DAWAHON ISLAND, Bato, Leyte—The cuttings of the brownish seaweeds were piling up. But 31 years old Marifel Gabison is undaunted as she picks them one at a time to tie them to a fiber rope of about two-meter long while she chats with five other women, who are doing the same task.
TACLOBAN CITY—A fledgling Philippine eagle was captured in the upstream town of Maslog in Eastern Samar by a son of a farmer who set a trap for chicken.
A national coalition of environmentalist groups is asking the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to conduct public consultations before it acts on exploration permits of metallic and nonmetallic minerals.
Story and photos by Elmer V. Recuerdo
MAASIN CITY, Southern-Leyte—A major road that cuts travel time from Tacloban City to most towns of Southern Leyte has been closed for two weeks now. Chances are it will remain closed for a longer period of time as more cracks are showing, indicating the possibility of a landslide.
TACLOBAN CITY—The Rainbow Warrior, Greenpeace’s most iconic ship, docked on Wednesday morning to this welcoming city, the most devastated city in the country during the onslaught of Supertyphoon Yolanda more than four years ago.
TACLOBAN CITY—The Office of the President will conduct a series of consultations to get the sentiments of Yolanda survivors and check the status of unfinished livelihood and housing projects in Yolanda-affected areas in Eastern Visayas (Region 8).
TACLOBAN CITY—The Eastern Visayas regional office of the National Food Authority (NFA) has suspended selling rice to its accredited retailers due to diminishing rice stocks.
MAASIN CITY, Southern Leyte—The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) has allowed its district engineering office in Southern Leyte to implement big-ticket infrastructure projects that cost up to P100 million, a decision seen to expedite the government’s programs.
ORMOC CITY—This coastal city that has seen disasters in the past has scored a milestone toward protecting the environment by being the first city in the country to implement a city-wide LED street-lighting upgrade.
GUIUAN, Eastern Samar, lost its parish priest while his assistant parish priest remains in a hospital when both figured in separate vehicular accidents during the onslaught of Typhoon Basyang in the Visayas on Tuesday.
MAASIN CITY—The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica) will conduct a joint study for the possible construction of two bridges that will connect Leyte island to Bohol and Mindanao.
MAASIN CITY—The Department of Pubic Works and Highways (DPWH) in Southern Leyte will plant over 78,000 trees in various watershed areas of the province to replace the over 1,000 trees cut due to road-widening projects.
TACLOBAN CITY—Militant workers in the city are threatening to launch a monthlong protest before the regional office of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) in Eastern Visayas to call for higher wages and benefits after the new Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) law took effect.
TACLOBAN CITY—Farm machinery worth more than P8.5 million was handed over to farmer-beneficiaries as part of the city government’s comprehensive program on food sufficiency and improved farm production.
MAASIN CITY—More big infrastructure projects are expected to be implemented in Southern Leyte this year as the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) increased its budget for the province.
TACLOBAN CITY—The National Maritime Polytechnic (NMP), a premier government-owned maritime training and research institution in the country located in this city, was accredited by the Maritime Industry Authority (Marina) as an assessment center (AC) for Ratings Forming Part of a Navigational Watch (RFPNW) and Ratings Forming Part of an Engineering Watch (RFPEW).
TACLOBAN CITY—Amid mounting complaints of flooding in many areas of the city during rainy days, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) will implement a P170-million flood-control project it hopes will put an end to this perennial problem.
MAASIN CITY—The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) field office in Southern Leyte will build 55 two-story school buildings under the Basic Education Facilities Fund of the Department of Education (DepEd).
TACLOBAN CITY—The Department of Labor and Employment in Eastern Visayas through the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB) will conduct a series of consultations in key cities in the region to determine the impact of the recently signed tax law on wage earners, especially those receiving minimum wage.
TACLOBAN CITY—Lack of political will of previous administrations caused all plans to modernize the public-transport system to fail, a transportation official said.
TACLOBAN CITY—Pushed to cancel due to heavy and continuous rain brought by Typhoon Urduja last December 15, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) and the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) finally launched the controversial public utility vehicle (PUV) modernization program here on January 23.
PAMBUJAN, Northern Samar—Nine foreign seafarers were rescued in the coastal waters of this town when their ship bound for Chile experienced a ruptured hull and drifted toward this town.
TACLOBAN CITY—The National Maritime Polytechnic (NMP), a government maritime training and research center under the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) trained a total of 10,327 seafarers, exceeding its target for this year.
TACLOBAN CITY—Environ–mental activists opposing the application of a big mining company to reopen its suspended operations in a tiny island in Eastern Samar finally ended their campout at the gate of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) regional office here.
TACLOBAN CITY—The number of casualties of typhoon Urduja in Eastern Visayas rose to 42 as more bodies were retrieved from the landslides and newer reports from areas that were previously isolated have started to pour in.
TACLOBAN CITY—Slow-moving typhoon Urduja left at least 26 people dead and 30 missing in Eastern Visayas, with 23 casualties recorded in Biliran where most of victims were buried alive by two landslides in two different towns of the province.
ILOILO CITY— A University of the Philippines (UP) professor developed a method to immediately detect the presence of toxins in shellfish that could help minimize casualties in many coastal communities prone to paralytic shellfish poisoning.
TACLOBAN CITY—The Department of Tourism (DOT) regional office in Eastern Visayas launched a “localized” version of “Bring Home A Friend” (BHAF) campaign in an attempt to bring in more visitors to the region that could help spur local economy.
TACLOBAN CITY—Barely a month remaining before the deadline, the Department of Agriculture (DA) in Eastern Visayas has still to allocate P1.6-billion of its Yolanda rehabilitation fund for agriculture.
TACLOBAN CITY—Reporters and broadcasters in Eastern Visayas are crying foul over alleged “discrimination” at the Philippine National Police (PNP) regional office preventing media practitioners from accessing information in violation of the Freedom of Information order signed this year.
TACLOBAN CITY—While rehabilitation from the massive destruction caused by Supertyphoon Yolanda four years ago continues, Tacloban City received the 2017 Seal of Good Local Governance (SGLG) award from the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG).
TACLOBAN CITY—When Supertyphoon Yolanda hit the central Philippines, 40-year-old fisherman Ronillo Docos felt he lost everything.
TACLOBAN CITY—Candle lighting and flower offering for thousands of people who perished during Supertyphoon Yolanda are the centerpiece activities as local government units lead in marking the fourth memorial commemoration of the devastation brought about by the supertyphoon.
BORONGAN CITY—Eastern Samar is undoubtedly one of the country’s most beautiful provinces, with each town having a spot that can lure the tourists, but for ages, the province could not capitalize on it.
TACLOBAN CITY—Gather two or more Warays to a table and before you know it, there are already two glasses being passed on from one to the next—one glass has a cola drink and the other has the red coconut wine called tuba.
TACLOBAN CITY—They are now in the twilight of their life. Their bodies hae been weakened by age and the many battles they fought—in life and war time—but their spirits remain willing.
TACLOBAN CITY—The Regional Development Council (RDC) in Eastern Visayas has endorsed a proposal for the establishment of a research center for fisheries and aquatic resources in the region.
TACLOBAN CITY—Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Eastern Visayas get a much-needed boost in sales and exposure from the recently concluded Bahandi 2007 trade fair in Metro Manila.
TACLOBAN CITY—When Leyte province remembers the fourth anniversary of Supertyphoon Haiyan (local name Yolanda) on November 8, one highlight of the day will be the unveiling of a life-size statue of a sixth-century bishop in France who later became a saint.
TACLOBAN CITY—The Leyte Provincial Board unanimously approved the P7.3-billion 2018 Annual Investment Plan (AIP), where over half of the amount is allocated for economic services aimed at reducing poverty incidence in the province to a single digit in 2022.
TACLOBAN CITY—After five years of hiatus, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) in Eastern Visayas has revived the interagency Eastern Visayas Regional Child Labor Committee (EVRCLC) that tackles issues and concerns for the welfare of child laborers in the region.
TACLOBAN CITY—Frustrated at the promining stance of local officials in Eastern Samar, residents of the small mining island of Manicani marched to the regional office of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) in an attempt to stop the reopening of open-pit mining in the island.
BORONGAN CITY, Eastern Samar—Despite the decade-long Handog Titulo program of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) that seeks to boost the government’s land-distribution program, almost 70 percent of land in Eastern Samar remains untitled.
MAASIN CITY, Southern Leyte—The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) field office in this province has in its pipeline the construction of 27 disaster-resilient school buildings this year.
ORMOC CITY—Ormoc City Mayor Richard Gomez delivered his first State of the City Address (Soca) last Thursday, focusing on accomplishments made in his 12-point agenda spelled out during his inaugural speech.
THREE of the country’s biggest Christian and evangelical groups banded together to strengthen coordination and response actions in rebuilding the embattled Marawi City as they appeal for help in rebuilding houses, schools and mosques destroyed during the siege.
PALO, Leyte—Almost 20,000 jobs were made available in a recent job fair that was part of the weeklong series of activities in celebration of the 73rd Leyte Gulf Landings Anniversary on October 20.
Some 1.2 million Filipinos were displaced from their communities in the first six months of the year due to internal conflicts and natural calamities, and the numbers will likely continue to increase, as both causes of displacements get worse each year.
TACLOBAN CITY—The damage is ubiquitous. The once verdant hill that has provided food and livelihood for the residents in the island for generations is now bare, and mud is everywhere. Patches of land where root crops and vegetables once grew were all destroyed.
TACLOBAN CITY—Pope Francis has appointed Msgr. Rex Ramirez, vicar general of the Archdiocese of Palo, as the new bishop of Naval to replace Bishop Filomeno G. Bactol whose resignation takes effect at the end of the year.
TACLOBAN CITY—The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) is currently conducting two surveys that are important in the preparation of plans and formulation of policies affecting the labor sector.
PALO, LEYTE—Amid the campaigns against drugs, criminality and ensuring peace and order, the Philippine National Police (PNP) in Eastern Visayas is also taking on a new role—that of an environmental warrior.
TACLOBAN CITY—The number of registered senior citizens in this city who are availing themselves of social pensions has increased dramatically over the year.
TACLOBAN CITY—The Regional Development Council (RDC) in Eastern Visayas will endorse to Malacañang for funding the P2-billion comprehensive masterplan of Ormoc waterworks system, which is seen as the ultimate solution to the decades-old problem of water shortage in that city.
CALBAYOG CITY—History books do not tell much, but long before the Spaniards came to invade through the introduction of Christianity, some parts of the country already had a thriving civilization-trading with other countries, had their own system of writing and reading and even a concept of beauty.
GUIUAN, Easter Samar—Church officials and antimining advocates are unfazed with the decision of the municipal council to approve a resolution supporting the renewal of Hinatuan Mining Corp.’s (HMC) mining operation in the small island of Manicani.
TACLOBAN CITY—When President Duterte visits the historic town of Balangiga on September 28 for the commemoration of the Balangiga Massacre during the American occupation of the area during the last century, there will be no banners and streamers that will demand accountability on the sloppy implementation of the housing program for Supertyphoon Yolanda (international code name: Haiyan) survivors.
TACLOBAN CITY—A successful rehabilitation of a dying watershed in Leyte destroyed by Supertyphoon Yolanda was featured as one of the 24 “Change Projects”, or transformational stories of humanitarian development, from across the country launched by the Catholic Church last Friday.
TACLOBAN CITY—The Philippine Rural Development Program (PRDP) regional advisory board endorsed a total of P57 million worth of projects, including the rehabilitation of a marine-protected area that was destroyed by Supertyphoon Yolanda in 2013.
TACLOBAN CITY—The ongoing public hearing of the House Committee on Housing and Urban Development on the implementation by the National Housing Authority (NHA) of the Yolanda-shelter program is drawing much interest in Eastern Visayas, the ground zero of the supertyphoon.
BALANGIGA, Eastern Samar—Residents of Barangay 6, a coastal community of over 400 households of this historic town, are edgy when visitors come to make inquiries on their issues with the housing project of the National Housing Authority (NHA).
TACLOBAN CITY—Putting a closure to speculations of an impending political crisis in Southern Leyte, former Gov. Damian Mercado personally visited the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) regional office here on Friday to receive a copy of the Ombudsman decision dismissing him from service for grave misconduct for mishandling procurement of second-hand vehicles in 2007.
The Regional Development Committee (RDCom) Visayas Area Committee (VAC) of the National Economic Development Authority (Neda) unanimously elected Antique Gov. Rhodora J. Cadiao as chairman during its second meeting for this year last August 25 in Iloilo City.
Story and photo by Elmer V. Recuerdo
PALO, Leyte—The Philippine National Police (PNP) in Eastern Visayas received 45 brand-new Toyota Prius hybrid cars donated by the Japanese government to areas affected by Supertyphoon Yolanda.
TACLOBAN CITY—Red-tide toxins in the waters of Eastern Visayas have spread further, contaminating three more bays and affecting the livelihood of over 1,000 families dependent on gathering and selling shellfish as their primary source of income.
TACLOBAN CITY—The Tacloban City government, under the leadership of Mayor Cristina G. Romualdez, has tied up with SM Foundation Kabalikat sa Kabuhayan (KSK) to offer free training on organic farming for 210 beneficiaries.
BALANGIGA, Eastern Samar—When this town remembers the 116th anniversary of the Balangiga encounter on September 28, church bells will be rung, but the toll may not be as clear as it was over a century ago.
TACLOBAN CITY—Administration party PDP-Laban is strengthening its hold in the grassroots with the recruitment of two governors in Eastern Visayas to the party.
SOME 2,032 households will be sampled in Eastern Visayas during the conduct of the 2017 National Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS) of the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) from August 14 to October 15 this year.
TACLOBAN CITY—An alliance of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and communities affected by Supertyphoon Yolanda welcomed the creation of Inter-Agency Task Force Yolanda (IATF-Yolanda) hoping it will eventually lead to the creation of an agency that will oversee future disaster responses.
FAITH-BASED organizations (FBOs) in the country gathered to reflect on their contributions to humanitarian response and discussed avenues for collaboration and improve their current response to the Marawi City crisis.
TACLOBAN CITY—The Philippine Reclamation Authority (PRA) and the Tacloban City government will implement a pilot program of shoreline pond and mangrove reforestation that will mitigate possible storm surges in the future.
TACLOBAN CITY—Three local government units (LGUs) in Eastern Visayas joined the nationwide landmark-lighting activity on August 8 in observance of the golden anniversary of the Asean held by host country, the Philippines.
MAASIN CITY, Southern Leyte—Years of finding a permanent solution to the perennial erosion problems that threaten the foundation of the country’s tallest bridge has finally come to an end.
TACLOBAN CITY—The continued power outage experienced in Eastern Visayas is becoming a serious concern for local businesses and potential investors in the region.
Story and photos by Elmer V. Recuerdo / Correspondent
TACLOBAN CITY—The strong earthquake that hit Leyte on July 6 badly damaged Lake Danao Natural Park in Ormoc City, an assessment of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) regional office showed.
Story by Elmer V. Recuerdo / Correspondent
A BIG anti-mining group is supporting President Duterte’s call for a new mining law and is urging him to enforce the cancelation and suspension orders issued by former Environment Secretary Regina Paz L. Lopez against 28 mining companies as a critical first step in addressing the negative impacts of mining.
A BIG anti-mining group is supporting President Duterte’s call for a new mining law and is urging him to enforce the cancelation and suspension orders issued by former Environment Secretary Regina Paz L. Lopez against 28 mining companies as a critical first step in addressing the negative impacts of mining.
TACLOBAN CITY, Leyte—While President Duterte was delivering his State of the Nation Address in Metro Manila on Monday, hundreds of Supertyphoon Yolanda survivors took to the streets and marched to the regional office of the National Housing Authority (NHA) here to demand accountability on the problems confronting the government-housing program.
THE Catholic Church has launched a toy campaign in an effort to bring back happiness and comfort to children who are still recovering from the trauma brought about by the ongoing crisis in Marawi City.
THE Catholic Church, through the National Secretariat for Social Action (Nassa)/Caritas Philippines, will implement a P10-million humanitarian response, including provision of halal food, to evacuees from Marawi City.
TACLOBAN CITY—The Department of Health (DOH) in Eastern Visayas confirmed the recent death of a 7-year-old boy of suspected meningococcemia, bringing to four the total number of fatalities of this dreaded disease this year.
TACLOBAN CITY—The Regional Development Council (RDC) approved during a full council meeting last month the establishment of a Yolanda memorial and learning center that will not only serve as a constant reminder of the havoc caused by the supertyphoon, but also an educational center on disaster mitigation and climate-change adaptation.
TACLOBAN CITY—The Regional Development Council (RDC) in Eastern Visayas has asked President Duterte to declare a state of emergency in the region, following the 6.5-magnitude earthquake on Thursday, resulting in a region-wide blackout since then.
TACLOBAN CITY—At least 20 schools were damaged in the strong earthquake that rocked Leyte province last Thursday, affecting the studies of over 10,000 pupils in the province’s elementary and high schools.
REELING from the strong earthquake that rocked the province on Thursday last week, Leyte was again jolted by a strong aftershock that sent employees and students scampering for safety.
Elmer V. Recuerdo / Photos by Vincent Paulo Cortes
TACLOBAN CITY—The Regional Development Council in Eastern Visayas (RDC-EV) backed a $94-million (roughly P2.3-billion) agriculture development project to be implemented in selected provinces in Eastern Visayas and in all regions in Mindanao.
TACLOBAN CITY—Leyte’s Pintado–Kasadyaan, dubbed as “the festival of festivals” in Eastern Visayas, gathered nine festival contingents from various municipalities in the region.
TACLOBAN CITY—Southern Leyte State University (SLSU) became the first academe in the Visayas region that will be involved in monitoring subprojects of World Bank-funded Philippine Rural Development Program (PRDP) being implemented by the Department of Agriculture (DA).
TACLOBAN CITY—Under the sweltering heat of a sunny morning, 42-year-old Elena Enciso joined a group composed mostly of women as they marched to the National Housing Authority (NHA) to formally file a notice rejecting the houses scheduled to be awarded to them soon.
Story and photos by Elmer V. Recuerdo / Correspondent
TACLOBAN CITY—The National Maritime Polytechnic’s Quality Management System (NMP-QMS) maintained its ISO 9001:2008 certification after passing the surveillance audit conducted by the Anglo Japanese American (AJA) Registrars Limited.
THE Catholic Church has launched a nationwide fund drive to help families displaced by the ongoing clashes between the government and the Maute rebel group in Marawi City.
TACLOBAN CITY—Economic planners are expecting the economic gains in Eastern Visayas that started in 2015 to continue in the next few years due to many big-ticket infrastructure projects implemented under the Duterte administration.
