CALBAYOG CITY-Mayor Ronaldo P. Aquino of this city personally turned over the “duo” farm equipment (tractor and thresher) to the Farmers’ Association of Barangay Bontay (an agricultural village located in Calbayog’s 2nd district) during a simple ceremony held on July 11. Said farm equipment was funded by the national government through the modernization and farm mechanization program of the Department of Agriculture (DA) with only a meager 15% counterpart from the recipient barangay amounting only to P35, 475.00 from its total amount of P200, 000.

This barangay counterpart was shouldered by the city government through Mayor Aquino with a condition that the Bontay Farmers’ Association will fund back said amount within three years for their own future use to procure additional farm equipment. In his message, Mayor Aquino stressed that what he’s only asking from the farmers is their diligence to farm that in return the city government will compensate through alleviating their conditions and raising their agricultural production.
For his part, Ronaldo Layaong, chairman of Bontay Farmers’ Association, called on the members’ support and cooperation especially in keeping custody of the farm equipment given to them.

This turnover of farm equipment to Bontay was also made possible by the City Agriculture Office headed by Adela Ocenar. Aside from the tractor and thresher, other farm interventions that Bontay is also set to receive from DA and the city government are shredder and a flat-bed dryer. The Bontay Farmers Association is composed of 28 members and is now a registered farmers’ cooperative with the Department of Labor and Employment. (AIMEE CATALAN/PR)

TACLOBAN CITY- The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) reported that more than 5,000 families were affected when typhoon “Glenda” hit Eastern Visayas last week.

Vina Aquino, regional information officer of the DSWD-8, said that these families were assisted by their office during the typhoon. She said that at least nine towns, to include Tacloban City, were considered to have been most affected by Glenda, the strongest typhoon to hit Eastern Visayas after it was pummeled by supertyphoon Yolanda eight months ago.

Aquino said that based on their records, as of July 16, 2014, there were 5,337 families who stayed at the evacuation centers identified by the local government units
The most affected town in the region in terms of number of families affected was Calbiga in Samar with 1,299 displaced families; Catarman, Northern Samar, 1,053 families and the city of Tacloban, 997 families.

There were 181 totally damaged houses and 44 partially damaged houses in the whole region and the most affected town was San Policarpio in Eastern Samar which has 96 totally damaged houses while the town of Jiabong, Samar has 85 totally damaged houses due to Glenda, said Aquino. There were 2,000 food packs that were delivered to Northern Samar which was the most affected area in the region while the city government of Tacloban gave 500 food packs, 2,500 bottled water and 500 blankets for those who stayed at the evacuation centers like the astrodome. (AIRYLL A. YAPOC- LNU-Intern)

TACLOBAN CITY— Businessmen who were affected by supertyphoon Yolanda’s fury are now slowly getting back on their feet. Out of their hard work and perseverance and not because they are being given the needed financial assistance by the government, said Jack Uy, president of the Tacloban-Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Uy said despite that the apparent lack of government support, he and his group of about 140 members continue to thrive and help rebuild the city. “We are now 80 to 90 percent back in the business. The remaining 10 to 20 percent are reluctant to comeback, either because of trauma or still looking for fresh capital, while some have opened their businesses in other places. But we keep on working,” Uy said in an interview. As national government’s financial assistance remains dim for the business sector in the Yolanda-devastated areas, Uy said they just rely on each other and to their friends for help.

“We need help, but the question is they (the government) are not helping us. There are some commercial banks responded, but not all of them. They don’t extend so much loans to businessmen because they got existing loan. We are asking to extend the loan longer than we have before and give us easier term in repayment,” said Uy, adding that more than 50 percent of the local businessmen were rendered bankrupt after Yolanda.

Uy said that the massive looting incident that took place a day after Yolanda pummeled Tacloban compounded their problem.  “We have been left behind. The Department of Trade and Industry is extending loan but in a selective method. The way they offer it, I think, they only have a limit of P1.5 million. The businessmen need more than that. Today, what is P1.5 million?” Uy asked.According to Uy, the amount they extend is not enough for restart their operations. “If you have an old building, you will use the amount to repair it, and you will have nothing anymore for the capital.” Uy cited his own rice mill whose entire building collapsed and all the machineries destroyed. “To recover, you have to build warehouse which will cost P15 million and the machinery cost millions also.” After the building, Uy said they need capital to buy “palay” or rice and hire workers which is getting difficult to find in Tacloban now as some of them have moved to other places.

“At present and the most important part is to extend loan to the businessmen. If only the government or the international organizations can extend loan to the business sector, it is most welcome,” Uy stressed. (RONALD O.REYES)

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)