BY: ARIEL E. ALPINO

Matin-ao Elementary School of Burauen North District, adhere this policy to let everyone feel that education is free.
No tuition fee and no contribution will be facilitated in all learning institution as being mandated by the Department of Education.
Our school was so lucky to have this because we were then able to welcome our learners as we started our classes during the first month of school year.
As we initiated this mandate the community and stakeholders have been encouraged to join the campaign for enrolment.
With the help of course of the teachers and the administrators and the strong camaraderie of stakeholders and parents we were able to establish a successful way of welcoming our school children.
No collection policy in school is really great help on the part of the Department of Education and so with the parents.
This is to ensure that education would be inclusive and not be subjective, this would serve also as an avenue of calling the young and old learners to acquire a tidbits of knowledge that would easily lead them to have a better future.
With this endeavor of the DepEd family “NO COLLECTION POLICY” is really a real instrument in crafting education among our youth bringing with them the hope and confidence to better serve our very own country the Philippines.
(Note: The author is a teacher of the Matin-ao Elementary School, Burauen North District)

TACLOBAN CITY- The Sangguniang Panglungsod of Tacloban was awarded by the Philippine Councilors League (PCL) and the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) as a national finalist in the 2018 Loacal Legislative Award in the highly-urbanized cities category held at the Waterfront Hotel, Cebu City on Wednesday(June 19).
Vice Mayor Jerry ‘Sambo’ Yaokasin, presiding officer of the council, said that the award only shows that when a council work hard and work together for the common good and setting aside personal interests and seeking common ground in spite of political differences, a council can achieve great things for the city and its people.
Yaokasin added that the award will serve as an inspiration to them to come up with pieces of legislation that will redound to the benefits of the Taclobanons and to better and improve their performance as the legislative arm of the city government.
The said award recognizes the exemplary performance of the council for legislating measures that help build the foundation of meaningful local administration and development.
The Sangguniang Panglungsod of Tacloban has enacted ordinances and resolutions that contributed to the attainment of desirable socio-economic and environmental outcomes, Yaokasin said.
At present, the city council is composed, aside from Yaokasin, Councilors Edwin Chua, Jerry Uy, Maria Elvira Casal, Frederick Chua, Willy Domingo, Evangeline Esperas, Aimee Grafil, Rachelle Erica Pineda, Raissa Villasin, Jose Marie Bagulaya, with ex-officio members Eden Pineda, president of the Association of Barangay Chairmen, and Thomas John Moreno Diaz, Sangguniang Kabataan city federation president.
(LIZBETH ANN A. ABELLA)

TACLOBAN CITY-Invigorating with glory and gory, Region 8 clinched the overall champion of the Lineman Rodeo competition held during the ‘Warriors of Light’ Visayas Summit in San Jose, Tacloban City, on Friday(June 21).
Lineman rodeo was the highlight of the said summit wherein the warriors representing each of the delegates coming in from the different electric cooperatives in Regions VI(Western Visayas) VII(Central Visayas) and VIII(Eastern Visayas)competed for pole climbing, pole dressing, pole undressing, knot tying, bandaging, and conductor riding.
With firm determination, linemen from all over the Visayas braved the blazing sun and the towering poles aiming to emerge as the quickest, the most skilled, and the overall best executioners for the aforementioned competitions.
The victors of the respective categories are the following: Pole dressing – Region 8, Pole Undressing – Region 7, Spine Board Bandaging – Region 8, Pole climbing – Region 7, Conductor Riding – Region 8, and Knot Tying – Region 7.
Regions 7 and 6 settled the second and third places, respectively.
Winners of the different categories for this summit will compete in the National Warriors of Light Summit Competition which is tentatively scheduled in Baguio City on July 12, 2019.
(ELLEN LUZ L.DELA PEÑA and Apple JOY BALONDO VISITACION)

TACLOBAN CITY – Newly-elected Northern Samar Rep. Paul Daza said that he will prioritize in protecting and preserving the environment not only within his congressional area but the entire province.
Daza, who also served as governor of Northern Samar from 2010 to 2013, said that timber poaching continue to exist in his district which could cause flooding and landslides.
The newly-elected solon explained that his advocacy in the environmental protection and conservation is to protect the constituents in his district from damage or destruction brought about by calamities like flooding, landslides and other incidents brought about by natural disasters.
To recall, the House of Representatives conducted an inquiry on January 29 of this year on existence of rampant illegal logging activities in Northern Samar and Samar province, reason why the two provinces suffered extensive flooding spawned by typhoon ‘Usman’ last December 28, 2018.
The inquiry was initiated by Samar Rep. Edgar Mary Sarmiento and supported by outgoing Northern Samar Rep. Raul Daza, father of the newly-elected congressman.
(RESTITUTO A. CAYUBIT)