TACLOBAN CITY- A melon-headed whale (Peponecephala electra) died two days after it was washed ashore at the Cancabato Bay, this city.
The regional office of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR), in a statement posted on its Facebook account, said that the whale was sighted near Alimasag Fisherman area in Cancabato Bay on Dec.28 after it was washed ashore due to the rough sea condition spawned by tropical depression ‘Usman.’
The 2.5-meter-long adult marine mammal was brought to the Fishery Law Enforcement Team (FLET) of the Tacloban city government the following day (Dec.29) and was reported to BFAR Fisheries Protection and Law Enforcement Group (FPLEG).
The whale was discovered to be emaciated, has superficial skin scratches and cookie-cutter shark bites.
Still, the whale was brought back and released to the Cancabato Bay at 10 am on that day (Dec.29) as its respiration appeared to be normal and the weather has improved.
However, it re-stranded at around 11:30 a.m. near the shoreline of Leyte Park Hotel and at the old Eastern Visayas Regional Medical Center, both here in the city.
The FPLEG team then responded and brought it to BFAR Coastal Resource Management Center in Barangay Diit, also this city, for temporary care.
However, the shark refused to eat and at around 10:30 pm, it was observed that the shark was having a rapid breathing until it died at around 12:30 am on December 30, 2018, BFAR reported.
The whale’s carcass was buried at the dumping site of the city in Barangay Santo Niño in the afternoon of that day.
Based on the necropsy report, starvation and parasitism were the possible cause of death of the melon-headed whale.
The IUCN(International Union for Conservation of Nature), an international organization that works for nature’s conservation and sustainable use of natural resources, the melon-headed whale is not included on its list of threatened or endangered species.
(JOEY A. GABIETA)
BFAR: Whale washed ashore due to ‘Usman’ dies
Northern Samar under state of calamity due to ‘Usman’
(Photo Courtesy: Northern Samar Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council)
CATARMAN, Northern Samar – This province is now under a state of calamity due to the massive damages left behind by tropical depression ‘Usman’ that also saw eight people killed and one still missing.
During their special session on Thursday(Jan.3), the provincial board, presided by Vice Gov. Gary Lavin, passed Resolution Number 2019-1 placing the entire province under a state of calamity.
The declaration was based on the “widespread damage across the province” from the incessant rains brought by Usman which triggered floodings and landslides never been experienced in the province for the past 30 years.
Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management (PDRRM) officer Rei Josiah Echano reported that 256 (50%) of the province’ 569 barangays were badly affected by the calamity.
Eighteen of the 24 towns experienced massive flooding and landslide incidents that rendered many areas impassable and isolated.
The town of Lope de Vega sustained the biggest damage as its entire 22 barangays suffered flooding reaching up to 2-storey houses and landslides that rendered the town isolated from the rest of the province.
Five people were killed in the town.
The PDRRMC recorded 48,900 families numbering to 224,389 individuals were displaced and evacuated after their respective areas were hit by flooding and landslide incidents.
About eight people were killed and one missing due to flooding and landslide, Echano said.
At least 850 houses were destroyed while 17,846 were damaged due to Usman’s onslaught.
Estimated cost of damage to infrastructure amounted to P147.53 million while its agriculture and fishery sector recorded losses in the amount of P106.95 million.
Lavin said that some barangays remain isolated to include the far-flung barangays of Trangue, Mabini and Quezon, all in Catarman; Buenasuerte and Maxvilla in Victoria, and barangay Catalina in Mondragon.
Governor Jose Ong Jr. on Wednesday (Jan.2) sent an urgent letter to the Sangguniang Panlalawigan requesting for the declaration of state of calamity in the entire province of Northern Samar.
“One of the purpose of placing the province in a state of calamity is for us to access the 30% quick response fund. That’s why we need to know the needs analysis; what more assistance are needed in agriculture, in the relief operations etcetera. We are an agricultural province and for sure we have extensive damage to agriculture but these are not reported,” Lavin said during the plenary.
He said the Municipal Agriculture Officers (MAO’s) are lax on damage reporting.
The provincial government has remaining P20 million calamity funds which can be used in post disaster assistance to the most affected local government units.
“But we need that damage needs analysis report so we can maximize the utilization of our calamity funds,” Lavin said.
By: RACHEL V. ARNAIZ with ROEL T. AMAZONA
Catbalogan City’s acting mayor, vice mayor assumes posts
TACLOBAN CITY-The acting mayor and vice mayor of Catbalogan City formally took over the reign of the city government, more than two months after its mayor, vice mayor and other officials were slapped with a six-month preventive suspension order issued by the Office of the Ombudsman.
Councilors Archie Fuentes and Kendall Luke Perez were sworn into office as acting mayor and acting vice mayor of the city on Thursday (Jan.3) before Judge Sibanah Usman, presiding judge of Regional Trial Court-Branch 29.
To recall, the anti-graft court issued the preventive suspension order without pay to Mayor Stephany Uy-Tan and Vice Mayor Art Sherwin Gabon due to alleged overpriced land purchase and anomalous market lease deal.
Also suspended by the Ombudsman on its November 26 order were seven of the city’s councilors, Coefredo Uy, father of the Stephany Uy-Tan; Jeffrey Uy; Maximo Pascual; Edward Uy; Christine Joy Escobar; Beethoven Bermejo; and Nanette Jasmin.
Included suspended were city accountant Peachy Daguman; city treasurer Elizabeth Lim; city budget officer Ma. Theresa Lim; and city assessor Romero Tuazon.
All were slapped for grave abuse of authority; grave misconduct; gross neglect of duty and violation of code of conduct and ethical standards for public officials relative to the alleged overpriced land purchase and anomalous market lease deal in October, 2015.
The investigation pertained to complaints filed separately by legislative staff officer Bernard Jake Ramos and the Catbalogan Public Market Vendors.
Ramos’ complaint involved the city’s October 2015 purchase of 8.0194-hectare agricultural lands owned by Alvin Cesar Laohoo and Lorenzo Laohoo Jr. for P120.225 million, 773 times the market value of P155,497.84.
The five parcels were “hastily” reclassified as residential, industrial, institutional and commercial land in June 2016. This hiked the total market value 444 times to P69.15 million.
The second complaint filed against the suspended officials involved the proposed lease of the city’s public market to the Philippine Primark Properties Inc.(PPPI) filed by the city’s market vendors association.
The PPPI has planned to develop the 10,000 square meter property.
Tan secured the authorization of the city council to enter a lease agreement with PPPI but the latter said to occupy the property immediately and started collecting fees from vendors prior to the execution of the agreement on December 5.
Suspended Mayor Uy-Tan dismissed the complaints as politically motivated and without basis saying both deals underwent due process and were above board.
Uy-Tan was seeking for her third and last term as mayor in this year’s elections but withdrew her bid and filed instead as a councilor with her younger brother, Dexter, substituting her.
Uy-Tan vowed to contest the order by filing a motion for reconsideration.
The suspension orders were served to Uy-Tan and Gabon on December 28 by the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) which paved the way for the assumption of Fuentes and Perez.
It’s not yet clear if the city council could transact business as they still wait opinion from the DILG.
With the assumption of Councilors Fuentes and Perez as acting mayor and vice mayor, the remaining members of the council are Siegfried Uy and Michael Ian Tuazon, city president of the Association of Barangay Chairmen, and Sangguniang Kabataan city federation president, respectively.
Acting Mayor Perez, in a press statement he issued right after he assumed the post, said that he would continue to implement the ‘good’ projects and programs initiated by the suspended mayor.
He added that in his six-month in office, his administration will observe transparency and accountability in all the transactions it would enter.
The acting mayor also vow to engage the people of the city in all the undertakings that he would do.
“I appeal to you, my bosses, to help and extend your cooperation to the city government,” Perez added. (RONALD O. REYES/JOEY A. GABIETA)
Regional poultry industry posted an 18.1 percent increase during the Q3 of 2018
TACLOBAN CITY – The province of Leyte has produced the highest number of chickens in Eastern Visayas for the third quarter of 2018,a report from the Philippine Statistics Authority(PSA) said.
Wilma Perante, PSA regional director, said that among the six provinces here in the region, Leyte recorded the highest number of chicken at 1,695,155 birds, or 51.8 percent of the total regional chicken population.
Samar ranked second with 555,440 birds, accounting 17 percent of the region’s total chicken inventory.
Eastern Samar, meanwhile, registered the lowest inventory of chicken with 3.9 percent share or 128,157 birds.
Perante reported that the chicken industry in Eastern Visayas posted an 18.1 percent increase in production during the third quarter of 2018.
Based on the preliminary data, the total chicken production in the region went up to 14,280 metric tons (MT) in the third quarter of 2018 from 12,092 MT in the same quarter last year.
“Region VIII accounted for 3.3 percent of the country’s total chicken production during the third quarter of 2018. It ranked seventh among the regions with low chicken production in the country,” Perante said.
Meanwhile, as of October of last year, the total chicken population in Eastern Visayas stood at 3,268,844 birds which a decrease of 2.9 percent from its 3,365,703 inventory compare to 2017 of the same period.
(RESTITUTO A. CAYUBIT)
Prioritizing employment opportunities will be a key to address poverty in EV, says Noel
TACLOBAN CITY- The An Waray party-list group will give focus on providing livelihood, aside from its regular programs.
This was revealed by former congressman Florencio ‘Bem’ Noel, first nominee of the party-list for this year’s midterm elections.
According to Noel, considering that the government is also giving free education for college students and free health care, they have decided to give importance on livelihood opportunities as its major thrust.
“We have been focusing on trying to help the district congressmen to push for programs that will send children to school, provide jobs and help to be able to send sick family members to hospital,” Noel said.
“(But)now that these services are now included on the programs of the government such as free education, the universal health care for the sick, An Waray will shift its focus on providing livelihood to help address poverty,” he added.
Noel said that they will coordinate with other government agencies like the Technical Education Skills and Development Authority (TESDA) on their livelihood-related programs.
He added that by giving opportunities to the people, particularly those coming from poor families, will somehow address the problem on poverty as this could open employment opportunities to them.
Still, the An Waray party-list would continue to provide free medical services by putting up funds at the Eastern Visayas Regional Medical Center as well as allocate for its scholarship program for poor but deserving students.
Noel said that for the past couple of weeks now, he has been going around, visiting even remote areas in the region which give him idea on the real condition of the villagers.
“It is good that I am able to go out and observe the real problems of the families,” he said.
The An Waray party-list group also launched a program dubbed as ‘One Visayas’ which aim to help promote the tourism industry of the region as well as boots its local products.
(LIZBETH ANN A.ABELLA)
Gov. Petilla distributed tractors to 36 farmers’ associations in Leyte
PALO, Leyte – About 36 tractors were distributed to farmers’ associations in Leyte as assistance of the provincial government’s ‘Yolanda’ rehabilitation program.
Governor Leopoldo Dominico Petilla said in an interview that the tractors were distributed to 36 farmers associations in 17 towns of the province.
The governor added that the money used for the procurement of the tractor, which cost P1 million each, was from the P236. 2 million Yolanda Rehabilitation and Recovery Program of the Department of Agriculture.
He added that the tractors will greatly help in the agricultural modernization program being undertaken by his administration.
(RESTITUTO A. CAYUBIT)