TACLOBAN CITY- Some 36,312 real properties in this city will be reassessed of its value by the city government according to local laws and the Bureau of Local Government Finance Memorandum Circular No. 111-2013.
The City Assessor’s Office (CAO) has reported that it started the reassessment of real properties in this city last September 10.
Engineer Danilo Demillo, CAO officer-in-charge, in an interview over ‘Sumat Tacloban’, the radio program of the City Information Office, said that the real property inventory operation started last Sept.9.
Demillo said that the city will begin reassessing the property values of 36,312 residential real properties; that includes 32,925 residential units, 3,340 business units, and 47 industrial buildings.
The last time the office conducted a reassessment of properties in the city was in 2016.
The field assessments are expected to be completed in six months.
The official clarified that the real property assessment is performed to verify and determine as to whether or not all real properties in the City are properly listed in the assessment roll, eliminate from the records taxable properties which have been destroyed or incurred a permanent loss of value, and purge the rolls of double assessment entries.
This is to ensure that property owners pay the accurate portion of property taxes to the City Government, he added.
Two teams have been assigned to assess in coordination with barangay officials.
(HENRY JAMES ROCA/CIO)

MAASIN CITY- More than 3,000 crown-of-thorns (COTs), specie of starfish, were seen in the waters of Malitbog town alone, according to Aileen Estrera, member of the province’s Sangguniang Panlalawigan, citing a recent survey conducted by the Southern Leyte State University (SLSU).
During the 3rd Quarterly Meeting of the Provincial Disaster Risk reduction and Management Council (PDRRMC) held in this city on September 9, Estrera has urged the PDRRM officer to recommend to the Sanggunian a COT outbreak in the province once all the municipalities with COT presence will be able to submit their list of barangays affected, after the said municipalities’ COT outbreak declaration.
“The normal COT in every hectare of corals is only one, but after the survey, it was found out that there are 25-30 COTs per hectare of corals,” Estrera, who is the committee chair on Environment Protection, disclosed.
As of this writing, the barangays of Kuwangon has 76 COTs; Iba – 40; Timba – 195; Abgao – 130 and the rest were seen in other areas, all in the municipality of Malitbog.
Other municipalities with crown-of-thorns based on the survey include Limasawa, Liloan, Padre Burgos and Libagon, Estrera said.
“In every single COT, it produces 60 million eggs, though only 1 percent will survive but 1 percent of 60 million is already 600,000,” Estrera said.
Once a crown-of-thorn prey on corals, the affected corals will die, she said, adding that this should be addressed immediately.
Southern Leyte is considered as one with the best dive sites in the country where coral reefs and best marine sites are promoted. (LDL/RGC/PIA-8, Southern Leyte)

TACLOBAN CITY – The Eastern Visayas Regional Development Council (RDC) is pushing for the establishment of two state-run agencies to supervise housing projects in the region.
The RDC is still waiting for the central government’s response on the resolutions requesting for the establishment of regional offices of Housing Land Use Regulatory Board (HLURB) and Social Housing Finance Corporation (SHFC).
The region’s highest policy-making body sent the resolutions approved on June 21, 2019, to the Office of the President and to the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council.
National Economic and Development Authority regional director Meylene Rosales, the RDC’s vice-chairperson, said on Friday they are upbeat on the positive response of the government to this request.
The RDC pushed for setting up of these two offices to eliminate corruption in the implementation of community-based housing projects and fast-track the issuances of clearances and licenses for housing activities.
“There was an issue raised on the alleged irregular collection of fees from the beneficiaries of the government’s permanent housing project implemented through SHFC. The major factor behind this was the absence of their field office here in the region to monitor projects,” Rosales said in a phone interview.
Early this year, hundreds of housing beneficiaries have filed cases against a community housing organizer and her accomplices for overpricing of land acquisition, non-remittance of payments, and illegal collection of fees from recipients housing projects funded by SHFC.
Meanwhile, the absence of HLURB regional office has slowed down the pace of housing projects due to the lack of personnel and absence of authority to monitor and resolve issues and approve plans and applications for clearances and licenses.
“RDC members agreed that the presence of a fully staffed HLURB and SHFC offices in the region is important to regulate and monitor the implementation of remaining Yolanda resettlement projects and other ongoing and future housing projects,” Rosales said.
The HLURB regional office in this city has stopped its operation in 2010 after the merger of two field offices in Cebu and Tacloban due to the implementation of the Government Rationalization Program.
The agency has been maintaining a desk at the Government Service Insurance System office in this city to answer public queries. All transactions from the region have to go through the regional office in Cebu City.
The HLURB is the primary agency mandated to provide technical assistance in the preparation, review, and approval of Comprehensive Land Use Plan (CLUP) of local government units.
All development and constructions on land of towns and cities without the CLUP will have to get the approval of the HLURB office in Cebu.
As of 2018, only 85 percent of the region’s 143 towns and cities have approved CLUPs.
(SARWELL Q. MENIANO/PNA)

TACLOBAN CITY – The month-long intensified campaign against the New People’s Army (NPA) is gaining grounds in Eastern Visayas region, the Philippine Army reported on Monday.
Since the launching of the campaign last August 1, seven NPA lairs have been discovered with nine gun battles fought, resulting in the death of four armed rebels, the Army’s 8th Infantry Division (ID) said.
The military has also recovered 14 assorted firearms, 14 backpacks, and several magazines and ammunition.
“The government troops also suffered casualties because the NPAs used an improvised explosive device (IED), which is against the International Humanitarian Law (IHL). But despite the use of IEDs, the NPAs were forced to vacate their encampments and fled towards different directions to save their lives from the pursuing government troops,” said Major Bard Caesar Mazo, officer-in-charge of 8th ID’s public affairs office.
The military lauded residents for providing government troops with information. These informants decided to support government troops after suffering from extortion and forced collection of food by the jobless armed fighters, the military added.
The NPA, which has been waging a five-decade armed struggle against the government, is listed as a terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the Philippines.
“Soldiers will never stop hunting the communist NPA terrorists. The NPAs can run but they cannot hide. Their best option is to return to the folds of the law and use the benefits being offered by the government under the Enhanced Comprehensive Local Integration Program (E-CLIP) to start new lives,” Mazo added.
Under E-CLIP, each former rebel is granted immediate assistance of P15,000 and livelihood assistance of P50,000. There are also other benefits specified in the E-CLIP implementing guidelines.
The 8th ID vowed to continue intensified combat operations to protect communities in the region through its more than 7,000 combat troops.
(SARWELL Q. MENIANO/PNA)