TACLOBAN CITY- The Department of Social Welfare and Development has allocated P547 million for Leyte under its Accelerated and Sustainable Anti-Poverty Program (ASAPP).

This was disclosed by Governor Leopoldo Dominico Petilla who said that the implementation of the program is expected to help address the worsening poverty situation of Leyte still reeling from the impacts of supertyphoon “Yolanda” that pummeled the province on November 8, 2013. Leyte’s poverty incidence rose dramatically after Yolanda’s wrath with half of its 1.5 million people living below poverty line.  Petilla said that of the P547 million allocated for Leyte under the ASAPP, 90,078 poor families are to directly benefit the anti-poverty program of the government. The support for the livelihood activities of the families affected by the typhoon will greatly help and spur for the economic recovery of the province and help more than half of its 1.5 million population out from poverty, Petilla said.

Petilla said that alongside with this DSWD program, there are other several government agencies who are working together at present and are implementing their respective programs to combat against poverty and for employment generation. Petilla said that the identified lead economic livelihood and activities of this DSWD program, among others, are homegrown industries like the chicharon production in the town of Tunga and the peanut production in Dulag; hollow block production; port development, hot spring development and the eco-tourism in identified towns.
(RESTITUTO A.CAYUBIT)

TACLOBAN CITY- After 16 years of suffering and fear, farmers from Ormoc City claimed their rights to farm lands awarded to them by the government. The 21 farmers from Barangay Matica-a of said city belong to the Bugho Farmers Association who were awarded by their CLOAS(certificate of land ownership) by the Department of Agrarian Reform(DAR) in December,1999. However, months after they were installed as beneficiaries of the government’s agrarian reform program, farmers who were said to be aided by an armed group took control of their lands.

On April 30, the 21 farmers initiated a self-installation saying they were reclaiming their lands awarded to them 16 years ago by the DAR. Rosenda Apay, president and at the same time spokesperson of their group, said farmers who were working in a private company forcibly took their land away from them, with armed group providing them support. “In December 26, 1999, when we were installed by DAR, no protests from any group of farm workers were heard. We were able to clear the land which was previously planted with sugar cane (and) convert it into rice farms, through manual method, as we do not have any farm machineries. We were able to make it productive and were able to harvest the first fruits of our labor,” Apay said in a statement.

Apay added that by their second cropping, a group of former farm workers who also claim to be qualified beneficiaries of the government’s Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program started to harass them. Apay recalled that the “the gravest act they did to us was when they drove us out when we were harvesting our crops by using armed men, and even some military men, who are friends and allies of one of their members.”
According to Apay, they reported their plight to the DAR but to no avail.

“It is in this context that we are now exercising our rights through self-installation, based on the certificates of land ownership award under CLOA # 00276805, TCT# 780 and CLOA#00276806, TCT# 781 as the lawful and rightful owners of said lots,” Apay said. The Rights Network, a nongovernment organization, is assisting the farmers.
Leyte Samar Daily Express sought comments from DAR officials in Leyte, yet they denied the request for interview in the meantime that they are still yet to consolidate the official information on the ground from the assigned agrarian reform program officer in Ormoc.
(RONALD O.REYES)

KANANGA, Leyte-After their training was abruptly interrupted by supertyphoon “Yolanda”, the 130 trainees of the Kananga-EDC Institute of Technology (KEITECH)have graduated and fulfilled their dreams of a better life for their families. The trainees belong to the fifth batch of graduates completing the regular courses offered by the institution. Of the 130 graduates, 44 obtained national certifications in electrical installation and maintenance, 41 in metals and engineering, 25 in pipe fitting, and 20 in tourism.

Armed with the skills and values that they learned in KEITECH after 10.3 months of training and national certifications from the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), KEITECH’s latest graduates can now look forward to employment opportunities with the institution’s 24 partner companies in Leyte, Cebu, and Manila. They can also seek employment abroad where their skills are in demand and valued. KEITECH’s aggressive placement program has increased the graduates’ employability. Of the 530 graduates from Year 1 to Year 5, 492 or 93% are already employed by our industry partners. For this batch of graduates, 49 who are still undergoing on-the-job training (OJT) at Keppel in Subic and Batangas have already signed up with Keppel management last April 7, 2015.

KEITECH has signed agreements with several companies which guarantee OJT for the trainees and possible employment after training. Most of these companies which include construction, shipping firms and hotels have renewed their contracts with KEITECH because of the superior performance of the graduates they employed.
Aside from the regular courses, KEITECH has offered a short-term (3 months) extension program on electrical installation and maintenance, plumbing and carpentry. This is part of the Lopez Group’s commitment to the Office of the Presidential Assistant for Rehabilitation and Recovery (OPARR) to help in Leyte rebuilding projects. Under the program, KEITECH will provide training to 1,080 qualified members of households affected by Typhoon Yolanda and assist them in securing jobs in various reconstruction projects in the province.

KEITECH’s good track record and contribution to technological-vocational education in the region was formally recognized by TESDA. For two years in a row (2013 and 2014), KEITECH received TESDA’s Kabalikat award for being the best among TESDA’s institutional partners in Region 8.
Established in 2009, KEITECH is a joint project of geothermal leader Energy Development Corporation (EDC), the local government of Kananga and TESDA and aims to be a world-class technical-vocational training center.(PR)