban City; Palo, Leyte; Lavezares, Northern Samar; Laoang, Northern Samar; Abuyog, Leyte; and Motiong, Samar.

Most of the funds were released in the past two months.

Republic Act (RA) No. 9003 or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act prohibits the continued use of open and controlled dumpsites and requires that they must be closed and rehabilitated.

“The degradation of the waste layers takes a long time even as these continue to generate leachate and methane gases. It is necessary to manage the dumpsite properly after the operations and to manage the post closure land use in order to protect public health and preserve the environment,” Munsayac explained.

Some funds were also poured for the provision of shredder machines for biodegradable wastes (PHP3.42 million), solid waste management in public markets (PHP1.8 million), school-based eco-savers program (PHP450,000), and informal waste sector (PHP100,000).
These funds are primarily sourced from the office of Senator Loren Legarda, the principal author of RA 9003, which was signed in 2001. (SQM/PNA)

Same resettlement concerns raised in Malacañang-led ‘Yolanda’ talks

TACLOBAN CITY, June 14  -- At least eight major concerns related to resettlement have been raised by super typhoon Yolanda survivors in Leyte and Samar provinces during the grassroots consultations initiated by the Office of the President.

These issues are defective housing units, location of houses vulnerable to flooding and landslides, lack of water, no electricity connection, non-availability of sustainable livelihood, no police visibility, poor drainage system, and lack of government facilities.

For the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA), the agency tasked to supervise rehabilitation projects after the 2013 catastrophe, these issues are not new, however, after the dialogues, concerned agencies came up with agreements to curb the problem.

“A lot of issues are recurring, but with the intervention of the Office of the President, we are expecting that these will be properly addressed,” said NEDA Regional Director Bonifacio Uy on Thursday.

Presidential Assistant Wendel Avisado, the official assigned by President Rodrigo Duterte to oversee post-Yolanda rehabilitation efforts, led the grassroots consultations from March 19 to April 27, 2018.

Dialogues have been held in Tacloban City; Guiuan, Eastern Samar; Balangiga, Eastern Samar; Basey, Samar; Carigara, Leyte; Isabel, Leyte; Naval, Biliran; and Silago, Southern Leyte.

For instance, on substandard houses, Avisado asked beneficiaries to list specific defects of houses and submit to the National Housing Authority (NHA).

The official ordered NHA to convey the concerns to developer for “immediate rectification.”

NEDA-Eastern Visayas gave a copy of the issues and suggestions to the Philippine News Agency (PNA) on Thursday.

On lack of facilities such as schools and health centers, this concern will be addressed by the inter-agency committee both in the national and local levels.

On water supply shortage, Avisado asked the Department of Public Works and Highways to add the volume of water delivery, the same list showed.

For long-term solution, local governments were told to link with Local Water Utilities Authority for implementation of water supply projects.

The consultation gathered issues and concerns encountered by survivors in resettlement sites and convene various government instrumentalities to identify interventions that will ensure sustainability of resettlement projects and improve their quality of life.

Each consultation was attended by 120 participants composed of beneficiaries of resettlement projects, local and national government officials, and representatives of civil society organizations.

On November 8, 2013, super typhoon Yolanda unleashed its wrath in central Philippines, killing around 6,300 people and leaving more than 4.4 million people displaced and homeless.

Tacloban City, the regional hub of Eastern Visayas region, was considered as “Yolanda’s” ground zero. (SQM/PNA)

DSWD issues new cash cards to 81K poor families in Region 8

TACLOBAN CITY, June 14  -- The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) is eyeing to complete the distribution of new cash cards to 81,000 poor families in Eastern Visayas (Region 8) early this July.

DSWD Regional Director Restituto Macuto on Thursday said that releasing of cards for Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) beneficiaries in four provinces of Eastern Visayas has started on June 12.

The cash cards issued by the Land Bank of the Philippines are meant for conditional cash transfer recipients who got their cash aid through over-the-counter transactions in banks and other financial institutions.

These EMV (Europay, MasterCard and Visa) cards are meant for 4Ps families in Samar, Eastern Samar, Northern Samar, and Southern Leyte provinces.

“We have already completed the release of cash cards for Biliran and Leyte between March and April. Biliran has only 4,000 beneficiaries while for Leyte, the Veterans Bank handled the card production for 60,000 families,” Macuto said.

The new cash cards can be used in any Land Bank ATM outlets without additional charge or in any bank with additional charges of PHP10.

After the distribution of new cards, the DSWD will start the process of “recarding” for recipients who are still using non-EMV cards. The region has more than 280,000 4Ps beneficiaries as of this year.

The conditional cash transfer program locally known as 4Ps, is a government program that provides conditional cash grants to the poorest of the poor in the country.

The program aims to break the cycle of poverty by keeping children aged 0-18 healthy and in school, so they can have a better future.

Households receive cash grants if children stay in school and get regular health check-ups, have their growth monitored, and receive vaccines. Pregnant women must get pre-natal care, with their births attended to by professional health workers.

Parents or guardians are required to participate in monthly community-based family development sessions to learn about positive child discipline, disaster preparedness, and women’s rights. (SQM/PNA)