Leyeco II newly-elected board of director Dalmacio C. Grafil takes his oath before Prosecutor Higinio Yazar
TACLOBAN CITY- Dalmacio Grafil was elected as a member of the board of the Leyte II Electric Cooperative (Leyeco II), representing the power facility’s coverage area of district IV.
Grafil was elected during the board elections on August 17 held at the Hermann-Gmeiner Elementary School in Tigbao Diit. He took his oath of office before Prosecutor Higinio Yazar.
It was learned from Leyeco II general manager Rosario Avestruz that Grafil, publisher of Leyte Samar Daily Express, replaced Engineer Reynaldo Galapon who just concluded his nine-year stint as member of board of directors of the Leyeco II.
Districts II and V remain vacant with only board of directors Roland Hidalgo of district III and Gregorio Dolina of district I as incumbent directors. The Leyeco II has five board of directors elected at large by the member-consumers and one appointed by the NEA. Feliciano Elizon and Allan Surpia have also served out their terms. Before typhoon Yolanda struck Tacloban, Leyeco II was instructed by the National Electrification Administration (NEA) to conduct elections to fill the vacant positions for board of directors.
The management set the elections last July but those who filed their certificates of candidates were disqualified due to their failure to meet the requirements. During the August 17 for the board of director elections for district IV, Grafil run unopposed. Avestruz that the qualifications of being a member of the Leyeco board include good standing which means that after filing of the certificate of candidacy, candidates’ record must show that for the last five years he or she must not have any delinquency in paying. (LIZBETH ANN A.ABELLA)
TACLOBAN CITY- The International Labour Organization (ILO) is stepping up its efforts to provide sustainable livelihoods to affected workers, including coconut farm workers here in Leyte.
The ILO has signed a memorandum of understanding with the provincial government of Leyte and Leyte Union of Producers of Agri-Products (LUPA) to kick start a project worth P 7.37 million that will provide sustainable livelihoods to 700 workers through contour farming. The project will be implemented in the municipalities of Palo, Sta. Fe, Burauen and Leyte-Leyte. The ILO, with funding from the government of Japan, will support the workers in contour farming as an alternative livelihood opportunity, using the sloping agriculture land technology (SALT) in Leyte, one of the areas hardly-hit by supertyphoon Yolanda.
At the beginning of the year, workers under the emergency employment program already cleared areas with destroyed coconut trees. The lands have been cleared but have not been utilized by the landlords as they could not afford to invest in coconut or other plantations right after the typhoon leaving coconut farmers with no source of income. Since most are not skilled, they find it difficult to get viable jobs.
LUPA has also signed the land lease agreements with the landlords to make available of their lands to the coco-workers for cultivation for at least ten years. The beneficiaries of the project will plant high value short-term crops, which could answer the abrupt need of source of income considering the high demands of these products in the local markets.
To help beneficiaries become more resilient to natural calamities, the workers will be provided with integrated farming-cum-entrepreneurship development skills training and link them as producers, consumers and traders to help ensure high returns. The ILO has assisted 3,791 workers in Leyte during the emergency employment phase of its response and is geared towards providing sustainable livelihoods to typhoon-affected workers while giving them access to social protection. (JAZMIN BONIFACIO)
TACLOBAN CITY- Leyte Vice Governor Carlo Loreto said that everything is now set for the forthcoming visit of Pope Francis early next year.
In an interview, Loreto said that the provincial government is closely coordinating with archdiocese of Palo on the papal visit, the first ever for Eastern Visayas still reeling from the aftermath of supertyphoon Yolanda. “We are doing everything that we can do to help in terms of transportation, security, among others,” the vice governor said. According to him, they also helped in fixing the water system in the Palo Cathedral, which is expected to be visited by the Holy Father during his visit. The provincial government has extended assistance to the archdiocese like providing equipment and personnel for the repair of the cathedral which sustained major damages during the onslaught of Yolanda more than nine months ago.
Pope Francis is to visit the country on January 15 to 19,2015 and will arrive in Leyte to hold Mass at the paved area near the Daniel Z. Romualdez (DZR) Airport in Tacloban, the ground zero of the world’s strongest typhoon to make landfall. Church officials have indicated that millions of faithful coming from other parts of the country and of the world are expected to hear Francis say the Mass. Earlier, the City Tourism Office of Tacloban has reported that hotels in the city are now fully booked due to the papal visit. Meantime, Loreto did not oppose to an earlier report that the Pope would rather have typhoon survivors be close with him instead of politicians. “That’s good but I think it’s not right not to allow us to attend the Mass because it’s also our right as catholic-politicians,” he said, adding that even non-Catholics would surely attend the gathering. Pope Francis would be the third pope to visit Philippines after Pope Paul VI (1970) and Pope John Paul II (1981 and 1995), who is now a saint. (JOHANNES PAULUS CASIS, LNU Intern)
PALO, Leyte – Several units of bunkhouses located this town remain unoccupied as intended beneficiaries, families whose houses were washed out due to supertyphoon Yolanda, refuses to leave their villages.
This was disclosed by Rosalina Balderas, chief of the Municipal Social Welfare and Development Office (MSWDO) who said that fear of lack of economic livelihood was the reason cited by the families who refused to take the bunkhouses. At least 30 units of bunkhouses at Barangay Tacuranga, a village more than five kilometers away from the town center, remain unoccupied. Balderas said that the said bunkhouses were intended for the families in the villages of San Joaquin, Cogon and Salvacion, among the hardest-hit areas of Palo during the onslaught of Yolanda.
In fact, she said, not all of the 143 families now living at the bunk houses in Tacuranga are from these three barangays. “When we conducted community assembly and social preparation and social preparation for transfer, not all families from San Joaquin and Cogon were willing to move since their sources of living are near the coastal area, “Balderas said. As of August 23, only 17 families from Salvacion, 14 from San Joaquin, two from Cogon heeded the call to move to their temporary shelters. And the refusal of these families coming from the four priority villages prompted their office to transfer families from other villages but lives in areas identified as risk areas to occupy the remaining units.
The families were from Tacuranga(81 families); Arado(15);Campetic(5); and three families each from the villages of Sta. Cruz and Pawing; two from Cavite West, and one from Cavite East. As of now, the local government unit of Palo is working out to develop a permanent housing site in the villages of Caloogan and Barayong in coordination with the GMA Kapuso Foundation, San Miguel Corporation, Tzu Chi Foundation and United Nations Habitat. (DEMI MARI DAGA, LNU Intern)
DAGAMI, Leyte – Amid efforts of the Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) to help them, coconut farmers of this town are still reeling from the disastrous impact of supertyphoon Yolanda. Of the more than 900,000 coconut trees planted before Yolanda hit this town, there are now only 750,000 coconut trees which are in various stages of damage. And as part of their intervention, the PCA has so far replaced 20,000 coconut trees that were damaged due to Yolanda, Hermogenes Martinda, municipal coconut development officer, said.
The replanting of coconuts is part of the recovery program of the PCA aim to help the affected farmers regain their income back. The replanting is expected to be over in the next six months, Martinda said. About 20,948 coconut farmers of the town were affected due to Yolanda. In terms of debris clearing, 15 percent of farms have been cleared and they are still conducting the activity in other areas, he added. Billy Rocol, a farmer shared his experience. He said that it was hard for him and for his family to move forward since they only depend on their coconut production for living. He said that since they lost their coconut trees due to Yolanda, times have very difficult for his family reason why he has to find another source of income. Rocol now serves as a motorcycle driver whose daily income is not still sufficient to feed his family. (JELLY E. CARAAN, LNU Intern)
New Tacloban City Hospital. Rehabilitation czar Panfilo “Ping” Lacson and City Mayor Alfred Romualdez joined Teresita Sy-Coson, vice chairperson of the SM Investments Corp. during the inauguration of the Tacloban City Hospital after the SM Foundation rebuilt the said hospital. Joining them were Doctor Joedina Gumagay, Debbie Sy, SM Foundation executive director;Councilor Cristina Romualdez; Dr. Paula Sydiongco ; Connie Angeles, executive director of the SM Foundation; Yedda Marie Romualdez and Asec. Danny Antonio.(Photo Courtesy)
TACLOBAN CITY – From being an almost a wasteland to a symbol of a “build back better” structure. Thus emerged the Tacloban City Hospital after it was repaired and refurbished by the SM Foundation after it was pummeled by supertyphoon Yolanda. On August 27, the said health facility was formally turned over by the SM Foundation to the city government officials led by Mayor Alfred Romualdez and to its head, Doctor Joedina Gumagay.
Romualdez and Gumagay were both obviously overwhelmed with joy after seeing the transformation of the Tacloban City Hospital to what it is now more than nine months after it was destroyed by Yolanda- its bed capacity was doubled from its previous capacity and is now capable of conducting some major surgeries. The massive repair of the 38- year old Tacloban City Hospital located along Marasbaras District thus became the first structure owned by the city government that sustained damage due to the monster typhoon to have been rebuilt.
Secretary Panfilo “Ping” Lacson, rehabilitation czar of the government, said in his speech during the turn over rites, that the finished work was the best example of the build back better policy of the national government.
“This is the best hospital I’ve ever seen that looks nice inside and out. This is a fine example of not only building back better but safer and faster,” Lacson said. The reconstruction of the hospital was among the several facilities build within the so-called Yolanda corridor undertaken by the SM Foundation. Teresita Sy-Coson, vice chairman of the SM Investments Corporations, said that she was happy to see over the transformation of the hospital which could now conduct major operations like ceasarian operations.
Sy described the hospital as an “almost like a mall” type health facility. The project, built for five months is part of the P100 million financial aid of the SM Foundation for the reconstruction of areas pounded by Yolanda in central Philippines. “I was telling Secretary (Panfilo) Lacson that this is almost like a mall. From a level one hospital, it has now been upgraded to level two. It also upgraded the hospital’s 50-bed capacity to 100 beds and is now capable of conducting major surgeries,” said Sy-Coson. In addition, the charitable institution of SMIC expanded its emergency room, constructed the malnutrition ward and added a new Felicidad T. Sy (wife of Henry Sy) Wellness Center for the children and the elderly and a prayer room.
Mayor Romualdez thanked the SM Foundation for their generosity in rebuilding the hospital. “More than building the infrastructure better, this helps strengthens the character of people,” Romualdez said. Chief of Hospital Dr. Joedina Gumagay handed thank you letters from patients, senior citizens and hospital staff to Sy-Coson. “I echo the gratitude of people who come daily. They are assured that they will get all the help they need,” Gumagay said. By Sarwell Q. Meniano
