Vol 1 Issue 3 A Daily E-Newsletter of Philippine Information Agency - 8 SEPTEMBER 4, 2013

The Department of Tourism has partnered with the Department

of Social Welfare and Development and the United States Agency for International Development to implement a convergence program called The One-Step Project which aims to improve the lives of the poor with more direct interventions through tourism activities. DOT Region 8 Director Karina Rosa Tiopes told the Philippine Information Agency that the One-Step Project is a big stride to include the poor at the start of the development process and integrate communities including but not limited to the beneficiaries of DSWD’s Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program in the tourism value chain. Director Tiopes said that this convergent project is in line with President Benigno S. Aquino III’s vision of “inclusive growth” for the country, integrating the poor in the tourism value chain by improving their reach and power to access opportunities either as managers of tourism destinations or suppliers of goods or services to the growing tourism markets in the country. Tiopes disclosed that the DSWD in the Region has already invited DOT for an orientation on The One-Step Project. DOT 8 One-Step Focal Person

One-Step Project, a convergence to improve the lives of the poor thru tourism

continued on page 6

Thousands join ATOM

mass, procession in

TaclobanBy: CONSUELO B. ALARCON

Thousands of catholics joined the August Thirty One Miracle (ATOM)

procession in the city on August 31 as a manifestation of their gratitude to the Lord for keeping safe the residents of Tacloban and the whole of Region 8 when a 7.6 magnitude earthquake struck on August 31 a year ago. The procession passed through the main streets of the City at 3:30 in the afternoon and culminated at the Sto. Nino Church where a Thanksgiving Mass was held with HIs Excellency Archbishop of Palo John F. Du as the main celebrant, and with a number of priest concelebrating. Although the procession ended up at around 4:30 in the afternoon, the

believers did not go home, instead they patiently waited for the mass at 5:30 in the afternoon. In his homily, Archbishop Du expressed his gratitude to the faithful for joining him in thanking the Lord for saving the people from a terrible earthquake . He said, ’We could have been wiped out and we could not have been here today now but because of God’s mercy and love we are here today, so it is but proper to praise and glorify Him.” The August 31, 2012 earthquake has been considered a miracle because no one was hurt and no buildings collapsed when the strong quake jolted the city and many parts of Eastern Visayas. “Thousand of lives would have been lost and towns or barangays could have been swept away by giant waves were it not for God’s intervention”, Archbishop Du said.continued on page 6

2 | SEPTEMBER 4, 2013

Biliran LGUs, NGAs join nationwide urban tree planting

By: FLORDELIS E. JACKSON

Officials and employees of the local government units (LGUs) of

Biliran province composed of the eight municipalities led by the respective mayors and other officials, the provincial government of Biliran led by Governor Gerryboy Espina, heads and employees of the national government agencies (NGAs), participants from the academe, the private sector, civil society organizations (CSOs) and volunteers are set to participate in the simultaneous nationwide urban tree planting activity on Saturday, September 7, 2013 after an opening program at 5:30 in the morning. This was learned by the Philippine Information Agency (PIA), Biliran Provincial Information Center during a meeting called by the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), Biliran Provincial Office through Marilyn Saboy, Provincial Director, at 8:00 o’clock in the morning on Monday, September

2, 2013 at the Naval State University (NSU) Maritime Audio Visual Room. Dubbed as 2013 Oplan Broadcastreeing: The Urban Greening Project under the National Greening Program of President Benigno S. Aquino’s administration pursuant to the memorandum of agreement dated April 27, 2011 between the DILG and continued on page 6

the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas (KBP) in coordination with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), the tree planting activity that will be conducted in the municipalities of Biliran province simultaneous with the rest of the provinces all over the country aims to

Julius N. Oballo (1st from right),associate graft investigation officer 1 of the Office of the Ombudsman (OMB)-Visayas based in Tacloban City and the team leader of the Oplan Red Plate in Region 8, examines the travel documents presented by the driver of the government vehicle flagged down in one of the thoroughfares of Baybay City during the conduct of Oplan Red Plate on August 25,2013.Oballo is accompanied by other team members from the OMB-Visayas and the Land Transportation Office (LTO) here in Region 8.(PIA 8 Biliran)

DPWH 1st LED fast tracks flood control projects

The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) – Leyte First

Engineering District (1st LED) headed by District Engineer Angel A. Sia, Jr. is currently hands full with its various flood control projects in a number of municipalities in the province of Leyte. Along Tacloban-Palo-Sta. Fe-Alangalang-San Miguel Road, Palo, Leyte, construction of flood mitigating control system is currently being conducted. The project is being funded by the Department of Tourism for CY 2013 at a contract

cost of Php33,801,298.89 targeted to be completed in a period of 170 calendar days. Said project is being implemented by the B.M. Marketing and is now 15.00% accomplished.Once completed, the project will prevent the national road from the possibility of being eroded especially during occurrence of floods. Likewise, the project provides an economic upliftment to the common residents within the area because some of them are hired as laborers by the contractor in the duration of the project.Another flood control structure currently being constructed is in Sta. Fe, Leyte with an appropriation of Php2,000,000.00 under the Priority

Development Assistance Fund – Lower House CY-2013. Said project is under contract with the RPBJ Trading & Construction. During the last week of August, the project was already 30.00% accomplished.Along Daang Maharlika, Brgy. San Joaquin, Palo, Leyte, an on-going flood control facility is also being constructed which is funded under the DPWH Regular Projects for CY 2013. Implemented by the COLLERA Construction at a contract cost of Php8,967,688.80, the project, which is already 75% complete, is targeted to be completed in about 150 days.Lastly, at the Bethel International

By: MARIVIC ALCOBER

continued on page 6

SEPTEMBER 4, 2013 | 3

PNP Eastern Visayas

advocates Pito laban sa

krimen

The Pito Laban sa Krimen advocacy was highlighted during the opening

program of the National Crime Prevention Week commemoration in Eastern Visayas. Philippine National Police Region 8 Director Elmer Soria led in the simultaneous whistle blowing of the more than 1000 attendees at the Tacloban City Convention Center in the morning of September 2, 2013. “The whistle blowing symbolizes the shared commitment of each one to actively participate in crime prevention efforts and sending a strong message to criminals and would-be offenders that law enforcers are in constant watch of any crime activities

and wrongdoings,” Director Soria said. The 19th National Crime Prevention Week (NCPW) Celebration in Eastern Visayas was formally launched Monday at the Tacloban City Convention Center spearheaded by the National Police Commission (Napolcom) headed by Regional Director Nicomedez Jose. This was in cooperation with the interagency technical working group such as Philippine National Police, Dept. Of Interior and Local Government, Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, Philippine Information Agency (PIA) and the City Government of Tacloban. Other government agencies also joined the kick-off ceremony were the Civil Service Commission, Bureau of Fire protection, Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP), the academe and other stakeholders. (PIA 8)

Samar dad reminds gov’t

workers on

“tuwid na daan”

Samar Board Member Von Zosa urged hundreds of civil servants

during the 113th Civil Service anniversary celebration to reflect on their roles as government workers. “This year’s theme: “Tatak Lingkod Bayan: Isabuhay, Ipagmalaki, Ipagbunyi” is a reminder for all of us government workers to live within our means, not beyond the comfort dictated by our income levels,” he stressed. Some 700 employees from different government agencies joined the thanksgiving mass and fun walk before the commemorative program held at the Samar State University Gym. The SP member reminded the state workers to observe Republic Act 6713 which he said establishes the Code of Conduct and Ethical standard for Public officials. “If we live by this code, there is no reason why we cannot tread the straight path delienated by PNoy in his matuwid na daan,” he added. He mentioned about these times when the government is constantly rocked by controversies and leaders assailed by criticisms that tend to cast doubt on their integrity. “We need to remain true to our Code of Conduct, renew our commitment to work with diligence, dedication, efficiency and integrity.” Zosa added that public servants must move to make the government work and recognize the rights and welfare of the citizens. The BM who represented Governor Sharee Ann Tan went on to remind the crowd of public servants to stem the floodwaters of corruption. (PIA 8-Samar)

Poverty indicators survey manual processing starts Sept. 9

The National Statistics Office (NSO) in Eastern Visayas is set to start

on September 9, 2013 the manual processing of the accomplished questionnaires for the recently

By: LEONILO A. LOPIDO

conducted 2012 Annual Poverty Indicators Survey (APIS), Regional Director Raul F. Dones said in a press statement.Director Dones said that APIS is the ninth in a series of annual poverty indicators surveys conducted nationwide by NSO which gather data to generate non-income-based poverty indicators for monitoring the poverty situation in the country and for the formulation of policies and programs to improve the living conditions of the poor.The processing, he said, will be done at the respective Provincial Statistics Offices in Region 8 with the NSO hired personnel who will undergo proper training on processing procedures.According to Dones, the Task Force Training was held in Manila last August 21-23, 2013 and was attended by PSO Mae R. Almonte and Statistician Aide Evelyn D. Dacoycoy and will serve as trainers for the second level training which will be conducted at La Luna Beach Resort Brgy. Sulangan, Guiuan, Eastern Samar on September 2–4, 2013.The manual processing for the said survey is prepared as a guide for processors in checking for the

completeness, consistency of entries, and the reasonable of data entered by interviewers in APIS questionnaires, he said.In addition, Dones explained that continued on page 6

4 | SEPTEMBER 4, 2013

SSS urges more trike drivers to join Alkansya Program

More tricycle drivers are encouraged to join in the Alkansya Program of

the Social Security Council(SSS) here.SSS Provincial Manager, Atty. Oliver Menda said that at present, the office has recorded some 120 tricycle drivers as members of the SSS Alkansya Program which was launched in June this year, but as of press time, only about 65 had been issued of their SSS Cards. In the June Program Launching, SSS encouraged the drivers to put-in a few cents to the Alkansya which was posted at the Borongan City Hall. These tricycle drivers are members of the organization plying the route to and from the Eastern Samar State University (ESSU) campus, some 10mins. drive from the city. However, of the 65, only 19 are religiously paying their monthly dues of P312.00. Thus, Menda called on the drivers concerned to update their contributions in order to fully avail of the SSS benefits just like regular members. He likewise informed that the Alkansya Program is not limited to drivers, other informal sectors can join he said, market and fish vendors for instance, he added. Meanwhile, asked on the local compliance of Kasambahay Law, Menda informed that some 15 local employers have registered their househelps. This is quite low, he said, but this is good enough for a start, admitting further that a massive information campaign with media, has to be conducted by SSS to achieve their desired target percentage of compliance. (PIA-Eastern Samar/aen)

Brighter tomorrow awaits 164 C4TP scholars as they graduate at vocational school in Calubian

As they graduate from the Calubian National Vocational School at

Calubian, Leyte on September 4, the future is brighter and more colorful for 164 scholars of the Cash for Training Project (C4TP) which is being implemented by the Department of Social Welfare and Development and TESDA. Ms. Daisy Lagaday, Vocational School Administrator of the TESDA administered Calubian National Vocational School, told the Philippine Information Agency that majority of the beneficiaries of the government’s C4TP are children and dependents of family recipients of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program. Through the C4TP, the government is helping the country’s disadvantaged youth become productive and gainfully employed through skills training, job search assistance, and provision of cash allowance for transport and food.The skills training program has two components: training for wage employment and training for self-employment, Ms. Lagaday said.About 65 scholars who opted to train for self-employment will be given basic toolkits by the DSWD during the September 4 graduation, Lagaday disclosed. Ms. Lagaday added that Jobs bridging activity will be conducted on September 3 for those who opted train for wage employment. At least four employers have confirmed to attend the Job Bridging with the purpose of hiring the graduates. These include Oriental Hotel Leyte, Bosh John, Motor Star and DES Marketing. Another employer, the SC Global in Baybay City is also

expected to participate. Twenty-one welding graduates from Javier, Leyte will automatically be employed by the Local Government Units in its many infrastructure projects. Four scholars who opted for self-employment will avail of the incubation for Bread and Pastry Production in the school, Ms. Lagaday said. The school will provide start up capitalization while the Department of Labor and Employment through its Youth Entrepreneurship Program will give P10,000 to each of the graduates who opted to become self-employed. Job Bridging is being conducted as the program aims for immediate employment of graduates. Of the 164 graduates, 13 took up Bread and Pastry Production; 8 took Food and Beverage Services; 6 took up Tourism; one took up Processed Food and Beverage Food Processing; another one took up Massage Therapy; 19, Automotive; 17, Automotive with Driving;17, Motorcycle and Small Engine Servicing; 8, Consumer electronics servicing; 18, Electrical Installation and Maintenance; 35, Shielded Metal Arc Welding; and another 21 will graduate in Shielded Metal Arc Welding in partnership with LGU Javier, Leyte. All the graduates will be given National Certification (NC) II, said Ms. Lagaday who expressed her happiness for having a small part in providing brighter future for the young scholars who come from various towns in Leyte, Matagob, Calubian, Javier, Merida, Tabango, Leyte, Kananga, San Isidro, Hilongos, Isabel, Palompon and Villaba to name a few. (PIA 8)

www.issuu.com/1easternvisayas

SEPTEMBER 4, 2013 | 5

Eastern Visayas Federation for Information Technology (EVFIT) executive director Ranjit Montablan (left) says that the people should be aware that the Information Communication Technology (ICT) industry is helping the economic growth of the country. Thus, an ICT Roadshow on September 11-13 at the Tacloban City Convention Center to be spearheaded by the ICT council in Region 8 will be held to promote our region to be globally competitive, says Montalban at the Harampang ha PIA. Also in photo are (l-r) PIA 8 regional director Olive Tiu, EVFIT vice-chair Raquel Chua and Claire Fernandez of DOST. (Raul S. Tiozon)

LMWD informs V & G

Subdivision residents of

water service interruption

By: MARIVIC ALCOBER

The Leyte Metropolitan Water District (LMWD), through its Officer

In-Charge/Assistant General Manager Pastor A. Homeres, would like to inform its water concessainaires in Phases 1, 2, and 5 in V&G Subdivision, Tacloban City of a low water pressure and/or service interruption for three hours from 9:00 p.m. to 12:00 midnight on Wednesday, September 4, 2013. According to LMWD, the said service interruption is due to the installation of a line valve on the six inches in diameter distribution line which is located at the corner of Adelfa and Doña Gorgonia Streets at Phase 5, V&G Subd., Tacloban City. To avoid any inconvenience, LMWD advices its water concessionaires in the affected areas

Philippine Councilors League(PCL) Eastern Samar Chapter Secretary,

Atty. Dodgie Encinas disclosed the chapter’s stand that the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) should be released instead to Local Government Units (LGUs) or to the Regional Development Councils (RDCs) and down to the provincial and municipal and city development councils. Atty. Encinas made the pronouncement in a recent radio interview, after a PCL caucus of

Local Councilors League calls for release of PDAF to LGUs RDCs

municipal and city councilors in Eastern Samar. Encinas said the PCL Eastern Samar chapter conviction on PDAF, relative to the alleged scam, surfaced during their recent caucus, adding that their suggestion will not however ensure a hundred percent corruption-free PDAF once it is passed through LGUs and local development councils, but it certainly, will minimize illegal disbursements. He further said that PCL Eastern Samar is set to formulate and sign a manifesto soon, to make real their call to the President for PDAF to be delivered to the right beneficiaries. The PCL Eastern Samar secretary added that it would be better for Congressmen to focus their time in legislating bills that will benefit their respective districts, instead of lobbying for fund releases. The recent PPCL caucus recorded an attendance of 232 municipal and city councilors coming from the 22 towns and one city of Eastern Samar. (PIA8-Eastern Samar)

to store enough supply of water for their consumption during the temporary three-hour water service interruption. (PIA-8)

6 | SEPTEMBER 4, 2013

One Step project... from page 1

Ms. Trina Dacuycuy said that included in the One-Step Map in Eastern Visayas are three municipalities of Northern Samar namely, Silvino Lobos, Las Navas and Catubig. The convergence project which was sealed with the signing of a Memorandum of Agreement in the first week of August taps the potential of the 13 million poor Filipinos and the 2.1 million Pantawid households in nine priority tourism clusters, Director Tiopes said. It aims to identify the poor households with greater propensity for success, particularly those living in the tourism clusters that host more than 21 million domestic and foreign tourists, and enroll them in tourism enterprises either as part of a destination community or a supplier community. Under this partnership, the DSWD, through its Sustainable Livelihood Program (SLP), will help DOT translate the National Tourism Development Plan (NTDP) into a community-driven eco-tourism development plan to ensure inclusive economic growth. The DSWD SLP provides opportunities to its underprivileged participants to be self-reliant by engaging in income-generating activities, the lady director added. (PIA 8)

Thousands join... from page 1

Moreover, he called on the people to be always humble before God because according to the word of God” the more we humble ourselves the more we become favorable to God.” Meanwhile, fun run enthusiasts converged early morning of Saturday for

the fun run intended to commemorate the ATOM. The August Thirty One Miracle (ATOM) was organized and managed by the various local media in partnership with the Santo Nino Parish Church. (PIA-8)

plant trees in urban areas. Director Saboy pointed out during the meeting that the planting sites will be identified by the LGUs themselves to focus on schools, municipal tree parks and main thoroughfares. The representative of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), Biliran District Engineering Office (BDEO) who was present during the meeting suggested that in the province of Biliran, areas along the national highways shall no longer be included as planting sites as this will disturb future development plans, but instead, areas along the cross-country road going to the municipality of Caibiran were identified as plant sites as these areas need to

Biliran LGUs... from page 2

the processor is given the full task of examining carefully and meticulously all the entries in the questionnaires, perform specific activities such as folioing of questionnaires, manual consistency checking of GEO-ID, editing and coding of APIS questionnaires and final review of manually processed questionnaire by the supervisor. (PIA-8)

Poverty indicators... from page 3be planted with more trees. DENR-Biliran which is tasked to provide seedlings informed that they will provide each LGU with at least 200 seedlings of fruit trees, narra, mahogany and other hardwood varieties. Further, DENR-Biliran informed that they have some 1,800 seedlings available for the September 7 urban planting activity. For its part, the provincial government of Biliran through Governor Espina will provide the transportation of the seedlings from the DENR-Biliran seed house to the different identified tree planting sites at the LGUs. Relative to the activity, Director Saboy urged the participants to bring their own planting tools for their own convenience. “For the sustainability of the project and to aim for higher survival of the seedlings to be planted, I suggest that each participant takes care of his own seedlings planted and tag his name for proper identification”, she said. (PIA 8-Biliran)

DPWH 1st LED... from page 2

School, Brgy. Pawing, Palo, Leyte, it was reported that an excavation for the installation of 350 linear meters lined canal and construction of about 42 linear meters reinforced concrete box culvert is also being constructed.The 30% accomplished project is funded under the Priority Development Assistance Fund – Lower House – CY 2013 at a project cost of Php1,494,879.00 implemented by the Silk and Steel Construction. (PIA-8)

www.pia.gov.ph