Political dynasty 'either good or bad to the people'

POLITICAL dynasties are either good or bad for the people, depending on how the leaders involved perform, Cagayan Representative Juan Enrile Jr. said of the anti-dynasty bill pending in Congress.

GSIS declares P54.9M in dividends for members

MORE than 100,000 members of the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) recently received cash dividends from the pension fund, as a result of a massive reconciliation and records updating project.

A total of P54.92 million in cash dividends were credited to the eCard accounts of 108,757 members who did not receive dividends from their compulsory and optional life policies for the dividend year 2009.

Ironsand’s mining exploration application opposed

THE Provincial Board of Leyte has passed a resolution objecting the application for exploration of a mining company in the northeastern part of Leyte province.

Board Member Roque A. Tiu, chairman of the committee on environment, said the resolution strongly opposes the application of Leyte Ironsand Corporation to explore magnetite sand and other minerals in the municipalities of Palo, Tanauan, Tabon-tabon, Dagami and Pastrana.

Militant group demands Acosta’s release

A MILITANT group in Eastern Visayas is demanding for the release of Ericson Acosta whom the military identified to be an official of the communist group.

In a statement, Rogelio Berino, secretary general of the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan for Eastern Visayas, said the detention of Acosta is a violation of his human rights.

Eastern Visayas tops LandBank performance

EASTERN Visayas maintains a P10-billion deposit at the LandBank of the Philippines, doubling the P4.6-billion loan released by the bank last year, making the region a “fund provider” for financing in other areas of the country.

The region ranks first in terms of LandBank performance in the Visayas and third in the whole country.

Military headquarters relocation plan shelved

THE plan to relocate the main headquarters of the 8th Infantry Division (ID) to another town in Samar has been shelved for good, Major General Mario Chan, commanding general of the division, said.

Local governments urged to work double time vs malnutrition

LOCAL government units (LGUs) must focus and work double time in addressing malnutrition problems in Eastern Visayas, now that only four years are left before the 2015 deadline of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG), a foreign-backed non-government organization said.

Plan International Philippines said the focus now must be on health, particularly malnutrition, as there is still a lot to be done to solve the problem.

Waterways clearing project launched in Tacloban

THE City Government of Tacloban, together with the technical working group of European Union-German International Cooperation Agency (EU-GIZ), launched the Clearing of Waterways Project on Monday at the Barangay 83-A Gym and Barangay 95-A Hall.

The project, which aims to clean up two of the major creeks in the city, Burayan River and Tanghas Lirang Creek, reportedly costs P3.2 million. It was funded by both GIZ (P2.8 million) and the City Government of Tacloban (P477,000).

Labor office urged to monitor wage hike compliance

A WORKER'S group in Eastern Visayas has called on the labor department to step up monitoring of local firms' compliance on standard pay rate following the issuance of a new wage order.

"There is a need for the Department of Labor and Employment (Dole) to reach out more establishments and find out if they are complying to wage orders. Workers will be happy even if there are no wage adjustments as long as the current wage rate will be followed," said Rene De los Reyes, president of the Tongonan Worker's Union and Regional Development Council.

Manhunt vs provincial jail escapee on

POLICE of Borongan City launched a manhunt operation against a remaining escapee from the Eastern Samar provincial jail.

Eastern Samar Governor Conrado Nicart said he ordered the police to scour the interior and mountain villages of Borongan to arrest Norie Palce, one of the four inmates who escaped on May 1.

Samar guv expresses reservations on gun ban

SAMAR Governor Sharee Ann Tan expressed her reservations on the implementation of the province-wide gun ban, saying it would not guarantee that those carrying loose firearms would be apprehended by police authorities.

The enforcement of the gun ban in Samar was a result of the killing of Calbayog City Mayor Reynaldo Uy, a known political critic of Tan.

Recovered ‘cocaine bricks’ turn out negative

THE more than 10 kilos of supposed bricks of cocaine recently recovered by police authorities in Eastern Visayas turned out not to be the genuine thing, after all.

Guv orders probe on jail escape

ALLEN, Northern Samar -- Governor Paul Daza ordered a thorough investigation on the escape of an inmate at the Allen Sub-provincial Jail.

Daza also ordered the filing of necessary charges against the jailguard who allegedly escorted the inmate outside the jail without permission from the court.

Wage board okays additional P15 Cola

THE 1.7 million private workers in Eastern Visayas could expect an additional P15 wage increase, representing their cost-of-living allowance (Cola) as approved by the wage board in the region.

Tacloban to host 'Kabataan Sa Bisayas Media Festival'

TACLOBAN City will host the first-ever "Kabataan sa Bisayas Media Festival" to open on May 20.

Mag Cruz Atol, secretary-general of the Anak TV Foundation, said the festival is designed to showcase the talents of children in short filmmaking and photography, depicting their chosen themes, which are mostly bordered on social issues like child abuse, school bullying and effects of illegal logging and mining.

Anti-plastic ordinance in Eastern Visayas lauded

THE Environmental Management Bureau (EMB)-Eastern Visayas praised the Leyte Provincial Government through its Provincial Board for pushing the Anti-Plastic Ordinance.

The environment bureau has been advocating other alternatives to plastics used as bags in malls, shopping centers and grocery stores.

Poor students sent to private schools

THE Department of Education (DepEd)-Eastern Visayas is subsidizing the tuition of poor but deserving students who wish to enroll in private schools to address lack of classrooms and lessen dropout rate of students from public schools.

Workers call for wage hike

LABOR sector in Eastern Visayas called for a wage increase and stronger enforcement of minimum wage during Wednesday’s wage public hearing.

Administrative assistant of the Energy Development Corporation in Ormoc City and Regional Development Council labor sector representative Rene Delos Reyes said there is a need to raise the daily pay to at least P17 to be integrated to basic wage.

Energy firm suspends oil drilling

AUSTRALIAN firm Otto Energy Ltd., through its subsidiary NorAsian Energy Philippines Inc., has temporarily suspended drilling operations at its first targeted exploratory oil well in San Isidro, Leyte.

NorAsian asset manager Engineer Dennis Panganiban on Tuesday informed the Leyte Provincial Board that they encountered operational problems.

Execs urged to think twice on appointing allies

THE Civil Service Commission (CSC) in Eastern Visayas called on local officials to think twice before appointing their political allies who lost in the previous election.

This, after the one-year election ban for the appointment of those who lost in the May 10, 2010 elections for any position in the government expired Tuesday.

Army denies violating human rights

THE Army’s 8th Infantry Division (ID) dismissed allegations that they violated human rights and civil liberties when they arrested and detained cultural worker Ericson Acosta in Samar.

Acosta, 37, was arrested on February 13 in San Jorge, Samar and is presently detained at the Calbayog City sub-provincial jail for a criminal charge on illegally possessing explosives.

Detained poet writes from behind bars

CALBAYOG CITY — “No moment further could we have wasted/I gave the orders, my men assaulted. It was all over in half a minute—the bag of crackers we all have finished.”

These were some of the prose Ericson Acosta, detained poet and cultural worker, wrote while detained as a political prisoner in the sub-provincial jail of Calbayog City.

Aquino’s statement on mayor’s death hurts Samar guv

SAMAR Governor Sharee Ann Tan admitted that she was hurt when President Benigno Aquino III said the killing of Calbayog City Mayor Reynaldo Uy has something to do with the recall petition.

Church heritage workers, practitioners confab opens

MORE than a hundred delegates from different parts of the country attended the opening ceremonies of the 7th Biennial National Convention of Church Cultural Heritage Workers and Practitioners in Tacloban City Monday.

The participants included bishops, priests, chairmen and directors of archdiocesan and parish commissions and committees for the church cultural heritage, heritage conservators, curators, architects, practitioners in heritage and cultural tourism, advocates and enthusiasts.

Floods, landslides kill 1, displace hundreds

TROPICAL Storm Bebeng, which brought floods and landslides in Eastern Visayas, resulted in the death of a man and dislocation of hundreds of families in the region.

The regional Office of Civil Defense (OCD) said 47-year-old Luis Bengcol from Carigara town in Leyte drowned while he was trying to traverse the Villabina River on his way home in Barangay Canlampay of the same town.

Probers eye revenge in Samar mayor’s murder

PALO, Leyte -- Retaliation on his alleged involvement on reported series of shooting incidents is one of the angles the police probers are looking into as a possible motive for the murder of Calbayog City Mayor Reynaldo Uy.

This was confirmed by Chief Superintendent Arnold Revilla, police regional director, during a press conference last Thursday.

Samar politicians given security escorts

CAMP KANGLEON, PALO, Leyte - Several politicians in Samar province were provided with security escorts after the murder of the Calbayog City mayor, a top police official declared.

In a press briefing Thursday, Philippine National Police-Eastern Visayas director Arnold Revilla said President Benigno Aquino III directed them to provide security escorts to some political figures in Samar where they may be targets of retaliatory violence.

No ‘kulam’ to hurt mayor’s suspects

A POLICE official said the agency will not make black dolls and prick a needle unto its bodies to hurt the suspects of late Calbayog City mayor Reynaldo Uy.

Reacting to a query from the media during a press conference, police Chief Superintendent Arnold Revilla said they rely in the capability of their intelligence division to arrest the alleged perpetrators, but absolutely not in witchcraft.

Suspects’ sketches for Calbayog mayor’s murder released

PALO, Leyte — The Philippine National Police (PNP) in Eastern Visayas on Thursday released the composite sketches of the suspects tagged in the murder of Calbayog City Mayor Reynaldo Uy in Hinabangan, Samar last April 30.

418 applicants hired on Labor Day

THE regional job fair held last May 1 at the Tacloban City Convention Center resulted in the immediate hiring of 418 job applicants.

This was gathered from a report submitted to Labor Regional Director Forter Puguon by Marites Viñas, head of the Northern Leyte Department of Labor and Employment Field Office and chairman of the committee on job fair.