TACLOBAN CITY – The 2nd Leyte Engineering District of the Department of Public Works and Highways is set to implement millions-worth of infrastructure projects this year as specified under the current General Appropriations Act (GAA).
The district’s regular infrastructure projects to be implemented amounts to P660 million for 2014, of which, P245 million will be funded by the regional office, said district engineer Carlos Veloso.
Veloso said the bulk of the project goes to the continuation of the Burauen-Albuera road project amounting to P150 million, and road reblocking project in the mountainous highway in Capoocan along the Palo-Carigara-Ormoc road amounting to P95 million.
It can be recalled that the Burauen–Albuera road project will get P322 million this year. Of this amount, P172 million will be used to construct bridges while P150 million is needed to pave gravel roads and road opening activities this year.
The allotment for Burauen-Albuera Road is part of the P5.08 billion infrastructure development program for Eastern Visayas.
The road aims to connect Leyte’s second biggest town, Burauen, to Albuera in the western side of the province traversing rebel-infested villages.
The road project is projected to be finished by 2016, Veloso said.
Veloso said arterial road rehabilitation of the Palo-Carigara-Ormoc road remains as one of his top priority as this serves as a major road and affects much the economic activity in the area.
Other projects to be undertaken by the 2nd LED this year include road rehabilitation, road widening, flood control, bridge construction, bridge strengthening, widening of junctions, shouldering and drainage canals, shoulder paving in populated areas, and preventive maintenance.

By: AHLETTE C. REYES

PALO, Leyte-Soldiers from the Republic of Korea conducted the repair of the Leyte Provincial Hospital which was severely damaged by supertyphoon Yolanda.
And after more than 30 days of work, the hospital is now functioning enough to offer health services to the people, a gesture welcome by chief of hospital Doctor Ophelia Absin.
“They are really a big help,” she said.
The 86 Korean soldiers, led by Colonel Chu Wan Lee, turned over on February 5 the rehabilitated buildings of the LPH.
“Of course, we are happy with the help extended to us by our Korean soldiers and their government. You know, we cannot accomplished this if we just rely on our (provincial) government considering that we are all affected and it will cost huge amount of money,” Absin said.
The Korean soldiers worked for almost a month, to include Saturdays and Sundays, just to finish the repair of the hospital’s out-patient department, laboratory, Ex-ray room, ward’s department and even its canteen.
The soldiers started their work on January 3, 2013 and finished their work by February 5, this year.
The rehabilitation just cost P1.3 million, according to the Lee.
Their Filipino counterparts also joined in the work aside from providing them security, said Brigadier Gen. Rolando Malinao, head of the Task Force Yolanda.
“I was deeply moved by the hospital’s personnel passion to look after the patients despite of the (bad) condition of the hospital,” Lee said.
When they first visited the place on December 30, they were shocked on the condition of the hospital- destroyed and full of debris.
Its patients have to contend with rooms without roofs on their heads.
Major Kwon Doo Young, public relations officer of the Korean troops, said that they were “so concern” with the physical condition of the LPH that instead of helping its patients recover from their ailments, it could only aggravate their health condition and spread of more diseases.
This was the reason why they made the rehabilitation of the LPH as their priority among other public buildings in Palo destroyed by Yolanda, Young said.
Absin said that with the restored LPH, they could now serve better their clients who are not only from the Palo town but from other areas of Leyte and even Samar.
The LPH, which has a 100- bed capacity, closed its operations after it was hit by Yolanda and reopened on November 22, 2013 despite of the damaged condition of the buildings and its facilities.
Leyte Board Member and former governor Mimiette Bagulaya said that the people of Leyte have so much to thank for on the assistance extended by the Korean government.
“This really means a lot for us. They were really a big help,”Bagulaya said.

By: JOEY A. GABIETA

TACLOBAN CITY- Citing damages and loss of potential income, the regional representative of the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) in Eastern Visayas seeks for the transfer of more them 100 families taking shelter inside the sequestered-Marcos property in this city.
Relocating the families inside the People’s Center and Library should now be given focus considering that they have been living in the said facility for almost three months now, said Renoir Dauag, PCGG regional representative.
According to Dauag, the two-storey building constructed by former first lady and now Ilocos Norte Rep. Imelda Marcos in 1979 was not identified as an evacuation center.
“The people forced open the building during the typhoon. It’s almost three months now since they occupied the People’s Center. It was just disappointing that they did not took care the properties and books inside the building,” Dauag said.
The building, sitting one hectare of lot located along Real Street this city, contains more than 54,000 volumes of books, journals and other reading materials.
It was constructed by Mrs. Marcos in 1979 alongside with the Santo Nino Shrine which Dauag made a stern warning to the assigned security personnel there not to allow any evacuees considering of the valuables inside the building.
At present, rows of makeshifts made of woods and tarpaulins could be seen inside the building with 105 families consisting of 448 persons living there.
Several “sari-sari stores” have also sprouted inside with a woman even put up a business on “charging for fee” of mobile phones and flash lights using a generator set. Much of Tacloban remains without electricity.
Dauag said that several books located at the 24 rooms of the building’s second level were destroyed by some of the evacuees, using them during their cooking or worst, when they used the bathrooms.
He also claimed that the building’s floorings, which are made of woods, were now destroyed as some of its properties like DVD players were now lost.
“The entire place is stinky. Some of them play mahjong inside the People’s Center as others put up a small variety store there,” he said.
According to him, the said facility generates an income to the PCGG of at least P2 million a year which is being used for various occasions like JS proms, large gatherings and bazaars.
“We don’t get any financial help from the (national).We are self-liquidating. The money that we raised is used to defray salaries of our 23 employees and other expenses,” Dauag said.
The building was supposed to be rented out to a bazaar last Christmas with the PCGG receiving an amount of P460, 000 as rent only to return it due to the presence of the evacuees, he said.
Dauag said that he is seeking the help from the Department of Social Welfare and Development on his desire to relocate the evacuees.
He said lack of income could result for the retrenchment of the agency’s 23 personnel.
The evacuees, coming from the barangays of Real, Pampango and Magallanes areas, occupied the building on November 8.
Jerome Espinosa, who acts as leader of the evacuees inside the People’s Center and Library, said that they are willing to move out on condition that they would be given relocation sites.
“We don’t like to stay here. We don’t have any privacy here. WE are willing to move out anytime so long as the government will give us a safe relocation site,” the 33-year old, who is living with his mother, two siblings and nephew, said.
He did admitted that “some” of the evacuees, especially those who occupied the second level of the building, destroyed some of the books there.
“But I already advised them not to touch or destroy anything inside the building. We are also now strictly observing health and sanitation for our own good,” Espinosa said.
Mary Rose Edara, 26, said that she and her two young children would leave the place as long as the government could guarantee them a relocation site.
“But up to now, we have yet to receive any information as to when we’ll stay here or when they will give us a relocation site,”Edara said.
Rena Bartoser, social worker assigned at the People’s Center, admitted that the government has yet to decide when the evacuees would be relocated.
“We cannot just move them out. There should be a relocation site first which has yet to be identified for them,” she said.
According to Espinosa, they were informed earlier that they would stay there for about six months.

By: JOEY A. GABIETA

TACLOBAN CITY- An international aid group helping the victims of super typhoon Yolanda vowed to increase its area of intervention on its bid to ensure that more victims could avail of their food and non-food services.
At present, the INTERSOS serve the people of Tacloban, Tanauan, Tolosa, Tabontabon and Santa Fe, all in Leyte.
The group’s assistant project manager Aljun Diaz said that it was in Tanauan town that they first visited distributing tents, tarpaulins, kitchen sets and blankets to its 858 families.
Also, the group donated a generator set to the MSF Hospital and local church; water treatment unit and other related items to Department of Education, and also a tent to municipal government of Tanauan.
In their educational support, the INTERSOS has started its holistic education activities so that the children can go back to school and continue learning while teachers including other individuals involved with education, would be confident to support children after Yolanda.
“Our activities are based on the principles of solidarity, justice, human dignity, equality of rights and opportunities, and respect for diversity and coexistence (and) paying special attention to the most vulnerable and unprotected people,” Diaz said.
Partnering with the United Nations International Children’s Fund(Unicef), INTERSOS is working in 125 schools with 79,181 students in Tacloban, Tanauan, Tolosa, Tabon-tabon and Santa Fe in which they started its massive “Back-to-Learning” campaign so that children affected by Yolanda will be motivated to go back to return to school.
It also provided training for teachers and staffs of the Department of Education on psychosocial care for children affected by Yolanda and disaster risk reduction (DRR) to smile again while learning how to avoid, or cope with, future risk by natural disaster.
INTERSOS is also planning to start its engagement for protection, especially child protection area, Diaz said.

By: RYAN GABRIEL LLOSA ARCENAS