Region’s tourism crown jewel

TACLOBAN CITY- The Kalanggaman Island in Palompon town, Leyte province is set to open to tourists this August, almost seven days after it was closed due to quarantine.
And initially, the island known for its white powdery sand beaches and crystal clear blue waters, would only cater among residents of the town who will be required to show a barangay certificate stating that they are indeed local residents, Paulette Tuan, municipal tourism officer, said.
“We will strictly observe the health protocols like the wearing of face masks and social distancing,” she said.
Kalanggaman Island is being managed by the local government unit of Palompon and is considered to be the top tourist attraction not only of Leyte but the entire Eastern Visayas region.
While they are excited for the reopening of Kalanggaman Island, they are still a little bit worried considering of the current situation, Raoul Bacalla, municipal environment and natural resources officer, in another mobile phone interview
“It’s more of calculated risk kind of excitement rather than fun excitement we are feeling right now because everything is a whole new ball game. We are hoping for the best but preparing for the worst,” he said.
“The local government unit will be using Kalanggaman Island as a pilot project relative to reenergizing the tourism industry of the locality. Hence, it is not an economic augmentation initiative but rather a strategy to ready tourism sector in adapting the new normal,” he added.
Initially, only 50 percent of the island’s carrying capacity of 500 a day would be allowed to set foot on the island once it open in August, he added.
Tuan said that they hope that by next year, they could fully open to tourists the Kalanggaman Island saying that much of their local income are generated from tourist receipts.
She said that last year, they generated P29 million from the more than 100,000 tourists who visited Kalanggaman Island.
“We are really depend on the coming of tourists as much of Palompon’s local income are derived from our tourism sector. And this will also help our micro- entrepreneurs like those in the restaurant and transportation business and even those in souvenir-making industry,”Tuan said.
(ROEL T. AMAZONA/JOEY A. GABIETA)

TACLOBAN CITY- After losing its status as a rabies-free, this city’s veterinary office is intensifying its vaccination among dogs in particular.
For the past 14 years, Tacloban City was the only rabies-free area in the entire Eastern Visayas.
But such distinction was lost after a 27-year old man from Barangay 94-A died on June 30 of this year after he was bitten by their six-month old dog.
Both the man and the dog died hours apart on that day.
Dr. Eunice Alcantara, head of the City Veterinary office (CVO), said that they were ‘sad’ of the incident saying Tacloban has never had such a case for the last 14 years.
“The last time we have such a case of human rabies death was in 2004 involving a 19-year old man who butchered a dog as their pulutan(appetizer),” she said.
But with this latest rabies incident, their office will intensify further their anti-rabies vaccination campaign in the city to ensure no similar incident will happen again.
And for the city to reclaim its being a ‘rabies-free city,’ it need to have a zero case for the next five years or until 2025, Alcantara said.
“We have further intensified our anti-rabies vaccination in all barangays of the city, sometimes we do this through door-to-door vaccination to ensure that all dogs will be vaccinated,” she said.
According to Alcantara, for this year, they are targeting 16,800 dogs for vaccination and so far, they have already inoculated more than 8,400 dogs.
“We are encouraging our pet owners to have their dogs vaccinated for their own safety and this is free,” she said.
She said that they have 1,800 vials of vaccines which is more than enough of their needed 1,600 vials. Much of these vaccines were provided by the city government under Mayor Alfred Romualdez.
One vial could vaccinate 10 dogs.
As part of their campaign, the CVO also continue its campaign against stray dogs.
As of last month, around 1,279 dogs have been impounded. Owners of these dogs could recovered them once they pay a fine of P2,000 based on an ordinance, or the Animal Code of Tacloban.
(JOEY A. GABIETA)