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Samar police chief shot dead in Tacloban

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TACLOBAN CITY – The police chief of Paranas town in Samar was shot dead early morning of July 22 while conducting surveillance in the city’s downtown area. Tacloban police chief Senior Supt. Domingo Cabillan identified the victim as Sr. Insp. Lucino Lopido, 49, the new chief of police of Paranas town, some 68 kilometers north of this city.

Lopido, who was just assigned to Paranas on June 23, suffered four fatal gunshot wounds in his arms and chest when fired five times by unidentified suspect using a caliber 9 mm pistol.

The incident took place in front of Dino’s Restobar along P. Gomez St., around 12:45 a.m. of July 22. “He was about to leave the place when he saw a guy wearing black jacket with a bull cap. He approached the man and introduced himself as a police. The suspect suddenly fired shots and ran away,” Cabillan told reporters.

Frightened, the victim’s five companions inside the car were not able to fire back, he said. Lopido was immediately brought to the Divine Word Hospital, but was declared dead on arrival by physicians. The suspect left his motorcycle in the crime and is now under the custody of authorities for further investigation. “We will find out who’s the owner of the motorcycle,” Cabillan added.

The Tacloban police chief theorized that the two just happened to met at the scene of the crime. “I think they were here to conduct surveillance, but they did not inform us about their activity,” Cabillan said. The police have yet to establish the motive of Lopido’s killing. Cabillan claimed that the case is isolated and the typhoon-ravaged city is generally peaceful despite of the latest incident. (SARWELL Q.MENIANO).

Over 5 million Yolanda victims in the Visayas still needs food assistance, group said

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TACLOBAN CITY – The Food Security and Agriculture Cluster (FSAC) reported that 5.6 million people in the Visayas regions affected by supertyphoon Yolanda are in need of life-saving food aid and support to prevent hunger in the future, while waiting for the full recovery of farming and fishing activities. The FSAC disclosed that about 250,000 small coconut farmers should be prioritized in alternative livelihood such as intercropping, crop diversification, and livestock or poultry-raising activities.

“Major gaps in funding for food and agricultural livelihood recovery activities targeting coconut farmers stand in the way of meaningful recovery. Small scale coconut farmers are among the most severely affected are poorest communities in the Philippines and need urgent support,” It said. Also classified in the most vulnerable groups are rice and corn farmers in cultivating in rain-fed and upland areas, where provision of seeds and fertilizers are badly needed. “In terms of food assistance, the emergency relief phase has phased out and operations have transitioned into targeted and conditional assistance to reach the most vulnerable groups,” the report said. Nearly 759,000 people have been targeted for unconditional cash transfer,” the FSAC said. As of end of June, the government and international relief organizations have already reached 3.65 million displaced people through the distribution of immediate food assistance.

The cluster, led by the Department of Social Welfare and Development and World Food Programme, claimed that there had been a positive impact of well-coordinated response. Sufficient household food consumption increased from 68 percent in December to 77 percent in the second quarter of 2014. (SARWELL Q.MENIANO)

TESDA urges workers to take competency for better jobs opportunities

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TACLOBAN CITY- The Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) encourages its workers to avail of their free competency assessment under their National Technical Vocational Educational and Training Competency Assessment and Certification (NATCAC) program. Either self or wage employed, a TESDA worker can have the competency assessment and must demonstrate the competency of the skill they work and pass the assessment in order to be issued of the national certificate (NC).

Imelda Malatbalat, officer-in-charge of the regional operations division of TESDA-8, said that most employers nowadays require the NC before workers can go abroad.
“After undergoing training, workers must take competency assessment save for massage therapy, household and care giving,” Malatbalat said. As of June 2014, TESDA-8 has certified 61% of the 25,800 total target for the first semester of this year. TESDA also reported 31% accomplishment rate of their employment target which is 23,401.
It was also learned that the enrollment was only 34.38% or about 14,416 out of its target of 41,937.

And of this number, only 12,246 finished the six month courses offered by TESDA. High targets, damages to facilities and training centers caused by the supertyphoon Yolanda were the reasons cited for the decline of enrollment. (NIZA APRIL M. PORTEZA, LNU Intern)

NMP receives learning resource donations from PLAI

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TACLOBAN CITY– The National Maritime Polytechnic (NMP) was one of the recipients of donations of books and maps from the Philippine Librarians Association, Inc. (PLAI) during the PLAI-EVRLC turn-over ceremony held last July 12, 2014 at the St. Scholastica’s College located at Sta. Cruz St., this City. The turn-over ceremony was attended by librarians from different academic training institutions and representatives of recipient institutions of the donations from the region.

ESSU librarian Florita Cabato, outgoing president of PLAI-Eastern Visayas Regional Librarians Council (EVRLC), gave the welcome remarks, while PLAI-EVRLC president Chona B. Rama imparted a visual presentation of the affected libraries in Eastern Visayas entitled “Flashback Yolanda.” The affair was graced by PLAI national president Elizabeth Peralejo who gave an inspirational message and thereafter personally distributed maps as part of the donations.

The program closed with a message from Sr. Josefina Nepomuceno, OSB, principal of the High School Department of St. Scholastica’s College in behalf of the College President, Sr. Julia C. Yap, OSB. Atty. Forter G. Puguon, Sr., OIC executive director of the National Maritime Polytechnic personally received the maps and three (3) boxes of books and library materials from PLAI National President Beth Peralejo.

The NMP is the only government owned and run maritime training center in the country. It was established pursuant to Presidential Decree No. 1369 issued on May 1, 1978, with the mandate of providing maritime training and research that measure up to the international standards and respond to the needs of the Filipino seafarers and the maritime industry.

When super typhoon Yolanda struck last November 8, 2013, NMP was one of the government agencies which have been greatly affected, with its 17 buildings destroyed or damaged, its equipment and simulators ravaged and submerged in the sea surge, and its library containing expensive maritime books, videotels and various technical materials destroyed or heavily damaged.

This outreach project was undertaken under the corporate social responsibility of PLAI, in coordination with the PLAI-Eastern Visayas Librarians Council. It was launched with the theme “One Million and Counting: Books for Libraries, Victims of Calamities,” to assist and help the libraries and librarians of Eastern Visayas rise up again after the destruction brought about by the supertyphoon Yolanda.

The donation was made possible through their strong linkages and partnerships with the National Library of the Philippines (NLP), Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP), United Nation’s World Bank and the Philippine Army. They also had the strong support of other PLAI regional councils in the country.
At the close of the turn-over ceremony, Atty. Puguon, in behalf of the Board of Trustees chaired by DOLE Secretary Rosalinda Dimapilis-Baldoz and the Undersecretary Rey de luz Conferido, head of the DOLE Employment Facilitation and Manpower Development Cluster to which NMP belongs, and of the officers and employees of NMP, personally expressed his sincerest gratitude to PLAI National President Beth Peralejo and PLAI-EVLC Regional President Chona B. Rama for including NMP among the recipients of the maps and book donations. He said the donations will be a big help in NMP’s urgent efforts to rebuild its library.(PR)

Alfred appoints new disaster council chief

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TACLOBAN CITY- City Vice Mayor Jerry “Sambo Yaokasin said that he was glad that finally the City Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council (CDRRMC) has a new and permanent chairman.

Yaokasin said that having a permanent chair of the CDRRMC is important considering that the occurrence of typhoons in Tacloban has become frequent. Recently, City Mayor Alfred Romualdez appointed Edilbrando Bernadas as the chair of the CDRRMC, replacing Derek Anido, Jr., who left for abroad. Bernadas was once the chief of the City General Services and ran but lost during the 2013 elections as councilor. Vice Mayor Yaokasin also urged the Executive Department to put up a permanent office for the CDRRMC as well as a hotline wherein the public could call during a disaster. At present, the CDRRMC holds office in a tent at the Kanhuraw Hill.

”We have to institutionalize ito.This is to give the constituents a number to call in times of disasters, emergencies and if in need of assistance” Yaokasin said. Meanwhile, the vice mayor said that he was glad that the people of the city appeared to have learned their experiences during the supertyphoon Yolanda. He said that when Tacloban felt tropical storm Glenda, the people especially those living in tents and bunkhouses voluntarily went to the evacuation centers identified by the city government without being directed.

“I just hope that this will continue in terms of disaster awareness and preparedness for the city of Tacloban “Yaokasin said. (LIZBETH ANN A. ABELLA)

Orientation held on the implementation of the PRDP in Eastern Visayas

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TACLOBAN CITY- The regional office of the Department of Agriculture (DA) spearheaded a briefing on the implementation of the Philippine Rural Development Program (PRDP) here in the region held at Hotel Alejandro on July 22, this year.

PRDP is designed to establish an inclusive and market-oriented agri-fishery sector through strategic investments in priority commodity value chains. The program will collaborate with local government units and private sector in providing key infrastructures, facilities, technology, and information that will help increase incomes, productivity, and competitiveness in the rural areas, said Jenny Lyn Almeria, regional focal person of the PRDP.

According to Almeria, the main objectives of the program are as follows: to have at least 5 percent increase in annual real farm incomes of PRDP household beneficiaries; make a 7 percent increase in value of annual marketed output and increase of 20 percent in number of farmers and fisheries with improved access to DA services.
There are also program components under PRDP and these are I-PLAN (Investments in AFMP Planning at the Local and National Levels); I-BUILD (Intensive Building up of Infrastructure and Logistics for Development); I-REAP (Investments in Rural Enterprises and Fisheries Productivity) and I-SUPPORT (Implementation Support to PRDP).
The implementation of the six-year program is to start next year and is funded by the World Bank at a cost of P27 billion.

Among present during the briefing on the program were Director Bernadette San Juan, regional executive director of the DA; Leyte Governor Leopoldo Dominico Petilla and representatives of member agencies of the Regional Program Advisory Board. (VALERIE COLE C. LIBARIOS, LNU-Intern)

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