samar's no. 1 drug pusher falls

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Samar’s No. 1 drug pusher falls Much of the Development of Samar is found in leaders & people who care. FOR YOUR ADVERTISING NEEDS: Call or Text us @ 09207675444 ADS HOTLINE: 321-4833; 251-2341; E-MAIL: [email protected] SOHOTON NATURAL BRIDGE NATIONAL PARK GROUP DAY-TOUR PACKAGE with drinks & food ONLY P700/PERSON (Group of 7 persons) Inclusions: Sohoton Cave Tour, Golden River Cruising (and optional river trekking), Helmets, Lights, Guides, Permit, Vest, Entrances, SSA, Drinks and Lunch. Call us for reservation: 0920.7675.444 Just Text your ADS @ - 0920.7675.444 “ADVERTISE WITH US WITHOUT LEAVING YOUR SEAT ...” 8 PAGES DEC. 27 - JAN. 02, 2012 CATBALOGAN CITY VOL. IX NO. 21 SEE PUBLIC P2 SEE NURSES P5 Branch Manager: ARIEL C. TY Mobile No. 0947.9711.031 AFM., Industrial Watchman & Protective Agency Branch Office: Camia St., San Pablo, Catbalogan City GRTY Gravel & Sand Silanga, Catbalogan, Samar B� GINA DEAN RAGUDO EXPRESS Samar Weekly THE EXPONENT OF SAMAR PROGRESS SEE SAMAR P2 SEE CITY P3 Public urged to avoid using ‘crackers READ MORE NEWS! Call 251-2341 Search us on Facebook and like us. Archive our previous issues at: www.issuu.com/samarweeklyexpress HELP SENDONG VICTIMS! DONATE NOW. Just text RED (amount) to 4143 for SMART and 2899 for Globe. Valid donation amounts are 10, 25, 50, 100, 300, 500 and 1000. Any amounts counts! Christmas is a time of giving. Share your blessings. Act now, help our kababayans in distress! 170 slots for nurses up for grabs BUSTED! Policemen in civilian a�re searched the belongings of a suspected drug pusher (inset) a�er he was cornered by the police in the vicinity of the Calbayog District Hospital last December 24, 2011. Prior to the chase, the suspect apparently sold a suspected methamphitamine hydrochloride or shabu to a policeman who posed as buyer. Welcome to PUPUA BEACH RESORT Catbalogan City Home Away from Home! For reservation, contact: 0918.9265.791 (Ben) CALBAYOG CITY -- It surely not a good Christ- mas for this suspected criminal who was fall into a police anti-drug sting a day before everyone cel- ebrates the holiday. A suspected notorious drug pusher that operates in the entire province has been finally arrested by the Calbayog Philippine National Police following a “buy-bust” operation that occurred in the vicinity of Calbayog District Hospital around 6 o’clock in the eve- ning of December 24, 2011. Calbayog PNP ele- ments through its Anti- Illegal Drug Special Op- eration Task Force headed by Police Chief Inspector Elmer B. Cinco collared the suspect identified as certain Fernando Prudente Sepeda, alias Totoy, 43 years old, a resident of Purok 3, Brgy. Matobato, this city, after some 40 minutes chase around the city. In an interview, PO2 Jose Jay Senario told The SWE that the suspect sold a methamphetamine hy- drochloride locally known as “shabu” to a police asset who posed as buyer at the vicinity of said hospital. “Immediately after the transaction, a hot pursuit op- eration followed as the suspect run off at once and he was caught at the vicinity of Our Lady of Porziuncola Hospital, THE Office of Civil Defense has urged residents in this region to avoid using firecrackers in celebrating the holiday season to avoid accidents. This is also in response to the call of the Department of Health. OCD Regional Director Rey Gozon said that aside from calamities and disasters, their office are also in alert status during this holiday season as people are in festive mood, celebrating Christmas and the New Year by using firecrackers as one of the traditions that had long been practiced. However, although it is part of our tradition, Gozon said that using said materials1 in celebrating the holidays should be minimized if not totally stopped to prevent injuries and to protect human health. “If we cannot avoid it, officials in the barangay must identify a common firecracker zone area,” said Gozon. “In this way, we can supervise carefully the uses of firecrackers and we may also prevent accidents and inju- ries,” Gozon said. He added that instead of using money to buy fire- crackers, their money should be saved or rather use it to buy foods. The same was also asked by Tacloban City Police Chief Superintendent Wilson Caubat. Caubat stressed that using firecrackers during Yuletide celebration should now be avoided due to injuries it causes BORONGAN CITY – Some 170 slots for reg- istered nurses had been opened to new appli- cants for the “RN-Heals Program” of the Aquino Administration which is being implemented by the Department of Health (DOH). This was reported by Dr. Jean Egargo, represen- CATBALOGAN CITY - So as not to be caught off guard by the bad weather, the local government unit of Catbalogan through El- liot Lopez, the local disaster risk reduction management council (CDRRMC) officer, is reportedly going around the city to check on the situation of Catbaloganons near the Antiao River bank and the landslide prone areas. According to an employee of the city hall named Ms. Anya Tan, there has been no report of any untoward inci- dent caused by the 24-hour CATBALOGAN CITY – The intermittent rains brought about by the low pressure area and tail end of a cold front, has affected a total of 3,642 families in 108 barangays in the prov- inces of Leyte and Southern Leyte, the Regional Disaster tative of the Department of Health (DOH) for Eastern Samar province. The lady Doctor added that as a continuing pro- gram of DOH, these nurses, once they pass the screen- ing, would be deployed to far-flung barangays of the province so they could help the local government unit (LGU) identify the health needs and problems of the LPA affects 3,642 families in Leyte Island SEE LPA P5 City gov’t monitors rain drops rain in Samar’s capital city of Catbalogan. In a check to the local PAG-ASA office, Mr. Ed dela Cruz reported that rain vol- ume has been gauged at 63.4 mm for the last 24 hours. “This still belong to the normal level, above normal would measure 100 mm for a 24-hour rain,” the Pag-Asa officer said. “There is rain yes, but it is just considered light to moder- ate, this is caused by a shallow low pressure area that could dissipate anytime,” de La Cruz

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Samar’s No. 1 drug pusher falls

Much of the Development of Samar is found in leaders & people who care.FOR YOUR ADVERTISING NEEDS: Call or Text us @ 09207675444 ADS HOTLINE: 321-4833; 251-2341; E-MAIL: [email protected]

SOHOTON NATURAL BRIDGE NATIONAL PARK GROUP DAY-TOUR PACKAGE with drinks & food

ONLY P700/PERSON (Group of 7 persons)Inclusions: Sohoton Cave Tour, Golden River Cruising (and optional river trekking), Helmets, Lights, Guides, Permit, Vest,

Entrances, SSA, Drinks and Lunch. Call us for reservation: 0920.7675.444

Just Textyour ADS @

- 0920.7675.444

“ADVERTISE WITH US WITHOUT LEAVING YOUR SEAT ...”

8 PAGES DEC. 27 - JAN. 02, 2012 CATBALOGAN CITYVOL. IX NO. 21

SEE PUBLIC P2SEE NURSES P5

Branch Manager: ARIEL C. TY Mobile No. 0947.9711.031

AFM., Industrial Watchman & Protective Agency

Branch Office: Camia St., San Pablo, Catbalogan City

GRTY Gravel & Sand

Silanga, Catbalogan, Samar

B� GINA DEAN RAGUDO

EXPRESSSamar Weekly

THE EXPONENT OF SAMAR PROGRESS

SEE SAMAR P2

SEE CITY P3

Public urged to avoid using ‘crackers

READ MORE NEWS!Call 251-2341

Search us on Facebook and like us.Archive our previous issues at:

www.issuu.com/samarweeklyexpress

HELP SENDONG VICTIMS!DONATE NOW. Just text RED (amount) to 4143 for

SMART and 2899 for Globe.Valid donation amounts are 10, 25, 50,

100, 300, 500 and 1000. Any amounts counts!

Christmas is a time of giving. Share your blessings. Act now, help our kababayans in distress!

170 slots for nurses up for grabs

BUSTED!Policemen in civilian a�re searched the belongings of a suspected drug pusher (inset) a�er he was cornered by the police in the vicinity of the Calbayog District Hospital last December 24, 2011. Prior to the chase, the suspect apparently sold a suspected methamphitamine hydrochloride or shabu to a policeman who posed as buyer.

Welcome to PUPUA BEACH RESORTCatbalogan City

Home Away from Home!For reservation, contact: 0918.9265.791 (Ben)

CALBAYOG CITY -- It surely not a good Christ-mas for this suspected criminal who was fall into a police anti-drug sting a day before everyone cel-ebrates the holiday.

A suspected notorious drug pusher that operates in the entire province has been finally arrested by the Calbayog Philippine National Police following a “buy-bust” operation that occurred in the vicinity of Calbayog District Hospital around 6 o’clock in the eve-ning of December 24, 2011.

Calbayog PNP ele-ments through its Anti-Illegal Drug Special Op-eration Task Force headed by Police Chief Inspector Elmer B. Cinco collared the suspect identified as certain Fernando Prudente Sepeda, alias Totoy, 43 years old, a resident of Purok 3, Brgy. Matobato, this city, after some 40 minutes chase around the city.

In an interview, PO2 Jose Jay Senario told The SWE that the suspect sold a methamphetamine hy-drochloride locally known as “shabu” to a police asset who posed as buyer at the vicinity of said hospital.

“Immediately after the transaction, a hot pursuit op-eration followed as the suspect run off at once and he was caught at the vicinity of Our Lady of Porziuncola Hospital,

THE Office of Civil Defense has urged residents in this region to avoid using firecrackers in celebrating the holiday season to avoid accidents. This is also in response to the call of the Department of Health.

OCD Regional Director Rey Gozon said that aside from calamities and disasters, their office are also in alert status during this holiday season as people are in festive mood, celebrating Christmas and the New Year by using firecrackers as one of the traditions that had long been practiced.

However, although it is part of our tradition, Gozon said that using said materials1 in celebrating the holidays should be minimized if not totally stopped to prevent injuries and to protect human health.

“If we cannot avoid it, officials in the barangay must identify a common firecracker zone area,” said Gozon.

“In this way, we can supervise carefully the uses of firecrackers and we may also prevent accidents and inju-ries,” Gozon said.

He added that instead of using money to buy fire-crackers, their money should be saved or rather use it to buy foods.

The same was also asked by Tacloban City Police Chief Superintendent Wilson Caubat.

Caubat stressed that using firecrackers during Yuletide celebration should now be avoided due to injuries it causes

BORONGAN CITY – Some 170 slots for reg-istered nurses had been opened to new appli-cants for the “RN-Heals Program” of the Aquino Administration which is being implemented by the Department of Health (DOH).

This was reported by Dr. Jean Egargo, represen-

CATBALOGAN CITY - So as not to be caught off guard by the bad weather, the local government unit of Catbalogan through El-liot Lopez, the local disaster risk reduction management council (CDRRMC) officer, is reportedly going around the city to check on the situation of Catbaloganons near the Antiao River bank and the landslide prone areas.

According to an employee of the city hall named Ms. Anya Tan, there has been no report of any untoward inci-dent caused by the 24-hour

CATBALOGAN CITY – The intermittent rains brought about by the low pressure area and tail end of a cold front, has affected a total of 3,642 families in 108 barangays in the prov-inces of Leyte and Southern Leyte, the Regional Disaster

tative of the Department of Health (DOH) for Eastern Samar province.

The lady Doctor added that as a continuing pro-gram of DOH, these nurses, once they pass the screen-ing, would be deployed to far-flung barangays of the province so they could help the local government unit (LGU) identify the health needs and problems of the

LPA affects 3,642 families in Leyte Island

SEE LPA P5

City gov’t monitors rain dropsrain in Samar’s capital city of Catbalogan.

In a check to the local PAG-ASA office, Mr. Ed dela Cruz reported that rain vol-ume has been gauged at 63.4 mm for the last 24 hours.

“This still belong to the normal level, above normal would measure 100 mm for a 24-hour rain,” the Pag-Asa officer said.

“There is rain yes, but it is just considered light to moder-ate, this is caused by a shallow low pressure area that could dissipate anytime,” de La Cruz

2 REGIONAL NEWS Samar Weekly Express

DEC. 27 - JAN. 02, 2012

PUBLICfrom page 1...

for BROWN-OUTS and Power Lines TROUBLES, CALL:0916-660-3276 (Call Only)for SAMELCO II Office Concerns:

0917-702-1211 (Text or Call)Monday to Friday, 8:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M.

CATBALOGAN SERVICE CENTER: Telefax No. 055-251-5645 CATBALOGAN MAINTENANCE CREW: Tel. No. 055-251-5646 BASEY SERVICE CENTER: Tel. No. 055-276-2260

SAMELCO IIConsumer Hotlines

“One Call Does it All”

SAMAR from page 1...34IB conducts feeding, gift-giving activities

3 LGUs adjudged “Pamana ng Lahi” 2011 awardees

B� RICKY J. BAUTISTA

SAMAR POLICE PROVINCIAL OFFICE EASTERN SAMAR POLICE OFFICE Tel. No. 055-251-2722 Mobile No. 0927-2052942 Mobile No. 0908-9603294NORTHERN SAMAR POLICE OFFICE LEYTE PROVINCIAL POLICE OFC. Mobile No. 0915-3557182 Mobile No. 0939-8953627

POLICE REGIONAL OFFICE 8: Mobile No. 0939-3287083

“One Call can saves Lives”Call the Police:

Inc. (OLPHI) after almost 40 minutes of chasing,” PO2 Senario said.

In a check at the hospital, this writer learned from the security guards of said hospital that the suspect went to the blood blank to buy blood for his patient who was confined at Calbayog District Hospital.

Policemen led by Inspector Cinco, after learning the whereabouts of the suspect invited the presence of the media, SK officials and flagged down the suspect.

CATBALOGAN CITY – To make the people feel the spirit of Christmas especially the young indi-viduals, the Army’s 34th Infantry (Reliable) Bat-talion conducted its simul-taneous gift-giving and feeding program in the remote areas of Northern Samar last week.

In an email sent to Samar Weekly Express, Captain Ramil Palisoc the 34IB Civil Military Officer said the activity was in partnership with the local government units, people’s and non-government orga-nizations, religious groups and sectors and other stake-holders of Northern Samar province.

Through the intensified implementation of Peace and Development Teams (PDT) of the 34th Infan-try Battalion in its area of responsibility, Lieutenant Colonel William P Peňafiel Jr, Commanding Officer of 34IB; Captain Rolando M. Acido, Executive Officer;

They conducted a thorough search on the suspects’ be-longings.

Confiscated from the suspects’ position are: one (1) piece heat sealed sachet of suspected methamphet-amine hydrochloride or “shabu”, three (3) pieces of one thousand (Php1,000.00) and twenty-five (25) piec-es of five hundred pesos (Php500.00), 1 piece fifty peso bill, two (2) pieces ten peso coins, one (1) unit black Nokia cellular phone, the suspect’s motorcycle used by him as his get-away vehicle and the five hundred (Php500.00) pesos marked money.

As of this writing, the suspect was temporarily detained at Calbayog PNP lock-up cell awaiting an inquest proceeding.

FEEDING AND GIFT-GIVING. The Army’s 34th Infantry Ba�alion lead by its Commanding Officer Lieutenant Colonel William P. Peňafiel Jr. conducted their pre-Christmas feeding and gi�-giving ac�vi�es to some 700 hundred individuals in Northern Samar. The ac�vi�es were in coordina�on with local government units and other stakeholders of the province. (Ricky Bau�sta)

staff officers and their men gave their full support in the conduct of the three (3)-day Gift Giving and Feed-ing Program to the poorest barangays like Barangays Maragano and Bangon all of Palapag; Barangay Po-tong del Sur, Lapinig; Ba-rangay GM-Osias, Gamay and Barangay Hinagonoy-an, Catubig all of Northern Samar from December 14,

15 and 18, 2011. The people, particularly

children were treated with a Christmas package consist-ing of half-kilo rice, three assorted canned goods, five packs instant noodles, and freshly-cooked arroz-caldo, a modest gift extended by the soldiers to share the Christmas spirit. . The packages were given to at least, seven hundred thirty

one (731) families.“The local populace and

stakeholders were so glad of their soldiers’ presence that gladly helped and supported the poorest barangays, or-phans and street children in the hinterlands,” Captain Palisoc told The SWE.

Meantime, Lieuten-ant Colonel Penafiel Jr in-formed that these activities were an opportunity for

the Battalion to show to the civilian populace that their soldiers are able partners and sincerely committed for the attainment of peace and development in the community.

“We will not rest in pur-suing and making all efforts to attain a just and lasting peace so that development can take-off here in Samar”, LTC Penafiel stressed.

TACLOBAN CITY Five officials of the Department of Public Works and Highways in Eastern Visayas successfully hurdled the Civil Service Com-mission-DPWH Promotional Examinations 1for 2nd level conducted on October 1 in Cebu City.

The said examinations which was specifically in-tended for DPWH engineers holding Engineer 3 and above positions nationwide, was availed of by at least 42 officials in the Region.

DPWH 8 Region 8 Direc-tor identified the success-ful examinees as Assistant Regional Director Edgar B. Tabacon, Assistant District Engineer Irwin L. Antonio of 4th Leyte Engineering District, Assistant District Engineer Angelita G. Opina of Tacloban Sub District, Assistant District Engineer Manolo A. Rojas of Southern Leyte Engineering District, and Engineer Pablito Quiniones who is the chief of planning and design of the 1st Leyte Engineering District.

TACLOBAN CITY – The Department of Interior and Local Government officially presented the P3 million grand prizes to three outstanding local government units in the region who were recently adjudged as “Pamana ng Lahi” awardees for 2011.

For the Leyte province, Leyte Governor Carlos Jericho L. Petilla received the award from DILG-8 Regional Director Pedro Noval, during the simple cer-emonies held at the new Oriental Hotel Leyte which coincided with the Christmas Party of the Provincial Government.

The Province of Leyte was adjudged as the Regional award-ee for the Provincial level of the Pamana Award which qualified it to the National Awarding on October 11, during the program for the 20th year anniversary of local government autonomy at PICC.

Other Pamana ng Lahi awardees from Eastern Visayas were the city of Ormoc for the city level and Naval in the prov-ince of Biliran for the municipal level.

Aside from the plaques of appreciation, cash prizes will be awarded to the three outstanding LGUs, P3 million for the province, P2 million for the city and P1 million for the municipality.

It was learned that the DILG Region 8 has already presented the monetary award for Ormoc

especially to children who are more vulnerable to fire-cracker-related injuries.

As part of their cam-paign to limit or avoid fire-cracker related accidents, Caubat said that they had started campaigning and inspecting all stores that sell firecrackers and if they see illegal or prohibited firecrackers being sold, they will immediately con-fiscate it.

Caubat then asked members of the police force and from the Armed Forces of the Philippines and gun owners to be responsible citizens this holiday season by not using their service firearms or their guns in celebrating Christmas and the New Year.

“If they will be caught or if they are proven to have used their guns in celebrating Christmas and the New Year, those who are in service will face administrative sanction aside from charges and dis-missal from service, while ci-vilians will charged in court,” Caubat said.

Caubat added that in-stead of using their guns, servicemen and gun hold-ers must celebrate the holi-day in a way that no one will be hurt. (Roel Ama-zona)

City and Naval.The winning LGUs were

cited by the DILG in recognition of their efforts to advance eco-nomic prosperity and improve the social well-being of the com-munity, Director Jose said.

The Gawad Pamana ng Lahi by the DILG is a mechanism to motivate local governments in the provincial, city and munici-pal levels nationwide, to contin-uously foster and strive for good and effective local governance and further scale-up the value of accountability, transparency and inclusivity in local administra-tion and development.

The Gawad is conferred to LGUs for reasons of exemplary performance in administrative governance, social, economic and environmental governance, drawn from the database of the Local Governance Performance Management System (LGPMS), Seal of Good Housekeeping, International Organization or National Government Agency – bestowed awards and ac-knowledged innovations.

A Regional Awards Com-mittee headed by DILG Director Jose was organized to assess the nominees. After coming up with the shortlist, a validation team composed of DILG, DTI, DENR, PIA and representatives of civil society organizations travelled across the Region to validate the regional finalists in the provincial, city and munici-pal categories.

DPWH engineers in EV pass promotional examsThis examination, accord-

ing to the DPWH, is for the engineers of the DPWH who are interested to apply for future promotions.

The promotional examina-tion which is aimed at promot-ing professionalism, covers all qualified engineers of the Department who are holder of Engineer III, Engineer IV, Engineer V, District and Assis-tant District Engineers, Project Managers I-IV, Director III (Assistant Regional Director and Assistant Bureau Direc-tor), and Director IV (Regional Director and Bureau Director) positions in the Department regardless of whether they had taken and passed any other similar examinations.

Department Order 43 was issued requiring the passing of CSC-DPWH Promotional/Qualifying Examination as qualification requirements in the evaluation and selection of candidates for appointment to executive/managerial posi-tions.

The examination covers

the following subject areas: analytical ability; specialized technical ability (consists of planning (10%), design (20%), procurement (10%), construc-tion (25%), quality assur-ance (20%), and maintenance (15%)); and managerial ability. Percentage weight allocation per subject is different for the 2nd and 3rd level positions.

Examinees who failed the examination scheduled on October 1 may retake the similar examination next year with the specific date to be an-nounced later.

However, frequency of re-taking the CSC-DPWH Promo-tional Examination is limited to ensure that only the best qualified and most competent will be appointed to execu-tive/managerial positions.

Those who failed the sec-ond time may only re-apply after five years from the date of the preceding examination while third time examinee who still failed the test is automati-cally disqualified.

NEWSDEC. 27 - JAN. 02, 2012

Samar Weekly Express3

8ID jumps for a rescue in ‘flood affected’ towns in Leyte

DA, EDC partnership allots initial P92-M to develop Leyte’s “salad bowl”

DPWH monitors roads in EV amid heavy rains

DOH stresses value of “Doctors to the Barrio” program

CATBALOGAN CITY -- The Army’s 8th Infantry “storm troopers” Divi-sion based in this city dispatched a team of res-cuers to the “flooded” areas in Leyte affected by the incessant rains over the weekend.

In a text message sent to this writer, 8ID commander General Mario Chan, he said that a water search and rescue team (WASAR) has been deployed on board two military trucks last De-cember 27 to respond to a distress call from Abuyog, Leyte.

“There are 21 WASAR trained personnel under Cap-tain Jaderick Gagabi, with three rubber boats, chainsaw, two nurses and security es-corts,” the text message read.

Aside from responding a distress call from our peo-ple in Leyte, the division also sent its personnel to deliver relief goods to flood victims in Cagayan de Oro City and Iligan City in Min-danao and Dumaguete in Western Visayas.

“Just today, we have de-livered our second batch of relief goods for the victims of typhoon Sendong last week. On December 20, the first batch of relief goods were al-ready arrived and distributed on those affected areas,” the general said.

Earlier, Gen. Chan said that “it is in times of tragedy when people can best manifest the spirit of sharing and giv-ing-the true meaning of this holiday season.” (Ninfa B. Querante)

TACLOBAN CITY – A 20,000-hectare area at Ton-gonan mountain range, strad-dling Ormoc City and mu-nicipality of Kananga, in the province of Leyte, will soon become a ‘salad bowl’ that will produce high value semi-temperate vegetables.

This, as the Department of Agriculture, in partnership with the Energy Development Corporation (EDC), other in-stitutions and farmers’ groups, has set its eyes to make this development a reality.

Recently, Agriculture Sec-retary Proceso J. Alcala led the signing of a memorandum of agreement at Tacloban City to implement a five-year

TACLOBAN CITY - The Doctors to the Barrios Program (DTTB) of the De-partment of Health which has been in existence for 18 years and has deployed 28 batches of 553 physicians to serve in hard to reach and in far flung towns in 16 regions, is a program of the government appreciated by individuals wanting to become doctors but finan-cially unable to support medical school.

Scholars of the DTTB Program finish medical with the help of the Pinoy MD Medical scholarship Program and the First Gen-tleman Foundation, Inc.

DOH regional direc-tor Edgardo Gonzaga dis-closed that the DTTB Pro-gram offers an attractive package which includes a competitive salary and Magna Carta benefits and with bonuses.

Professional support for the DDTBs include access to a vast network of both government and private institutions and DOH partnership with the Development Academy of the Philippines in the development of the course, Master in Public Manage-ment Major in Health Sys-tems.

In addition to the mas-ters course is a Develop-ment Course specifically tailored for DTTBs in rec-ognition of the learning opportunities package with the Program.

Director Gonzaga in-formed that in October, 2011, 26 DTTBs from previ-ous batches were conferred

TACLOBAN CITY – The Department of Pub-lic Works and Highways Regional Office 8 immedi-ately monitored the condi-tions of the road network in the Region to find out the effects of the continu-ous rains brought about by the LPA.

Director Rolando Asis informed that Biliran as of 10:00 o’clock in the morning of December 27 continued to experience heavy rains but all roads are passable to traffic.

For the first district of Leyte, the situation along Maharlika High-way showed flooding of the highway at Opong, Tolosa; Barangay Tibak

explained.Pag-Asa together with

the CDRRMC work hand in hand to deliver the latest Pag-Asa weather bulletin an-nounced three times a day in fair weather and every hour during a tropical cyclone in radio station DYMS, to guide Catbaloganons to safety.

“I hope that the people will obey the warnings so that there will be zero casualty,” said Dela Cruz.

Meanwhile, the Depart-ment of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) has also been monitoring the national roads and bridges, a report that reached PIA, said that no damage whatsoever has been reported to the DPWH 2nd Engineering District, but the DPWH crew is at hand to un-dertake emergency operation if the need arises according to a report filed by Engr Carmelo Perez of DPWH.

Pag-Asa assured that to-morrow, the LPA will disap-pear and instead give Samar a fair weather fit to welcome New Year 2012. (Ninfa B. Querante)

CITY from page 1...

initiative, called Agri-Pinoy integrated and diversified program for the development of the ‘OK’ upland range. OK refers collectively to Ormoc City and Kananga. The Tongo-nan mountain range is 500 to 800 meters above sea level.

The DA and EDC will jointly invest P92 million in the next five years to develop suitable areas surrounding the Leyte Geothermal Production Field (LGPF) to benefit 5,600 farmers, who are members of 23 farmers’ associations in Ormoc City and municipality of Kananga.

Secretary Alcala said the DA through the DA Region 8 office and National Agribusi-ness Corporation (NABCOR) will assist farmers in the land preparation, cultivation, har-vesting, processing, and mar-keting of vegetables and other high value commercial crops.

Currently, subsistence farmers at LGPF produce as-sorted vegetables and fruits like cabbage, green onion, tomato, eggplant, radish, cha-yote, cucumber (pipino), and pineapple. About five tons are harvested weekly and sold at public markets in Ormoc City and Kananga.

Under the five-year proj-ect, farmers will be encour-aged to plant other fruit crops like durian, rambutan and Jackfruit, including coffee and abaca.

Aside from the DA and EDC, the other project part-ners are the Visayas Sate Uni-versity (VSU) and the Partners Multi-Purpose Cooperative (PMPC), representing the 23 farmers’ associations, located in 16 villages or barangays surrounding the LGPF at the OK upland range.

The joint project will not only uplift farmers from poverty but more impor-tantly transform them into entrepreneurs. It will benefit about 3,000 subsistence farm-families in seven villages in Kananga namely, Rizal, Hi-luctogan, Montebello, Aguit-ing, Lim-ao, San Ignacio, and Tongonan; and nine villages in Ormoc City namely Milagro, Nueva Vista, Cabaon-an, Da-nao, Gaas, Liberty, Tongonan, Mahayahay, and Dolores.

During the MOA signing, Secretary Alcala underscored that the partnership will not only help in the production but also in the processing and marketing aspect of the

project. He stressed the im-portance of economies of scale saying that the farmers can de-mand better prices if they have the volume of production.

Of the P92-M initial fund-ing, the DA-NABCOR will share P29 million to establish a consolidation center and pilot packinghouse, and provide marketing support, said NAB-COR president and CEO Ho-nesto Baniqued, Jr. Another P13 million is earmarked for research and development.

Baniqued said the project has five interlinked compo-nents that include a vegetable consolidation center and post-harvest management assur-ance system, livestock with feedlot operation, marketing, environmental management, and manpower development as a sustainability mecha-nism.

“We at the DA-NABCOR aim to help transform the Ormoc-Kananga range into a major veg-etable growing area in Eastern Visayas, which can later diversify into producing other high value horticultural crops such as cut-flowers and fruits.

Similar initiatives are un-dertaken by the DA under the leadership of Secretary Alcala

to develop a modern wholesale marketing and processing center in La Trinidad, Benguet, and a major vegetable production and processing cluster at Dupax del Sur in Nueva Vizcaya,” Ban-iqued said.

For its part, PNOC-EDC will provide a total of P50M top finance farming activities, at P10 million each year from 2012 to 2016.

“We are committed to sus-tain this corporate social respon-sibility initiative. Many people in the upland range are still poor. Our main concern is help the farmers on the marketing aspect,” said Emiliano Argoncillo, head of the EDC community partnership department.

The Leyte Geothermal Power Fields is the country’s largest producer of geother-mal energy, with a capacity at more than 700 megawatts (MW). The area covers a total of 107,625 hectares along the Tongonan mountain range.

For its part, the VSU, based in Baybay City, will provide farmers technical as-sistance, and supervise crop production, postharvest han-dling, processing and market-ing, said VSU President Jose Bacusmo. DA Sec. Alcala

with the degree of Mas-ter in Management Major in Health Science System and development while 18 DTTBs obtained a diploma in health system and devel-opment. The conferment of degrees and diplomas were given after the candidates were able to complete all the requirements needed to finish the course.

DOH plans to expand the DTTB program as the program seems to be the answer to the agency’s goal of “Kalusugan Pangkala-hatan”.

Recently, DOH has an-nounced the deployment of DTTBs to 10 identified priority towns in Eastern Visayas bereft of the servic-es of physicians. (Aurora Casimpan)

at Santa Fe; along Mainit-San Miguel road and in Babatngon, Leyte but all roads are passable to traf-fic. No damage to infra-structure was reported except for minor scouring on all unpaved road sec-tions.

In the second district of Leyte, Distric Engineer Margarita Junia report-ed that because of heavy flooding, hardly passable are the road sections at Barangay Luan, Barangay Barbo, Barangay Salva-cion, Barangay Liberty, all in the municipality of Dulag. The roadways are under water and hardly passable to light vehicles.

Along the Jaro-Da-

gami-Burauen-La Paz road, two road sections in Barangay Canlingga in Dagami are underwater and are impassable to light vehicles.

Along the Tanauan-Dagami Road, a section at District IV in Dagami is unpassable to light ve-hicles while the San Benito section of the Pastrana-Da-gami road is also impass-able to light vehicles.

In Leyte third district, road slips and cut-offs were observed in Baran-gay San Miguel of San Isidro town, along Ca-lubian¬-San Isidro-Ta-bango-Villaba-Palompon Road, along Sambulawan-Calaguise-Calubian Road,

along Tabing-Tugas-Ta-bango Road, and along Belen-Consuegra Road in Leyte-Leyte. Barri-cades have been installed, DPWH said.

Along Mahaplag-So-god section of Maharlika Highway, soil erosion occurred at KM 1005+800 thereby causing only half lane to be passable.

No damage to infra-structure was reported in the provinces of Samar, Eastern Samar and North-ern Samar.

Director Asis gave the assurance that the DPWH in the Region will continue to monitor the road net-works for the sake of the travelling public. (PIA-8)

Members of the Samar Island Press Club posed for a souvenir group shot a�er their Year-End assessment and review of 2011 accomplishments. Shot taken in Laoang N. Samar.

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4 OPINION Samar Weekly Express

DEC. 27 - JAN. 02, 2012 OPINIONDEC. 27 - JAN. 02, 2012

Samar Weekly Express5

EXPRESSSamar Weekly

THE EXPONENT OF SAMAR PROGRESS

Let’s not get used to sin!

HINTS & TRACESBY FR. ROY CIMAGALA

[email protected]

WITH the celebration of the Solemnity of the Im-maculate Conception of Mary on December 8, we are given another reminder of a basic truth about ourselves that has been all but forgotten.

Our Lady, given to us by Christ himself to be our own Mother and our most powerful intercessor, reminds us of who we really are and how we are supposed to be. Like her, we are supposed to be sinless, though for us that can only happen when we finally arrive at our ultimate destination of heaven.

Just the same, we have to understand that at the be-ginning, we were supposed to be sinless. The same also at the end of time. Thus, in the Eucharistic preface of the feast’s Mass, we read the following about our Lady who is the perfect model for us:

“Full of grace, she was to be a worthy mother of your Son, your sign of favor to the Church at its beginning, and the promise of its perfection as the bride of Christ, radiant in beauty.

“Purest of virgins, she was to bring forth your Son, the innocent lamb who takes away our sins. You chose her from all women to be our advocate with you and our pattern of holiness.”

These beautiful words, so meaningful to us, should have no other effect than to make us develop a great love and devotion to our Lady, our Mother. They should strongly prompt us that she does nothing other than to give Jesus to us, Jesus who is everything to us.

They should also prod us to do everything to fight against sin. Nowadays, there are many pieces of evidence pointing to people getting used to sin, such that sin has become normal or that the sense of sin is waning.

Many people are falling into vices and other bad habits, worsened by the fact that these can now be easily

hidden and rationalized. The tricky part is that many of these temptations and occasions of sin can also be moments of good possibilities. It now really depends on the integrity of the person to choose which path to take.

But what I see is that in many people there is practically no more fear of God nor of sin. They, even the young ones, seem to have become emptied of conscience. Their sense of right and wrong, good and evil, just follows any way the wind blows—it’s so arbitrary!

Many seem to be losing the sense of meaning and purpose in life. They swing from boredom to reckless ad-ventures and idle gimmicks just to fill up their time.

The Internet is infested with porn. I just learned that many people carry with them downloaded porn in their cell phones. The new technologies have become the new scourge of our time, because many people are ill-prepared to use them. They are like little children playing with matches.

There is now an epidemic of self-abuse, substance abuse, all kinds of delinquency, negligences and irrespon-sibilities. The picture is really bad and rotten!

We should not allow this situation to go on without doing anything to correct it. I know it’s not going to be easy. But there’s always hope. St. Paul has reassured us that “where sin has abounded, the grace of God has abounded even more.”

We need to return to God through Mary. She is the one who will make things easy for us. She will put our mind and heart in their proper places, that is, focused on God and filled with love for him and for others.

She will help us with her example of humility, simplic-ity and obedience how to handle our weaknesses, how to fight in our ascetical struggles, how to be in God’s presence all the time, how to develop virtues.

She will teach us how to deal with temptations, how to be totally sincere as to acknowledge always our weakness and to never stay away from God. She will teach us how to deal with the wiles of the devil, the world and our own flesh and deceitful mind and heart.

This clear and strong relationship with God and with others, sustained by this Marian devotion, is basic and in-dispensable, because without it there’s no chance our spiri-tual and moral life can ever take wing. We would always be handicapped when that relation with God is weak.

We should never take for granted this crucial Marian dimension of our Christian life! Mary is the surest, safest, shortest path to Jesus.

The New Year always offers us the opportunity for new beginnings. This is because of the renewed sense of hope it brings.

Many of us welcome the New Year with a revitalized determination to get in the way of our productivity. We greet it with a fresh resolve to improve our relationships with other people and with God. Organiza-tions, especially those that serve the public, also reflect on the events and achievements of the past year to determine areas that can be improved and processes that can be en-hanced. They take the opportunity to assess the prospects and challenges, and outline targets for the next 12 months.

As a nation, we look at the events of the past year with gratitude, particularly the numerous difficulties we were able to hurdle that helped to strengthen our bond as a people. Drawing lessons from them, we are now better prepared for the chal-lenges that the New Year brings.

We should strive to live by the prom-ises we make through our resolutions, particularly those that express small acts of kindness, generosity, concern, and love for our disadvantaged brothers and sisters, our environment, and the legacies of our forefathers.

Let us endeavor to work together, complementing the efforts of our govern-ment, church, and other groups in mak-ing our communities and country more progressive, and better and safer places to live in.

Let us make 2012 a year of fulfilled pos-sibilities for our country.

May 2012 usher in abundant blessings for everyone.

Happy New Year to one and all!

KAKAMPI MOANG BATAS

BY ATTY. MELANIO ‘BATAS’ MAURICIO

NOTARY PUBLIC

DISCLAIMER: Views expressed in the opinion and commentary sections do not neces-sarily reflect the editorial position of The Samar Weekly Express. The SWE does not know-ingly publish false information and may not be held liable for the views of readers exercising their right to free expression. The publication, however, reserves the right to edit contributions for clarity, as it sees fit. - Ed.

Do you want wealth & power in 2012

4 OPINION Samar Weekly Express

DEC. 27 - JAN. 02, 2012 OPINIONDEC. 27 - JAN. 02, 2012

Samar Weekly Express5

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VIEWS ON NEWSBY RICKY J. BAUTISTA

[email protected]

people in a particular barangay. Indeed, these nurses do not only deliver health services by administer-

ing medicines to patients nor monitor the progress of the patient’s health status, they also conduct a study to find out the root causes of diseases that plague in a community, so said Liezel Pumar, of the Eastern Samar Provincial Hospital (ESPH).

“Through a survey which the community nurses would hold, problems like inadequate or poor sanitation, potable water even livelihood would be revealed,” nurse Pumar said in an interview.

Economic experts say that among other poverty indicators, health issues should likewise be identified so that local officials would know and make use of the survey results in their decision-making, program-planning and fund allocation agenda.

“It is also important that family income is known, because insufficiency of it would be the usual cause of health problems in the family,” Pumar added.

“When results are ready these are submitted to the local officials for their study,” the health worker concluded.

For the 170 vacant positions, a total of 246 have applied for screening process, DOH-Borongan concluded. (Alice Nicart)

Risk Reduction and Management Council Operations Center informed.

RDRRMC chairman and OCD Direc-tor Rey Gozon said that the municipality of Javier, Leyte accounted for a total of 1,081 families who were rescued from 9 barangays namely, Batog, Kalsada, Inayopan, Picas, Kasulongan, Bantay, Karanhug, Abuyugay and Malitbogay.

Dagami in Leyte accounted for 820 families who were evacuated from its 65 barangays due to the overflowing of the San Benito Bridge. Jassen Bacate, 5 years old male from Barangay Los Martires died of drowning.

Around 697 families were evacuated from the 14 barangays of Abuyog, Leyte, namely, Poblacion 1 to 9, Pagsangan, Can-apurong, Udyungan, Burubudan and Canmarating.

Meanwhile, in the municipality of Palo, 600 families were evacuated from 5 barangays due to flooding. Relief opera-tion is still ongoing as of press time.

Other municipalities in Leyte that has reported flooding were Mayorga, Santa Fe, Baybay, MacArthur, Tolosa and Julita.

In Southern Leyte, 74 families from four barangays at Saint Bernard were evacuated on December 26 due to flood-ing and possible landslides.

Director Gozon cited the cooperation and support of the national government agencies, the local disaster risk reduction and management councils and the 8th Infantry Division. (PIA 8)

LPA from page 1...

Have a blessed Christmas and a fruitful 2012 to our avid readers

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Samar Weekly

THE EXPONENT OF SAMAR PROGRESS

LIFE’S INSPIRATIONS: “… And Mary said: `My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant’…” (Mary, the mother of Jesus, in Luke 1:46-48, the Holy Bible).

-ooo- NEW YEAR 2012 MESSAGES OF WEALTH, POWER

AND STRENGTH: As 2011 ends and 2012 dawns upon us, many messages will circulate in an attempt to inspire everyone of us. As for me, I would like to share several powerful messages of wealth, strength, power and bless-ings from God which can make the difference in overcom-ing the uncertainties and the difficulties in the coming year and in the days ahead.

This is the first message, from Deuteronomy 28:1-14 of the Holy Bible: “If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations on earth.

“All these blessings will come on you and accompany you if you obey the Lord your God: You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the country. The fruit of your womb will be blessed, and the crops of your land and the young of your livestock—the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks.

“Your basket and your kneading trough will be blessed. You will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out. The Lord will grant that the enemies who rise up against you will be defeated before you. They will come at you from one direction but flee from you in seven.

“The Lord will send a blessing on your barns and on everything you put your hand to. The Lord your God will bless you in the land he is giving you. The Lord will establish you as his holy people, as he promised you on oath, if you keep the commands of the Lord your God and walk in obedience to him.

“Then all the peoples on earth will see that you are called by the name of the Lord, and they will fear you. The Lord will grant you abundant prosperity—in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock and the crops of your ground—in the land he swore to your ancestors to give you.

“The Lord will open the heavens, the storehouse of his bounty, to send rain on your land in season and to bless all the work of your hands. You will lend to many nations but will borrow from none.

“The Lord will make you the head, not the tail. If you pay attention to the commands of the Lord your God that I give you this day and carefully follow them, you will al-ways be at the top, never at the bottom. Do not turn aside from any of the commands I give you today, to the right or to the left, following other gods and serving them…”

-ooo-READ THE BIBLE, BECOME RICH: The second and

third messages, from Joshua 1:8, says: “Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.” Matthew 6:33, quoting Jesus, says: “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well…”

AS may I say, the opening column of the VON for this year are good news. At least, for the entire province of Samar, no record of casualty caused by any kind of firecracker or stray bullets has been reported.

Though there were few cases of minor firecrackers’ burns caused to two victims in Catbalogan City and grenade explosion victims in Calbayog City, still in totality, it is considered by the Catbalogan police, as quite peaceful and they’ve succeeded in their “oplan iwas paputok” campaign in the province.

Kudos to the policemen, BFP and the DOH in Catbalogan, as well as in various municipalities for the efforts of reminding the people to avoid using prohibited firecrackers and face the 2012 healthy!

-o0o-The other good news I wish to share is the latest announce-

ment of the Department of Budget and Management last January 2, 2012 that the government has lined-up some P141.8-billion worth of infrastructure projects, which is set to implement start-ing this month.

Funded by the recently-enacted General Appropriations Act (GAA) of 2012, these infrastructure projects include national roads and bridges; airports, seaports and lighthouses; classrooms and other education facilities; potable water supply systems, ir-rigation and post-harvest facilities; and flood control and slope protection structures.

Verbatim, here’s part of DBM Secretary Florencio Abad state-ments issued last Monday (January 2). “By January, we will com-

Starting for a good news for 2012!

tion can now take place in January 2012 and not in August as was the case for the 2011 budget. It is now possible due to the disaggregation of lump sums and the early pre-procurement activities that rolled up in the last quarter of the year.”

The Budget Chief said that of 2,187 line-item infrastructure projects nationwide that are funded in the 2012 budget, already 2,025 projects or 93 percent are already bided out and will be given notice proceed for the first quarter of 2012.

The P141.8 billion is part of the P182.2-billion total budget for government infrastructure under the 2012 National Budget. It is 25.6 percent higher than the 2011 allocation and represents a higher 1.6 percent of gross domestic product (GPD) compared to 1.4 percent in 2011.

The Department of Public Works and Highways cornered the majority of the P141.79-billion infrastructure program by imple-menting P91.57 billion worth of projects. DPWH will start the maintenance, upgrading and addressing the critical bottlenecks of roads. It will also commence the construction and rehabilitation of national bridges, major flood control projects and payments of right of way, among others.

The agriculture sector will likewise execute a total of P27.80 billion projects with P24.49 billion to be spearheaded by the Department of Agriculture and P3.31 billion to be implemented by the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR). The agriculture infrastructure program will pave the way for the construction of farm to market roads, post harvest facilities, provision of potable water supply and irrigation facilities.

The Department of Education (DepEd) will be implementing a total of P13.97 billion infrastructure programs in the beginning of the year, starting with the construction, repair and rehabilita-tion of classrooms, including the public school system’s water and sanitation facilities.

Likewise, the Department of Transportation and Commu-nication (DOTC) will set off airport improvement activities with P7.20 billion infrastructure projects on January. It will upgrade the sanitation facilities in the airports, and fund the construction and rehabilitation of ports and lighthouses nationwide.

To implement one of the priority programs of the Aquino administration in providing sustainable access to safe drinking water, the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) will start its P770 million infrastructure projects to build potable water supply.

The Pasig River Rehabilitation Commission will commence the P107.96-million rehabilitation and development of the main Pasig River and its tributary waterways (esteros). The Autono-mous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) will also implement its P356.90 million infrastructure projects building roads, bridges and water supply throughout the region.

The early implementation of key infrastructure programs at the start of the year can hit the ground running for the priority projects of the Aquino administration on 2012. It also reinforces the President’s commitment to his Social Contract with the Fili-pino People, and underscores our mission to ensure economic development and transparent government spending. Here’s some listing of the budget (for 2012) as per DBM distribution: DPWH-P91.57-B, DA-P24.49-B, DAR-P3.31-B, DILG-P770-M, DepEd-P13.97-B, DOTC-P7.20-B, Pasig River Rehabilitation Commission-P107.97-M and Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao-P356.89 million.

I just hope and pray that these budgets may go into the right purpose and not falls in someone’s pocket. Let’s just hope that it’s for the good of everyone! Peace to all, Happy New Year to everyone!

prehensively issue the allot-ments for the P141.8-billion infrastructure projects. The implementing departments and agencies will then be ab le to b id these out. In fact, many of these projects have already been bided-out short of award . The big difference for this year is that project implementa-

6 NATIONAL NEWS Samar Weekly Express

DEC. 27 - JAN. 02, 2011

see COMMUNITY p7..

ILIGAN, Philippines (Reuters) - Philippine Presi-dent Benigno Aquino or-dered an investigation on Tuesday into flash floods and landslides that sent mud and logs crashing down on residents, killing about 1,000 people on a southern island.

The national disaster agency said 957 were killed and 49 missing on Mind-anao after Typhoon Washi triggered the slides. Most of the casualties were in the cit-ies of Cagayan de Oro and Iligan and tens of thousands remain homeless, many sheltering in evacuation centres.

Aquino met officials in the two cities worst hit by the cascades that swept down mountainsides as residents of riverside and coastal villages slept in the early hours of Saturday.

“First priority is to relo-cate to areas that no longer pose a danger to them,” Aquino told a meeting in Cagayan de Oro, issuing instructions to implement disaster miti-gation programmes, includ-ing reforestation.

He later told a gather-ing at a school: “We have no desire to engage in finger-pointing or to assign blame at a time like this. Yet, we have an obligation to find out exactly what has happened.”

Aquino said he had formed a task force to inves-tigate the reasons behind the disaster and to determine whether a nationwide log-ging ban had been vio-lated.

He declared a state of national calamity, a move intended to release greater funding, and ordered the speedy restoration of power and drinking water supplies in all affected villages.

“If we want this tragedy to be the last of its kind, we need to learn from our mistakes,” he said.”

NATIONAL CALAMITY

The disaster agency

Pres. Noynoy Aquino

THE National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) has been ordered to hunt down former commander of the 8th Infantry Divi-sion (2005) ex-Army Major Gen. Jovito Palparan and Master Sgt. Rizal Hilario, who suddenly went into hiding two days after a lo-cal court issued warrants of arrest against them in con-nection with the abduction of two UP coeds.

“Efforts to locate the whereabouts of M/Gen. Pal-paran and M/Sgt. Rizal Hi-lario have thus far been unsuc-cessful,” Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said.

“Hence, I directed the Na-tional Bureau of Investigation in coordination with the Phil-ippine National Police-Crimi-nal Investigation and Detec-tion Group (PNP-CIDG), to conduct a manhunt operation against them,” she said.

But De Lima remained hopeful that the two in the Cadapan-Empeno case would voluntarily surren-der.

“I appeal to them to sur-face and submit themselves to the authorities,” De Lima said.

Last Monday, Malolos City, Bulacan Regional Trial

THE House of Rep-resentatives has asked Budget Secretary Florencio “Butch” Abad to release the long overdue balance of P2.06 billion for the lo-cal housing program as mandated by Republic Act (RA) No. 7835, otherwise known as the Comprehen-sive and Integrated Shelter Financing Act of 1994.

The House issued the appeal to Abad by adopt-ing House Resolution (HR) No. 591 prior to going on a Yuletide break.

House Resolut ion (HR) No. 591 was spon-sored by Oriental Mindoro Rep. Rodolfo Valencia, chairman of the House committee on housing and urban development, and Cavite Rep. Joseph Emilio

House to Abad: Release P2.06-B for local housingAbaya, chairman of the House committee on ap-propriations.

Valencia said the esti-mated housing backlog of 3.7 million local housing units can partly be attrib-uted to the government’s shortfall in releasing the much-needed allocations for its various housing programs.

“Fifteen years after the enactment of RA 7835, a measly 31 percent of the total allocation for the Local Housing Program (LHP) was released and distributed to various congressional dis-tricts throughout the coun-try,” said Valencia.

He said the LHP is aimed at ensuring equita-ble distribution of housing benefits across the country

with the National Housing Authority being tasked to implement cost-recover-able socialized housing projects in selected urban and urbanizable areas in all congressional districts.

“There is an urgent need to release the remaining 69 percent of the appropriations for the LHP to give each con-gressional district an equal opportunity to provide its constituents with socialized housing and eventually help decrease the housing backlog in the country,” said Va-lencia.

He said it is the policy of the State to undertake a continuing program of urban land reform and housing which will make available at affordable cost decent housing and

basic services to under-privileged and homeless citizens in urban centers and resettlement areas.

The Comprehensive and Integrated Shelter Financing Act of 1994 or RA 7835 was enacted to increase and regularize the yearly appropriations of the major components of the national shelter pro-gram to ensure continu-ous funding support to vigorously implement the government’s program for housing and resettle-ment.

Another objective of the law is to provide a strong and sustainable shelter finance program with complementary sup-port systems, according to Valencia.

NBI hunts down former 8ID chief Palparan

Court Branch 14 Judge Teo-dora Gonzales issued the warrants of arrest against Palparan, Hilario, Army Staff Sergeant Edgardo Osorio, Lt. Col. Felipe An-otado of the 25th Infantry Battalion (IB) of the 24th IBM.

The warrants came af-ter Palparan and three of his men were charged on Friday with two counts of kidnapping and serious illegal detention before the sala of Gonzales for their alleged involvement in the disappearance of UP stu-dent–activists.

Under the law, the crimes of kidnapping and serious illegal detention are non-bailable offenses.

Gov’t declares national calamity as storm hit thousands

said more than 338,000 peo-ple in 13 provinces were affected by the disaster, with nearly 43,000 still in schools, churches and gym-nasiums.

More than 10,000 hous-es were damaged by the ty-phoon and the flash floods, of which nearly a third were ruined. Many schools, roads and bridges were also badly damaged.

More than 15 million pesos worth of crops, most-ly rice and corn, were dam-aged, but the Agriculture department said losses were minimal as the crops were in the early planting stage.

Aquino said the gov-ernment can also access funds from multilateral financial institutions, in-cluding $3 million from the Asian Development Bank and about $500 million in low-interest loans from the World Bank.

Survivors said huge logs thundering down mountainsides crushed resi-dents. Television footage showed many recovered bodies with arms or hands raised as if reaching out for help or clinging on to something.

Cagayan de Oro and Ili-gan were struggling to pre-vent disease from spreading in evacuation centres, with construction proceeding quickly of burial vaults and plots in public cemeteries to bury decomposing bodies.

Iligan has started bury-ing truckloads of bodies, with some family members or residents of the same vil-lages entombed in a single sepulchre. A Reuters pho-tographer saw bodies lined up along the highway in

Cagayan de Oro outside a small funeral home.An official of the British-based Christian relief and

development organisation World Vision said people were fighting for space at evacuation centres.

“It is really overcrowded, there is almost no space in between people,” group official John Salva told ANC Television. “Diseases are starting to appear.”

“It’s really a struggle to manage those evacuation centres, there’s a shortage of water and a shortage of food,” he said.

The state-run Mines and Geosciences Bureau said it had warned authorities in the area last year about the need to relocate families living along riverbanks that swelled after one month’s worth of rainfall fell over the weekend.

“This tragedy that happened in Cagayan de Oro ... will be repeated in the future. And therefore, there needs to be appropriate preparation to prevent fatalities,” Leo Jasareno, acting director of the MGB said in a television interview.

“Rural Women’s Day 2011 should be more than just about advo-cating for a gender inclusive development agenda. Rural Women’s Day 2011 should enable the diverse experiences of rural women to inform solutions and actions to define their peace and human security. This includes enabling information and communication channels to ad-dressing peace and development priorities which also include the new and emerging threats to Peace in the Pacific including the impact of climate change, tensions over access to water, land and other diminish-ing resources,” says the convenor of the a rural women’s media and policy network in Fiji.

Speaking on behalf of the Fiji based Community Media Net-work on UN Security Council Resolution 1325 (Women, Peace and Security), convened by FemLINKPACIFIC, Executive Direc-tor, Sharon Bhagwan Rolls highlighted the role of community radio which has enabled rural women from as far as Udu Point in Vanua Levu as well as young women to inform Dialogue and Peacebuilding processes:

“As we commemorate Rural Women’s Day 2011, FemLINKPA-CIFIC is pleased to announce the expansion of our women’s community radio network as a result of the donation of 2 additional “suitcase” radio kits thanks to a capital grant from Australian AID. This means women in two rural centres – Nausori and Labasa will be actively involved in the 16 days of community radio campaign coinciding with the 16 Days of Activism against Gender Violence from November 25 – December 10.”

In 2012 FemTALK 89.2FM will also be able to stage uninter-rupted weekend broadcasts in Suva:

“And with an additional suitcase radio kit on Viti Levu we will be able to take one “suitcase” radio kit out to more rural centres, while members of our Generation Next team in Labasa will host monthly broadcasts in town. These additional broadcasts will definitely contrib-ute to enhancing and enriching our ongoing work of linking Peace and Development, especially with rural women,” she added.

According to FemLINKPACIFIC’s rural convenor in Labasa, Adi Vasulevu Chute, who is also the facilitator for the Pacific Centre for Peacebuilding in the North, the 1325 network is more than just about making peace the news:

“We are not just taking stories from the women, but we are also educating them and advocating and taking things from upper regional level right down to the communities, so they know, they understand. Most of the women in the rural communities now know what CEDAW and the 1325 in their own context.”

The rural “1325” network meets on the 3rd Wednesday in each centre and enables FemLINKPACIFIC to provide a space

Former 8ID chief Palparan

Community radio enables rural women to dialogue and peace building process

for women leaders, as well as senior citizens in Ba, as well as members of the Generation Next project for young women to discuss and document their human security priorities:

According to a member of Generation Next in Labasa, Alisi Matai: “Peace means having full excess to the needs and wants of a human being, a good example in the north, finance is a big problem and this causes a lot of conflicts within families and communities. Families live in houses built from cardboards and tarpaulins. Also the decision makers in the communities become gender bias at times and this cause conflicts. So the women’s peace and human security programmes we conduct with FemLINKPACIFIC raises the voices of women in Labasa market to be heard by the right authorities,” she said, explaining how an Interactive Dialogue on Women, Peace and Human Security with the Labasa Town Council earlier this year led to improve-ments in the toilet facilities at the market, “The community radio programmes bring women together,” she added.

By bringing together a diverse range of rural women together

B� MYRA M. TAMBOR

Militant’s wish for Palparan

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A message from the SAMARWEEKLYEXPRESS! EXPRESS

Samar Weekly

THE EXPONENT OF SAMAR PROGRESS

Republic of the Philippines

REGIONAL TRIAL COURT

8th Judicial RegionBRANCH 33

Calbiga, SamarIN THE MATTER OF CORRECTION

OF THE MARRIAGE CERTIFICATE OF PEPITO CAVEIRO

OCENAR AND LEAH LOTOC JABONETE,

LEAH LOTOC JABONETE,

Petitioner-v.s.-

THE NATIONAL STATISTICS OFFICE,

MANILA and THE MUNICIPAL CIVIL

REGISTRAR OF CAL-BIGA, SAMAR,

RespondentSPL. PROC. NO. C-

2011-1171For:

CORRECTION OF ENTRY ON THE

MARRIAGE CERTIFI-CATE IN THE NSO AND MUNICIPAL CIVIL REGISTRAR

x- - - -- - - - - - - - - xORDER

This is a verified petition to change the entry of date of birth in the Certificate of Marriage of the petitioner, from December 13, 1972 to her correct date of birth which is November 13, 1971.The petition alleges that petitioner’s correct date of birth is November 13, 1971, however, at the time of her marriage with Pepito Ocenar,

she honestly believed that she was born on December 13, 1972 hence, she entered the latter date as her date of birth in their Marriage Contract. And to correct such mistake, she filed the instant petition.The petitioner had sent cop-ies of her petition to the Of-fice of the Solicitor General, National Statistics Office, Manila, and the Local Civil Registrar of Calbiga, Samar, per registry receipt attached to the original copy of the petition.Finding the instant petition sufficient in form and sub-stance, the same is hereby giv-en due course. The petitioner is ordered to publish this Or-der in a newspaper of general circulation in the Province of Samar and accredited by this

Court, to be determined by raffle, once a week for three (3) consecutive weeks at the petitioner’s expense.The initial hearing is sched-uled on January 30, 2012 at 8:30 o’clock in the morning.Furnish copies of this Order to the Office of the Solicitor General, the Office of the Samar Provincial Prosecutor in Catbalogan City, the Civil Registrar of Calbiga, Samar, Atty. Minerva V. Siosana, and the petitioner.IN CHAMBERS, Regional Trial Court, Brach 33, Cal-biga, Samar.December 13, 2011.

(Sgd.) JANET M. CABALONA

Presiding JudgeSWE Jan. 27 - 2; 3 - 9 & 10 - 16, 2011 issue

Republic of the Philippines

REGIONAL TRIAL COURT

8th Judicial RegionBRANCH 31Calbayog City

IN RE: CORREC-TION OF ENTRY IN THE CERTIFICATE OF LIVE BIRTH OF JAYREL LAUTING-

CO CANOJAYREL L. CANO,

Petitioner,-versus-

THE LOCAL CIVIL REGISTRAR OF

CALBAYOG CITY AND THE ADMINIS-TRATOR AND CIVIL

REGISTRAR GEN-ERAL, NATIONAL

STATISTICS OFFICE, QUEZON CITY

RespondentsSPEC. PROC. NO. 466

x- - - - - - - - - - -xORDER

A verified petition has been filed by the petitioner, through counsel, praying that after due notice and hearing, an order be issued directing the Local Civil Registrar, Calbayog City and the Ad-ministrator and Civil Regis-trar General of the National Statistics Office, Quezon City to correct the sex or gender of petitioner JAYREL L. CANO as appearing in his Certificate

of Live Birth, from “female” to “male”.Finding the petition to be sufficient in form and in substance, notice is hereby given that this case is set for hearing on April 16, 2012 at 8:30 o’clock in the morning before this Court, at which date, time and place, all per-sons who have an objection thereto may file any opposi-tion and show cause why the same should not be granted.Let this Order be published at the expense of the petitioner once a week for three (3) consecutive weeks prior the above-setting in a newspaper of general circulation in the Province of Samar and in

Calbayog City, duly accred-ited with this Court.Let copies of this Order be furnished the Solicitor Gen-eral, Makati City, the Civil Registrar General of Nation-al Census and Statistics Of-fice, Quezon City, the Local Civil Registrar of Calbayog City, the City Prosecutor, the petitioner and his counsel, the Clerk of Court, Regional Trial Court, Calbayog City.SO ORDERED.Calbayog City, Philippines, December 21, 2011.(Sgd.) REYNALDO B.

CLEMENSJudge

SWE Jan. 27 - 2; 3 - 9 & 10 - 16, 2011 issue

CATBALOGAN CITY – The “Express it at the Park,” one of the biggest and active tri-media organi-zation in the region honored anew outstanding media personality and newsmaker of the year last December 17, 2011 in Tacloban City.

The Media Awards 2011 is one of the highlights of the Express It At The Park anniversary honoring all the best community reporters from radio, television and newspapers in Region 8.

This year, most of the newsmen who attended the gathering wore an “Amaya” inspired costumes that features Filipino attires during the pre-Hispanic time. At the end of the gathering, the best in costume was also announced.

The ABS-CBN Tacloban romped away with most awards in the television category while the Leyte-Samar Daily Express (sister publication of this paper) for the newspaper and the DyVL for the radio categories.

Clifford Nolido won as best in TV news anchor, Jeanette Ruedas as best TV news reporter, Jason Ray Pabua as best TV cameraman and Ranulfo Ducducan as the media personality of the year. They all were from ABS-CBN Tacloban.

On the other hand, the Aksyon Radyo DyVL entries also took home several awards such as Reyan Arinto as best radio news reporter, Luzviminda Riman-diman as best radio newscaster, and Ronald Vinas as best radio commentator.

Other winners in said event also include Ven Labro of LSDE as best feature writer; Eleen Nazareno of LSDE as best opinion writer; Henry Gadaingan of Probe as best news photographer and Medora Quirante of Ga-hum Weekly as best new writer of the year 2011.

The Newsmaker of the Year award was also pre-sented to Rep. Florencio Bem Noel of the An Waray partylist for his exemplary activities he conducted in his region and in the country.

It was learned that the success of the EIATP was due to the friendship of four powered personality in the region namely Alvin Arpon, former PIA Regional Director, Wilson Chan of Leyte Park, LSDE publisher Dalmacio Grafil and LTO director Ramon Cuyco who founded the media awards.

For years now, the EIATP media awards, the only one of its kind in the region that gives recognition to the best among the community media region wide, seeks to promote as medium of community feedback and participation. (R. Bautista)

EIATP honors EV’s best community reporters

every month, FemLINKPACIFIC provides a platform for more rural women to be heard by policy makers as well as broader civil society said Bhagwan-Rolls:

“This is critical because we are able to ensure women who attend our community media consultations and broad-casts, as well as the members of their clubs and organisations, and their families, they have access to regular information and an opportunity share ideas, learn about the policy and international convention commitments to gender equality, women’s rights and peace and security. This is the founda-tion for engendering development processes, for realizing human security.”

“The community radio stories we collect, the consulta-tions we conduct and the spaces we enable, serve as the basis for our contribution to the advocacy to ensure commitments to ALL women’s human rights – social, economic, political are accounted for, in line with commitments made in the UN Beijing Platform for Action (1995), UN Convention for the Elimination of All form of Discrimination against Women (ratified in 1995) as well as UN Security Council Resolu-tion 1325 (Women, Peace and Security, October 2000) and the Millennium Development Goals. The stories we collect also ensure women, themselves, are able to identify their Peace and Development priorities and also remind us of the inter-connectivity between all human security priorities,” she added.

The United Nations’ (UN) International Day of Rural Women celebrates and honours the role of rural women on October 15 each year. It recognizes rural women’s importance in enhancing agricultural and rural development worldwide.

Background: The first International Day of Rural Women was observed on October 15, 2008. This day recognizes the role of rural women, including indig-enous women, in enhancing agricultural and rural development, improving food security and eradicat-ing rural poverty. The idea of honoring rural women with a special day was put forward at the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, China, in 1995. It was suggested that October 15 be celebrated as “World Rural Women’s Day,” which is the eve of World Food Day, to highlight rural women’s role in food production and food security. “World Rural Women’s Day” was previously celebrated across the world for more than a decade before it was officially a UN observance.

COMMUNITY from page 6..

DEC. 27 - JAN. 02, 2011 PAGE 8

‘Manila Kingpin: The Asiong Salonga Story’ dominates MMFF Awards Night

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EXPRESSSamar Weekly

THE EXPONENT OF SAMAR PROGRESS

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RnB sistah Krizza Neri is Protege’s very first Grand Champion

RnB Sistah Krizza Neri makes history after being crowned as the first ever grand winner of GMA Network’s phenomenally hit singing superstar search, PROTÉGÉ during the spectacular finale held last December 18 at the Center Stage at the SM Mall of Asia.

The 16-year-old protégé of mentor Aiza Seguerra from Cagayan de Oro emerged victorious over the other two finalists, Singing Cinderella Lovely Embuscado from Davao and Pop Sweetheart Lirah Bermudez from Iloilo after receiving the highest number of text votes from the judges and the viewers during the triple live showdown of the Top 3.

Krizza came home with the incredible grand prize which includes P1 million cash from GMA Network, a 2-bedroom unit from Suntrust Adriatico Gardens in Manila worth P3 million, a 5-year management contract with GMA Artist Center, and a 4-year scholarship grant from STI, while her mentor Aiza received P500,000 cash.

Lovely, on the other hand, won P50,000 cash after bagging the Texter’s Choice Award and P100,000 cash for receiving the Skyflakes Biggest Break Award. She also

THE “Manila Kingpin: The Asiong Salonga Story” dominated the 37th Metro Manila Film Festival Awards Night held at the Newport Performing Arts Theater at Resorts World Manila in Pasay City on Wednesday night, December 28.

The film festival’s only action movie won a total of 11 awards, including Best Picture, Best Screenplay (for Roi Iglesias and Rey Ventura), Best Supporting Actor (for John Regala), and the Gatpuno Villegas Cultural Award.

It also won almost all of the technical awards.Interestingly, a “Gary dela Cruz” was credited when

“Manila Kingpin” won the award for Best Director. Its original director, Tikoy Aguiluz, secured a court order to have his name removed from the credits of “Manila King-pin” due to re-shooting and editing of the film without his permission.

“Enteng Ng Ina Mo” won second best picture while “Shake, Rattle, and Roll 13” won third best picture.

Dingdong Dantes won the Best Actor award for his role in “Segunda Mano” while Maricel Soriano of “Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow” won Best Actress. Maricel’s film was disqualified from contention in the other creative awards, including Best Picture, because the exhibited version was a departure from the script the producers submitted to the MMFF Committee.

The Kapuso actor bested Vic Sotto (“Enteng Ng Ina Mo”), E.R. Ejercito (“Manila Kingpin: The Asiong Salonga Story”), Ryan Agoncillo (“My Househusband: Ikaw Na!”), and Jericho Rosales (“Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow”) for the award.

Meanwhile, Ai-Ai delas Alas (“Enteng Ng Ina Mo”), Judy Ann Santos (“My Househusband: Ikaw Na!”), Eugene Domingo (“Shake, Rattle, and Roll 13”), and Maricar Reyes (“Shake, Rattle, and Roll 13”) were the nominees for the Best Actress award.

Domingo won Best Supporting Actress for “My House-husband: Ikaw Na!”

Meanwhile, “H.I.V.” and “Pintakasi” evenly split the awards for the full-length independent film categories of the New Wave Section of the 2011 MMFF.

“Pintakasi” was named the festival’s best full-length independent film and won the Best Actor award (for JM de Guzman).

“H.I.V.” won the Best Actress (for Iza Calzado) and the Gender Sensitivity awards.

Here is the complete list of winners during the 37th Metro Manila Film Festival Awards Night:

Best Picture: “Manila Kingpin: The Asiong Salonga Story” (Scenema Concepts Int’l, Viva Films)

Second Best Picture: Enteng Ng Ina Mo (Star Cinema, M-Zet Films)

Third Best Picture: Shake, Rattle, and Roll 13 (Regal Films); Best Director: “Manila Kingpin: The Asiong Salonga Story”; Best Actor: Dingdong Dantes (“Segunda Mano”)

Best Actress: Maricel Soriano (“Yesterday, Today, To-morrow”); Best Supporting Actor: John Regala (“Manila Kingpin: The Asiong Salonga Story”)

A scene from the Metro Manila Film Fes�val Entry “Manila King-pin: The Asiong Salonga Story.” Carla Abellana portrays the role of Fidela (Asiong Salonga’s wife) while Jeorge “E.R.” Estregan plays the lead role of Nicasio “Asiong” Rodriguez Salonga. (Publicity photo)

received a 5-year management contract with GMA Artist Center and a 4-year scholarship grant from STI together with Lirah.

Making the finals night even spectacular were the special performances of the 10 celebrity mentors and their respective protégés together with Journey Host Ogie Alca-sid and Reality host Jennylyn Mercado. Multitalented per-former Arnel Pineda also rendered a special song number during the live finale.

The panel of judges - composed of well-renowned composer/musical director/writer Louie Ocampo, well-respected talent manager/director Bert de Leon and en-tertainment guru, Joey de Leon was joined by two award-winning actresses Cherie Gil and Eula Valdez. Senior Vice-president for Entertainment-TV Wilma V. Galvante was also in attendance for the presentation of awards.

PROTEGE Grand Champion Krizza Neri