Leyte SP calls anew for investigation with groups opposing Nicua Mining

TACLOBAN CITY – The committee on environment and natural resources of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan of Leyte will be calling for another committee investigation this time with personalities and groups that are opposing to the mining activities of Nicua Mining Corporation. Nicua Mining Corporation was the permittee for the magnetite sand mining operation in McArthur, Leyte which was pointed-out by some residents living at Brgy Villa Imelda along Lake Bito that caused for the massive fish kills that occurred early months of this year. It was reported that the incident caused for the death of around 22,000 kilograms of tilapia which amounting to P1.7 million in market price. But based on the study of the Bureau of Fishery and Aquatic Resources domestic pollution, overcrowding of fish pens and cages, and possible contamination from the nearby mining site were the reason of fish kills in the area. It noted high fecal coli form counts that indicate that animal waste and human waste are among the main sources of contaminants affecting the water quality of the lake and the study also explained that “depletion of dissolved oxygen can be traced to the excessive number of fish pens currently installed in the lake, causing slow water circulation.” Lake Bito, a 115-hectare body of water has 48.9 hectares occupied with pens and cages, higher to the 10% or only 11.5 hectares allowed under the Fisheries Code of the Philippines. “I already know the names of person who are against the mining activities in the municipality of MacArthur and I will be setting date to talk with them regarding their complaints because I’d already discussed said matter to those who are supporting the operation of Nicua,” said Board Member Carlo Loreto. He added that based on the investigation they conducted there was no truth to the claims of some individuals that there is a mining activity at Lake Bito, a lake just s few meters away from the mining site. “The mayor and the barangay chairman testified that there is no truth that there is mining happening in said lake,” Loreto stressed. He that in his earlier talked with the priest and organization opposing to the mining operation of Nicua, they were amenable to the idea of dialogue which they will do Tuesday this coming week. Loreto added that based on the information he received from the municipal officials of McArthur, they will be conducting the clearing operation at Lake Bito which means reducing the number of fish cages in said lake based on the approved ordinance of the municipality. “The 11.5 hectares allowed by the Fishery Code of the Philippines will be sub-divided to all fish pens and cages operators at the lake which means each of them will only have 500 square meters each,” Loreto explained. However, some residents are opposing to the plan of the municipal government to get their fish cages and pens this early as their permits for their operation according to them will expire next year. They added that this will result to affecting their livelihood and in getting source for their daily needs.

City council proposes to host citywide summit on Juvenile Welfare Act of 2006

TACLOBAN CITY – Law enforcers has also its fault in the implementation of the Justice Juvenile Welfare Act of 2006, reason why some youth offenders and criminal groups are abusing it, said this city’s vice mayor Arvin Antoni. During their regular session last Wednesday,Councilor Bianco Mate expressed concern over the raise of crime in the city involving youth offenders which he blamed on the implementation of said law that was authored by Senator Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan. Mate said that while the intention of the law was good,its implementation was questionable as local government units were not ready for it particularly on the construction of facilities to be used for intervention of youth offenders. Mate urged his colleagues to pass a resolution seeking for the amending of said law. However, Vice Mayor Antoni said that law enforcers could be blame as they are interpreting the law in a different way. “It is not true that they can’t arrest the child offender.Under the law, law enforcers has the right to arrest them especially if they commit bigger crimes,” Antoni, who is also a lawyer, said. Vagrancy, prostitutions, sniffing of solvents are the only offenses that youth offenders are not to be filed with case by law enforces but they need to undergo intervention said Antoni. Antoni added that it is only the judges who have the right to determine if the child is minor or not based on the evidences presented to them in contrast to what is happening right now, wherein when a child offender presented a birth certificate to law enforcers they are immediately released by them. “That is not the right process; it is only the court who can say that these children are minors,” he stressed. He added that since amendment of the Justice Juvenile Welfare Act is not yet been tackled in Congress, it is better for the local government units and law enforcers to implement it and made some intervention to address the problem. Meanwhile, Councilor Jerry “Sambo” Yaokasin said that solving problem on youth offenders starts within the family. Yaokasin stressed that if only parents are responsible enough to check and guide their children, they would be responsible enough to know and balance what is wrong and right and what is good for them. Responsible parenting ,according to him, is the key to solve this problem which is currently now lacks among parents reason why morality of the youth in this present time are slowly deteriorating. Councilor Jerry Uy, who chairs the committee on laws, proposed for the city government to host a citywide summit on the implementation of the Justice Juvenile Welfare Act. Among those to be invited in the summit as he proposed are law enforcers, city social welfare and development office and the regional office of the Department of Social Welfare and Development, academe and Church, non-government organization and parents organizations.

Councilor Uy walks out of session hall in disgust about proposed P600M loan

TACLOBAN CITY – “I don’t want to be part of this illegal proceedings,” this was the reason of Councilor Jerry Uy when asked why he left the session hall when the city council of Tacloban were still discussing the proposed loan agreement of the city government with the Philippine Veterans Bank (PVB). During their regular session last Wednesday, Mayor Alfred Romualdez has for the fourth time forwarded a letter to the city council asking them to authorize him to enter into a loan agreement with a banking institution. This time the name of the bank was mentioned in the letter unlike in previous letters. Under the proposed loan, the city government want to secure a loan of more than P622 million, bigger than the previous proposed loan of P400 million. In a voting, six councilors, namely, Edwin Chua, Eden Chua Pineda and Frederick Chua, Willy Domingo, Jeric Dane Granados and Bianco Mate, favor the loan agreement while Councilor Jerry Yaokasin opposed. Councilors Neil Glova and Robert Andrade did not cast their vote while Councilor Cristina Romualdez, wife of the city mayor, was absent in the session. “These documents should have been referred first to the proper committee for further study,” Uy said, adding that the documents were given to them about an hour before they started their session. “There is no way that we can study the documents that is why I left the session hall,” Uy explained, adding that the font used in the documents that were given to them were very small that he need a magnifying glass for him to read them. He added that based on their internal rules, items on the agenda should have been given to them a day before the session but for several sessions now especially when it comes to money matters and the proposed loan, the city government would always insert it on the day the session is to be held. Uy added that any Taclobanon can question this proposed loan as they are the ones most affected once this loan materialized. Yaokasin, when asked why he opposed the proposed loan, said that several documents that the city council have yet to be given to them by the office of Romualdez. Among these documents include the feasibility study of the projects to be implemented like the abattoir and the program of work of the infrastructure projects that are to be implemented. He added that the borrowing loan capacity of the city government that they presented was based on the Bureau of Local Government Finance as of July 2011 and not its present borrowing loan capacity. Yaokasin also noted that there was no mention as how much the city government would pay to the bank in terms of interest. Although he did object to the loan term agreement that the city government will enter into with the PVB, Yaokasin stressed that he is not opposing to it as the city government needs money to fund various projects they are to implement.However, the people should know where the city government will used it and how much will be used in funding each project, he added. “Barangay officials should be vigilant and asked what projects and how much are to be used in those projects and they must also ask if this will really answer the problems that they are experiencing in their barangays,” Yaokasin stressed. “It is not only them who will suffer but including the next administrations of the city,” he said. Moreover, Yaokasin added that now that the city government was awarded with the Seal of Good Housekeeping (SGH) award it, should not be used by the city government for their own interest of acquiring a loan. Based on the new circular of the Department of the Interior and Local Government, only those with SGH award are to be allowed to enter into loan agreement with any bank and other lending institutions. Under the new circular, aside from the SGH, the following documents were added to the original requirements: letter-request from the local chief executive; certification from the local legislative body that the proposed project to be financed by the loan is included in the approved annual investment plan for the current year; authenticated copy of the resolution authorizing the local chief executive to negotiate and contract a loan; proof of compliance with the full disclosure policy of the DILG, among others.

City gov’t waits for DILG’s opinion on appointment of city legal officer

TACLOBAN CITY – The city government is still waiting for the opinion of the Department of the Interior on Local Government (DILG) if it is still needed for the appointment of the new city legal officer to be approved by members of the Sangguniang Panlungsod. City Administrator John Tecson Lim in an interview with the Leyte Samar Daily Express said although the appointment paper of lawyer Chloe Fiel was already signed by Mayor Alfred Romualdez last June 1 of this year, her appointment letter was not immediately forwarded to the city council. During their session last Wednesday, council members raised the legality of Fiel’s representation of the city government despite her not yet being confirmed by the council. At that time, the councilors were discussing on the creation of the city legal office as a full pledge department. “She had the authority to represent the city government because her appointment is valid and what she is doing is valid,” Lim said. He added that reason why they are asking for the opinion of the DILG is the Local Government Code of the Philippines is silent on the need for confirmation of a legal officer by the city council. “Her confirmation will not void her initial appointment.Meaning, once she is appointed there is the presumption that she will be confirmed which means from the time she was appointed until such time that her appointment is confirmed she already have the authority,” Lim explained. He added that they are confident that Fiel’s appointment will be approved by the city council once they forward it to them, but as of the moment they will still wait for the opinion of the DILG legal division. Defending on the residency status of Fiel who is from Ormoc, Lim said that it is better that an official appointed by Mayor Romualdez is not from Tacloban to avoid any personal biases. “Although she’s not from here, she is willing to help us and the mayor has full confidence on her that she can do her job well as the city legal officer,” Atty. Lim stressed. In the deliberation of the ordinance creating a city legal department, several correction were raised by the members of the city council, to include the inclusion of the term “coterminous” with local chief executive, reducing the amount of RATA (representation and transportation allowances) and the reducing the number of lawyers to be hired by the city government. Reacting to this decision of the city council, the city administration stressed that said number of lawyers to be hired by the city government (about 11 lawyers to include the city legal officer) is important as the city government needs lawyers who will represent them in court cases. “The city government has a lot of cases that needs to be represented by lawyers; ordinances that need to be checked; hearings that needs to be attended, and legal assistance that the Taclobanon and department offices needs.It is important to have a group of lawyers that can attend to them,” Lim said.

Leyte to host Batang Pinoy 2012

TACLOBAN CITY – The province of Leyte is set to host again a national sporting event, the “Batang Pinoy Visayas Leg” is set to be held on November 21 to 24 at the Leyte Sports Development Center(LSDC) here. To be played is the Philippine Youth Games–Batang Pinoy, mandated by Executive Order No. 44, which envisions to address the needs for a grassroots sports program centered on values formation inherent in the practice of sports and fair play. Moreover, this program is designed to instill the benefits of physical fitness and core values that would help in addressing juvenile delinquency. Governor Jericho “Icot” Petilla said the provincial government is proud to play host again a big sporting event. Leyte played host to the Palarong Pambansa in 2009, with the LSDC as the central venue of the various sporting events. Those who can play in the Batang Pilipino Games are Filipino children (whether naturalized or Filipino-born) must be 15 years old and below (born in 1997 or after). “Foreign Pinoys” may also join provided he/she represents a particular local government unit hence, LGU representation of an athlete shall also be decided based on parents’ voting residency. Representation in this event is strictly by LGU which could be in the form of provincial, city or municipality representation; and no athlete shall be accepted without accreditation of a particular LGU. The Batang Pinoy Visayas qualifying leg will gather together young athletes from Regions 6,7 and 8. Qualifying tournaments in this leg include: arnis, archery, athletics, badminton, boxing, chess, swimming, table tennis, taekwondo, tennis, and karatedo. First and second placers in the Visayas leg are automatically qualified to join Batang Pinoy National Championships which will be hosted by IloIlo City on December 5 to 8 this year. Lucresio Calo, Leyte Sports Academy sports consultant, said they had just talked with representatives from the Philippine Sports Commission for the preparation of the sports event but it would not be as big as the Palarong Pambansa as only more than 1,000 athletes and coaches are expected to attend in said sporting event. He added Leyte’s hosting of the Palarong Pambansa in 2009 also helped for the Batang Pinoy committee to choose the province for this annual event as they saw that Leyte is capable of hosting big sports events.

Military hopeful E. Visayas to be insurgency free by 2016

CATBALOGAN CITY – Military officials in this region were lauded for their efforts to curb insurgency through various approaches such as military combat and civil military operations. In the celebration of their 24th founding anniversary of the 8th Infantry Division last August 3, Central Command Commander Lieutenant General Ralph Villanueva said that the presence of the military in the region pave the way for peace and security and development to slowly be achieved by the people in Region 8. Citing as example was the declaration of Biliran and Southern Leyte as insurgency free-provinces and the province of Leyte as “conflict manageable and development ready area.” It is only the island of Samar that still remains with problem on insurgency; however, the Army commander said that not all areas in the island are affected. “In this, we should be thankful to the help of various sectors, local government units, and your cooperation and coordination with the Philippine National Police,” Villanueva said. Villanueva added that although their target for the region that by year 2016 Eastern Visayas is totally insurgency free, just like the islands of Bohol and Cebu, this aim should be achieved even earlier to their target. “We are already close to our goal of making this region a peaceful and secure place to lived in and be visited but the Army will not wait for 2016 for this thing to happen.I hope that before 2016 we can already declare all provinces in Eastern Visayas as insurgency free provinces,” Villanueva said. He added that once declared as insurgency free, the region will definitely experience development on its economy, industry and tourism just as what had happened in Bohol and in Cebu that is now a well-developed province in the country. “Investors will come and businesses will prosper if the Army achieved its goal for this region,” he added. This statement of Villanueva was seconded by Major General Gerardo Layug, commanding general of the 8th ID. Layug said that once infrastructure projects in the island of Samar are done (these are road and bridges constructions), development and prosperity is assured to the people. Among these road projects, according to Layug, are the circumferential roads connecting the coastal towns of Northern and Eastern Samar provinces and the inter-town roads in the tri-boundaries of the three Samar provinces. He added that at present, although insurgents are still felt in some areas of Samar, the military is doing all its effort to curb them through military operations and influencing people to trust the government by educating them on negatives effects of joining insurgency and providing them basic services that government and other agencies can’t provide problem on accessibility and security.

Problem in PhilHealth enrolment of pregnant women in Samar noted – Gov. Tan

CATBALOGAN CITY – There was a problem on enrolment for Philhealth of some pregnant women in the province of Samar, said Governor Sharee Ann Tan, which is why she’d asked for re-evaluation of all Philhealth members. “Some of them are not yet married and the membership was with their partner reason why they can’t avail to the services of Philhealth, because when using and claiming for the benefit of it, they need to present documents or proof that they are wives of the Philhealth card holder,” Gov. Tan explained. With this problem, the governor said that she issued an instructions to get the names of all pregnant women in her province and enroll them on Philhealth instead of their husband. “Right now we are concentrating on them,” said the lady governor who is also pregnant. She added that as part of the celebration of Samar Day, a whole-day enrollment for Philhealth membership will be held especially for pregnant women. Another problem that they are experiencing in Philhealth membership enrolment is that some of their constituents don’t know how to fill up the form, which is why she ordered those assigned in the barangay level on Philhealth membership enrolment, to assist them in signing the form “like they are conducting interview.” She added some of the married couple complained that they have no NSO certified copy of their marriage contract reason why they can’t avail of the services of Philhealth, which is why a certificate from the barangay assuring that the couple are living together is necessary. A duplication of membership among family members was also learned by her office after verification on all Philhealth membership, which they are now solving. “But as of the moment, no distribution of Philhealth card was done by the province because the agency said that they still need to fixed the card that are to be distributed because they had changes on administration,” she explained. “It’ll be by October that Philhealth will release cards to us,” she added. But for those who are already member of Philhealth, Tan said that they can freely enjoy all the benefits of the government health insurance program even without card when going to the hospital as a computer data base is already being used to check their Philhealth card number membership

Fiel cannot yet act as legal officer – Vice Mayor Antoni

TACLOBAN CITY – The current legal officer of the city government, Chloe Fiel, could not yet discharge the functions of her office. This is becuase Mayor Alfred Romualde has yet to submit to the city council her appointment for their ratification. Thus said Vice Mayor Arvin Antoni, after Councilor Eden Pineda noticed that in some documents and transactions of the city, Fiel’s signature appeared on some documents. Pineda also noted that in some news articles, Fiel was identified as the city legal officer. Councilor Jerry Uy, for his part, said that a litigant informed him that Fiel represented the city government but failed to present her authority. During their regular session last Wednesday, councilors tackled on the creation of City Legal Department as proposed by Mayor Romualdez. The position of city legal officer become vacant after Jenny Lyn Manibay resigned last month of May. “With the absence of her appointing papers, she still cannot assume the position as city legal officer and cannot represent the city in any legal proceedings,” Antoni stressed. He added that with the “misrepresentation,” Fiel could be prosecuted criminally as the documents she had signed can be questioned in court. “This matter should be looked into by the city administrator (Tecson John Lim) by sending the appointment documents of this person and not his actions of sending office orders even to members of the Sangguniang Panlungsod,” Antoni added. To prevent further problem in the case of Fiel, the city council had ordered the SP secretary to send a note verbal Mayor Romualdez as well as to city administrator Lim and to Fiel herself for them to submit the necessary documents for the concurrence of Fiel’s appointment as city legal officer.

Ecotown project launched in Guiuan

Climate Change Commission (CCC) Commissioner Naderev M. Saño and Guiuan, Eastern Samar Mayor Annaliza G. Kwan sign the memorandum of agreement that will build am economically stable and ecologically sustainable town better known as Ecotown. GUIUAN, Eastern Samar — As a means to localize the implementation of the national climate change framework strategy, the Climate Change Commission (CCC) has launched its “eco-town framework” in this municipality, the first in the entire Visayas. CCC Commissioner Naderev M. Saño said the setting up of eco-towns is a local implementation mechanism in the National Climate Change Action Plan (NCCAP) which provides direction for sustainable economic growth for 2011 to 2028. “At the local level, implementation of the NCCAP will be packaged using the concept of ecologically stable and economically resilient towns or eco-towns,” Saño said. An eco-town is a planning unit composed of municipalities or a group of municipalities located within and in the boundaries of critical key biodiversity areas, highly vulnerable to climate change risks due to its geography, geographic location, and poverty situation. Saño said the province of Eastern Samar is one of the 10 poorest provinces and is susceptible to strong typhoons and rises in sea level, the intensity and frequency of which might increase due to climate change. “We need to ensure that this threat will not result to loss of lives and economic slowdown,” Saño added. Other local government units that were chosen as eco-towns include Siargao Island in Surigao del Norte; the entire province of Batanes; San Vicente town in Palawan; and Marikina City. The provinces of Bohol and Romblon will follow within the year. “We are providing technical assistance to local government units for them to craft their local climate change adaptation plans. We will also incorporate all the best practices that need scaling up. Our goal is to build climate change resilient communities and local economy through poverty reduction and ecosystem protection,” Saño added. Under the memorandum of agreement, CCC will prepare a work plan to be accompanied by technical and financial assistance to help the local government unit enhance existing plans to make it climate change resilient. The local government unit of Guiuan, on the other hand, will provide assistance together with necessary data, services and facilities to the CCC in the implementation of the framework. Mayor Annaliza G. Kwan said the project will greatly benefit the municipality as it aims to increase the resiliency and adaptive capacity against the adverse effects of climate change. Mayor Kwan added that being on the eastern seaboard, Guiuan is very prone to natural calamities but is a protected landscape and seascape because of its rich fisheries and aquatic resources. “Through this project, we will be able to manage, conserve and utilize these resources and help our residents cushion the effects of climate change,” Kwan said. The municipality of Guiuan is a second class municipality composed of 60 barangays. Clustered around the municipality are numerous islands and islets such as Homonhon, Manicani, Calicoan, Tubabao, Sulangan, Suluan and Victory. After Guiuan town, CCC will also declare more environmentally friendly towns in Eastern Samar such as Borongan City, Can-avid and Dolores. Saño said each eco-town will receive P2.5 million. “After we establish our five pilot areas, more eco-towns will be established in the countryside in the coming years,” Saño said. “Within two years of time frame indicated in the agreement, the project will review the bio-physical attributes of the municipality in preparation for an ecosystem assessment on any of its watershed, agriculture, coasal resources, and land uses,” Saño added. “Local economies and rural population are generally natural resource dependent and ecosystems provide goods and services need for economic resilience. Maintaining a healthy and stable ecosystem and natural resource base sustains livelihoods and the local economy,” Saño stressed.

Military officer says Army shifted action to supporting programs of government

BAYBAY CITY – The Philippine Army had already shifted their action to prevent or limit if not get rid of insurgency problem of the country by integrating to the people through supporting various programs of the government, especially those by local government units. Captain Ian Andres Fabellon, civil military officer of the 78th Infantry Battalion assigned in Burauen, Leyte said, that effort such as military combat which they had been doing for the past several years to address insurgency is not totally effective that is why, they had shifted into a more humane and acceptable way of anti-insurgency campaign by integrating with people and helping the government in the deliverance of the basic social needs of the people. The 78th IB under the 8th Infantry Division was formerly assigned in the province of Cebu, but recently they were re-assigned in the province of Leyte to help in ensuring peace and security in the southern part of Leyte Island. Among the activities they are doing is by going the weekly Icot-Caravan, a project of the provincial government of Leyte in which basic social and health services to include delivering agricultural assistance are brought the grassroots level. In this week, their battalion, according to Capt Fabellon, they had assisted the team from the provincial government of Leyte and the city government of Baybay on the 3-day Icot-caravan held in the city of Baybay. “We provided the entertainment by doing a musical show and render free haircut to the barangays we had visited,” said Fabellon. Through this program, Cpt. Fabellon said that they were able to reach-out with the civilian and the local government units and educate them that soldiers are their protector and not their oppressor. “Our mere presence could already tell them that they can approach us and tell us what are their problems in their locality which we can promise to help in facilitating it to inform the concerned government offices or their local government officials,” he added. Fabellon added that to ensure that people will not hesitate in approaching them, the military personnel under their unit were reminded and ordered to be always in proper grooming. “No one will approach us or even believe us if we look untidy, so we make sure that our personnel will always look presentable when they are in public, when they are mingling with the people,” he added. He added that once the problem of insurgency in the province of Leyte and Southern Leyte is already addressed they are hoping that just like the province of Cebu which is now considered as one of the top province in the country, Leyte would also gain such development. “Tourism influx and development will surely come once this province is already out with the problem of insurgency” he stressed.

Officials in EV give positive feedback on DZR Airport upgrading in SONA

TACLOBAN CITY – Officials from this region gave positive feedback over the latest State of the Nation Address(SONA) of President Benigno Aquino particularly when he mentioned that the Tacloban DZR Aiport is among the airports in the country that is to be upgraded. An Waray party-list Representative Neil Benedict Montejo, among officials in the region who has been continuously asking help from the government in providing funds for the continuation of the airport upgrading,said that he is happy that finally the President declared on the rehabilitation of the DZR Airport. DZR Aiport is the 7th busiest airport in the country with 18 daily flights servicing Cebu and Manila routes. “Our effort was not wasted,” said Montejo, referring to the series of talks and follow-ups they made before the Department of Transportation and Communications. The actual work may start before the year ends, Montejo said. Initial budget allocated by the government for the upgrading, according to Montejo is P200 million. “But Secretary (Rene) Limcauco said that they will also do a re-alignment of funds for additional funding of the upgrading and improvement of the DZR airport to ensure that works will continue until their target date which is on 2014,” he added. Tacloban City council member and committee on tourism chair Cristina Romualdez said that it was the best part of Mr. Aquino’s SONA. She said that a better airport would boost the campaign of the city government to make Tacloban as a venue for national conferences.“We hope that this will be implemented as soon as possible for it is not only the city of Tacloban but the entire region that will benefit when this upgrading(of the airport) is done,” she added. Meanwhile, Councilor Jerry “Sambo” Yaokasin said that this is already the answer of their query on when the government will continue the rehabilitation of the DZR Airport. “Flights continuously are added in the airport and the number of airlines providing services at DZR is also increasing in the past years, which is an indication that our airport is one of the gems that contributes to our economy,” said Yaokasin. “We hope that this is not only good for SONA,” he added.