TACLOBAN CITY- The Samar Provincial Hospital has been declared by the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (Philhealth) as the second hospital in the region in so far as complying it no balance billing (NBB) policy. This was revealed by Cynthia Palileo, acting administrative officer of the said Catbalogan City-based hospital, who said that this achievement would only inspire them to work harder.

“This is the very first time that we have achieved this kind of performance in so far as the implementation of the no balance billing policy of the Philhealth,” Palileo, reached on her mobile phone, said. According to the official, since the NBB policy was introduced by the Philhealth in 2011, the Samar Provincial Hospital has been ranked in the lowest rung.

“But with the perseverance, hard-work and determination of Governor (Sharee Ann) Tan, we’re able to reach this far which is a big milestone to us. And obviously, this achievement will serve as our inspiration to work harder to either maintain the distinction or surpass it,” Palileo said. Palileo, during the interview, could not say as to how many patients, mostly coming from poor families, benefited the NBB at the Samar Provincial Hospital.

The NBB is a policy of the Philhealth mandating that no fees would be charged or paid by patients enrolled under the said government agency. In the case at the Samar Provincial Hospital, patients who availed the NBB policy were enrolled under the provincial government’s sponsored-Philhealth program. This means, it is the provincial government under Gov. Tan that pays the premium of the patients. Palileo said that one of the thrusts of the administration of Gov. Tan is to ensure that all her constituents, particularly the marginalized and poor people, could avail medical services.

With this thrust, the number of patients at the provincial hospital has noticeably increased, she added. The Samar Provincial Hospital is a 100-bed capacity but could see its expansion to accommodate the number of patients, Palileo said. The hospital, as part of improving its services to the people, have seen major repair and now equip with needed equipment. Also, it is now manned by efficient personnel. At present, there are 25 doctors working 24 hours at the hospital staffed with more than 200 personnel. (JOEY A. GABIETA)

TACLOBAN CITY- The “abrupt” closure of the Daniel Z. Romualdez (DZR) Airport, this city on July 9 had resulted for several passengers to be stranded, seething in anger and frustration.

“We were not informed that there will be no flights today. We could have rescheduled our flight so we will not be stranded here,” said Maria Bautista, 74, one of the several stranded passengers.

Bautista, on the day of the temporary closure of the airport, was bound for Manila en route to her home in Olongapo City. She and brother, Lucas Galangue, 59, visited a sickly brother, Ricardo, 63, in Basey, Samar.

The siblings were supposed to take the 1:20 p.m. Cebu Pacific flight.

The DZR Airport, located at San Jose District, was shut down for operations started at 5 a.m. on July 9 but to be operational again following day. The one-day closure of the DZR Airport, Eastern Visayas main airport, was due to the potholes located within the 2.2 kms runway of the airport, said Allan Cahingcoy, officer-in-charge of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines(CAAP).

“We ask for understanding of our passengers but at the same time, we cannot afford to comprise their safety and the planes using the airport,” Cahingcoy said. He, however, stressed that before the closure, which took effect around 5 p.m. on July 9, after the last flight, that they went to several local radio and television outlets to announce the closure.

“This is just a one-day closure of the airport due to the repair of our runway,” he said adding that the airline companies using the airport were informed on this. Cahingcoy said that some of the potholes at the runway are big enough to fit in the landing gears of the airplanes. He said that there are 60 potholes, as big as 5X10 feet and four inches deep, that need to be covered by asphalt. These potholes were seen in the runway for months now and were aggravated with the arrival of several big C-130 military planes from other countries and even a C-17 from the United States at the height of assistance due to Super Typhoon Yolanda.
The DZR Airport which serves the Manila and Cebu routes with 13 daily flights. (JOEY A. GABIETA)

TACLOBAN CITY – The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) is putting up P298.44 million to make the Guiuan Meteorological Radar System in Eastern Samar operational by September 2015 after it was heavily damaged by last year’s supertyphoon Yolanda.

JICA has set aside funds to replace radar equipment, after Japanese experts inspected the site in December last year. “Procurement of equipment is ongoing. Crafting will follow, which is a longer process. Installation will be done on January 2015,” said Nakamura Hayato, JICA’s project formulation advisor on disaster management.
The reconstructed radar system is expected to start sending data to the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) by September 2015.

“The radar itself was stable after typhoon Yolanda (international name: Haiyan) and there will be no major construction work. We just need to replace equipment to make it functional,” Nakamura added.Guiuan, the first town where Yolanda made first landfall on November 8, 2013, was chosen as the location of the radar project in 2009 as it faces the Pacific Ocean.

The Guiuan Doppler Radar Station in Sapao village adopts the new system developed by Japan Radio Co. using integrated chips to transmit sound waves as far as 480 kilometers away to determine wind velocity, rainfall intensity and speed, volume of rainfall and area coverage. “This is a JICA project that will utilize the highest level of technology. Japan is investing on improvement of the meteorological radar system in because many typhoons in Philippines also enter Japan. This is not just the first line of defense for Philippines but this will also send warning to us,” Nakamura explained.

Before the typhoon, the Guiuan project was almost complete and partly operational. In fact, JICA was scheduled to turn over the project on November 29, 2013. The first of the three Japan technology doppler radars has been operational since March 2012 in Catanduanes. The same facility, built for P560 million by the Japanese-Filipino consortium, was also installed in 2012 in Aparri, Cagayan.

“The reconstruction in Guiuan will highly consider building protective measures so it won’t be damaged easily by future typhoon. It is designed in such a way that it can be repaired by Pagasa after turnover,” Nakamura told reporters. With the dysfunctional Guiuan doppler radar facility, the state weather bureau relies on a eteorological satellite in monitoring typhoon movement in Pacific Ocean, which only transmits hourly data.

“Doppler radar can observe the occurrence, movement, distribution and amount of rainfall and wind speed over a large area in real time,” he said. On November 13, 2009, officials signed the grant agreement for the construction of three doppler radars amounting to P1.7 billion under the official development assistance of the Japanese government.

The rehabilitation of the Guiuan facility is a component of the $46 million grant for the rebuilding of Yolanda-hit areas. (SARWELL Q. MENIANO)

TACLOBAN CITY- Livelihood support for fishermen who lost their source of income and upkeep in the aftermath of supertyphoon Yolanda in the municipalities of Guiuan and Salcedo, in Eastern Samar, received fishing boats on July 8 from the Kabuhayan Para sa Kaunlaran (KAISA), a non-government organization, funded by the Chinese-Filipino (Tsinoy) community.

According to Annabel Chua Lim, project coordinator of KAISA with the project dubbed as “Bangkabuhayan,” a total of 25 fishing boats were turned over in Salcedo and another 25 for Guiuan.

Teresita Ang See, chairman of KAISA, led the turnover. Lim said that this is just an initial support to the fisherfolks of Eastern Samar and Samar. Sometime in September another 50 bancas will be turned over to Marabut in Samar and Giporlos, Eastern Samar.

A memorandum of agreement was signed during the turn over with the mayors, KAISA, HFFI and the beneficiaries.The fishing boats donation cannot be sold, pawned, dismantled and bartered. The beneficiaries shall also not engage in illegal fishing activities.

Lim added that seven big groups in the Chinese Filipino community have united as one to respond to disastrous calamities. Leading the donor groups that donated 300 boats to different beneficiaries are the Federation of Filipino Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Inc.; Federation of Filipino-Chinese Associations of the Philippines; World News Daily; Filipino-Chinese Amity Club, Overseas Chinese Alumni Association of the Philippines; Filipino-Chinese Shin Lian Association and the Philippine Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Inc.

KAISA members visited several municipalities in Yolanda disaster-hit provinces of Iloilo, Palawan and Leyte to distribute relief goods as well as tools and construction materials for repairs of houses and school buildings.

It is also during their relief distribution that KAISA made an assessment of the livelihood support they can give to the community. Last March and April, KAISA turned over 100 bancas in the municipality of Ajuy, Iloilo. The “Bangkabuhayan” project is aimed to restore the capability of the affected fishermen to earn a living.
“We want to include another line where you help the fishermen fish and the whole community gets to eat,” Lim said. The group also targeted the fishermen of Aklan and Cebu to avail of Bangkabuhayan with another 100 fishing boats.

KAISA also partnered with Health Futures Foundation, Inc. (HFFI) which is headed by Dr. Jaime Z. Galvez Tan, that chooses the beneficiaries, monitor their activities and provide technical support in installing the motor to the banca and on its maintenance side for the next two years. (VICKY C.ARNAIZ)

TACLOBAN CITY-Filipino volunteers who have shown exemplary performance and dedication to service in helping people and communities will once again be given recognition in their role in development and nation-building as the Search for Outstanding Volunteers 2014 goes on.

Individuals of Filipino citizenship and Filipino or local chapters of foreign or international non-profit or corporation organizations are qualified to participate.
Awards for grabs are Volunteer Lifetime Achievement Award (VLAA) and National Outstanding Volunteer Award (NOVA).

For an individual, group or organization that do not qualify under the regular SOV categories but which are deemed meritorious in accomplishment, a Special Citation in Volunteerism will also be conferred to recognize volunteering efforts and/or support to volunteerism.

There are however more specific qualifications being considered among the nominees in each category in order to get the coveted award.

The Regional Search Committee will careful screen the nominations and submit to the SOV National Selection Committee all the nominations on or before September 15 this year. The awarding will be held in Manila on December 12.

Louie Quebec, the media representative to the Regional Development Council, disclosed that the deadline for submission of entry is on July 31. (EILEEN NAZARENO-BALLESTEROS)