march 10-16, 2014 layout

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VOL. 15 NO. 07 ORMOC CITY P 15.00 at the newsstands MARCH 10-16, 2014

Website address: www.evmailnews.com For feedback/inquiries: e-mail [email protected]

NEW OFFICE ADDRESS:

HERMOSILLA DRIVE, ORMOC CITYLandlines: 832-0704 (PLDT); 561-

0809 (Globe)0916-493-8704 (Elvie); 0921-211-9603 (Rosenda); 0918-923-4408

(Lalaine).Email: [email protected] and

[email protected]

Rotary of Makati South donates

50 boats for Ormoc shers

SEE UNCHR P. 9

Leyte coco farmers get 500 chainsaws

Photo on top shows Rep. Lucy Torres-Gomez receiving the checks from Rotary Club of Makati

South president Ritz Estorco as payment for 50 motorboats that were donated to sherfolks of

Naungan and San Juan in Ormoc City. (L-R) Richard Gomez, Vice Mayor Toto Locsin Jr., Manuel

Torres Sr., the delegation from the Rotary of Makati South and Lucy, councilors Vince Rama,

Tommy Seraca, Dr. Gerry Penserga and Dr. Mayong Rodriguez. At right, the Gomez couple

wth Mayor Ramon Oate and Vice Mayor George Arevalo during the turnover of 20 motorboats

to shers in Palompon town.

SEE LUCY P. 9

BYLALAINEM. JIMENEA

ORMOC CITY It was theanathema of the known

Filipino machismo, butmen folk of Brgy. Naunganand San Juan here visiblycried as their leader madea tearful speech, thankingthe Rotary Club of MakatiSouth and Leyte Rep. LucyTorres-Gomez for givingthem motorized bancas onthe morning of Tuesday,March 11, 2014.

In the vernacular,Naungan-San Juan Man-grove Planters Association(NASAMPA) president Re-nato Quilay said the motor-ized bancas will not onlygive them back their liveli-

hood, but it also gave themhope and faith in the good-ness of men.

Di gyod ni nako maka-limtan nga adlaw sa akokinabuhi, Maam, Sir. Amoni himoong holiday sa akopamilya. Ako gyod sugin-lan ang ako mga anak, mgaapo, og mga anak sa akongmga apo kabahin ningadlawa nga gihatagan miog Bangka sa among con-gresswoman nga gwapa nakaayo, bulawanon pa ang

dughan, he said. (I willnever forget this day in my

life. I will make this day(March 11) a holiday for myfamily and I will tell themabout this day when ourbeautiful congresswomanand people with goldenhearts gave us our livesback through a motorizedboat.)

At his back were hismembers who tried to hidetheir tears unsuccessfully. Itwas an emotional momentthat Rep. Lucy T. Gomez,at loss on what to say, justhugged Quilay.

I was very touched athis words, said Lucy, and

hearing him seeing themin tears, so thankful andhappy, just makes all thehard work worth it.

There was a light mo-ment, however, whenQuilay mentioned that evenif shing nets were not in-cluded in the gift of hopethey got, they will find away to put it to use imme-diately. It elicited laughterfrom the guests becausethey knew it was his wayof asking for it.

50 bancas with Hondaengines at P 32,000 each

were distributed to the NA-SAMPA today. There weremore to come, Rep. Gomezsaid.

The motorized ban-cas were donations fromthe Rotary Club of MakatiSouth and its sister clubsfrom other parts of theworld that they coursedthrough Lucys 6,200: Mis-sion Possible. The sisterclubs are the Rotary Clubsof Tokyo Jonan, Hapan;Jakarta Gambir, Indonesia;West Lake Village, Cali-fornia; Tanglin, Singapore;Gumbak, Kuala Lumpur,

Malaysia.Rep. Gomez said Ro-tary Club of Makati was thefirst donor of motorboatswho called her, signifyingthey wanted to help herdistrict. It was anotheranswered prayer, she said.

The Leyte congress-woman has since launched6200: Mission Possible,aiming to raise 6,200 motor-boats for her constituents.

The UN-Commission on Human Rights turns over 500 chainsaws from theSwedish power tool company Husqvarna to the International Organization

on Migration (IOM) and the Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) on Friday,

March 14, in Ormoc City. (L-R) Jaime Nunez, PCA ofcer for West Leyte

and Biliran, Caroline Blay of UNCHR, Christy Marl of IOM, and Ashley

Clements of UN-OCHA in Ormoc.

ORMOC CITY The UN Commis-sion on HumanRights (UNCHR)turned over to theInternational Or-ganization on Mi-gration and thePhilippine Co-conut Authoritysome 500 chain-saws donatedby the Swedishpower tool pro-

ducer Husqvarnaon Friday, March14, during a Me-dia Orientationon Humanitar-ian System andY o l a n d a R e -sponse organizedby the UN-OCHA.

The chainsaws are thelatest of non-food interven-tions that the UNCHR isgiving to Yolanda victimsin Leyte Province, to helpaffected communities get

back on their feet andhasten shelter completion.

The turnover was doneby Caroline Blay of UN-HCR-Ormoc to the IOMrepresented by ChristyMarfil and the PCA, rep-resented by Jaime Nuez.

The IOM is the co-lead inthe clusters for shelter andcamp coordination andmanagement. Standing aswitness to the donation wasAshley Clements, head of

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2 NEWSMarch 10-16, 2014

New Zealand commits 2.5-million dollars for

agricultural rehabilitation through FAO

Ormoc now has

P 8.415-Million in donations

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Farmers pose with New Zealand Ambassador to the Philippines Reuben Levermore, NZ Civil

Defence Minister Nikki Kaye, FAOs representative to the Phils. Rajendra Aryal (2nd, 3rd, 4th

from left). Flanking them are DA assistant regional director Ismael Aya-ay and Dr. Jennylyn

Ruiz-Almeria.

PALO, LEYTE New Zea-

land Minister of Civil De-

fence Nikki Kaye announced

during a meeting with vil-

lagers in a Yolanda-affected

farming community here

on the afternoon of Sunday,

March 16, that their govern-

ment is giving 2.5-millionNZ dollars to restore their

livelihoods and farms. In

Philippine peso, the amount

is P 96-million.

The aid is on top of the

5-million NZ dollars the coun-

try immediately donated for

emergency relief aid, she told

villagers of Brgy. Gacao, this

town.

The 2.5-million dollars ag-

ricultural aid would be coursed

through UNs Food and Agri-

cultural Organization, just like

their previous donation for

relief aid was coursed through

international NGOs like Ox-

fam and the like.

Rajendra Aryal, FAO rep-

resentative to the Philippines,

said that the money would be

used to help the farmers restore

their farms, replant it, buy tools

and farm animals. Necessary

trainings would also be held

for both the farmers and agri-cultural technicians.

Minister Kaye, on the other

hand, said that New Zealand,

being an agricultural country,

feel they can impart their

knowledge in the area. She

shared that they also have had

their share of tragedies which

they are still recovering from,

the most severe in recent years

was the Christchurch earth-

quake. We are still rebuilding

but more important than build-

ings are the lives of people,

she said.

Our hearts are with you,

she added, and this time, we

are putting our money into it.

She emphasized that her

presence in the village was a

show of how committed they

are to help the villagers but

added they did not want to

impose the solutions to their

pro blems but wou ld rather

that the approach taken iscommunity-based.

It was also learned thataside from the emergency aidreleased by the NZ govern-ment to international NGOsthat responded to the Yolandasituation, their government isalso giving the Philippine gov-ernment an annual assistanceof 4-million NZ dollars. Kayesaid these funds could comehandy to continue the work ofthe FAO if the emergency fundruns short.

The villagers of Gacaowarmly welcomed MinisterKaye and NZ Ambassador

to the Philippines ReubenLevermore. Also with themwas Rajendra Aryal, FAOrepresentative to the Philip-pines, and assistan t regionaldirectors Ismael Aya-ay andDr. Jennylyn Ruiz-Almeria ofthe Department of Agriculture.

In an interview with onevillager, Leopoldo Morbos,49, he was very thankful at theintervention of internationalNGOs. He was looking for-ward to the farming interven-tions that the FAO would begiving them.

Morbos has 10 children.He has a rice and coconutfarm. His rice, already harvest-able when Yolanda slammed

through last November 8, areall gone. All of his coconuttrees, about 100, are totallydamaged.

The farmer Morbos saidthat he used to have a reason-able income from selling tuba,at P 300 per Jerry can beforeYolanda. He could have madea killing now because tuba isbeing sold at P 300 a gallon orP 1,000.00 for one Jerry can,but the problem is, he does noteven have one tree to gathertuba from.

He was able to send all ofhis children to school. In fact,two have graduated from col-lege and were already helping

them with the daily expenses.However, both lost their jobsafter Yolanda. Now, he said,except for the rice supply thatthey are getting from relieforganizations and a small veg-etable patch, he does not knowwhat to do.

Another villager, EstelitaLadrera, 60, said that amongtheir biggest needs in Brgy.Gacao is shelter assistance.Pointing to the houses nearby,she swears that they havenot received any sim or GIsheets and most of them aremaking do with trapal orplastic sheets for their roofs.

PALOMPON - FOUR

months after the Super

Typhoon Yolanda (Inter-

national name Haiyan)

devastated Philippines, the

Leyteos are now recuper-

ating.

As the Department ofInterior and Local Govern-ment (DILG) launches itseconomic recovery plans,

efforts supporting Leytestourism industry started thisweek.

This week, the DILGregional ofce turned over

10 stand-up paddle boatsand glamping tents fundedby the Canadian Governmentthrough the Local Gover-nance Support Program forLocal Economic Development (LGSP-LED).

The Palompon Municipal Ecotourism Council (PMETC),Inc. received the equipment through a turnover ceremony heldat the towns Tourism Building. The PMETC is a private sec-tor partner of the Municipality of Palompon in managing the

DILG turns over 10 paddle boats to Palompon,

another 10 for Ormoc slated

Palompon folk scrutinize the paddle boats.

SEE PALOMPON P. 9

tourism activities in Kalanggaman Island.LGSP-LED is working with the Province of Leyte to

revitalize key attraction sites along the North West (NW)Leyte Tourism Circuit in order to invite tourists to go back

ORMOC CITY now has P 8,415,175.84 in a special account

it opened with the Land Bank of the Philippines, for cash

and check donations from various donors intended to help

the LGU respond to the Yolanda crisis.

The generated donations cover the period from November 8to March 4, according to a signed report by city treasurer Angelo

Roman obtained from councilor Vincent Rama.

The top four donors are the City Government of General

Santos City which gave P 1.5-million; and the LGUs of Cebu

City, the Province of Bukidnon and the City of San Juan which

gave P 1-million each.

First to donate was the LGU of Cebu City which gave their

donation on November 12. Mayor Mike Rama himself personally

delivered the check to the City Hall.

However, the publicized P 3-million from Davao City, as

allegedly announced by Mayor Rodrigo Duterte through the

national media, has yet to materialize.

Mostly, the donors were LGUs, among them the City of

Mandaue (P 600,000); Valenzuela (P 500,000); Province of

Misamis Occidental (P 500,000); Panabo City, Davao del Norte

(P 400,000); Gingoog City (300,000); Iligan City (250,000);

Digos, Davao del Sur (P 200,000); Sto. Tomas, Batangas (P

200,000); and P 100,000 each from Pigcawayan in Cotabato,the Island Garden City of Samal, San Isidro in Davao Oriental,

San Fernando in Pampanga. Maasin City in Southern Leyte

gave P 50,000.

The LBP-Ormoc Branch also donated P 200,000 while Sena-

tor Ramon Revilla and Leyte Rep. Ferdinand Martin Romualdez

gave a combined amount of P 100,000.

Other donors are CFI Community-Ormoc and CFI Com-

munity-Tacloban for P 50,000 each; John 15 Foundation which

gave 750 US dollars or P 33,262.40; lawyers Thaddeus Alviso

and Allan Fontansa gave P 10,000 each, and spouses Randy &

Charlene Rautolo, P 5,000.

The DSWD Kalahi Pantawid of Tukuran, Zamboanga del

Sur donated P 3,082.75; Sixto Comia of NBI Manila, P 2,000;

Michael Curry, P 1000; Felix

Mallen, 645.50 and Benjie

Pore, P 100.

The deposits already earned

an interest income of 415.09 butP 330 was deducted as cost of

check stub.

Al l the com-mandments: Youshall not com-mit adultery, youshall not kill, youshall not steal,you shall not cov-

et, and so on, aresummed up in thissingle command:You must loveyour neighbor asyourself.

-Jesus Christ

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3March 10-16, 2014 NEWS

DAR Secretary issues AO to govern coco holdings

ORMOC CITY As part of

their efforts to help farmers

in the Eastern Visayas recov-

er from Typhoon Yolanda,

the Department of Agrarian

Reform (DAR) is going on

an all-out campaign to in-

form tenants and owners of

coconut lands the provisions

of an administrative order

issuing rules and regulations

on leasehold operations in

tenanted coconut lands.

It was signed by DAR

Secretary Virgilio delos Reyes

on February 26 and published

on March 4. It will take e ffect

on March 14, Friday, and by

Saturday, the DAR regional

ofce will be holding its rst

conference with landowners

hereabouts to inform them of

its provisions.

DAR regional director

Eliasem Castillo said that

by March 17, Monday, their

office would hold pulong-

pulong or consultations at the

barangay levels in all towns in

Leyte, Samar and Biliran.

This is to ensure that the in-

formation is well-disseminated

to avoid conicts in the future.

Registered landowners and tenants were oriented of the administrative order and it was made clear that the AO does not only

protect the rights of the tenants but also landowners. DAR ofcers appealed to both parties to settle amicably at all times and

for landowners to follow the law in ejecting erring tenants.

However, they have not re-

ceived any complaints yet. The

AO, he said, addresses pos-

sible situations that could crop

up, which answers scenarios

raised in an earlier consultation

with coconut farmers attended

by the Secretary himself.

Former DAR Usec. Au-

gusto Quijano, now a legal

consultant of DAR, explained

its provisions to media during

a conference in the evening of

March 11 at the Sabin Resort

Hotel. He added the AO is

there to stay even after Yolan-

da to cover affected coco-

nut farmers during fortuitous

events and natural disasters.

The AO aims to protect

tenants of coco lands with

leasehold agreements with

the landowners. The AO was

an offshoot of an earlier con-

sultation with them led by the

Agrarian Secretary himself.

The rules strictly prohibits

ejectment and dispossession

of the tenants just because

they cannot pay their lease,

which is the case now after

Yolanda. It also gives the ten-

ant a foothold to re-negotiate

a new leasehold agreement

with the landowner, to include

a change of crops meantime

they are waiting for the coco-

nuts to recover.

The AO further provides

that consideration for the

lease shall not be more than the

equivalent of 25% of the aver-

age harvest during the past

three years after said fortuitous

events happened.

Partially damaged coconut

trees will take 2 to 3 years be-

fore they bear fruit again, said

DAR regional director Eliasem

Castillo.

Totally damaged trees, on

the other hand, are not totally

useless, Castillo added, as it

can be used as coco lumber.

The AO also covers this.

After deducting the cost of

cutting it up to lumber, trans-

port and hauling are deducted

and reimbursed to whoever

shouldered it, the tenant and

his landowner will divide the

proceeds with the tenant get-

ting the lions share of not less

than 75%.

It was also learned that dur-

ing the consultation, there were

questions raised as to where

the tenants would remit their

payments in case the landown-

ers are incommunicado. In the

case of Yolanda, some land-

owners could be among the

more than 6,000 who perished

in the storm surges.

The AO again provides an

answer to this. All the tenant

has to do is to go to the nearest

Municipal Agrarian Reform

Program Officer (MARPO)

to report the problem. Then

he deposits the 25% due to

the landowner at the nearest

LandBank.

DAR regional director said

their ofce had to issue the AO

to answer to the plight of coco-

nut farmers. The major crop in

Eastern Visayas, he said, was

coconut.

Of the 92 Agrarian Reform

Communities in Leyte, Samar

and Eastern Samar, which

were badly hit by Yolanda, 49

were severely affected. This

translates to 58,416 agrarian

reform beneciaries and their

families from the 112,000

ARBs, 29,000 of who are se-

verely affected.By LMJ

Sagip Kapamilya Fdn. donates 2 buildings to NOCNHSA CEREMONIAL ground

breaking of two 4-class-

room buildings donated by

ABS-CBN Sagip Kapamilya

Foundation to New Ormoc

City National High School

was held last March 11.

Sagip Kapamilya Foun-

dation, through the Energy

Development Corporation

(EDC), partnered with the

Department of Education to

provide eight additional class-

rooms for the New Ormoc

City National High School

(NOCNHS).

The construction, with 90

days target completion, is set

to start this month. The proj-

ects budget is yet to be xed as

the design is still evolving and

the cost might get higher, says

EDC Project leader Edwin

Magallanes.

Magal lanes said that

NOCNHS was chosen as rst

recipient of their Schools Re-

building Program because it

Dropping the time capsule during the ground breaking are (from left): DepEd Superintendent Dr.

Marissa Magan, Ormoc City Mayor Edward Codilla, Kananga Mayor Elmer Codilla, EDC-LGBU

Strategic Unit Head Rico Bersamin, EDC Leyte Rehabilitation and building Project Manager

Leonardo Ablaza, NOCNHS PTA President Mrs. Amelia Ong, Brgy. Don Felipe Larrazal Chairman

Angelita Melgazo, NOCNHS Principal Imelda Amodia, NOCNHS SSG President Alexis Isabela

Gabrielle Durog.SEE SAGIP P. 9

UN-OCHA, international NGOs

orient media on the dynamics

of humanitarian response

THE DANGEROUS thing

during an emergency are

rumors, said UN-OCHA

Public Information Ofcer

Anne Skatvedt during the

Orientation for Media onHumanitarian System and

Yolanda response held at

the Sabin Resort Hotel on

March 14.

The orientation, organized

by the United Nations Ofce of

the Coordination for Humani-tarian Affairs (UN-OCHA),

was intended to inform media

practitioners hereabouts about

the humanitarian system and

its role during emergencies.

Anne Skatvedt also empha-

sized on the importance of

humanitarian reporting, put-

ting human interest into stories

to uplift the spirit.

UN-OCHA, also briefed

media of their role as a coor-

dinating arm, with local and

international agencies and

non-governmental organiza-

tions (NGOs).

It was learned that these

agencies and NGOs, includinginternational ones, are grouped

into clusters according to

their emergency response pri-

orities to avoid overlapping

of priorities during a crisis

situation. Some of the clusters

are classied as Health, Educa-

tion, Nutrition, Shelter, Water

and Sanitation Health (WASH)

and Child Protection, among

others.

UN-OCHA presented to

participants the statistics ac-

cumulated from the beginning

of their Yolanda humanitarian

response here in Leyte.

Accordingly, they request-

ed US $788-M but polled onlyaround $370-M. Thats only

47% of the requested fund,

said Ashley Clements, head of

UN-OCHA in Ormoc.

Of the US $370-millon,

32% of that comes from pri-

vate individuals and organiza-

tions, 11% from United States,

another 11% from the United

Kingdom, another 7% from

Anne Skatvedt of UN-OCHA.

Japan, 5% from Australia and

7% from CERF. The Central

Emergency Response Fund or

CERF, said Ashley Clements,

are pooled funds from various

sources that can be accessedfor emergency purposes, in

the meantime the UN is still

calling out for donations.

The donations, he said,

has helped 4 million displaced

people and 1 million damaged

houses due to the typhoon.UNOCHA has given food

assistance to the 4 million

people, given seeds to 44,000

families, given basic emergen-

cy shelter materials to 500,000

households, screened 97,000

children for malnutrition, pro-

vided learning materials to

420,000 children and gave

temporary shelters to 140,000

families.

After the UNOCHAs pre-

sentation, cluster coordinators

from their partner agencies

also discussed their respective

humanitarian system and re-

sponse. Representatives from

International Medical Corps,Save the Children, UNHCR,

WASH and International Orga-

nization for Migration briefed

participants of their respective

mandates.

During the Q&A time, the

par tic ipa nts rai sed var iou s

concerns and deliberated on

parameters on how to deliver

information and psychosocial

support to the community

despite being victims of the

disaster themselves.

It was learned that in times

of crisis such as that of Yolan-

da, accurate information is as

crucial as food and shelter, and

that communication is aid; totell positive stories and to be

result-oriented.

Meanwhile, the UN-OCHA

head of challenged mediamen

to shed light on issues that

the community dont know

and highlight them in stories;

otherwise, it will continue to

be a problem. By Jhay Gaspar

For the Yolanda response, US $788-M

was targetted to be raised from donors but

polled only around $370-M. Thats only

47% of the requested fund, said Ashley Cle-

ments, head of UN-OCHA in Ormoc.

5/28/2018 March 10-16, 2014 Layout

4/12

4 March 10-16, 2014

Our lifelongwarfare

LALAINE MARCOS-JIMENEAPublisher/Editor-in-Chief

JOSE SANRO C. JIMENEABusiness Manager

Correspondents/ Columnists:

PAUL LIBRES, MUTYA COLLANDER, JHAY GASPAR, TED MARCOS, IVY CONG-SON, DR. MANUEL K. PALOMAR, Ph.D., VICKY C. ARNAIZ, JUAN MERCADO, JTDELOS ANGELES, ATTY. BEULAH COELI FIEL, RICARDO MARTINEZ, JR., FR.ROY CIMAGALA,, ATTY. CARLO LORETO, ATTY. EMMANUEL GOLO, ADELINACARRENO, IIGO LARRAZABAL, YONG ROM, PROF. EDITHA CAGASAN

KEN ENECIO

Section Editor

with MAI-MAI T. VELASQUEZ,GILBERT ABAO, EMIE CHU, DR. GERRY

PENSERGA, NIKKI TABUCANON SIA

Cartoonist:HARRY TEROWebsite address:http://www.evmailnews.comemail: [email protected] [email protected]

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a member of

PHIL. PRESSINSTITUTE

Perfect Storm?

P 93-million plusP 8.4 million equals

1 dengue death?

SEE FR. ROY P. 5SEEVIEW FROM ORMOC

P. 9SEE MERCADO P. 5

WITH LENT in our midst, we should be

reminded of our duty to hone up our skills

in spiritual warfare. We should not let this

Lenten season pass without doing anything

to improve ourselves in this particular de-

partment.

Christ already hinted this much when he

said: From the days of John the Baptist until

now, the kingdom of heaven suffers violence,

and the violent bear it away. (Mt 11,12)

We have to understand though that to be

violent in this sense does not mean to be de-

structive but rather constructive, driven by love

and the desire to be united with God and with

the others in a way proper to us as children of

God and brothers and sisters among ourselves.

Our life here on earth cannot but be in some

form of struggle. Aside from our innate urge to

grow and develop that requires some effort, we

also have to contend with enemies whose sole

intent is precisely to bring us down, to divert us

from our proper path toward holiness.

We are not simply ranged against natural dif-

culties, challenges and trials in life, but rather

with very powerful and subtle nemeses. The

natural enemies alone are already formidable.

St. John describes them this way:

For all that is in the world is the concupis-

cence of the esh, and the concupiscence of the

eyes, and the pride of life, which is not of the

Father, but is of the world. (1 Jn 2,16) Thats

why we can talk easily about envy, jealousy,

vanity, lust, greed, sloth, etc.

For this type of enemies alone, we need an

extensive spiritual pharmacopeia and moral

regimen to cleanse us of their afiction. Thats

why we are encouraged, especially during Lent,

to intensify our fasting and abstinence, and other

forms of mortication. We should not take this

indication lightly. They are very necessary.

Yes, we need to pray a lot and grow in the

different virtues so we can be strong, optimistic

and cheerful, prudent and capable of handling

these challenges. We have to learn how to deal

with our weaknesses and the usual temptations

that come from the esh and the world.

But we still have enemies tougher than

these. As St. Paul said, Our wrestling is not

against esh and blood, but against principali-

ties and power, against the rulers of the worldof darkness, against the spirits of wickedness

in the high places. (Eph 6,12)

This type of enemies affects us more deeply.

They corrupt not only the body, but also our

very spirit that is supposed to be our immediate

and direct conduit with God. They bring our

warfare from the arena of the natural to that of

the spiritual and supernatural.

With these enemies, our intelligence and

will, our thoughts and desires would then

operate outside the context of Gods will. Our

thoughts and desires would then be at the mercy

of evil spirits that can only be handled properly

if we also use spiritual and supernatural means,

and not just some natural power.

When we fail to deliberately offer every-

thing we think, say and do to God, as told to

us in the gospel, then we open ourselves to thecoming of another spirit that will offer us, at

FILIPINOS SHARE one common item

in our everyday existence: rice, National

Scientist Gelia Castillo wrote in her book

on a cereal that makes or breaks presidents.

Rice In Our Life reviewed three decades

of studies into rice that was sown, between

6,000 BC and 400 AD, in Ifugao to Lucena.

Rice self-sufciency has been an upward

moving target, always out of reach, even as we

calculate we are only three percent short, she

wrote . Seared deep in the psyche of Filipino

politicians are crises when we could not nd

rice, even if we had the money to buy it.

Unseasonal storms, meanwhile, ripped

up the old rice calculus. Sendong tore into

Cagayan de Oro and Iligan in 2011, leaving

1,080 corpses. Typhoon Pablo later clobbered

Compostela Valley and Davao Oriental.

This shattered the historical pattern of one

typhoon cutting through Mindanaos breadbas-

ket every 18 years. Then, the Bohol earthquake

and Super-typhoon Yolanda, last November,

savaged farms.

Only 97 percent sufciency was attainable

for 2013, Agriculture Department conceded.

National Food Authority opened the applica-

tions for imports, for use and as buffer stock.

Ayaw magsaligan ring tiyan, sa anat ibang

taegsan, an Aklan proverb says. Dont count

on someone elses rice bin for what you eat.

The immediate, however, can blur the long

term threats. The number of crop species that

now feed more people than half a century ago,is shrinking. Rice, wheat, sugar and potatoes

form a new globalized diet.

Over the past 50 years, diets around

the world have become more similar, notes

Colombia-based International Center for Tropi-

cal Agricultures Colin Khoury. Todays diet

includes staples that were not important half a

century ago, particularly oil crops like soybean.

Other crops however declined, including

sweet potatoes, cassava, yams and millets. This

narrowing base raises concerns about the global

food systems resilience.

Another danger is a more homogeneous

global food basket makes agriculture more vul-

nerable to drought, insect pests and diseases,

Luigi Guarino, from Global Crop Diversity

told BBCs environment reporter Mark Kinver.

Diversity of cultivated crops, in fact, de-clined by 75 per cent during the 20th century,

UN Food and Agriculture Organization esti-

mates. If this slide persists, a third of todays

diversity could disappear by 2050.

Seepage of crop diversity also jacks up the

number of people that are exposed to harvest

failures. And climate change compounds the

risk.

Warmer temperatures are causing malaria

to spread to higher altitudes and once-disease

free regions in Asia, South America and Af-

rica, says the Science journal. A 1 C rise in

temperature could lead to an additional three

million cases in a year, cautions University of

Michigans Mercedes Pascual.

The Philippines targets nationwide malaria

elimination by 2020. But it still lacks a long

term domestic program even as international

funding dwindles.

A perfect storm of growing populations,

climate change and diminishing resources for

food production confronts the world, warns the

new Foresight Report on Food and Farming

Futures, commissioned by the United King-

dom. The two-year study involved 400 exper ts

from 35 countries.

Do we have 20 years to arguably deliver

40 percent more food; 30 percent more fresh

water and double energy output? asks the UKs

chief scientic adviser, Sir John Beddington.

The current system must be radically rede-

signed to produce more food sustainably. We

cant wait ...

There is an urgency in taking what may bevery difcult policy decisions, he adds. The

food system is working for the better off.....

But those at risk of hunger have least inuence

on decision-making. The UK recommends

that the most resource-intensive types of food

be curbed. Waste in food production has to be

radically curbed.

Yearly, the Philippines loses a million metric

tons of already-harvested rice, from slipshod

processing to shabby storage. Cabbage spoilage

mars a third of harvests, UP Los Baos studies

found. Fish losses crest at 40 percent.

Consumers in rich countries junk as much

food as sub-Saharan Africa produces. Wasting

food is stealing from tables of the poor, Pope

Francis told a UN World Environment Day audi-

ence. A culture of waste is despicable when

many suffer from hunger. Our grandparentswere very careful not to throw leftover food.

WHILE COVERING the session this week,

councilor Vincent Rama handed me a paper

containing the report of city treasurer Angelo

Roman on how much the city already got

from money donations. (see story on page 2

about the donors)

First, let us thank the donors for their

generosity. Most are LGUs. There are also

kindhearted individuals who gave from out of

their pockets.

Aside from these generous donations, in-

tended to help the city respond to the calamity,the city itself has P 93-million in calamity funds.

Initially, it was thought to be P 130-million but

after a thorough accounting of the funds, what

was actually on hand as of December 2013

was P 93-M.

This is the money where the citys emergen-

cy purchases like the P 50,000 a day for crude

oil and gasoline for the six water sources come

from. There has been no liquidation shown of

the money yet, I was told.

However, despite having such funds, the city

already has posted one dengue fatality.

In his report before media during a UN-

OCHA affair, sanitation inspector Rolando

Quilantang reported that Ormoc already posted

its rst fatality this month. In January, there

were 164 cases while there were 133 cases for

February.The dengue outbreak last December which

spiked to an all time high by January wasdeclared a calamity already by the City Di-saster Risk Reduction Management Council(CDRRMC), in its full council meeting heldlast February 7 yet.

With the declaration, a report by Dr. NelitaNavales was adopted, including a recommenda-tion to buy Temephos, a larvicide. The larvicideis to be sprinkled on where clean water stag-nates because it becomes the breeding groundof mosquitoes, especially Aedis Egypti kindwhich is the vector of dengue and a cousin,Chikungunya.

At this juncture, I recall Quilantangs Power-Point spell it as Chickengunya which made itseem it was a disease affecting chickens, L-O-L.

To recall, CDRRMC approved the release of

funds to purchase Temephos, which by the way,IPI is offering at cost. Commercially, this larvi-cide is being sold at P 3,000 per kilo. But IPI,owned by the very generous Rotarian BobongCastillo who has even lent his huge property inTacloban for the temporary housing of Yolandavictims, is selling it at cost (P 315.00 per kilo)to help combat dengue.

I came to know this week that the larvicidehas not yet been bought as wa pay P.O.. Com-pounding the problem is that the Commissionon Audit (COA) has reportedly told Navalesthat her recommendation to hire 100 people todo apply larvicide simultaneously in the citysbarangays had no legal basis.

I learned this during the councils discus-

sion about the matter. Dr. Mario Rodriguez

reported that he got the said information from

Dr. Nelita Navales. At that time, he even said

5/28/2018 March 10-16, 2014 Layout

5/12

The Gospel on Sunday

MARCH 23, 2014

3rd Sunday of Lent

5March 10-16, 2014

Perfect PitchSt. Joseph: The least

heard of the saints

FR. ROY ... from P. 4

MERCADO ... from P. 4

WE ALL know the circumstances that pro-

pelled St. Joseph to an enviable accolade;

after all, he was the foster Father of JesusChrist, who redeemed mankind from the

abyss it was headed due to sin. And as such,

he was also the husband of Mama Mary

which in itself is quite a feat and an honor.

There was a time when the young girls were

dreaming to be the mother of Jesus Christ as

foretold by the prophets. The young girls were

vying for such an honor. Little did they know

that the honor was already earmarked to Mary

who was already chosen by God the Father even

when she was yet in the womb of her mother. To

be the mother of Jesus, she had to be spotless.

The title Immaculate Conception was to be

bestowed on her because Jesus Christ cannot

be born to a young girl who was not clean, one

who is not free from sin.

Mama Mary is the Queen of Heaven and

Earth. For those who pray the Rosary, all theattributes of the Blessed Virgin Mary (BVM)

is found in the Litany which follows after each

recital. There are more than fty of such ac-

colade attributed to the BVM. The Rosary is

considered the highest form of prayer; second

only to the holy sacrice of the mass; it is like

a small Bible.

There are two people in the Bible with the

name of Joseph which this corner would like to

dwell on. There is one which is quite popular in

the play entitled Joseph the Dreamer. He is

the youngest of 12 brothers with 2 mothers. He

was hated by his older brothers because of his

many dreams that depict him as a person where

his elders would bow to him. Moreover, he was

also the pet of his father, Jacob, who made him a

robe with several colors which made his broth-

ers envious of him all the more. They could nolonger hold their hatred for him. The opportunty

came for them to dispose of him by killing him

and telling their father that he was devoured by

wild beasts. They changed their plan to a lesser

evil: selling him as a slave due to the urging of

Reuben (who was friendly to Joseph). It was his

destiny that he will become an ofcer, in fact a

Governor of the Pharaoh, because the Lord was

with him. The complete narrative of him can be

found in Genesis from Chapter 37 onwards. It

is a beautiful narrative in which his brothers,

the very ones who hated him, were made to

eventually realize their biggest blunder. It was

here that Joseph showed his humility by telling

his brothers not to worry about what they did

because it was Gods plan to save them fromthe famine that lasted seven years.

The other Joseph is the direct descendant

of David who was betrothed to Mary who was

already chosen by God the Father. When he

found out that she was carrying a child not by

him, he could have denounced her. She would

have been stoned to death because this was the

penalty for indelity. What did he do to exercise

his right as husband? Not only did he remain

silent, he was even willing to leave her without

creating noise.

Here in Ormoc City, he was the equivalent

of a turutot, an under the saya or what is

termed USAFE for under the saya forever

and ever. Jewish law would have demanded

stoning. But this is the kind that saintly people

are made of. Considering that it was what made

him ten feet tall, and considering that he waseventually elevated to be the Patron Saint of

the whole Catholic Church, there is not much

about him that can be found in the Bible. His

death was never mentioned. There is an entry in

the Concordance that claim he must have died

during the three years of the public ministry

of Jesus Christ because of the term that Jesus

Christ is the son of a carpenter. If we use that as

our yardstick, then Mama Mary was already a

widow during the time when Jesus went through

with his Passion on the Cross. With the death

of Jesus on the Cross, she became a loner. She

was only 48 years old when she died. She was

wed at 15 yrs and Jesus died at age 33: not so

young and not so old.

St. Josephs feast day is this coming 19th

March. To all graduates of the University of San

JoseRecoletos (USJ-R), this day is very memo-rable because it is its College day. This corner,

along with three other brothers was enrolled

during its founding in 1946. This year makes

it its 68th anniversary. At that time, the school

gave free scholarship to one of four brothers

who enrol at the same time. The privilege was

given to me, but eventually given to my next in

line Tony - when I earned my own scholar-

ship on my merits. Tony passed away last year.

Bless his soul!

Being a Carpenter by profession, it follows

that St. Joseph is the Patron Saint for the labor

sector. The Church therefore celebrates two

masses in honor of St. Joseph on the 19th March

and on 1st May.

rst, a lot of attraction and allurement, untilwe are so enslaved by it that it would be very

difcult for us to detach ourselves from it.

Thats why today we have such phenomena

as atheism, agnosticism, materialism, and other

forms of ungodliness, with their corresponding

manifestations, such as, the legalization of abor-

tion, the spreading culture of death, all forms

of corruption, etc.

This big and open hostility against God and

also against our nature always starts in a small,

unobtrusive way, cleverly spiced and glibly

packaged to grab our attention. We have to be

most wary of these little openings to sin by mak-

ing our conscience more rened and sensitive,

Our so-called food surpluses are a mirage,

former FAO agricultural economist Ti Teow

Choo stressed. Increase purchasing power

of todays poor even marginally. Then, those

impressive stockpiles would be bought out

overnight by people who needed the food but

could not afford it.

Government is trying to whittle down the

poverty rate from 25 percent in 2012 to 16

percent by 2016. When President Benigno

Aquino III steps down, he hopes therell be

and by growing in the virtues.We have to understand that at every point

of our life is always a choice between God and

ourselves, between God and the devil, between

God and the world. We have to be humble

enough to choose God always.

The humility involved here would lead us

to feel the need to continue asking for the grace

of God, since without him, we can accomplish

nothing that would bring us to our eternal life.

The humility involved here would lead us

also to trust in God, especially when we see

our own weaknesses, mistakes, failures. With

such trust, we simply begin and begin again in

our struggles. Email: [email protected]

fuller rice bins.

What if Senators Juan Ponce Enrile, Jing-

goy Estrada and Bong Revilla funneled their

pork chunks to curbing post harvest rice losses,

reducing sh and vegetable spoilage? Theyd

have had the blessing promised to those who

gave the hungry to eat.

Instead, they chose to sow the wind with

fake NGOs. Ironically, they dont have a clue

why theyre reaping the whirlwind of what is a

perfect storm.

RANDY JACKSON, former judge of Ameri-

can Idol, used to comment to a contestant that

he or she is pitchy. I dont exactly under-stand what it means but it is obviously not

good. Turning to science, researchers have

found that a drug known as valproate (or

valproic acid) might help people learn how

to produce perfect pitch.

Besides the assistance valproate could give

to The Voice of the Philippines contestants,

the study is intriguing because it suggests the

adult brain can learn better and faster through

drugs that enhance its neuroplasticity.

Perfect pitch, which scientists refer to as

absolute pitch, is the rare ability to identify or

produce the pitch of a musical note without any

reference point. Experts believe that the ability

to produce absolute pitch may be a genetic trait

that must be nurtured through musical training

in early childhood or its unlikely to develop.

Young children are known to have an un-usual degree of neuroplasticity, which enables

them to pick up languages and other skills much

more easily than adults, play a new musical

instrument or learn other new skills.

But the latest study into the development of

absolute pitch suggests that neuroplasticity isnt

necessarily a closed window after childhood,

and valproate might help open that window.

Valproate belongs to a class of drugs

known as histone deacetylase inhibitors. Mar-

keted under the names Depakote, Depacon and

Stavzor, valproate has been used for years to

treat migraines, epileptic seizures and mood

disorders, including bipolar disorder. (The drug

is not recommended for women who might be

pregnant, because it can cause decreased IQ and

other developmental problems in newborns.)Earlier research in rats had suggested that

histone deacetylase inhibitors might help the

animals recover from neural decits induced by

limiting vision in one eye. The drugs seem to

work through epigenetics, the external modi-

cations to DNA that switch certain genes on

or off.

To build on this earlier research, and to test

the hypothesis that psychoactive drugs might

enhance neuroplasticity, researchers gathered

volunteers and gave them either a placebo or

valproate for two weeks.

After two weeks of taking either valpro-

ate or a placebo, the volunteers were asked

to identify pitch tones: Those who had taken

valproate learned how to identify absolute pitch

and scored signicantly higher than those who

had taken the placebo.Valproate is a mood-stabilizing drug but

it also restores the plasticity of the brain to a

juvenile state. This nding suggests that val-

proate could have some use in teaching adults

skills that they would otherwise have difculty

mastering.

But the drug has two common side effects -

stomach pain and rapid hair loss. Perhaps a bit

of off key singing is not so bad after all.

Besides, the use of any drug to enhance

learning by inducing greater neuroplasticity

also poses some ethical issues. Critical periods

have evolved for a reason, and it is a process

that one probably would not want to tamper

with carelessly.

John 4: 5 - 15, 19 - 26, 39 - 42

So he came to a city of Samaria, calledSychar, near the eld that Jacob gave tohis son Joseph. Jacobs well was there,

and so Jesus, wearied as he was with his

journey, sat down beside the well. It wasabout the sixth hour.

There came a woman of Samaria todraw water. Jesus said to her, Give me adrink. For his disciples had gone away into

the city to buy food. The Samaritan woman

said to him, How is it that you, a Jew, aska drink of me, a woman of Samaria? ForJews have no dealings with Samaritans.

Jesus answered her, If you knew thegift of God, and who it is that is saying toyou, `Give me a drink, you would haveasked him, and he would have given you

living water.

The woman said to him, Sir, you havenothing to draw with, and the well is deep;

where do you get that living water? Are you

greater than our father Jacob, who gave usthe well, and drank from it himself, and hissons, and his cattle?

Jesus said to her, Every one who drinksof this water will thirst again, but whoever

drinks of the water that I shall give him willnever thirst; the water that I shall give him

will become in him a spring of water wel ling

up to eternal life.

The woman said to him, Sir, give methis water, that I may not thirst, nor comehere to draw. The woman said to him, Sir, I

perceive that you are a prophet. Our fathersworshiped on this mountain; and you say

that in Jerusalem is the place where men

ought to worship.Jesus said to her, Woman, believe me,

the hour is coming when neither on thismountain nor in Jerusalem will you wor-ship the Father. You worship what you do

not know; we worship what we know, forsalvation is from the Jews. But the hour is

coming, and now is, when the true worship-ers will worship the Father in spirit and truth,for such the Father seeks to worship him.

God is spirit, and those who worship him

must worship in spirit and truth.The woman said to him, I know that

Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ);when he comes, he will show us all things.

Jesus said to her, I who speak to youam he.

Many Samaritans from that city believed

in him because of the womans testimony,

He told me all that I ever did. So when theSamaritans came to him, they asked himto stay with them; and he stayed there twodays. And many more believed becauseof his word. They said to the woman, It is

no longer because of your words that webelieve, for we have heard for ourselves,

and we know that this is indeed the Saviorof the world.Chikadora Momentz

OVERHEARD. A manager of a util-ity rm here has been branded by thebugoy in his neighborhood as havinga stiff neck already. Di na daw man-aged, labi na og singitan kun kumustana daw mga buhay-buhay? Paspasbuhay-buhay, hinay ang trabaho, theysaid. Guess who?

rrr

LEGITIMATE CONCERN. Somepeople are asking if the so-calledcontractors of LEYECO V are payingtheir taxes to BIR? Some of them re-

portedly made a killing in the recentmonths, ngano daw dili maoy gukdonsa BIR?

Theyve got a point here. Callingthe attention of Atty. Otero, our veryabtik nga RDO!

rrr

ILLEGITIMATE CONCERN.Naaynagbuwag nga mag-asawa. Di na ka-hibudngan. Ang kahibudngan, gwapaman unta si girl and the boy is not thatgwapo. Pero guess kinsay gi-alisdan?

5/28/2018 March 10-16, 2014 Layout

6/12

6 NEWSMarch 10-16, 2014

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ACTOR RICHARD Gomez,

who ran as mayor of Ormoc

City last May 2013 elections,

will be wearing the Philip-

pine colors when he joins

the countrys national vol-

leyball team at the inaugural

Asian Mens Club Volleyball

Championship next month.

Richard Gomez, 47, told

media age wont be a factor,

and that he secured his place

in the Philippine team by going

through the team tryouts. The

challenge of keeping up with

the younger players pushed

Gomez even more to show

his best and is happy he got

the slot.

This is the 4th time that

Gomez is represented the

Philippines. His rst foray wasrowing, followed by fencing

and shooting. He is the rst

Filipino athlete to represent

the country in four sporting

events.

The Asian Mens Club

Volleyball Championship will

take place at the Mall of Asia

(MOA) Arena and Cuneta

Astrodome in Pasay City from

April 8 to 16.

Among those who made

it to the national team, which

will be bankrolled by the

PLDT Home TVolution, are

Australian reinforcements

Richard Gomez makes it to the Philippine

volleyball team, dons natl colors for the 4th time

Cedric Legrand and William

Robert Lewis.

The rest, coached by Fran-

cis Vicente, are JP Torres,

Ronjay Galang, Jeffrey Mala-

banan, Aln aka ran Abd ill a,

Jason Ramos and Rodolfo

Labrador.

Already, 18 countries have

signed up for the volleyball

tourney, the biggest interna-

tional volleyball tournament in

the Philippines in years.

Vicente also told media

that he hopes to recruit more

players from the UAAP includ-

ing National Universitys Peter

Torres, UAAP rookie MVP

Mark Espejo and Rex Intal of

Ateneo, Jay dela Cruz and Ed-

mar Castro of Perpetual Help.

He only wants the best, he

said. Only the best and dedi-

cated players will be chosen

because we want to form a

very competitive team for this

tournament, he added during

the launch held at SM Aura.

The PLDT Home TVolu-

tion team has been bracketed

with Iraq, Kuwait and Mon-

golia in Group A. The other

brackets are Iran, Japan, Leba-

non and Vietnam in Group

B, Qatar, Kazakhstan, Oman,

Hong Kong and Turkmenistan

in in Group C and United Arab

Emirates, India, Papua New

Guinea and Chinese Taipei in

Group D.

PLDT Home Fibr is also

supporting the womens PLDT

Home TVolution squad and

sending it to compete in the

2014 Asian Womens Club

Volleyball Championship in

Nakhonpathom, Thailand set

from April 17-25.PR

M

in

Councilor Cristina Romual

celebration

TACLOBAN CITY As an advocate on womens welfare, particularlythe drive against domestic violence and human trafcking, Councilor

Cristina G. Romualdez joins women from all over the world in cel-

ebrating Womens Month.On March 8, International Womens Day, the lady councilor kicked off

the event with a fun walk around the citys main thoroughfares, followedby a short program at the city hall grounds. This years national theme is,Juana, ang tatag mo ay tatag natin sa pagbangon at pagsulong.

In her speech, Councilor Cristina enjoins women to know their rightsand empower themselves so as not to be abused. She also urged them toght for their family rights and welfare.

Councilor Romualdez informed them that Tacloban has a shelterhome for abused mothers and children, where they can go to in case thishappened to them. Their, which would be a safe haven for them, socialwelfare experts and medical professionals can assist them. At the haven,she added, their friends and neighbors can visit them to lend moral support

LAST DECEMBER, Mrs.

Paula Locsin-Bondoc, the

younger sister of Ormoc

Vice-Mayor Toto Locsin

Jr., embarked on a fund-

raising rafe to raise shel-

ter kits for residents of

Ormoc.

Using the power of so-

cial media, Paula spread the

word about the fund-raiser

through a Facebook page

called Help Rebuild Homes

for Ormoc.

The fund-raising cam-

paign drew the attention of

Paulas friends, who donated

a variety of prizes to make it

more attractive. Tickets were

sold at P 500 each.

Truly enough, with the

attractive prizes up for grabs,

the rafe was able to raise an

ample amount from the ticketsales. It was held on Jan 18,

2014, a Saturday, at 3:00 PM

at the MUNCHTOWN in

Greenhills.

Immediately, the funds

raised were used to buy GI

sheets and other building

materials to meet the shelter

needs of Ormoc residents,

which still is a pressing need

until now.

The Locsin family started

distributing the core shel-

Locsins Help Rebuild Homes for Ormoc rafe

fund-raiser puts roof over the heads of Ormocanons

Photos show Mrs. Vicky Locsin, Vice-Mayor Toto Locsin Jr.s mom, personally leading thedistribution of GI sheets and other rebuilding materials to constituents at Brgy. Nueva Vista

(top photos) and Patag (bottom). The Vice Mayors family, aside from generating funds

from a rafe, also generated many donations for Ormoc from friends.

ter kits end of February and

early March.

If Vice-Mayor Toto Locsin

Jr. is not available, his mother,

former Ormoc mayor and

congresswoman Vicky Locsin

takes over the task. The vice-

mayors staff often assists in

the distribution which are done

on weekends.

On his own, Vice Mayor

Toto Locsin Jr. has been gener-

ating donations for Ormocan-

ons. He recalls that one of his

rst acts after Yolanda hit the

city was to write letters appeal-

ing for seed donations from

various companies. A farmer

before he joined politics ,

the vice mayor said he im-

mediately saw by then that

one of the pressing need of

Ormoc, an agricultural city,

was to plant cash crops to

augment the income of the

farmers whose farms were

badly damaged.

Leyte Governor Mic L. Peti lla receives the key for a

donated ambulance from Dato Dr. Ahmad Faizal Mohd

Perdaus, president of Mercy Malaysian. The humanitarian

organization also rehabilitated the operating and delivery

rooms of the Leyte Provincial Hospital. Below, Gov. Petillla

and Korean Ambassador Lee Hyuk tour the Korean Base

Camp at the Government Center in Candahug, Palo, Leyte.

Palo Mayor Remedios Matin L. Petilla receives from

Mr. Praveen Sheen, country head of EuroP2P Direct Inc.,Tabletop water purifer and Tumblerwater Purifer. With

them are Mr. Dipak Shinde, accounting and fnance head

and Mr. Allan Guinto, national sales manager. Photos by

Gina P. Gerez

5/28/2018 March 10-16, 2014 Layout

7/12

7March 10-16, 2014 PEOPLE, PLACES & Happenings

C CITY A member of the royal family

aysia and a past international director of

ns International was in the city this week

relief efforts here, in Tacloban City and

an province.

s Suyirate Omar, a Malaysian princess and

international director of District 302 B2 of

ia, told members of the receiving Ormoc

rmoc Supreme and Ormoc Ultimate Lions

ere that she wanted to be incognito during

. Members said she only had one bodyguard

r and very casual, relaxed and approachable.

ether with members of her district, the

ian royalty partnered with District 301 AI

ines led by Past District Governor Robert

wife, Marissa Sy, to distribute P 2.68-mil-

orth of relief assistance and intervention

ims of super-typhoon Yolanda in Ormoc,

an and Biliran.

red delos Santos of the Ormoc Supreme Li-

b said that the partys rst engagement was

an where they distributed relief goods and

od intervention. An employee of the Parole

obation Ofce, delos Santos convinced the

ian district to help their clients turn a new

giving them livelihood opportunities.

aval, Biliran, the Malaysian group together

eir hosts inaugurated the Furniture Shop of

iran PPO where they donated power tools

ewing machine to help parolees who wanted

me furniture makers They also distributed

torized shing boats and 10 shnets and

(multi-pronged shing hooks) to selected

iaries, also parolees.

y also distributed relief packs to the families

. Larrazabal.

k here in Ormoc, they gave out relief packs

cted families at Brgy. Camp Downes and

ewing machines.

laysian Princess leads Lions relief operations

Ormoc, Tacloban and Biliran

The next day, the Malaysian Lions went to Brgy. San Jose

in Tacloban City to distribute relief packs, 45 shnets, 45

kitangs and toys to 400 children. They even did a feeding

program. In Tacloban, the group was received by the Tacloban

Host Lions.

On their last day here, the Malaysian Lions distributed

eight shing boats at the shing communities of Naungan

and Lao here, 53 kitang, three more sets of Singer sewing

machines and a total of 1,500 relief packs. with Alfred delos

Santos and Khryz Gonzales

Photos show the Malaysian Lions with their hosts in the various activities at Naval, Biliran.

Big photo on top shows the cutting of the ribbon during the inauguration of the furniture shop

for parolees. With Ellis Suriyata Omar is Rosana Solite (3rd from left), assistant regional

director of the PPO, who received the power tools for the furniture shop. Other photos show

them in their various activities like distributing relief goods, posing with their bright yellow

motorized bancas. Last photo right shows the members of the Ormoc Supreme and Ormoc

Ultimate Lions posing with their guests at the facade of the Sabin Resort Hotel.

Mindoro Oriental Province donates goods,

educl supplies to 5 Albuera barangaysALBUERA, LEYTE The Pro-vincial Government of OrientalMindoro donated relief goods,educational supplies and cashassistance to some barangays inthis town on March 8 yet.

Leyte Vice Gov. Carlo Loretosaid the assistance was person-ally turned over to 5 barangays inAlbuera by Vice Governor HumerlitoBonz Dolor.

Dolor, it was learned, spear-

headed a fund-raising fun run intheir province called the KKK RunAdopt-a-Community and chosenas lucky recipient were the Albueravillages.

The proceeds of the fun run,said Loreto, was used by the vice-governor to buy relief goods andbooks and school supplies whichwere distributed to elementarypupils. In Cambalading, the vice-governor also turned over P 10,000to the school principal to help repairtheir facilities, and another P 10,000to the barangay.

Loreto said Dolor told him thecash was a prize his wife won asmatron queen which she wantedto be donated to a deserving com-

munity.The Oriental Mindoro vice-gov-ernor and Loreto was received toAlbuera by councilors Cathy Toleroand Dr. Rodanimod Cayanong andthe village chairmen since othercouncilors were in Manila that timeto attend the Philippine CouncilorsLeague national assembly. MayorJunie dela Cerna was not alsoaround.

Loreto extended his gratitudeto Dolor for thinking about Albuerasplight after Yolanda and also to theother LGUs who extended theirhelp in one way or the other. By LMJ

At Brgy. Mahayag.

With very happy school kids at Cambalading.

dez leads Womens Month

in Tacloban

so that they will not feel lonely.The Tacloban womens shelter is located at the foot of the City Hall

and just a few meters away from the Tacloban City police station. Sheestablished it four years ago with the full support of her husband, MayorAlfred S. Romualdez.

In the country, March is Womens Month.The whole country is mandateto mark it with their own set of activities to boost women power.

The City of Tacloban, together with cause oriented groups who ad-vocate for women empowerment, celebrate the month with livelihoodtrainings in every barangay, medical missions, maternal child care healthprograms to include a campaign on awareness of womens health.

Some cause-oriented groups, on the other hand, express their advoca-cies through rallies and marches to call attention to the welfare of womenwho are a highly vulnerable sector, especially in after calamity situationswhere they have to fend for their children, look for food and ensure theyhave adequate shelter from the elements.By Gay B. Gaspay

5/28/2018 March 10-16, 2014 Layout

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8 NOTICESMarch 10-16, 2014

Republic of the PhilippinesSUPREME COURT

Regional Trial CourtEight Judicial Region

Branch 17Palompon, Leyte

SP. PROC. CASE NO. R-PAL-13-0397-SPFOR: CORRECTION OF ENTRY IN THE CER-

TIFICATE OF LIVE BIRTH OF THE PETITIONERPERTAINING TO 5 (b) THEREOF

ELENA P. BASILIOPetitioner,-versus-

THE LOCAL CIVIL REGISTRAR OF VILLABA,LEYTE AND THE NATIONAL STATISTICS OF-FICE, represented by its Administrator and Civil

Registrar General,CARMELITA N. ERICTA

Respondents.x----------------------x

ORDERA veried petition having been led with this

Court by petitioner, through counsel, Atty. ElroyRaymund S. Bertulfo, praying that after publication,notice and hearing an Order be issued directing theLocal Civil Registrar of Villaba, Leyte and the CivilRegistrar General, National Statistics Ofce to removein the Certicate of Live Birth of the petitioner the

check mark before the word First in the space num-bered 5 (b) in her Certicate of Live Birth relating tothe statement IF MULTIPLE BIRTH, CHILD WAS asthe check mark before the word First implies that thepetitioner has at least a twin when in fact there is none.

As the petitioner appears to be sufcient in formand substance, the same is hereby set for initial hear-ing, pursuant to Section 4, Rule 108 of the Rules ofCourt on May 26, 2014 at 8:30 oclock in the morningat the Hall of Justice, Regional Trial Court, Branch 17,Palompon, Leyte at which date, time and place, anyperson may appear and show cause, if any why thepetition should not be granted.

Let a copy of this Order be published at theexpense of the petitioner in a newspaper of generalcirculation in the Province of Leyte, once a week forthree (3) consecutive weeks, with the last publicationto be made at least one week prior to the date set forinitial hearing.

Furnish copies of this Order to the Ofce of theSolicitor General, the Local Civil Registrar of Villaba,Leyte, the Ofce of the Provincial Prosecutor of Leyte,Atty. Elroy Raymund S. Bertulfo, Ofce of the CivilRegistrar General, National Statistics Ofce and thepetitioner.

SO ORDERED.Given in Chambers, this 18th day of February,

2014 at the Hall of Justice, Palompon, Leyte.(Sgd.) MARIO O. QUINIT

Presiding JudgeCopy furnished:1. Atty. Elroy Raymund S. Bertulfo TorresBugallon St. Villaba, Leyte2. The Ofce of the Solicitor General Manila3. Pros. Lorna Pades Palompon, Leyte4. National Statistics Ofce- Manila5. Elena P. Basilio- Brgy. Tagbubunga, Villaba,Leyte6. Local Civil Registrar of Villaba, Leyte7. EV Mail, Ormoc CityEV Mail March 3-9, 10-16, & 17-23, 2014

Republic of the PhilippinesSUPREME COURTRegional Trial CourtEight Judicial Region

Branch 17Palompon, Leyte

SP. PROC. CASE NO. R-PAL-14-0401-SPFOR: CHANGE OF NAME FROM CERIACO L.AGOSTO JR. TO CIRIACO L. AGOSTO JR. AND

CORRECTION OF DATE OF BIRTH FROM JANU-ARY 5, 1960 TO JULY 20, 1958 IN THE RECORD

OF BIRTH AND CERTIFICATE OF LIVE BIRTH OFTHE PETITIONER

CERIACO L. AGOSTO JR.(a.k.a CIRIACO L. AGOSTO JR.)

Herein represented by his Attorney-in-fact,MARINA P. CALDERON

Petitioner,-versus-

THE LOCAL CIVIL REGISTRAR OF VILLABA,LEYTE AND THE OFFICE OF THE CIVIL REGIS-

TRAR GENERAL represented by the CIVIL REGIS-TRAR GENERAL CARMELITA N. ERECTA

Respondents./---------------------/

ORDERA veried petition having been led with this

Court by petitioner, through counsel, Atty. ElroyRaymund S. Bertulfo, praying that after publication,notice and hearing an Order be issued directing theLocal Civil Registrar of Villaba, Leyte and the CivilRegistrar General, National Statistics Ofce to changethe rst name and date of birth of the petitioner in his

Certicate of Live Birth and Record of Birth as foundon Page 0034, Book No. 009 in the in the Register ofBirths in the Ofce of the Local Civil Registrar ofVillaba, Leyte from CERIACO to CIRIACO and Janu-ary 5, 1960 to July 20, 1958, respectively.

As the petition appears to be sufcient in formand substance, the same is hereby set for initial hear-ing, pursuant to Section 4, Rule 108 of the Rules ofCourt on June 16, 2014 at 8:30 oclock in the morningat the Hall of Justice, Regional Trial Court, Branch 17,Palompon, Leyte at which date, time and place, anyperson may appear and show cause, if any why thepetition should not be granted.

Let a copy of this Order be published at theexpense of the petitioner in a newspaper of generalcirculation in the Province of Leyte, once a week forthree (3) consecutive weeks, with the last publicationto be made at least one week prior to the date set forinitial hearing.

Furnish copies of this Order to the Ofce of theSolicitor General, the Local Civil Registrar of Villaba,Leyte, the Ofce of the Provincial Prosecutor of Leyte,Atty. Elroy Raymund S. Bertulfo, Ofce of the CivilRegistrar General, National Statistics Ofce and thepetitioner.

SO ORDERED.Given in Chambers, this 18th day of February,

2014 at the Hall of Justice, Palompon, Leyte.(Sgd.) MARIO O. QUINIT

Presiding JudgeCopy furnished:1. Atty. Elroy Raymund Bertulfo- Torres Bu-gallon St., Villaba, Leyte2. The Ofce of the Solicitor General- Manila3. Pres. Lorna Pades- Palompon, Leyte4. National Statistics Ofce- Manila5. Marina Calderon Brgy. Abijao, Villaba,Leyte6. Local Civil Registrar of Villaba.7. EV Mail Ormoc CityEV Mail March 3-9, 10-16, & 17-23, 2014

Republic of the PhilippinesLocal/Civil Registry Ofce

Province: LeyteCity/Municipality: Palompon

Republic of the Philippines)Province of Leyte ) SS

Petition No. CCE-0014-101RA 10172PETITION FOR CORRECTION OF CLERICAL ERROR

IN THE CERTIFICATE OF LIVE BIRTHI, JULIVI MANSING ASTILLERO, of legal age, Filipino and a resident of Brgy.

Tabunok, Palompon, Leyte, After having been duly sworn to in accordance with law,hereby declare that:

1) I am the petitioner seeking correction of the clerical error in:My certicate of live birth2) I was born on July 19, 1990 at Palompon, Leyte, Philippines3) The birth was recorded under registry number 90-667 ,

4) 4) The clerical error(s) to be corrected is (are):Item No. Description From To2 Sex MALE FEMALE5) The facts/reasons for ling this petition are the following:For error No. 1: to correct my sex which was wrongly written and recorded

in my birth certicate.6) I submit the following documents to support this petition.a) Certicat e of Live Birth (SECPA & Ofce File Copy)b) Certicat e of Baptism/D ECS Form 137-E & form No. 137-Ac) NBI Clearance/ Police Clearance/Personal Afdavitd) Court Order/Manifestation & Formal Withdrawal of Petitione) Medical Certicate/Sonographic Report/ Voter Certicationf) Medical Certication / Certicate of Authenticity,7) I have not led any similar petition and that, to the best of my knowledge,

no other similar petition pending with any LCRO, Court or Philippine Consulate.8) I am ling this petition at the LCRO of Palompon, Leyte in accordance

with R.A. 9048/R.A. 10172 and its implementing rules and regulation.(Sgd.) JULIVI M. ASTILLERO

PetitionerVERIFICATION

I, JULIVI M. ASTILLERO, the petitioner, Hereby certify that the allegationsherein are true and correct to the best of my knowledge and belief.

(Sgd.) JULIVI M. ASTILLEROPetitioner

SUBSCRIBED AND SWORN to before me this 7th day of March 2014 in thecity/municipality of Palompon, Leyte, petitioner exhibits in Community Tax CerticateNo. 34484629 issued at Palompon, Leyte on March 4, 2014.

(Sgd.) CARMELITA G. LODOVICAMunicipal Civil Registrar

Administering OfcerEV Mail March 10-16, & 17-23, 2014

Republic of the Philippines

Local Civil Registry Ofce

Province of Leyte

Municipality of Hilongos

NOTICE OF PUBLICATIONIn compliance with Sec.

5, R.A. No. 9048/R.A. 10172, anotice is hereby served to the public

that CYRIL JANE M. JULIA, has

led with this ofce a Petition for

Change of Gender from MALE toFEMALE in the birth certicate of

CYRIL JANE M. JULIA who was

born on June 27, 1992 at Hilon -gos, Leyte and whose parents are

EDWARD M. JULIA and JOSEFINA

L. MANCIO.Any person adversely af-

fected by said petition may file

his/her written opposition with this

ofce not later than fteen (15) days

after publication.

(Sgd.) ERNESTO MA. FULACHE

Municipal Civil Registrar

EV Mail March 10-16, & 17-23,

2014

NOTICE TO THE PUBLICCCE-0025-2014 R A 10172

CFN-0001-2014Date: FEBRUARY 11, 2014

In Compliance with the publica-tion requirement and pursuant to OCRGMemorandum Circular No. 2013-1Guidelines in the Implementation of theAdministrative Order No. 1 Series of 2012(IRR on R.A. 10172), Notice is herebyserved to the public that CHRISTIANALPHIE C. YAP has led with this Of-fice, a petition for change of Genderfrom FEMALE to MALE & Petition forChange of First Name from ALPHIE to

CHRISTIAN ALPHIE in the certicate oflive birth of CHRISTIAN ALPHIE C. YAPat BAYBAY, LEYTE and whose parentsare PAUL M. YAP & ALMA P. CAETE.

Any person adversely affectedby said petition may le his written op -position with this Ofce not later thanFEBRUARY 11, 2014.

(Sgd.) NOEL V. MANAGBANAG

City Civil RegistrarName of Newspaper: Eastern Visayas

Mail

Place of Publication: LeyteDate of Publication: March 10-16, &17-23, 2014

rrrNOTICE TO THE PUBLIC

CCE-0034-2014

R.A. 10172

Date: MARCH 07, 2014In Compliance with the publica-

tion requirement and pursuant to OCRGMemorandum Circular No. 2013-1Guidelines in the Implementation of theAdministrative Order No. 1 Series of 2012(IRR on R.A. 10172), Notice is herebyserved to the public that LEONEDISAV. BANDALAN has led with this Ofce,a petition for change of GENDER fromMALE to FEMALE in the certicate oflive birth of LEONEDISA V. BANDALANat BAYBAY, LEYTE and whose parentsare ALBERTO QUIAMCO BANDALANand EMERENCIANA BALDEVIA VEGA.

Any person adversely affectedby said petition may le his written op -position with this Ofce not later thanMARCH 07, 2014.

(Sgd.) NOEL V. MANAGBANAGCity Civil Registrar

Name of Newspaper: Eastern VisayasMail

Place of Publication: LeyteDate of Publication: March 10-16, &17-23, 2014

Republic of the PhilippinesDepartment of Transportation and Com-

municationsLAND TRANSPORTATION FRANCHISING

AND REGULATORY BOARDRegional Ofce No. VIII

Ormoc CityCASE NO VIII 2014- 0425

Application for Reconstitution of Recordsof a Certicate of Public Convenience to

operate a UVS servicesWith prayer to adopt trade name

RODOLFO PFLEIDER II

Applicant/ Petitioner

NOTICE OF HEARING

Applicant is a grantee of a Certi -cate of Public Convenience to operate a UVSservice for the transportation of passengersand freight on the route: FROM TACLOBANCITY TO ANY POINT IN REGION 8 & VICEVERSA with the use of two (2) unit/s whichCerticate is still valid and subsisting up toFEBRUARY 6, 2014

In the present application, applica-tion request authority for reconstitution of re-cords of the said certicate on the same routewith the use of the same number of unit/s.

NOTICE is hereby given that thisapplication will be heard by this Board onMAY 6, 2014, at 9:00 A.M. at this Ofce atthe above address.

At least TEN (10) days prior to theabove date, applicant/s shall publish thisnotice once in one (1) daily newspaper ofgeneral circulation in Visayas.

This application will be acted uponby this Board on the basis of its records anddocumentary evidence submitted by theparties, unless the Board deems it neces-sary to receive additional documentary and/or oral evidence.

WITNESS the Honorable ARTHURL. SAIPUDIN, Regional Director, this 25THday of FEBRUARY, 2014.

(Sgd.) GUALBERTO N. GUALBERTOCLERK OF BOARD

Copy furnished:-Applicant/s: R.R. PFLEIDER II, BLM. 2,L4PHASE 5 V & G SUBD, TACLOBAN CITY

-Counsel for applicant/s: ATTY. N. SIA.AVENIDA VETERANOS TACLOBAN CITYEV Mail March 10-16, 2014

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REF. CASE NO. VIII-2001-1660


operate a UV SHUTTLE servicesWith prayer to adopt trade name

RODOLFO PFLEIDER II


NOTICE OF HEARING

Applicant is a grantee of a Cer-ticate of Public Convenience to operate a

UV SHUTTLE service for the transportationof passengers and freight on the route:FROM TACLOBAN CITY TO ANY POINT INREGION 8 & VICE VERSA with the use ofONE (1) unit/s which Certicate is still validand subsisting up to Dec. 7, 2016







Copy furnished:-Applicant/s: R.R. PFLEIDER II, Sto. NioSt., Tacloban city-Counsel for applicant/s: Atty. Neil Sia, Ave-nida Veteranos St., Tacloban CityEV Mail March 10-16, 2014

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RODOLFO PFLEIDER IIApplicant/ Petitioner

NOTICE OF HEARING

Applicant is a grantee of a Cer-ticate of Public Convenience to operate aUV SHUTTLE service for the transportationof passengers and freight on the route:FROM TACLOBAN CITY TO ANY POINTIN REGION 8 & VICE VERSA with the useof two (2) unit/s which Certicate is still validand subsisting up to March 17, 2015






(Sgd.) GUALBERTO N. GUALBERTOCLERK OF BOARDCopy furnished:-Applicant/s: R.R. PFLEIDER II, Sto. NioSt., Tacloban city-Counsel for applicant/s: Atty. Neil Sia, Ave-nida Veteranos St., Tacloban CityEV Mail March 10-16, 2014

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RODOLFO PFLEIDER II


NOTICE OF HEARING

Applicant is a grantee of a Cer-ticate of Public Convenience to operate aUV SHUTTLE service for the transportationof passengers and freight on the route:FROM TACLOBAN CITY TO ANY POINTIN REGION 8 & VICE VERSA with the useof ONE (1) unit/s which Certicate is stillvalid and subsisting up to December 5, 2017







Copy furnished:-Applicant/s: R.R. PFLEIDER II, Sto. NioSt., Tacloban city-Counsel for applicant/s: Atty. N. M. Sia,Mabini Cor. Carlos Tan St., Ormoc CityEV Mail March 10-16, 2014

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RODOLFO PFLEIDER II


NOTICE OF HEARING

Applicant is a grantee of a Cer-ticate of Public Convenience to operate aUV SHUTTLE service for the transportationof passengers and freight on the route:FROM TACLOBAN CITY TO ANY POINTIN REGION 8 & VICE VERSA with the useof two (2) unit/s which Certicate is still validand subsisting up to Jan. 22, 2015.

In the present application, applica-tion request authority for reconstitution ofrecords with extension of validity of the saidcerticate on the same route with the use ofthe same number of unit/s.






Copy furnished:-Applicant/s: R.R. PFLEIDER II, Sto. NioSt., Tacloban city-Counsel for applicant/s: Atty. Neil Sia, Ave-nida Veteranos St., Tacloban CityEV Mail March 10-16, 2014

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(REF. CASE NO. VIII-2010-0650)


operate a UVS servicesWith prayer to adopt trade name

RODOLFO PFLEIDER II


NOTICE OF HEARING

Applicant is a grantee of a Certi-cate of Public Convenience to operate a UVSservice for the transportation of passengersand freight on the route: FROM TACLOBANCITY TO ANY POINT IN REGION 8 & VICEVERSA with the use of FIVE (5) unit/s whichCerticate is still valid and subsisting up to

NOVEMBER 3, 2015.In the present application, applica-

tion request authority for reconstitution ofrecords with extension of validity of the saidcerticate on the same route with the use ofthe same number of unit/s.



This application will be acted uponby this Board on the basis of i ts records anddocumentary evidence submitted by theparties, unless the Board deems it neces -sary to receive additional documentary and/or oral evidence.



Copy furnished:-Applicant/s: R.R. PFLEIDER II, Brgy. 91Abucay, Tacloban City-Counsel for applicant/s: Atty. Neil Sia, Ave-nida Veteranos St., Tacloban CityEV Mail March 10-16, 2014

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Republic of the PhilippinesDepartment of Transportation and Com -




(REF. CASE NO. VIII-2004-0620)



RODOLFO PFLEIDER II


NOTICE OF HEARING

Applicant is a grantee of a Cer-ticate of Public Convenience to operate aUV SHUTTLE service for the transportationof passengers and freight on the route:FROM TACLOBAN CITY TO ANY POINTIN REGION 8 & VICE VERSA with the useof FIFTEEN (15) unit/s which Certicate isstill valid and subsisting up to SEPTEMBER15, 2014.

In the present application, applica-tion request authority for reconstitution ofrecords with extension of validity of the saidcerticate on the same route with the use ofthe same number of unit/s.



This application will be acted uponby this Board on the basis of i ts records anddocumentary evidence submitted by theparties, unless the Board deems it neces -sary to receive additional documentary and/or oral evidence.



Copy furnished:-Applicant/s: R.B. PFLEIDER II, BAP Bldg.,Brgy. 91 (Abucay), Tacloban City-Counsel for applicant/s: Atty. Neil Sia, Ave-nida Veteranos St., Tacloban CityEV Mail March 10-16, 2014

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march 10-16, 2014 layout

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