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Army declares Tabango in Leyte as insurgency-free area

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TACLOBAN CITY – The town of Tabango became the latest town in Leyte to be declared as insurgency-free by the military. The declaration of Tabango as insurgency-free was made on March 30, making the town as the 10th municipality in Leyte to gain such status. Earlier, the military together with their respective municipal officials declared the towns of Merida, Matag-ob, Palompon, Tabango, Matalom, Bato, Dulag, Inopacan, Tabon-tabon, and Hindang under the insurgent-free classification. Col. Dinoh Dolina, commander of the Philippine Army’s 802nd Brigade based in Ormoc City, said that ending insurgency in some Leyte towns is a joint effort of soldiers and civilians.

“This is also coupled by good governance and convergence of efforts of all stakeholders in moving forward towards a just and lasting peace and security,” Dolina said in a mobile phone interview. “The peace we gain will surely pave the way for sustainable development, progress and prosperity in these areas,” Dolina added. Insurgency in Leyte has been manageable since 2006 and government troops concentrated on community service projects to “win the peace.” “We even challenged the New People’s Army to join the government’s efforts since we have the same development objectives,” Dolina said The army official said there are still 50 armed rebels in Leyte, particularly in upland areas of Ormoc City, Burauen, Carigara, and Jaro. The last encounter between NPA and Philippine Army was on November 2014 in Carigara town. (SARWELL Q.MENIANO)

Soldier shot dead by still unidentified suspects in Catbalogan City

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CATBALOGAN CITY- A soldier, riding on his motorcycle, was shot dead in Catbalogan City on March 30 with authorities have yet to establish who could be the suspects.

Killed was Sgt. Romeo Tan who was the detachment commander of the 52nd Infantry Battalion based in Talalora, Samar. Tan was on his way to the nearby town of San Jorge town to visit his family when he was flagged down and shot at close range by still unidentified suspects in Barangay  Mahayag,Catbalogan, said Captain Andrew Linao, assistant public affairs chief of the 8th Infantry Division. Several empty shells of Caliber 45 were recovered from the scene of the crime. Tan died on the spot.

Tan was said to be active in his peace and development works among villages in some rebel infiltrated communities in Samar. Both the police and military are now conducting an investigation in order to establish motives of the killing and his perpetrators. The incident took place happened a day after the 46th founding anniversary of the New People’s Army last March 29, 2015. Soldiers in the region were warned by their superiors about the shoot-to-kill (STK) order by the NPA and to remain vigilant against the armed group’s planned attacks against “soft targets” such as unarmed soldiers.

Reportedly, the STK list was recovered in some encounters in Samar areas. And the list includes names of active soldiers, policemen and civilians who are accused as military informants. Last year, five soldiers were killed due to “liquidation” mission by the NPA while two others were abducted.
For this year, one soldier was killed.
(JAZMIN BONIFACIO)

US agency initiated anti- trafficking summit in Tacloban

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TACLOBAN CITY- At least 15 municipal mayors together with other social workers and community leaders in Eastern Visayas gathered for a two-day Anti-Trafficking in Persons Summit here in the city on April 8.

Participants of the summit were from the towns covered by the 222-kilometer Samar Secondary National Roads Development Project funded by over $214 million grant from the American government through the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC).  The towns include Hinabangan and Paranas in Samar, Borongan, Maydolong, Balangkayan, Llorente, Hernani, General MacArthur, Sulat, Taft, San Julian, Quinapondan, Salcedo, Mercedes and Guiuan in Eastern Samar. Since the road project started more than two years ago, no cases of human trafficking were reported. Violation on the part of contractors would mean termination of service on top of facing a charge on human trafficking.

The Millennium Challenge Account-Philippines (MCA-P) and non-governmental organization Philippines Against Child Trafficking (PACT), organizers of the summit, said that the event was part of the trafficking in persons mitigation activity of the MCA-P for the Samar Secondary National Roads Development Project carried out under a trafficking in persons awareness partnership with PACT.” Maria Salome Ujano, PACT national coordinator, said that solving human trafficking issues in the country needs “multi-agency efforts” particularly if dealing with powerful and influential offenders.

“Psycho-social support to the victims is very important considering the lack in number of social workers in our local government units and counseling is least of their priority,” Ujano told reporters during the weekly “Kapihan ha PIA” held at the regional office of the Philippine Information Agency held on April 7.

Aside from poverty, Ujano said that increasing number of human trafficking can also be traced on higher incidence of out- migration, too much exposure to internet and materialism, family violence, travel and tourism, lack of knowledge on law and fear of retaliation, among others. In the same conference, Tacloban City Prosecutor Ruperto Golong, who also heads the regional task force on human trafficking, disclosed that after supertyphoon “Yolanda” in November 2013, they have monitored eight cases of human trafficking pending trial while before Yolanda they have 39 cases.

Restituto Macoto, assistant director of Department of Social and Welfare Development in the region, maintained that their agency continues to give assistance to victims and would-be victims of trafficking. “We have temporary shelters for the victims whose cases are on-going trials, help desks, and other programs like ‘Balik Probinsya’,” Macoto said. (RONALD O.REYES)

Mayor Avila supports K to 12 program of the national gov’t

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SAN ISIDRO, Northern Samar- The mayor of this town, Conrado “Dado” Avila, Sr., expressed his full support to the national government’s K to 12 program.
According to the mayor, who is serving his last term, the program will not only benefit the student themselves but their parents as well. Education program has been one of the priority programs of Avila since he first became a mayor back in 1995 wherein he initiated a scholarship program that benefited 35 students.  It was learned from Avila that three public high schools located in his town are to implement the K to 12 program this opening of classes. Avila said that since he became a mayor in 1995, he has been sending poor but deserving students to college by giving them P1,000 allowance per semester. And since then, 154 college students are benefiting the program with each scholar receiving P3,000 per semester. They are presently enrolled in different colleges in the province and some of them are presently employed while others are looking for jobs. Avila stressed that all the scholars of the town were selected after they qualify with all the requirements set by a committee that oversee the program. (PETER D.PAREDES)

DOLE: New wage order for EV workers starts March 30

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TACLOBAN CITY – The new wage order raising the minimum wage of low-income earners in the region above the regional poverty threshold level took effect on March 30, the first post-“Yolanda” wage adjustment after the 2013 catastrophe. Under Wage Order No. 18, the wage body raised the take-home pay of workers by integrating part of the cost-of-living allowance (Cola) into the basic wage in all sectors except the sugar industry, said Elias Cayanong, regional director of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) in a statement. Under the new wage order, P15 Cola was added to the basic wage, raising it to P253 a day for non-agriculture workers, P231 for the cottage/handicraft sector, P228 for retail/service employees, and P234 for the non-sugar agriculture sector. For the sugar industry, the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB) granted an increase of P14.50 to bring the daily minimum wage to P235-P262 from the previous P221.

The P15 Cola was granted under Wage Order No. 16 issued in May 2011. All minimum wage workers will still receive the P7 Cola granted under Wage Order No. 17, which was issued in September 2012. The new order, issued after the regional board meeting on last week of February, was published in a local publication on March 15, 2014. For the non-plantation sector of the sugar industry, the P14 increase will implemented in two tranches with P7.50 upon effectivity and the remaining P7 on May 1, 2015.

“All workers in the retail and service sector employing 10 workers and below shall receive an additional P6 increase in the basic pay,” Cayanong said.
A family composed of five members needs at least P235 to survive on a daily basis. RTWPB Secretary Florencio Aguilos, Jr. said the RTWPB will finalize the nine-page implementing rules and regulations (IRR) this week and will be sent to the National Wages and Productivity Commission after the Holy Week. “Even without approved IRR, the effectivity is still March 30. We urged employers to voluntarily comply the new wage order since this new rate is our basis for assessment,” Aguilos said. Roy Bernard Fiel, sugar farm operator and former chairman of the Ormoc-Kananga Mill District Development Council Foundation, Inc. in western Leyte, said the increase is untimely.

“Everybody is on recovery mode after Yolanda. We need at least three years to recover and we are still on the second year,” Fiel said. The 8,300-hectare sugar plantation in Leyte suffered a P973 million losses when supertyphoon “Yolanda” pummeled the region in November 8, 2013. Fiel said that the annual production went down to 600,000 bags from 800,000 bags during the pre-Yolanda level. The wage board initiated a review of the minimum wage structure motu propio, or on its own initiative. No petition for a wage increase was received.
(SARWELL Q.MENIANO)

It’s too early for presidential campaign but….!

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The air is now getting sound – polluted with political innuendos of ambitious individuals salivating this early for the presidency. President Noynoy Aquino III has still over 400 days in the presidency and has still a lot to do and still needs the support to make his plans become a reality for his bosses, the Filipino people.
The early political activity may be advantageous to our voters. Through a subtle information sharing our electorates can get this early who the candidates are, therefore can ably scrutinize into their capabilities their motivations and m ore importantly his vision for our country and people.
In like manner political leaders and effective endorsers to include financers this early can be armed with the desire and opportunity for whom he will “invest” his charity so that in the end become influential in the corridors of powers for his business benefit.
This however smacks of early political campaign, a violation of our election laws. This will likewise entail large expenses for the presidential wannabes.
Well, legal experts have a way to employ technicalities to do away with the charges.
The list of probable candidates is long and may yet increase. So for we have Vice President Jejomar Binay, DILG Secretary Mar Roxas, Davao Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, former senator Panfilo Lacson, Senator’s Grace Poe and Alan Peter Cayetano and lately businessman, Manuel V. Pangilinan, who is being endorsed by Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago who herself may yet file if convincingly endorsed by credible groups.
It is our hope that there should only be two candidates to vie for the presidency. A winner will certainly be elected by a real majority of the Filipino’s support to run the government.

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