9 private schools allowed to raise tuition

TACLOBAN CITY — Nine private colleges in Eastern Visayas region were allowed by the Commission on Higher Education (Ched) to increase their school fees for school year 2013-2014.

Libertad Garcia, Ched regional director, said that 14 private colleges have petitioned, but only nine were granted to increase their school fees after complying with the requirements asked by their office.

An Waray declared as winner

TACLOBAN CITY – The Commission on Elections(Comelec), sitting as National Board of Canvasser (NBOC), has proclaimed An Waray party-list as one of the 14 winners in the May 13 midterm polls.

Representative Neil Benedict Montejo said the party-list garnered more than 540,000 votes, which guarantee them one congressional seat.

Eastern Visayas lawmakers are multi-millionaires

TACLOBAN CITY – All members of House of Representative from Eastern Visayas region are multi-millionaires, according to their 2012 Statement of Assets and Liabilities and Networths (SALNs).

Representative Ferdinand Martin Romualdez (1st district, Leyte), who ranks 6th based on the summary report of the SALNs filed by 278 members of the House of Representative, is the richest among solons in Eastern Visayas, had a net worth of P474.181,702.59.

Release of BEIs honoraria faces problem

TACLOBAN CITY – The Commission on Elections (Comelec) noted some glitches on the release of honoraria of teachers, who served as board of election inspectors (BEIs) during the May 13 polls in Eastern Visayas.

Lawyer Veronico Petalcorin, Comelec acting regional director, said that provincial offices have been reporting that some cash cards were named after teachers who did not serve as BEIs.

School studies include disaster preparedness

TACLOBAN CITY — Principles of disaster preparedness are now fully integrated in all secondary and tertiary schools in Eastern Visayas, according to an official of the Office of Civil Defense (OCD).

Rey Gozon, OCD-Eastern Visayas director, said after the effectivity of the Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction and Management (DRRM) Act of 2010, the Department of Education (DepEd) has included disaster preparedness in the curriculum of public schools.

Solar power plant to rise in Ormoc

KOREAN project developer Young J. Soon, chief operations officer of the Phil Solar Farm-Leyte, Inc., revealed his intention to put up 30-megawatt solar power plant in Ormoc City.

The proposed site is in Barangay Dolores with an investment of $72 million (P2,997,360,000).

Yaokasin vows harmony with local officials

VICE Mayor Jerry Yaokasin assured the Taclobanon that he would create “bridges” to make sure that the executive and legislative branches would have a good working relationship.   Yaokasin, a former councilor, was proclaimed in May 2013 polls as the vice mayor of the city.

Gun ban continues until June 12

THE gun ban imposed by the Commission on Elections will continue to be in effect until June 12, said the Philippine National Police (PNP) regional headquarters based in Palo, Leyte.

Police Inspector Romuel Nacar, information officer of PNP-Eastern Visayas, said the gun ban is still in effect until its eventual lifting in June 12, but the police will not end its aggressive campaign against loose firearms.

Brigada Eskwela promotes recycling

THE Department of Education (DepEd) banked on recycling of plastic waste and school environmental cleanup in compliance to Brigada Eskwela’s focus this year which is on environmental cleanup, solid waste management, among others.

Rebecca Ragrag, assistant regional director of DepEd-Eastern Visayas, said they continued on their project in filling up of empty plastic containers with cellophane and plastic wrappers which will be used as interior decors, school landscaping, and gardening by making cellophane-filled plastic containers a substitute for hollow blocks in garden plots.

Comelec ready to hold village polls

THE Commission on Elections (Comelec) 8 said it is prepared to conduct the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections on October.

Lawyer Veronico Petalcorin, in-charge of Comelec-8, said they have no choice but to prepare for the elections on October as it is mandated by law.

Coco oil export rises, copra declines

COCONUT oil export in Eastern Visayas jumped by 205 percent during the first four months, but it’s not good news for farmers as copra price steadily declines.

The coconut oil export is the second largest coconut producer in the Philippines.

Reelected officials told: Start working

RE-ELECTED officials should now start working while those who lost during the recently-held May 2013 elections should accept their defeat with grace, said an official of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG).

DILG regional Director Pedro Noval reminded all local chief executives to come up with their own transition teams to ensure a smooth transfer of power.

Poverty persists in Eastern Visayas

THE Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board said the number of poor families went up in the past three years, despite the wage increase.

Exequiel Sarcauga, regional director of the Department of Labor and Employment, said that if establishments would comply to wage standards, it could improve economic conditions of many families in Eastern Visayas.

Proclamation pending for 2 Calbayog councilors

THE proclamation of two Calbayog City councilors is still pending after the Commission on Elections (Comelec) declared a failure of elections in one of the city’s far-flung villages.

Lawyer Fidel Amacna, city elections officer, said elections in Barangay Higasaan did not push through last May 13 amid threats from armed men and some village officials, days before polling.

Luistro to visit Samar schools today

CATARMAN, Northern Samar – Education Secretary Armin Luistro will be in Samar Island on Thursday to monitor the conduct of “Brigada Eskwela” in different public schools here.

District Supervisor Julito Lagrimas, information officer of the Department of Education (DepEd) Northern Samar Division, said in his radio program Wednesday morning.

DILG to monitor infra projects in Samar

THE Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) will monitor the implementation of Payapa at Masaganang Pamayanan program of the Office of the Presidential Affairs for Peace Process (Opapp) in Northern Samar.

Pedro Noval Jr., DILG regional director, said the multi-million peso project of the DILG should be closely monitored on its implementation to ensure that the new leaders of the province would continue to implement them considering that the fund was already downloaded to the local government units (LGUs).

Taiwan OFW’s wife leaves husband’s safety to God

A WIFE of an overseas Filipino worker (OFW), who is working in Taiwan, said she is leaving it up to God on the safety of her husband.

Sheila Borñola said she is worried on the safety of her husband who just left the country to work for Taiwan less than a month ago.

Preps for Pintados-Kasadyaan fest underway

AFTER focusing their time in the recently held local elections, Kasadyaan Festival executive chairman and Palo Mayor Remedios “Matin” Petilla said they would now give time for the preparation of the Pintados-Kasadyaan Festival this June.

The challenge now after their preparation is again with the Tacloban City Government, said Petilla following the re-election of Tacloban City Mayor Alfred Romualdez.

P9.8-M livelihood projects for tourism proposed

LOCAL government units have proposed a P9.8-million livelihood project for tourism development in Eastern Visayas next year, under the National Government’s bottom-up budgeting approach.

Department of Tourism Regional Director Karina Rosa Tiopes said that priority projects depart from the traditional construction of tourism infrastructure funded by the central government.

15 OFWs from Saudi repatriated

AT LEAST 15 stranded overseas Filipino workers (OFW) in Saudi Arabia have arrived home on May 18, said migrant rights group Migrante.

The 15, all male, were among the around 200 trapped OFWs who have encamped inside the Philippine embassy compound in Riyadh since May 4.

Country’s youngest mayor re-elected

GIPORLOS, Eastern Samar -- The incumbent mayor of this town was re-elected last May 13 elections along with his running mate and seven other councilors in his lineup, the municipal Commission on Elections (Comelec) records show.

Mayor Mark Biong, 24, who was elected mayor of this town at 21 in 2010 and became the youngest mayor in the country, was given another fresh mandate during the May 13 midterm elections.

Two cave systems in EV declared protection areas

TWO natural cave systems in the region have been placed under protection from treasure hunters, polluters and vandals, according to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).

DENR-Eastern Visayas Executive Director Manolito Ragub said the Langun-Gobingob Caves in Calbiga and Sohoton Caves in Basey are classified for immediate conservation whose natural wealth and resources are placed under the protection and management of the government.

An Waray emerge as first in Eastern Visayas

TACLOBAN CITY – The An Waray party-list is number one in Eastern Visayas and 11 other party-list groups turned out to be the top picks in 33 of the 143 cities and municipalities, counting results showed.

An Waray party-list Representative Neil Benedict Montejo said this is inevitable considering that nominees and officials of some existing party-lists hail from the region, too.

Dominic proclaim as new Leyte governor

TACLOBAN CITY– Leopoldo Dominico “Dominic” Petilla was proclaimed by the Provincial Board of Canvassers as the new governor of Leyte. He ran unopposed.

The 48-year-old new governor was proclaimed at 10 p.m. Thursday by the board of canvassers, chaired by Leyte elections supervisor Richard Alvin Japzon, after the town of Calubian was able to transmit their result at 8:10 p.m.

Yaokasin as vice mayor, ‘good’ for Romualdez

TACLOBAN CITY - After proclaiming outgoing Councilor Jerry “Sambo” Yaokasin as the new vice mayor of this city, the information officer of the City Government said she expects a good flow of legislative action at the Sangguniang Panlungsod for the next three years.

City information officer Bernardita “Bering” Valenzuela said that they are happy that Mayor Alfred Romualdez won in the mayoralty race over out-going An Waray Representative Florencio “Bem” Noel, who was endorsed by President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino.

DILG chief to meet members of problematic councils

TACLOBAN CITY – Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Regional Director Pedro Noval Jr. said he would personally talk with newly elected members of the council of this city and that of Samar province.

These two councils were the most “controversial” as most of the members failed to attend their respective regular sessions, Noval said adding that this resulted to the non-passage of important measures like the annual budget of Samar.

Eastern Visayas political families continue to rule

MAJOR ruling political families in Eastern Visayas are still assured to continue with their dominance on their respective turfs with the only exception of the Dazas in Northern Samar, ironically supposed to be the bailiwick of President Benigno Aquino III's Liberal Party (LP).

In Leyte, the dominance of the Romualdez and Petilla families remain, as both Leopoldo Dominico Petilla and Ferdinand Martin Romualdez were unopposed on their respective bids for governor and congressman.

Tension arise in Northern Samar

SAN, ISIDRO, Northern Samar -- Tension arose as supporters of congressional candidates for the first district of Northern Samar Harlin Abayon and incumbent Representative Raul Daza occupy the municipal hall to protect the votes of their candidates.

Men of 803rd Infantry Brigade and the police are securing the premises of the building to ensure that the tension would not escalate.

Analyst: Aquino endorsement not good enough to win votes

PRESIDENTIAL and celebrity endorsements, truckloads of campaign posters, overwhelming public support and countless media ads are paths to poll victory, but why An Waray party-list Representative Florencio "Bem" Noel failed on his bid to become the mayor of Tacloban City?

A political analyst tagged several factors why Noel lost on his bid despite endorsement from the President Benigno Aquino III and his sister, Kris, so-called queen of all media.

Police return after rendering poll duties

PALO, Leyte -- About 913 uniformed police personnel have safely returned to the Philippine National Police (PNP)-Eastern Visayas office after rendering election duties for two weeks in various parts of the region.

Chief Superintendent Elmer Soria, PNP-Eastern Visayas director, has tendered a cordial and joyous welcome to the returning policemen who were augmented to secure a fair, honest and peaceful elections.