NPA sniper wounds soldier in Carigara town

ORMOC CITY, June 20 -- A soldier taking part in a peace and development service in Paglaum Village, Carigara town sustained a gunshot wound to the abdomen fired by a New People's Army sniper around 9:00 p.m. on Monday.

BGen. Francisco F. Mendoza Jr, 802nd Brigade Commander identified the soldier as Pfc. Renaldo Llemas who was hit when a single shot was fired from a distance near the village hall where soldiers were conducting "Bayanihan Team Activity."

The soldiers, members of the civil military operations of Alpha Company under 802nd brigade of Camp Jorge Downes based in Ormoc City, have been carrying out peace and development activities in the village for a month.

The wounded trooper was rushed to St. Paul’s Hospital in Region’s capital and now out of danger.

Mendoza considered the incident as an isolated one and not a threat. “It was just to inflict harm or casualty on our troop, to put fear”, he said.

The caliber of the firearm used is still for verification.

Although, a single fire was shot, the number of rebels around the area was unsure.

Clearing operations are ongoing and conducted immediately. (Elvie Roman Roa/PNA)

Calbayog mayor alerts residents vs scam

CALBAYOG CITY, June 20 --The city mayor of Calbayog has warned the residents not to welcome anyone going door-to-door claiming they have been authorized to organize Philippine Green Forest Task Force (PGFT)-Kalikasan Association Movement to different different villages in the city.

The people knocking on the doors of Calbayog residents claim that the mayor's office has allowed them to establish the environment task force. 

Mayor Roland Aquino, in an interview on Monday,said the association was a scam.

"They haven’t gone through the proper process of being permitted in the city of Calbayog," he said.

According to mayor, if someone or a group claiming to be with the group will visit their house, they should not allow them access or share any information.

"They should shut their door and call the police immediately," he said

Several residents have reported that someone from that group PGFT-Task Force Kalikasan Association Movement came to their home, asked them to sign a memorandum of agreement and claiming that each beneficiary would receive PHP25,000 or PHP50,000 as their benefits from the association should they pay a registration or a membership fee of PHP500 or PHP300. 

The mayor's office has conducted investigation and has information on group. (Jazmin Bonifacio/PNA)

Students tap to check DA dev't projects in S. Leyte

SOUTHERN LEYTE, June 19 -- This may yet be first in the entire Visayas where the academe gets itself involved in monitoring the implementation of various sub-projects under the Department of Agriculture’s Philippine Rural Development Project (PRDP).

Recently, signing of Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was held signaling the start of Southern Leyte State University’s (SLSU) full participation in monitoring PRDP sub-projects being implemented within the province. 

During the said MOU signing, SLSU was represented by its President Prose Ivy G. Yepes, the Department of Agriculture-8, by OIC – Regional Executive Director U-Nichols A. Manalo, and Governor Damian Mercado for the Provincial Government of Southern Leyte.

Dr. Ivy Yepes said, “We take it as an opportunity for our students to learn new things. Aside from letting them undergo formal training about the PRDP’s monitoring process, their specific roles and, in particular, the application of the project’s science-based monitoring and transparency tools, they will also be exposed to on-field experiences. This will hopefully instill in them the value of quality work.”

She pointed out that this would be part of SLSU’s exercise of social responsibility. It will be one of the major activities that will be placed under the university’s Extension Program and will be integrated in the students’ on -the-job training. SLSU’s main campus is located in the municipality of Sogod.

Southern Leyte is a recipient of various enterprise and infrastructure subprojects funded under the PRDP. “The road sub-project in one of its municipalities entitled Rehabilitation/Improvement of Brgy. San Roque – Brgy. Bahay FMR subproject in Lilo-an, with a total length of 19.40 kilometers costing PHP232 million is so far, the biggest PRDP infrastructure sub-project in the country,” Franco Villaruel, Monitoring and Evaluation Unit Head of PRDP Project Support Office for Visayas cluster said.

The faculty and students from SLSU are expected to partner with some barangay residents in areas within the province where there are ongoing sub-projects being implemented to comprise the so-called citizens monitoring team. This team is tasked to monitor compliance with the prescribed infrastructure sub-project design or specifications, quality standards and timeline, among others. 

Villaruel said that the tightened monitoring process under the PRDP is aimed at ensuring quality and timely completion of sub-projects. There would be training for those who will be identified as members of the monitoring team. It will focus on the use of the citizens monitoring tool developed under PRDP. They will also be taught about geo-tagging.(PRDP-PR/PNA)

Lighting up the San Juanico Bridge pushed

TACLOBAN CITY, June 16 --Local government official is seeking the approval of the Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (TIEZA) to light up the picturesque San Juanico Bridge that links Leyte and Samar Islands.

Department of Tourism Regional Director Karina Rosa Tiopes said on Friday that Tourism Secretary Wanda Teo strongly endorsed the project to draw more tourists even after dark.

“We are hoping that this will be materialized even next year because we will be celebrating the 45th anniversary of the completion of San Juanico Bridge this coming December 2017,” Tiopes said.

Samar Governor Sharee Ann Tan shared the idea of beautifying and illuminating the iconic San Juanico Bridge to Tacloban City Mayor Cristina Romualdez, the Regional Development Council (RDC) chairperson.

Presently, tourists can enjoy daytime activities at the San Juanico Bridge through the tour packages offered by private operator, Aquamomentum.

“There’s just a little economic activity that we can generate from this iconic attraction at present, but when the proposal of lighting up the San Juanico Bridge is approved, we can invite more tourists to come. Local businessmen are interested to put up restaurants near the bridge,” Tiopes said.

The project will use light-emitting diode (LED) which is one of today's most energy-efficient and rapidly-developing lighting technologies. 

Lighting the San Juanico Bridge also comes with a presentation to attract more tourist to visit the bridge especially during weekends, according to Tiopes.

“We will talk with TIEZA officials very soon and we are really optimistic that this will be pushed through,” Romualdez said when asked on the update of the plan.

The mayor explained that lighting the bridge would uplift the economy of both Leyte and Samar provinces.

Once called Marcos Bridge, San Juanico Bridge was built in August 1969 over San Juanico Strait, the narrowest navigational strait in the world and was completed in December 1972.

It is located 10 kilometers away from the city’s downtown and 96 kilometers away from Catbalogan City, the capital of Samar province. One of its end is in Cabalawan village of Tacloban while the other end is the town of Sta. Rita, Samar.

The bridge that spans 2.162 kilometers was built as part of the Pan-Philippine Highway now called as the Maharlika Highway, a network of roads, bridges, and sea routes that connect the islands of Luzon, Samar, Leyte, and Mindanao. (Roel T. Amazona/PNA)

Ormoc City to ship ‘Queen Pineapples’ to South Korea

ORMOC CITY, June 16 -- South Koreans will soon get a taste of Ormoc City’s "Queen Pineapples", the local government here confirmed. 

Mayor Richard Gomez said the city government was working to set up a quarantine office for efficient and faster check of pineapples for shipment to South Korea.

Currently, quarantine officers tasked to inspect goods coming in and out of Ormoc are based in Tacloban, the regional capital, which is more than 120 kilometers away from this city.

“Ormoc will be exporting about three container vans of pineapple every two weeks or every month. The sooner we put up the quarantine facility, the better,” Gomez said.

South Korea is just one of the many countries interested of importing pineapples from Ormoc, according to the mayor.

The trade will help not only the city government and pine

pple farm owners, but also the residents as this will generate more jobs, Gomez said.

“If you are producing that big volume of pineapple for export, you will need more personnel to do that, and the city will generate more taxes,” Gomez told reporters Thursday afternoon.

South Korea is the second top importer of Philippine pineapples next to Japan. 

Ormoc City is known as the pineapple capital of Eastern Visayas producing the "Queen Pineapple", a small but sweet variety. (Roel T. Amazona/PNA)