Such a heroic feat usually is done by a foot soldier or any ordinary man in uniform, a PO. But a senior superintendent of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) to gamble his own life to save a family from drowning in the rampaging flood that typhoon Yolanda caused, is worthy of note.
Paulete Buenaventura, is a 32 years-old mother of three: ages 12, 7 and 3. She hails from Basey, Samar but now resides at FERIAN apartment, Brgy. 84 Manlurip, Tacloban City. She works at the Philippine National Bank (PNB), and has a seaman husband who was away to foreign seas when typhoon Yolanda, the strongest typhoon that hit Tacloban and other towns of Leyte on the 8th of November 2013.
As Yolanda’s strong killer winds lashed their place, Paulete feared it might break their window glasses so she had the windows protected by a heavy mattress. She started to pack; to include foods, clothing and secured important documents. Then suddenly, flood waters splashed into their dwelling, and it rose so high in a matter of seconds. By impulse, tugging her children along, she climbed up the second floor of their apartment. At the second floor she had a clear view of the outside, and they saw dwellings being blown and floating in the flood were debris was all over; a number of rooftops got detached and blown down too. The waters in the street were almost ten feet (10 ft.) deep, she calculated.
Fearing that the same might happen to their apartment, she immediately with her young children and a nanny, climbed up the ceiling and crawled to the next apartment, Door 4, she insistently knocked at its ceiling. Lo and behold! SSupt. Hernan Gallo Grande was there with a Jail Officer 1 Flores, possibly a security officer. S/Supt. Grande is the regional director of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology, Region VIII. He took them in and instructed Paulette to have her kids stay at the ceiling, for their own safety. He made makeshift stairs using the sofa and improvised a rope out of belts and blankets.
At the Grande Apartment Door 4, another family not know to SSupt Grande and not from the same apartment has already taken shelter ahead of them. This family almost drowned from the flood but S/Supt. Grande saw them floating and appearing helpless in the waters so the officer immediately dived into the rampaging waters carrying with him the makeshift rope to save the drowning family. Safe inside the Grande apartment, the BJMP director noticed that the leg of the father of this other saved family was bleeding profusely. Director Grande immediately got his first aid kit, disinfected the wound, poured Betadine and pressed and covered the wound with clothes to stop the bleeding.
Both families were provided dry clothes by the director.

By: Alvin Gz. Arpon

TACLOBAN CITY – Wastes coming from the hospitals needs to be disposed properly to avoid possible spread of disease.
With this goal, the ACTED (Agency for Technical Cooperation and Development) has been going around in all hospitals in Tacloban to gather and collect all of their wastes.
The group collects about 100 cubic meters of solid waste a day. The ACTED started their hospital wastes gathering on November 19, 2013.
Collecting these wastes from the hospitals would deter possible occurrence of diseases, said its project manager Engr. Francis Lloyd Cinco.
He said that if these hospital wastes like gloves, syringes and medicine bottles, would not be disregarded, there is a high possibility that diseases would be developed.
“These hospital wastes must not be disregarded by the government. These must be collected and thrown in a proper area where there are no houses that will be distracted by the bad odor of those waste,” Cinco said.
All wastes collected by their group are being dumped at the northern village of Santo Nino where Tacloban’s open dump site is located.
The dump is far from any houses, schools, office and other structure, Cinco said.
“It is the duty and responsibility of the hospital to segregate their waste. Our (only) duty is to collect and throw their waste in dump site,” he added.
The ACTED collects the wastes coming from all hospitals in Tacloban. Hospitals from the towns of Palo, Tanauan and Burauen, all in Leyte, are also being cover by their wastes collection.
Cinco said that all their 80 volunteers are being paid by the ACTED at P260 a day of work. All of them wear safety gears such as safety mask, safety goggles, hand gloves and boots.

BY: RYAN GABRIEL LLOSA ARCENAS

TACLOBAN CITY – The city government will lose about P370 million from local taxes this year due to business financial woes in the aftermath of supertyphoon Yolanda.
City administrator Tecson John Lim said that after the storm, only about 10% of the actual revenue was collected by the City Treasurer Office (CTO) as business owners hold off plans to resume operations.
“During the first 10 days of January, the city government only earned 6% of what we have collected for the same period last year,” Lim said.
The CTO reported that for the first week of January, Tacloban earned only P2.1 million in real property and business tax. In January 2013, the city’s business tax collection has reached P15 million of the same period.
Only 151 registered businesses have renewed their business so far as of January 18 of the 15,000 business establishments in the city.
For November and December 2013, total revenue reached only P1.4 million and P3 million, respectively. Before the disaster, the city targeted P9.6 million revenue for November and P17.5 million for December.
“The first part of every year is where we earn a bulk of our collection. We usually get P200 million from January to March,” Lim added.
For the entire 2013, the city collected P301.9 million or 39% lower than the P495.7 million local taxes generated a year ago.
Due to typhoon, the city council approved a resolution extending the deadline for renewal of business permits to June 20, 2014 or five months later than the usual January 20 deadline.
Lim said that with the income loss, the city will likely reduce the number of about 1,000 employees to about half and cut other operational expenses.
“From P500 million to P550 million annual budget for maintenance and operation, we will scale it down to only P150 million this year since we will lose a significant amount. We even planned to turn off all air conditioning units and use fans. It’s just hard as that,” he added.
City Councilor Jerry Uy, chair of the city council’s ways and means committee, said the legislators have approved some ordinances that will give financial leeway to affected businesses.
“Aside from extending the deadline for the payment of business taxes, and renewal of business permits and licenses for 2014, the city council also approved the condoning of delinquent real property taxes and business taxes, including interests and penalties, for 2013 and prior years,” Uy explained.
The local government also suspends the collection of real property taxes for 2014. There is also a freeze in the adjustment of rates of taxes, fees and charges, and the collection of socialized housing tax, idle land tax and garbage fees for this year.
The council also approved the waiving of fees for electrical permits for reconnection of power lines; building permit fees and charges for reconstruction; rebuilding; demolition and repair of infrastructure and houses damaged by the storm.
Lim said the local government will suffer the consequence of being independent of the national government’s internal revenue allotment (IRA).
The city government has an IRA of P425 million this year. About 25% will be set aside for mandatory allocations mandated law, according to the city official.

By: SARWELL Q.MENIANO