TACLOBAN CITY- A 63-year old barangay chairman managed to escape from a gunman in Laoang, Northern Samar on Saturday (July 25).
Police identified the victim as Conchita Blando, married, and chairman of Barangay Bongliw in the said town.
The suspect, Ariston Novio, 63, was arrested after the shooting incident at around 6:30 pm at the said barangay.
Initial investigation disclosed that the victim was at the public plaza for a barangay meeting when she and her tanods noticed the suspect who was hiding in the dark area.
Armed with an improvised shotgun known as “sumpak”, the suspect introduced himself as a police officer and chased Blando as she ran for her safety.
However, Novio missed the shot after he cornered the victim nearby.
The victim’s son, Arvin, grappled with the suspect and recovered the improvised shotgun, according to the report.
Police are looking into personal grudge as a possible motive for the attack.
The arrested person and the recovered pieces of evidence were brought to Laoang Municipal Police Station for proper disposition.
(RONALD O.REYES)

TACLOBAN CITY- A member of a Special Action Force of the Philippine National Police (SAF-PNP) was shot dead by his colleague inside their training camp in Catbalogan City on Monday (July 27).
Based on the report of the regional headquarter of the PNP based in Camp Ruperto Kangleon, Palo town in Leyte province, Patrolmen Lloyd Imano,32, and Eduardo de la Cruz had a heated argument at about 2:18 am at the 124 Special Action Company gymnasium located in Barangay Guindapunan, Catbalogan City.
Imano, a native of Coronadal City, was said to have confronted de la Cruz for endorsing him to undergo the Sureshock training or the Urban Counter-Revolutionary Warfare Course, one of the courses being undertaken by those who are taking the SAF training.
Imano suddenly entered the bunkhouse of another colleague, Pat. Alvin Migriño, but when he was about to come out from the said bunkhouse, de la Cruz, who is from Taguig City, shot the victim as the former though that latter took a long firearm inside the bunkhouse of Migriño.
Imano was brought to Samar Provincial Hospital, also based in Catbalogan City but was declared dead on arrival by the attending physician.
de la Cruz voluntarily surrendered to Police Senior Master Sergeant Kimjee Guinaat together with his issued firearm, a 9mm Caliber Pistol loaded with eight live ammunitions.
Recovered from the crime scene were: four pieces cartridge cases of 9mm Luger AP.
De la Cruz is now detained at the Catbalogan City Police Station for proper disposition.(RONALD O. REYES/(LIZBETH ANN A.ABELLA)

TACLOBAN CITY- Mayor Alfred Romualdez of this city suggested that motorcycle makers should be consulted first if they will allow a barrier be placed on the motorbikes.
This idea of Mayor Romualdez came on the heels as the government through the Inter-Agency Task Force(IATF) mandated that a barrier should be placed in between the motorcycle driver and his companion as a way to avoid of contracting the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
The IATF approved motorcycle shields should be made of acrylic or any other similar material and not from glass to avoid accidents.
“Unang-una ang mahirap lang yun dapat namagsasabi kung pwedeng gawin yun, dapat magpa-alam sa manufacturer. Because if it will compromise the safety of the vehicle, then that is a problem. So dapat i-clear lang yun,” Mayor Romualdez said.
Romualdez added that even the government will make it mandatory, installing a shield should be done by the manufacturers and not by the motorcycle owners.
“Kung ako, kahit sabihin ng gobyerno na pwedeng maglagay nyan, itatanong natin sa Honda, Yamaha, Suzuki, pwede bang lagyan, dapat sila na mismo ang gumawa para naman kasama sa pag-warranty yun, baka naman pagbili mo ng motor brand new kabitan mo nyan hindi na nila iwa-warranty yan kasi sasabihin nila hindi na safe,” he said.
The national government orders the Philippine National Police to enforce the said mandate and change the schedule of its enforcement from July 26 to July 30.
Putting a barrier in a motorcycle, however, was met with widespread criticisms among motorcycle owners and the public saying it would not help address the possible spread of COVID-19.
Police Regional Office 8 Regional Director Police B/Gen Bernabe Balba however advises the public to just obey the order.
“Mayroong binigay na diagram kung paano gagawin but sabi nga hindi naman pinipigilan ang iba na magagaling ding magdesign and present their suggestion and for approval from the NIATF,” Balba said.
(ROEL T. AMAZONA)

Adopting to the new normal due to COVID-19 pandemic

TACLOBAN CITY-Students in one of the universities here in this city might just be flash drives this school year.
This after an official of the Leyte Normal University (LNU) submitted his proposal before the regional office of the Commission on Higher Education (ChEd) and to the university president, Jude Duarte to use flash drives or USB sticks during this time of coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19) pandemic.
Clemelle Montallana, LNU’s director of the physical plant and facilities, said that under his proposals, students of the university would use flash drives where they can store their class works which they will submit to their respective instructors for review.
The use of flash drives is part of what Montallana described as ‘A-New Normal Project’ or Assistance to Normalistas in the Online Education of the New Learning Hub Project.
According to him, the use of flash drives is just one of the innovations that should be applied during this time of health crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Montallana said that part of his proposal is the university providing computer sets to different local government units in areas where there are LNU enrolled students.
He said that these computers will be used by the students who does not own a computer where they can do their class assignments or activities which they will stored in the flash drives.
“I am positive that ChEd as well as our university president will approve my proposal considering that it’s not costly and is aimed for the safety of our students,” Montallana said.
The LNU official said that students need not go to school every day as online teaching will be applied during this school year.
“The students will only be required to come to school to deposit their flash drives where they stored their assignments or activities at the Guard House,” he said.
This will limit face-to-face contacts between the instructors and students, thus, avoid any possible spread of COVID-19 inside the university, Montallana said.
The instructors would then collect the flash drives of their students for review or checking. LNU has more than enough computer sets to adopt to the new method of teaching.
LNU has around 8,000 students enrolled for this school year to start on August 24.
(JOEY A. GABIETA)