Atty. Nick Mendros,
officer in charge of Comelec 8 informed that the initial shipment
received contains the official ballots which are intended for the
provinces of Northern Samar, Eastern Samar, Leyte with the exception
of Tacloban City, and seven (7) towns of Samar.
Said official ballots
will be deposited at the various local treasurers’ offices and will
only be dispatched to the polling precincts on the day of the
elections, Director Mendros explained.
The official ballots
intended for the provinces of Biliran,
Southern Leyte and for Tacloban are expected to arrive in the region
within this week, Director Mendros added.
In a phone patch
interview, Director Mendros informed the Philippine Information Agency
that the official ballots cannot be interchanged because each ballot
is intended for a specific voting center or polling precinct.
Director Mendros said
that the Comelec is in close coordination with the Philippine National
Police, the Armed Forces of the
Philippines,
the Pastoral Parish Council for Responsible Voting and the Board of
Election Inspectors in safeguarding the official ballots and the PCOS
machines before, during and after the actual polls.
The Comelec 8 has
already conducted trainings for the teachers who will be serving
during the May 10 elections.
It has also conducted
region wide information and education campaigns on how to vote and how
to use the PCOS machines.
Over 500 college
students in Southern Leyte get employed in DOLE’s summer job program
By BONG PEDALINO
April
27, 2010
MAASIN CITY, Southern
Leyte – A total of 571 tertiary-level students have been gainfully
employed this summer vacation under the Special Program for Employment
of Students (SPES) of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE).
SPES has been a
regular, yearly undertaking of the agency in coordination with local
government units (LGUs) who are willing to shoulder and share in the
salary of the workers, also known as “summer jobbers.”
For this year’s SPES
employment season in the province, nine LGUs including the provincial
government, plus the Southern Leyte State University - San Juan Campus
(SLSU-San Juan), readily accommodated and responded to the DOLE’s call
for a partner to accept the young entrants to this summer’s workforce.
Data obtained from the
DOLE provincial office here revealed the following entities as DOLE’s
SPES co-sponsors, and their corresponding number of student
placements: Provincial Government - 100; Maasin City - 163; Macrohon -
22; Limasawa - 15; Malitbog - 111; Sogod - 98; Saint Bernard - 30;
Anahawan - 7; Hinundayan - 20; and SLSU-San Juan Campus - 5.
Work for this year’s
summer jobbers began last week for a twenty-day employment period,
with DOLE sharing 60% of the wages, while the concerned LGU
counterpart is 40%.
Among the
requirements to qualify in the SPES program is that the student must
not be less than 15 years of age at start of work, and not more than
25, a certified college student who is poor but deserving, no failing
mark on any subject, and must have an average grade of 80%, it was
learned. (PIA-Southern Leyte)
8th ID commander plays
host to SIPPAD, gave out special ‘peace’ t-shirts
By
NINFA B. QUIRANTE
April
27, 2010
CATBALOGAN CITY –
Major General Arthur Tabaquero with his 8th ID Storm Troopers
officials showed his deep advocacy for peace through a special medium
– ‘peace’ t-shirts which he distributed to some 200 participants to
the 15th Samar Island Partnership for Peace and Development (SIPPAD)
forum, held recently at Camp Lukban, Catbalogan, Samar.
Aside from playing
host to the 200 participants that filled the 8th ID social hall,
Tabaquero showed another act of generosity by giving away the ‘peace’
t-shirts.
The words inscribed in
the t shirt said: Who would say ‘NO’ to peace?
The inscriptions, said
army officer Glenn dela Rosa, “poses a great challenge to everyone on
how we could achieve our common aspiration of lasting peace”.
“The 8th ID
conceptualized this t-shirt with a symbol of Dove and shaking hands to
push a strong issue, that achieving peace and security is everybody’s
responsibility.”
“Like the black
t-shirt, the unstructured journey might be dark and bleak; however,
everybody must join hands in braving the dark path towards peace“.
The shirt, said Dela
Rosa must be worn by every individual who has the passion and strong
will to become the vehicles and ‘instruments of peace’ in Eastern
Visayas.
The army and PNP
has joined forces to run towards an honest, orderly and peaceful
elections in the province of Samar. (PIA-Samar)
Zenarosa Commission
enriches Samar island forum
By NINFA B. QUIRANTE
April
26, 2010
CATBALOGAN CITY
– Some 200 participants jampacked the 8th Infantry Division Social
hall in Catbalogan City on Friday as the Zenarosa Commission officials
graced the Samar Island Partnership for Peace and Development (SIPPAD)
assembly.
The Zenarosa
Commission was created by Pres. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo under
Administrative Order No. 275, whose mandate is to address the
existence of private armed groups in the country with a view to dismantling them
permanently.
The Commission chaired
by retired Justice Monina Arevalo-Zenarosa attended SIPPAD to consult
with the locals the presence of private armies in
Samar.
In her message,
chairperson Zenarosa urged cooperation of the locals as regards
reportage of private armies and loose firearms.
“We can’t move the
world, but we can move you,” she added.
She also mentioned
that peace is an elusive commodity but her commission’s dream is
peaceful elections.
The President
initially created seven-man Zenarosa Commission on December 8, 2009
following the November 23 Maguindanao massacre where 57 people where
killed, mostly journalists.
The other members of
the Commission are: Bishop Juan de Dios M. Pueblos, Mahmod L. Adilao
of the Ulama League of the Philippines, Dante L. Jimenez of the
Volunteer Against Crime and Corruption, Ret. Police Director General
Virtus V. Gil, and Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas president
Herman Basbaño.
Dante Jimenez, in his
message said that private armies do exist, lay low and are activated
during election time.
When the forum
solicited questions, Representative Reynaldo Uy of
Samar’s first district accused political opponent Rodolfo Tuazon
in sowing lawlessness in Calbayog City. The congressman was advised to
submit his accusations under oath. However, he immediately left, right
after submitting his sworn statement to the Commission.
Right after his
accusations, Mrs. Maripas Tuazon, the wife of Tuazon retaliated by
accusing Uy of harboring private armies; followed by one Dr. Rumohr
who also accused Uy’s men of victimizing them.
With the seemingly
endless trade of barbs between the two parties, Bishop Varquez of
Borongan restrained the parties and asked them to obey the ground
rules.
Justice Zenarosa
sternly reprimanded some participants who applauded while Mrs. Tuazon
reversed the accusations.
Jimenez then urged
those who have knowledge of the existence of private armies to come
forward and share their stories under oath.
Vice Mayor Oliva of
Gandara also came forward and accused the
PNP of doing criminal acts in Gandara, to this,
PNP Provincial
Director Pancho Hubilla vowed to look into the matter.
For his part, Ret.
Police Director General Virtus V. Gil asked Hubilla to investigate the
matter and even to consider transferring his provincial headquarters
to Calbayog City.
The unsavory exchange
of accusations was doused off when the lawyers of the Commission
reminded them to do so under oath.
The morning folded up
after the candidates present took their Oath of Unity or Panata ng
Pagkakaisa.
The oath binds the
candidate-signatories to adhere to the election laws to ensure the
conduct of honest, orderly, and peaceful elections in May 10 in their
respective provinces.
The adherence to their
oath though still remains to be seen. (PIA-Samar)
Candidates’ forum
draws large crowd in Catbalogan
By NINFA B. QUIRANTE
April
26, 2010
CATBALOGAN CITY –
Despite the heavy downpour of torrential rains that cut in half, the
Gubernatorial and Vice-Gubernatorial Candidates Forum in Samar, a big
crowd witnessed how the leading candidates plan to manage one of the
poorest provinces in the country - Samar.
Candidates for
Governor in Samar gamely answered questions ranging from their
platforms to managing
Samar’s vast natural resources to fighting poverty, peace and
security and ensuring food sufficiency.
Out of five candidates
for Governor, those who attended included Pilar Bolok (Independent);
Atty Peter Labid (BPP), Jesus Redaja (NPC), and Casilda ‘Ida’ Lim (PDSP);
another candidate congresswoman Sharee Ann Tan (Lakas-Kampi-CMD),
daughter of reigning Governor Milagrosa Tan was conspicuously absent.
Only two out of the
three Vice-Gubernatorial candidates attended the forum: Joseph Grey (NPC)
and Rosenaida Rosales (Independent); again Governor Tan’s son Stephen
Tan was the only one absent.
The candidates forum
was a brainchild of the Samar Partnership for Peace and Development (SPPADE)
a multi-sectoral forum convened by the clergy to urged its leaders to
propel Samar into a peaceful and developed province through constant
dialogues and consultation.
Lest the SPPADE be
accused of partiality and bias, SPPADE requested Ms Erlinda Olivia P.
Tiu, the regional director of Philippine Information Agency (PIA-8) to
act as moderator, Ms. Tiu hails from
Tacloban
City.
Questions were read by
a chosen team of panellists while written questions from the audience
were read by Director Tiu.
Most questions dealt
with how the governor will deal with its past leaders whom the public
consider negligent in their mandate, as gleaned from the question’s
premise.
The following day,
SPPADE sponsored another candidates forum for the Congressional Seat
and Board Members of the Second District in
Catbalogan
City while another forum was set for Congressional Seat and Board
Members of the First District conducted in Calbayog City.
Candidates like Bolok
and Labid thanked SPPADE for providing them with the needed avenue to
inform the public of their aspirations. Labid claimed that unlike
other candidates with vast resources, they could not emulate them in
going around campaign sorties and printing campaign paraphernalia.
Ms. Lina Sales, a
Catbalogan resident extended her positive feedback congratulating
SPPADE for such a relevant deed. (PIA-Samar)
BIR closes one of the
major enterprises in Southern Leyte after tax filing deadline
By R.G. CADAVOS
April 26, 2010
MAASIN CITY,
Southern Leyte – The Bureau of Internal Revenue Regional Office
led by Regional Director Alert B. Alocilja closed down one of the
largest corporations in Southern Leyte, after the April 15 tax filing
deadline.
In a press release
read over the BIR website, the BIR-Oplan Kandado decided to close
Joaquin Yap and Sons Marketing Inc. (JYSMI), a VAT-registered
enterprise based in Sogod, Southern Leyte after a close watch and
series of surveillance of the enterprise’s daily operations which was
determined to be underdeclared by at least 89%.
JYSMI enterprise
considered as one of the largest enterprises in the province is
operating out at four buildings at the heart of Sogod. It is engage in
at least ten lines of business like supermarket operations, fast food,
sale of dry goods, educational supplies and photocopying, bakery,
plastic wares, hardware operations, rice and corn retail, including
wholesale merchandising.
BIR disclosed that
Maasin City’s District personnel headed by Revenue District Officer
Ma. Teresa Noemi A. Pizon monitored its sales in compliance with the
basic requirements such as the issuance of sales invoices and receipts
last November 2009 yet and found out that JYSMI’s average daily sales
totaled a close to P770,000.00 which resulted to an underdeclaration
of sales by P361 million, the report said.
The Oplan Kandado Team
consisted the personnel from the Region’s Legal and Assessment
Divisions, and staff from the three of the Region’s six Revenue
Districts, which was assisted by Ms. Pizon, Imelda Cebuano of RD 88
based in Tacloban City and Eduardo B. Gayas of RD 86 from Borongan,
Eastern Samar, supported by operatives from the local Philippine
National Police detachments as well as barangay officials from the
town of Sogod. Members of the local media, specifically from ABS-CBN
Tacloban, also joined the BIR team.
Dir. Alocilja stressed
that the closure activity would be the largest of its kind throughout
the region, and that its impact would surely be felt throughout the
neighboring provinces. Though, they clarified that
BIR-Oplan Kandado program is not intended to harass
taxpayers, but to emphasize the need for the strict observance with
the basic requirements of the government’s tax system.
The Regional Director
also expressed his hope that with this latest closure operation, and
in the light of prior Oplan Kandado activities undertaken in the
previous year, the taxpayers would continue to gain a better
understanding of the importance of their voluntary compliance with
their tax obligations.
Last year, BIR RD
90 based here already closed down erring establishments found out to
be with tax violations, however, the establishments were already
re-opened after they paid their respective penalties. (PIA-Southern
Leyte)
Leyte guv supports
demand to retain 25 percent of total geothermal generation
By
Provincial
Media Relations Center
April 25, 2010
TACLOBAN CITY – Leyte
Governor Carlos Jericho Petilla said he in support of the move by
electric cooperatives in the region with the Energy Regulatory
Commission that demands for the 25 percent of the total capacity of
the Tongonan Geothermal Plant to be reserved for the entire Visayas
region as provided by law.
The 107,625-hectare
Leyte Geothermal Production Field (LGPF), which straddles Ormoc and
Kananga, generates 708 megawatts to supply the power needs of Visayas
and Luzon.
The entire region, the
governor said consumes only a small portion of the total power supply
generated that there is no need to for the province and the region to
suffer power outage.
Although, Gov. Petilla
added, he is also open to talks with the present private owners of the
geothermal plant to iron out creases that bar electric consumers in
the region from fully enjoying power supply without interruption.
“If this is something
that can be smoothed out by talking, it can spare us the hassle of
going to other agencies to support our plight,” Gov. Petilla said.
He disclosed that
initial findings from these geothermal plants after it became
privatized revealed that some of the machines used in the power
generation needed repair and was only operating before under
contingency.
“We also have to
consider that these are private owners running these plants now and we
also have to consider what they have to put up with to ensure
continuous operation,” the governor said.
Meanwhile, he
reiterated his stand to lower power rates within the region by getting
out of the Visayas grid.
As it has been
learned, with Leyte and the entire region locked with the Visayas
grid, expenses for power supplied to other regions are also passed to
local power consumers.
Instituting an
exclusive power grid, the governor disclosed, may prove even more
beneficial to local power consumers in the long run.
“We would only then
be paying for our own generation charges, our own transmission charges
and not carry the burden for costs of transmission to other regions,”
the governor said.
NSO to undertake
PopCen 2010
By NINFA B. QUIRANTE
April
25, 2010
CATBALOGAN CITY –
The National Statistics Office (NSO-Samar) is undertaking tranings
for DepEd Supervisors and other personnel involved from Calbayog,
Catbalogan, Basey and Gandara in preparation for the census on
population.
NSO-Samar is presently
training some 40 participants to include 11 supervisors, 12 NSO
personnel from Catbalogan, and 17 hired assistant area
NSO supervisors from Basey, Marabut, Calbayog, Catbalogan, Daram
and Tagapul-an.
They are holed up at
the Samar State University (SSU) as the training started on Monday and
will end by Friday.
The population census
will be held from May 17 to June 12, 2010 said Ms Letecia Chu,
Provincial Statistics Officer.
Subsequent trainings
will also be held in Calbayog, Calbiga and Basey, soon.
Meanwhile, President
Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo recently signed Proclamation No. 2028 which
declares May this year as National Census Month.
Citing Batas Pambansa
Blg. 72 which provides for the taking of an integrated census every 10
years beginning in 1980 and the requirement for an up-to-date and
comprehensive data of the population at the local levels in line with
the national government's thrust to decentralize functions to the
local government units (LGUs).
With this, President
Arroyo enjoined all departments and other government agencies to
implement and execute the operational plans, directives and order for
the nationwide conduct of the 2010 Census of Population and Housing (CPH).
The census will take
an inventory of the total population and housing units in the country
and collect information about their characteristics.
The data that will be
collected by the undertaking will be useful in the formulation of
policies, plans and programs of the government relative to the
delivery of basic health and social services to target beneficiaries
and the general public, in determining business opportunities and
industry status, in research and development, and in academic studies.
More specifically,
data obtained from the census provides government basis for
redistricting and apportionment of congressional seats, allocation of
resources and revenues, and creation of political and administrative
units.
The Philippines
population was 76.5 million as of
May 1, 2000 based on the 2000
CPH. In 2007, a census
of population (POPCEN 2007) was conducted by the NSO in order to get
an updated population count for all barangays to serve as basis for
the Internal Revenue Allocation (IRA) of the LGUs, among others.
Presidential Proclamation No. 1489 issued on April 16, 2008 made the
results of POPCEN 2007 official and the country’s population was
placed at 88,574,614 persons as of
August 1, 2007.
The NSO will submit
to the President of the Philippines for proclamation the population
counts by barangay based on the 2010 CPH before the end of the year.
These data will be made available in print and electronic copies. (PIA-Samar)
ESPPO, Borongan Police
hold National Day of Prayer
By ALICE NICART
April
24, 2010
BORONGAN, Eastern
Samar – In its sincere commitment to achieve a clean, peaceful and
honest election in May, the Eastern Samar Provincial Police
Office(ESPPO) shared their part on Wednesday, in the synchronized
“National Day of Prayer” at their provincial headquarters.
The Ecumenical prayer
which was led by different religious leaders highlighted the solemn
event.
Fr. Ray Romualdo of
the Borongan Archdiocese called for the voters discernment in choosing
their future leaders. He said that it would be of great significance
if the voters will vote for the candidate who possesses moral values
since this could reflect in the kind of leadership that he will show.
“We hope that the
voters will vote wisely, will be vigilant and will choose honest and
God-fearing leaders,” the young priest capped.
Romualdo likewise
urged the PNP members to be patriotic and not to allow themselves to
be exploited by the politicians and instead be conscientious of their
sworn responsibilities to support the holding of an honest, orderly,
peaceful election (HOPE).
Superintendent Mario
Lucero, Assistant Police Director read the written message of PNP
Provincial Director Felixberto Castillo, who said that the success of
the upcoming election will also need the participation of the
community. Castillo called for the divine providence and guidance
because he said, nothing is impossible with God.
The Ecumenical Prayer
was also joined in by other religious leaders from the Islam and
Borongan City Evangelical Church. Col. Crisanto Rodriguez of the
Philippine Army was also present with Mrs. Lydia Loyola of DILG and
the Borongan Knights of Columbus.
Similarly, the
office of the Borongan City Police Office, headed by Superintendent
Rosula Mambulao held the same solemn occasion at the lobby of the
Borongan City hall. Aside from the ecumenical prayer, the ceremony
was highlighted by the blessing and pinning of HOPE pins to each PNP
member. (PIA-Eastern Samar)
Hundreds avail free
eye cataract surgery
By BONG PEDALINO
April
24, 2010
MAASIN CITY,
Southern
Leyte – More than a hundred persons with eye cataract problems coming from
various places in Southern Leyte province trooped to the Salvacion
Oppus Yniguez Memorial Provincial Hospital (SOYMPH) this week for a
free surgery, April 20 to 23.
The delicate eye
surgical operation was performed by a team of six physicians from the
Eastern Visayas Regional Medical Center (EVRMC), Tacloban City, in
which all medicines and prescribed drugs needed for post-operation
healing were also given free to the patients, just like the surgery
itself, according to Nandy Acasio, records officer at the SOYMPH.
Acasio told PIA by
phone on Thursday he cannot be so specific just yet as to how many
people had successfully availed the free surgical services, saying
only that more than a hundred had been listed in the screening process
for possible patients, and the operation was still ongoing as we
talked.
The free cataract
surgery has been a yearly activity of the EVRMC Doctors in close
coordination with the provincial government, which handled the
visitors’ accommodation for board and lodging, and the SOYMPH has been
a regular recipient of this annual program, said Acasio.
Patients came from as
far as Panaon island, Malitbog, and the rest of the other towns.
The cataract surgery
was also carried out as part of the Department of Health (DOH) program
on the prevention against blindness, Acasio added.
The National Eye
Institute in its website defined cataract as a clouding in the lens of
the eye that affects vision. Most cataracts are related to aging and
are common to older people, the website said. (PIA-Southern
Leyte)
