DAR Biliran overshoots CLOA distribution this year
By
Rodrigo S. Victoria, PIA Biliran
December
22, 2005
NAVAL, Biliran
– Not only that DAR Biliran is good in the implementation of agrarian
reform infrastructure projects like the turnover on Tuesday of a post harvest
facility and water system in Biliran Agrarian Reform Communities (BARCs)
composed of five barangays but also in the implementation of one major areas
of concern of the agency which is the distribution of Certificate of Land
Ownership Agreement (CLOA) to Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries (ARBs) in the
province of Biliran.
According to
Julita B. Lacandazo, Municipal Agrarian Reform Officer (MARO) of Naval in
DAR Biliran in an interview, she said that the office has distributed
400.7026 hectares of land under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program
(CARP) over a target of 400 hectares of land for this year.
Also in the
province of Biliran, some farmer-beneficiaries from identified
municipalities in the province were awarded CLOA from DAR provincial office
in simple ceremonies held in Brgy. Burabod, Biliran, Biliran. The occasion
was attended by Biliran Governor Rogelio J. Espina, DAR Regional Director
Tiburcio Morales, Jr., DAR ARDO Reynaldo Villas, representatives of DAR
partner agencies.
Earlier of the
day, newly acquired post-harvest facility and water system located in Brgy.
Busali and Brgy. Burabod respectively in the municipality of Biliran were
inaugurated. The inauguration ceremony immediately followed the awarding of
CLOAs.
Per record
reflected in the summary of CLOA for distribution in the province of Biliran
as of December 21, 2005, the agency has already distributed a total land area of 350.8803
out of the five municipalities included in the report.
The total land
area distributed forms part of the total land area already achieved by the
agency for calendar year 2005.
The report
includes the new lands with a total land area of 181.7993 acquired by the
agency under CARP and the individual CLOA with a total land area of 169.081
distributed to actual tillers of the land with a total number of 182 ARBs.
Although the
distribution of CLOAs is basically a tough job for the employees
implementing CARP specifically in the distribution of lands, Lacandazo
accepts it as a challenge especially that the underprivileged sector in
society is benefitted.
On the other
hand, Violeta O. Abad, MARO and at the same time the head of the Planning,
Monitoring and Evaluation Unit (PEMU) of DAR Biliran in interview explains
that there are lots of factors that hinder in the successful implementation
of CARP specifically in the distribution of CLOA.
However, Abad
said that their office has just find the necessary administrative and legal
remedies in order that CLOAs will be distributed to land beneficiaries,
Lacandazo and
Abad are in one position that their agency is doing the right thing for the
good of their clientle especially to people or farmers who are tilling the
land for so long a time yet they have not owned the land they tilled.
For Lacandazo,
Abad and to all the employees of DAR Biliran who help much in the
realization of the dreams of underprivileged sector in society to have the
land they tilled to be considered legally of their own, helping them
realized their dreams is one big feat and accomplishment of the office.
Region 8 remembers Doña Paz tragedy
By Philippine Information Agency (PIA 8)
December 20, 2005
TACLOBAN CITY – The
people of Region 8 remembers today the sinking of the ill-fated Doña Paz
eighteen years ago.
Full of passengers coming
from the different parts of
Eastern Visayas who were on their way to
Manila where they were to
spend the holiday season, to buy more wares to sell or just to buy gifts for
their families out of their Christmas bonus, the Dona Paz vessel sank near
the Tablas
Island near Romblon.
Thousands of passengers,
professionals and uneducated, rich and poor, men and women, children and
adults, lost their lives, many of whom remain unaccounted for up to now.
Indeed, it was a tragic
event which left Region 8 spend a really blue Christmas that year. Thousands
of families lost a member of their family, husbands, wives, sons, daughters,
children, sisters, brothers, mothers, fathers, aunts, uncles, grandparents,
cousins.
The tragedy called the
attention of the proper authorities on the plight of the shipping industry
which was considered as “floating coffins.” It also unified the people of
Region 8 to help and console one another.
The non-government
organizations with the leadership of Atty Roque Tiu and media practitioner
Cesar Ribo formed the Confederation of Non-government organizations, the
purpose of which was to raise funds for the poor bereaved families of the
passengers.
As the dead passengers
wrapped in cellophane bags arrived, all the government and non-government
authorities concerned helped identify the cadavers and brought them to their
respective places. Even the porters at the Tacloban Port Area were not
bothered by the odor or the thought of not being paid. What was important
was that the families will be able to give their dead the proper burial.
For weeks, the city
residents were warned on the danger of disease brought about by the
thousands of decaying cadavers.
Today, eighteen years after
the tragedy, Dona Paz remains a symbol of death, a symbol of negligence on
the part of the agency concerned.
More so, Dona Paz will
always be a tangible proof that nothing is impossible and too heavy a burden
if everyone will do his or her share.
PNP 8 fields Santa Cops this
Christmas season
By Philippine Information Agency (PIA 8)
December 20, 2005
TACLOBAN CITY –
The Region 8 Philippine National Police headed by General Eliseo dela Paz
will dispatch Santa Cops to help the shoppers and the public from people who
will take advantage of the busy holiday season to do unscrupulous
activities.
In an interview at the PIA 8
Panindugan TV talk show, Major Guillermo Melo representing Gen. dela Paz,
informed the public that there are two types of Santa Cops who will be
fielded in the various malls and places where there are many people. The
first type is the cop who is wearing the upper part of Santa gear, without
firearm and the other one is the cop who will wear the usual PNP uniform,
with the usual firearm but will wear Santa’s cap.
Santa Cops will be there to
help and protect the shopping public, Major Melo revealed. Anyone who is in
need of police assistance may approach the Santa cop, he added.
Major Melo disclosed that
the Philippine National Police Region 8 has already sent a circular to all
the provincial and municipal PNP Stations to enforce the law on
firecrackers. He said that there are only certain firecrackers which are
allowed to be sold to the public.
He clarified, however, that
only dealers who have been granted permits from the PNP Central office in
Camp Crame will be allowed to sell firecrackers to the public. In the
region, Major Melo, he knows only three in Tacloban and one in Catarman who
applied for and have been granted permit to sell firecrackers.
More policemen will be
dispatched to monitor the firecrackers being sold in the region, Major Melo
said. Those who are selling without permit will have their wares confiscated
during the first offense and succeeding offenses will have a bigger penalty
of P20,000.00 to P30,000.00 or even imprisonment, Major Melo added.
Major Melo assured PIA 8 and
the public that the PNP in the region is policing its own ranks especially
in the firing of guns during the New Year. He said that no policeman is
allowed to fire their guns during the New Year except when really needed. He
however said that the firing incidents which victimized civilians were not
really done by the police but by some civilians. Civilians who have been
granted license to carry arms have already been notified that they are not
suppose to fire their arms during the New Year, Major Melo added.
The Philippine National
Police in the region is also coordinating with the Department of Health in
the campaign for safe celebration of the coming New Year, Major Melo
concluded.
Incessant rains flood Leyte
towns
By Philippine Information Agency (PIA 8)
December 19, 2005
TACLOBAN CITY – Nonstop
heavy downpours flooded numerous barangays in several Leyte towns causing
people and their working animals to evacuate to higher grounds or to their
relatives in the neighboring barangays.
Early reports stated that
barangays in the municipalities of Palo, Tanauan and Tolosa and the city of
Tacloban, were flooded. As early as 3:00 o’clock in the early morning of
Saturday, December 17, barangays folks were awakened when they found out
that flood waters have already entered their homes.
The PIA 8 monitoring team
observed that the pedestrian lanes of the national highway stretching from
Palo to Tanauan towns were lined up with furnitures and other belongings
including animals. At mealtimes, people unfolded their tables and ate their
meals right there at the sidewalks.
The PIA 8 together with some
members of the media publicly lauded the mayors of Palo, Tanauan and Tolosa
for being hands-on in taking care of their constituents during the flood.
Small bancas were observed
to be plying the interior streets instead of the usual pedicabs and
tricycles. Cows, carabaos and pigs were parked at the sidestreets together
with the motor vehicles and pedicabs.
In the municipality of
Tanauan where majority of the fifty barangays were flooded, Mayor Roque Tiu
said that at 4:00 o’clock in the morning of Saturday, he had to dispatch a
patrol boat to the town’s barangays Sta. Elena and the neighboring barangays
to rescue people and animals.
The mayor dispatched teams
of the Philippine National Police to go around the town to monitor all the
barangays as early as
four o’clock
in the morning. In barangays Picas, the flood water rose to five feet and so
about 38 families had to be evacuated in the two-storey barangays hall.
In order to ensure that the
people in the flooded barangays will have safe drinking water, the mayor
requested the Leyte Metropolitan Water District thru its manager Engr.
Nestor Villasin who immediately dispatch an tanker of LMWD to deliver safe
drinking water to the barangays.
One of the problems, Mayor
Tiu said, was that the people refused to leave their homes afraid of what
will happen to their belongings. Many of them put up tents in the sidewalks
and spent the night there. It was a good thing that only some areas had
flood waters traversing the streets, Mayor Tiu added.
Damage to crops which
include rice and vegetables about to be harvested and the newly planted rice
and vegetables could not be determined as of press time.
Don't waste peoples money
on Garci probe – DoJ
By Philippine News Service
December 15, 2005
Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez on Monday said lawmakers who believe former
elections Commissioner Virgilio Garcillano is lying should take him to court
for perjury instead of wasting time and money on more hearings.
“It’s like trying to squeeze blood out of a stone. It’s a waste of
taxpayers’ money,” Gonzalez said, referring to the ongoing probe in the
House of Representatives.
Gonzalez also refuted a statement by Ilocos Norte Rep. Imee Marcos on Monday
that a justice department report said Garcillano had flown out of the
country in a Subic Air plane “owned by Ricky Razon.”
“That’s not true. There was never any statement about that in the draft
(report),” Gonzalez said. “I don’t even know who is the owner of Subic Air.”
“Subic Air is mentioned in the report... but I know that that is not owned
by Razon,” he added.
The Palace, meanwhile, dismissed the allegation that President Gloria
Macapagal Arroyo had ordered the military to wiretap Garcillano.
“That’s a wild claim. They are entitled to their erroneous opinion,” said
Presidential Spokesman Ignacio Bunye.
Earlier, opposition Senator Panfilo Lacson charged that President Arroyo had
ordered the wiretap, which explained the military’s “wishy-washy” attitude
about investigating the case.
Also on Monday, Armed Forces chief Gen. Generoso Senga said the Intelligence
Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (ISAFP) has no technical
capability to wiretap mobile phones.
Senga made this assertion after meeting with Senate President Franklin
Drilon about the general’s confirmation hearings, which have been reset to
January 2006.
Senga’s statement contradicted the claim of Marietta Santos that her former
live-in partner, T/Sgt. Vidal Doble and other ISAFP agents had tapped the
cellular phone conversation between Mrs. Arroyo and Garcillano.
Senga also questioned Santos’ testimony before the Senate about seeing Doble
with the wiretapping machines, saying she didn’t have the expertise to
identify such equipment.
Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago, however, described Senga’s statement as
“laughable,” saying that she would move that the Commission on Appointments
conduct an inspection of ISAFP “war room.”
In his remarks on Monday, Gonzalez also said Marcos “stretched” his
statements out of context and used the draft justice department report that
was overtaken by events when Garcillano emerged from hiding.
Gonzalez said lawmakers who want to find out once and for all if Garcillano
is telling the truth should just file a criminal complaint against him for
perjury.
“The ones who are interested should just file charges,” he said.
Media awards officially
launched in EV
By REYAN ARINTO
December 13, 2005
TACLOBAN CITY, Leyte – The
2006 Eastern Visayas Mass Media Awards (EVMMA), the first and only awards
program of its kind in the region has been formally launched on December 10,
2005 at the Leyte Park Hotel in Tacloban City.
Media organizations from all
over the region converged on that significant day to witness the formal
opening of the call for submission of entries for the 25 categories to be
vied in June 2006.
A motorcade around Tacloban
City’s main thoroughfares sparked off initial interests from different print
and broadcast outlets who signified support and desire to be recognized for
their effort in bringing about responsible journalism in the
Eastern Visayas region.
The motorcade was followed
by a press conference at the Leyte Park Hotel where the organizers, Vantage
Inc. and Triad Media Ventures presented formally the different categories to
be vied including the general procedures and the criteria for the awards.
The EVMMA specifically seeks
to recognize outstanding achievements or body of works of mass media
practitioners in the Eastern Visayas region.
It is also aimed to uplift
the professional and personal conditions of mass media practitioners in the
region and to provide an impetus for the continuing professional growth of
the region’s mass media practitioners through focused capability building to
develop required competencies in their work.
Vantage, Inc. chairperson
Evelyn Acebedo who opened the call for submission of entries said the EVMMA
steering committee will receive bodies of work accomplished from July 2005
to February 2006 as official entries with a slated deadline of submission on
February 28, 2006.
The awards is divided into
two categories recognizing print journalism and the broadcast media with the
following awards: (FOR PRINT) Best Editorial, Best Feature Writer, Best News
Writer/Reporter, Best Business Reporter, Investigative Reporter of the Year,
Best Business/Enterprise Reporter/Writer, Best Sports Reporter/Writer, Best
Entertainment Writer, Best Science and Technology Writer, Best Editorial
Cartoonist, Columnist of the Year, Best in Layout, Iluminado Lucente Print
Journalist of the Year Award and Best Publication of the Year; (FOR
BROADCAST, both radio and television) Best Editorial/News Analysis, Best
Field Reporter, Best Entertainment Program, Best Commentary Program, Best
Documentary, Best Investigative Reporter, Best News Program, Best
Newscaster, Ramon Noblejas Commentator of the Year Award, Francisco Aurillo,
Sr. Broadcast Journalist of the Year Award and Station of the Year.
A Lifetime Achievement Award
will be given to a journalist who has rendered meritorious in uplifting the
local media industry.
Pag-IBIG to grant calamity loan to affected
members in Mindoro
Press Release by
OVP / PNS
December 13, 2005
MANILA, Philippines – Processing centers and express lane would soon be put up at the Calapan City
Hall by Pag-IBIG to assist members who were victimized by the collapse of
two dikes brought about by torrential rains. Affected Pag-IBIG members may
avail of a calamity/multi purpose loan of up to 80% of their total
contributions.
Vantage, Inc. Chair
Evelyn Acebedo is assisted by Triad Media Ventures Operations In-charge
Mark Morallos as she declares the 2006 EVMMA awards season open on
December 10 at the Leyte Park Hotel in Tacloban City.