demands ldquoPlans for the resortrsquos building develop-ment will be an expected expansion move if we are to satisfy the resortrsquos grow-ing clientelerdquo said Casas who also currently stands as resort manager

Mahaplag Inland Resort which now earns roughly P2 million to P3 million pesos in revenues annu-ally up from the anticipat-ed P800 thousand yearly when the project was first Mahaplag Inlandp5

three years agordquo said Natu-ral Resource Management Specialist Mario S Casas

Inland Resort manage-ment revealed to the Visay-an Business Post News Team that the cool hidea-way in this landlocked municipality has been drawing so many local and foreign tourists that they now have a constant short-age of rooms Cabanas that should house families are also one of the present

Success of Mahaplag Inland Resort silences critics

MALINAO Mahaplag ndashndash Earlier critics of the local government unit operating a resort in Ma-haplag has been silenced with the continuous increase of the resortsrsquo annual revenue ldquoIt was kind of unexpected con-sidering the prior doubt cast over the economic viability of the project

VBP News Team West Leyte

FOREX US$=P444 UKL=P749 HK$=P573 BRUNEI$=P355 EURO=P616 JAPAN Y=P044 AUST$=P411 BAHRAIN D=P11776 SAUDI R=P1184 UAE DIR=P1209 SING$=P355

HILONGOS ndashndash The local government led by Mayor Albert Villahermosa is positive it will soon com-plete its Sagana at Ligtas na Tubig sa Lahat (Salin-tubig) project for Barangay Tuguipa where potable

MAASIN CITY ndashndash Re-gional Director Diosdado Mendoza of the Bureau of Internal Revenue here have urged tax collection work-ers of the bureaursquos Maasin City office to exert more effort to improve its collec-tion even as he acknowl-edged Maasin City to be one of the big contributors to the regionrsquos overall tax

collections this yearAtty Mendoza who

graced the groundbreak-ing for a two storey P40 million BIR office building in Maasin prodded the em-ployees to do more saying that the region is still 30 short of its collection tar-get of P61 billion this year

Revenue District Office No 90 employees together with their officer in charge Susan Golo listened as di-rector Mendoza explained

the output performance system currently being fol-lowed by the bureau in re-taining the services of its employees ldquoTo stay in BIR be performing otherwise out you gordquo he said citing that the bureau cannot af-ford under-performers

Mendoza also said that they are closely monitor-ing the enforcement of tax laws in the entire region maintaining that it is still one of the key strategies

of attaining tax collection targets

BIR Region 8 ranked 5th among the countryrsquos top performing offices in 2012

The new 600 square me-ter BIR offices in Maasin will be constructed in a 1400 square meter lot ear-lier donated by the city government in Barangay Combado Southern Leyte Governor Roger Mercado city Vice-Mayor Maria

Hilongos water project soon to be completedThe VBP News Team

Eastern Visayas

Tax employees urgedp2

The VBP News TeamTacloban City Leyte

AnAlysis

East Visayas econ-omy to grow this

year-NEDAp2Naval gives incen-

tives to BHWsp3Is DSWD a better

builderp3The perils of fake

chargersp7

A billion fruit trees AgAinst storms Plans for a billion fruit bearing trees to grow along coastal properties is an ambitious proposal sought to be funded as part of the rehabilitation of Eastern Visayas The trees are expected to strengthen coastlines against ravaging storm surges (Photo courtesy of OXFAM)

Local Industry p5

Tax employees urged to work harder

funded by the Department of Finance also helps the local economy by employ-ing 21 locals ldquoThe resort is self-sustaining and has giv-en additional revenue for the municipalityrdquo beamed Casas referring to the P68 million revenue raised by the local government in 2013 ldquoContrary to earlier negative forecasts by some of its detractors the resort is not and will never be-

P1500 NatioNwide

Local news for the global Visayan

August 2014 Vol I No 3 11 Sections 8 Pages

Visayan Business Post website visayanbizpostcom

VisayanBusinessPost

Inside

Hilongos waterp2

The VBP News Team

South Leyte

If the historic proposed reforestation program is implemented properly Eastern Visayas will be-come the top supplier of various tropical fruits in Asia sustaining the re-gionrsquos own needs and low-ering the price of fruits in the country within a period of five years

If funded but not imple-mented appropriately gov-ernment will lose an enor-mous amount of resources and the confidence of its constituency in Samar and Leyte

The Department of En-vironment and Natural Re-sources in Eastern Visayas plans to plant a billion fruit trees in the region

This intention is carried in a proposal that DENR

1B fruit trees for Visayas

1 billion fruit treesp8

Cool respite Children frolic under a tree-shaded pool with crys-tal clear water in Mahaplagrsquos inland resort (Photo by JnGrey)

Ormoc fluvial parade amd procession

Editor JohN alfred KaBalicaNeditorvisayanbizpostcom

August 20142

The TruTh as iT happens

Inpatient Coverage

PhilHealth provides subsidy for room and board drugs and medicines laboratory exam use of operating room complex and professional fees for confinements of not less than 24 hours(Please refer to the table of rate ceilingsmaximum allow-ances for inpatient coverage)

Outpatient CoverageDay surgeries dialysis and cancer treatment procedures such as chemotherapy and radiotherapy in accredited hospitals and free-standing clinics

Special Benefit Packagesbull Case Ratesbull TB Treatment through DOTSbull SARS and Avian Influenzabull Novel Influenza A(H1N1)

ExclusionsThe following shall not be covered except when after actuarial studies PhilHealth recommends their inclusion subject to approval of its Board of Directors

bull Fifth and subsequent normal obstetrical deliveriesbull Non-prescription drugs and devicesbull Alcohol abuse or dependency treatmentbull Cosmetic surgerybull Optometric servicesbull Other cost-ineffective procedures as defined by Phil-Health

For individually paying membersBenefit Coverage

gt Your dream Our focus lt

Eastern Visayas to achieve economic growth this year NEDA

TACLOBAN CITY ndashndash The National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) here is still opti-mistic that various devel-opment programs of the government will help ac-celerate economic recovery in Eastern Visayas

ldquoThe implementation of infrastructure liveli-hood housing and other rehabilitation and recov-ery projects in the region through the Office of the Presidential Assistance for Rehabilitation and Recov-ery give a positive outlook for the regionrsquos economy this yearrdquo disclosed NEDA

director Bonifacio UyDirector Uy was refer-

ring to the anti-poverty programs of the national government now worth more than P4 Billion

The local anti-poverty push will be placed under an expanded version of the KALAHI-CIDSS-Na-tional Community Driven Development Project of the Department of Social Welfare and Development including its existing 4Ps program

Uy said that the local economy is likewise ex-pected to strengthen with the continued rehabilita-tion and reconstruction of government buildings new infrastructure permanent resettlement projects and

the building of new roads The projects are poised

to generate jobs for locals as well as spur local spend-ing Some of the develop-ment projects are being im-plemented together with non-government organiza-tions and private entities

By VBP News Team

Central Visayas

Being given focus like-wise are the agriculture production and abaca in-dustry sector ldquoWe want to attain a resilient inclusive and sustained high growth path for the regionrdquo said director Uy

Around 88 million Fili-

pinos including those from Eastern Visayas who were victims of super typhoon Haiyan have rated them-selves to having gone hun-gry or dirt poor in the last few months based on an-independent survey by the Social Weather Station

festivAl Full of hope locals recently took to the streets to celebrate life months after super typhoon Haiyan devastated Tacloban City (Photo by Aaron JP Almadro)

LTFRB 8 now in Palo Leyte

Road rage kills VSU

bus driver in Albuera

Calubian ba-rangay needs

immediate evacuation

NewsBrief

Topstories

from Page 1

Hilongos water project

water is still lacking to at least 194 households The program is funded by the General Appropriations Act provision for local po-table water supply

ldquoSoon to be finished the project will install 21 Lev-elndash2 Spring Development water system faucets that can be commonly used by at least 10 households per faucet with an average of five people per householdrdquo said project development officer Avelino Lagaac of Hilongosrsquo Municipal Plan-ning and Development Of-fice who is one of several LGU officers manning the

projectldquoWe are stepping up the

projectrsquos actual implemen-tation to meet Mayor Vil-lahermosarsquos instructions for us to accelerate the de-livery of potable water for the residents of Barangay Tuguipa because the peo-ple there need itrdquo added Engineer Lagaac

ldquoThe project will have a storage capacity of 18565 liters at any given time and uses gravity to transport the water from its source to its service areas The local government developed a local water source for thisrdquo Lagaac stressed

MPDO Chief Catherine lsquoKeithrsquo Fabular meanwhile

told the Visayan Business Post News Team that the potable water develop-ment project is only one of several programs linedndashup by Mayor Villahermosa as he tackles the problem of lack of basic necessities in outlaying barangays of the municipality

Mayor Villahermosa who is on his first term is seeking to enhance while fastndashtracking the delivery of basic social and econom-ic development services in this municipality includ-ing road networks to ag-riculture areas sanitation and clean potable water tapped from local sources for its residents

Tax employees urgedfrom Page 1

Effie Sabandal councilor Antonio Cardoza and Epi-fania Sy of the Southern Leyte Chamber of Com-

merce and Industry wit-nessed the lowering of the time capsule to signal the beginning of the buildingrsquos construction

ormoC urbAn plAns Accomplished urban planner and environmental activist Felino Palafox Jr of Palafox Associates recently visited Ormoc City Palafox was asked by the city government to come up with a modern urban plan for the proposed permanent relocation sites for typhoon Haiyan victims Pala-foxrsquo firm is widely credited for various state-of-the-art buildings in Metro Manila (Photo by Ormoc LGU)

3August 2014

Editor JohN alfred KaBalicaNeditorvisayanbizpostcomthe metro

starTravel ampTours

Tourism at its bestDiscover the beauty of the Philippines

Is the DSWD a better builder By VBP News Team LeyTe

MATAG-OB Leyte ndashndash Residents here are asking if this is the case as their core shelter units built through the Core Shelter Assistance Program (CSAP) of the Department of Social Welfare and Develop-ment (DSWD) stood the onslaught of super typhoon Haiyan

Other public struc-tures like municipal buildings bridges gymnasiums barangay halls day care centers and school houses built through congressional pork barrel funds and even concrete paved roads yielded to the su-per typhoon

ldquoAll 80 core shelter units built as early as 1991 up to 2000 and 2010 in Barangays San Guillermo Cansuso San Sebastian and San Marcelino stood after Yolanda while many houses in the munici-pality sustained differ-ent states of damagerdquo Enrique A Odtuhan Matag-ob Municipal Social Welfare and Development Officer (MSWDO) said in a statement

ldquoThe units were built to really withstand dis-asters even as strong as Yolandardquo he said

Odtuhan a 24ndashyear veteran in the delivery of municipal social ser-vices said he witnessed the actual construction of all the DSWD core shelter units in his mu-nicipality

ldquoWe are very happy that these core shelter units have remained in-tact and still providing safety to the family-re-cipients

The town has built 70 more recent core shelter units in the villages of Bula Mansahaon and Naulayan

Former Mayor and now Matag-ob Vice Mayor Michael L Tore-

villas said the units were really durable for them to be able to defy Yolan-darsquos force ldquoYes they are standing despite the heavy blowrdquo Vice Mayor Torevillas said

In Boston Davao Ori-ental local officials con-firmed that 27 DSWD core shelter units con-structed in their town also survived another strong Tyhoon Pablo

ldquoIn the aftermath of typhoon Pablo we not-ed that the surrounding structures and coconut trees were practically smashed to the ground yet the core houses in Ba-rangay Carmen basically remained whole

ldquoonly about ten units whose roofing materi-als were slightly dam-aged was affected by the stormrdquo Municipal Information Officer Ju-dith Castres of Boston reported

The DSWD core shel-ter program is extended to individuals or families left homeless by disasters or poor families living in hazardous areas

The program is a com-munity development initiative utilizing the principles of community organizing convergence of services and capability building

Core shelter ben-eficiaries are organized into Neighbourhood Association for Shel-ter Assistance (NASA) and participate in the actual construction of their respective units The recipients also un-dergo Values Formation Orientation and other capability building ses-sions to understand their situation and problems at hand and intently work to arrive at solutions

Having endured pow-erful typhoons the core shelter units proved their strength and are being studied as a model hous-ing structure for future relocation sites for vic-tims of disasters

Naval gives incentives to barangay health workers

NAVAL Biliran Leyte -- Naval in Biliran province will be the first local gov-ernment unit to give for-mal benefits and incentives to barangay health work-ers ldquoThe incentive which has been authorized by a new municipal ordinance will be given to accred-ited health workers in the grassroots levelrdquo disclosed Naval mayor Susan V Pa-rilla

The implementing rules of Municipal Ordinance 19 otherwise known as ldquoAn Ordinance Granting Ben-efits and Incentives to Ac-credited Barangay Health Workers and for other purposesrdquo was signed in a formal ceremony attended by regional officials of the Department of Health The signing was a momen-tous occasion for barangay health workers of 26 ba-rangays in the municipal-ity of Naval Biliran who witnessed the event at the old Sangguniang Bayan

session hall in this develop-ing town

ldquoThis is the first local legislation I know that grants benefits to baran-gay health workers and we support it in recognition of the enormous sacrifice and contribution of local health workers to the develop-ment of health service de-livery in the grassroots lev-elrdquo said regional director Jose Llacuna of the Philip-pine Department of Health ldquoLocal government units must begin to consider the volunteer health workers whose benefits have largely

been neglected for some timerdquo Llacuna added

Naval councilman Gabi-no S Velasquez IV a med-ical doctor by profession authored the municipal ordinance which was ap-

By The VBP News Team

Leyte

proved by the Sangguniang Bayan with the full support of the local government unit which will source out the funding for the benefits and incentives mandated by the ordinance

Because life is clear

Tune in to DYVL Aksyon Radyo for developing news from Leyte

Libot Karahibot (1200 nn --100 pm ) Mondays Tuesdays Thursdays and Fridayswith broadcast veterans Thor Bibar amp Hector Go

Hingyap han Leytentildeo (1200 nn --100 pm ) Wednesdayswith Governor Dominic lsquoMicrsquo Petilla amp Thor Bibar

HistoriC HAll The old town hall of Naval in Biliran was the seat of the local government until 1999

Editor aNdy BeVaNinfovisayanbizpostcombusinessWeek

August 20144

Employers reminded of health insurance obligations

ORMOC CITY ndashndash The Philippine Health Insur-ance Corporation (Phil-health) here conducted an employerrsquos forum to dis-cuss the health insurance corporationrsquos accounts management strategy new premium payment sched-ule health benefits and programs with government and private employers from different parts of Leyte

The forum was the first in a regionndashwide information dissemination campaign that Philhealth intends to conduct in Eastern Visayas

Misael F Paigan Chief of the Local Health Insur-ance Office in Ormoc told

the Visayan Business Post News Team that the forum focused on new require-ments under the imple-menting rules and regula-tions of the National Health Insurance Act of 2013

ldquoThe law calls for em-ployers to prepare and remit their employeersquos premium contributions on or before the date pre-scribed by the corpora-tionrdquo Paigan stressed

Reports involving con-tributions are now direct-ed to be submitted within five (5) days after payment

ldquoPhilhealth took the fo-rum as an opportunity to remind employers of an existing provision in the law prescribing monetary interest and penalties for an employerrsquos failure to ap-

propriately remit premium contributionsrdquo Paigan said

The Philippine Depart-ment of Health has man-dated the implementa-tion of frameworks for the achievement of Universal Health Care otherwise known as Kalusugang Pangkalahatan (KP) Pro-gram for all Filipinos

The National Health In-surance Act mandates Phil-health to assign a unique and permanent Philhealth Identification Number to all its members including each of their dependents for purposes of identifica-tion eligibility verifica-tion and health insurance utilization recording

Government has now made it mandatory for members of the so called

The VBP BusiNess Team

visayanbizpostcom

VBP BusiNess News Team North Leyte

Formal Economy Members of the lsquoformal economyrsquo composed of government and private employ-ers listen intently to new requirements governing the health insurance law (Photo by JnGrey)

lsquoformal economyrsquo such as government employees private employees in-cluding workers render-

ing services as job order contractors project based contractors owners of pri-vate businesses household

helps and family drivers among others to adopt this system of record-ing for health insurance

Godofredorsquos Car Care CenterRepair and maintenance of all types of vehicle models including heavy equipment

Services offeredEngine overhaulBody amp chassis repairBody work and repaintingChange oil and general engine workElectrical mechanical amp car-aircon systems repair

We repair lsquoYolandarsquo damaged vehicles

Come and visit us at our shop at Maharlika Highway (in front of Tacloban Ultrasteel) Tacloban CityContact 0998-171-1428 or 0949-429-1868

PASTRANA LEYTE ndash Leading Manila construc-tion corporation Vista-Green Builders Inc will soon rebuild the roof of the Catholic Church in Pastra-na Leyte

VistaGreen executive Engineer Avito T Opini-ano told Visayan Business Post that his company has been tasked to design and to execute construction of the new roof of the church that was utterly destroyed by super typhoon Haiyan

ldquoThe firmrsquos services will be for freerdquo said Engr Opiniano who grew up in

PastranaFunding for the P25 mil-

lion project is currently be-ing raised through various donations with Rev Fr Arthur T Opiniano of the St Paul the Apostle Parish Diocese of Cubao Quezon City leading the effort The St Paul the Apos-tle Parish earlier adopted Pastrana Leyte for various rehabilitation and mercy programs

ldquoWe have finalized the engineering design for the churchrsquos roof with the end in view of building better and strongerrdquo disclosed Engr Opiniano who added that building materials for the project will come from Manila

ldquoThe town would also welcome additional dona-

tions for the repair of its pastoral center Angeli-cum school building and the parishrsquos convent all of which were damaged by the typhoonrdquo Engr Opini-ano added

The land-locked muni-ciplaity of Pastrana Leyte was one of the towns se-verely affected by Typhoon Haiyan on 8 November 2013

VistaGreen Builders helping to rebuild Pastrana church

rEhabilitation The church of Pastrana Leyte (seen here before typhoon Haiyan struck) will undergo reconstruction of its roof which was destroyed by the super typhoon in 2013

For your donations please contact the local parish church of Pastrana Leyte or visit The Opini-ano Foundation on

Facebook

August 2014 5Visayan Business Post

Cercado amp Associates

Land Transportation Franchising and General Law Practitioners

Editor regie graToNesinfovisayanbizpostcom Local industry

come dependent of the In-ternal Revenue Allotment given these statisticsrdquo stressed Casas

Mayor Daisy Abuyabor Lleve earlier told the Visay-an Business Post that Ma-haplag Inland Resort is an essential staging point for her administrationrsquos tour-ism driven programs

ldquoTourists staying in the

Tourism VisayasBy JeaN mamasPas

VBP LeyteMayor receives praise for building stalls for the poor

ALBUERA LEYTE ndashndash Local citizens including the fortunate recipients of the first 18 small business stalls set up by Albuera Mayor Ramon ldquoJunyrdquo Dela Cerna Jr near the townrsquos public market are all praise to the effective-ness of this simple start-up kit to help the poor

ldquoAll we wanted to show was that a little kindness can mean a great difference for poor people who truly want to help themselvesrdquo explained Dela Cerna who spent at least a hundred thousand pesos of his own money for the project

Mayor Dela Cerna fur-ther said that the gesture encouraged some undecid-ed but business-oriented citizens of the town to take advantage of the opportuni-

ty to start a small business Dela Cerna who spoke

to the VBP News Team disclosed that he still plans to add more of these stalls to help interested

residents obtain liveli-hood ldquoThere is a need to intervene so that pov-erty alleviation programs that people really need and can directly gain ben-

efits from will be deliveredThe municipal mayor ear-

lier dispersed chickens and ducks to farmer-recipients who wanted to start a small poultry or fowl business

stArt-up kit A happy customer checks out one of the stalls built by mayor Ramon Dela Cerna Jr of Albuera Leyte to help poor residents of his town start up small businesses Mayor Dela Cerna (RIGHT) reading the Visayan Business Post funded the livelihood project through his own salary as a public servant (Photo by JnGrey)

The VBP BusiNess Team

North Leyte

Developing governAnCe

Carigara baywalk to promote local barbecue and tourism

CARIGARA LEYTE ndash Carigara Leyte Mayor Ed-uardo Cantildeega Ong is posi-tive that the development of the municipalityrsquos boule-vard facing the Carigara Bay area into a baywalk will promote the townrsquos famous nightly barbecue stalls as a local tourism destination

In a recent interview with the Visayan Business Post news team Mayor Ong disclosed that his ad-ministration is trying to locally source at least P2 million for the develop-ment project which he hopes to finish soon The

mayor said that the LGU will also accept dona-tions for some portions of the project referring to seats and other struc-tures for the promenade

ldquoOur plan is to transfer all barbecue stalls pres-ently operating in the townrsquos sidewalks to a more appropriate space in a Manila-style baywalk complete with lights here in Carigarardquo Ong said At present there are at least fourteen barbecue stalls operating at various side streets of this coastal town

ldquoThe intention is to make the stalls more beautiful organized and presentable with the necessary sanitary conditions Uniform stalls

will be made for all the lo-cators so that the visiting public will feel more com-

The VBP BusiNess Team

visayanbizpostcom

Development ConstruCtion Carigararsquos baywalk a local government tourism and industry project will accommodate the townrsquos famous roadside barbecue stalls (Photo by JnGrey)

fortablerdquo the mayor addedCarigararsquos barbecue in-

dustry is one of the munici-

palityrsquos many attractions The town is also known for its knives and farm

blades locally known as lsquosundangrsquo that are crafted by resident blacksmiths

resort should soon have the option to explore the townrsquos other places of in-terestrdquo Mayor Lleve said The mayor started this ini-tiative with an allocation to build an access road to a cathedral cave in Barangay Paril

ldquoDevelopment will be slow to come for these tour sites if they remain hidden from the news and tourism map and we need to help in this matterrdquo said Lleve

Mahaplag Inland resortfrom Page 1

Kuting Reef

Hindang Caves

These are must-see places in Leyte the Visayas Philippines Help us pro-mote these tourist destinations Share these pictures to your local and foreign friends and visit Leyte soon

Hindang Caves

Download the Visayan Busi-ness Post Android or iPhone app to get your Visayas tour site alerts via our Twitter feed

Editorial

All rights reserved Except as permitted by law no part of Visayan Business Post may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means without its prior written permission

There are just too many famous in-mates in the Philippines today that the Philippine National Police and the Bureau of Jail Management are finding it hard what to ensure the security or comfort of the accused

Senators Juan Ponce Enrile Bong Revilla and Jinggoy Estrada are sup-posed to be given some special han-dling owing to the duties they exer-cise as members of the Senate who have not been convicted and are thus presumed innocent

The three senators cannot be pre-vented from conducting meetings with their constituents other gov-ernment officials their senate staff

families and friendsCharged with non-bailable plun-

der the prison lsquocellsrsquo of the senators are plain against the snug environ-ments they are used to However these personalities are miles in com-fort compared to the ordinary Jose who is facing a robbery charge in some gloomy prison in Samar

We do not presume to know what the law gives an accused in the crime of plunder of the nationrsquos wealth but it does not seem right that these individuals should be allowed to hold court even under custody

It is criminal itself to think that

special holding facilities could be afforded to people who have possibly and comfortably amassed millions in public funds while some desperate citizens killed themselves and their chil-dren out of miserable poverty

Should it be proper to think that these accused can be put in regular jails while being allowed to petition for more comfortable prison conditions and not the other way around

What shameful justice this is

Managing detained lsquoplunderersrsquo

OpinionThe lsquoyaya sisterhoodrsquo of Philippine governance

President Benigno Simeon C Aquino III is said to have retained with confidence the loyal services of his embattled budget secretary Flor-encio Abad despite the passionate opposition of his three doting sisters Ballsy Cruz Pinky Abel-lada and the legendary Kris Aquino

The sisters individually worked hard touring vote rich provinces in 2013 to get their brother elected to the presidency In a country where the dreams of a psychotic local artist about the lsquodeathrsquo of the president could make headlines this seems to be a normal occurrence After all family sticks together like ill-cooked lsquosagorsquo in the Philippines

The presidentrsquos sisters according to news sources wanted Abad out of the presidentrsquos of-ficial family after the Supreme Court markedly declared by a 13-0 vote parts of the much debated Disbursement Accelerated Program (DAP) alleg-edly authored by Abad unconstitutional

Of course the President in a telendashnovela style disclosure at the Palace refused to accept Abadrsquos purported offer to resign with DSWD Secretary Dinky Soliman Finance Secretary Cesar Puri-sima presidential adviser Teresita Deles all cosy friends of Abad reportedly threatening to quit if the president accepted Abadrsquos lsquoresignationrsquo

The Aquino sisters who supposedly support-ed the Noy-bi (PNoy-Binay) faction in the 2013 election are now reportedly warming up to family friend Jejomar Binay for 2016 to the horror of Lib-eral Party stalwarts who still believe in the possi-ble viability of Mar Roxas for the presidency

The result is that in a Roxas-Binay cornered fight in 2016 any winner could properly protect President Aquino from possible suits arising from the DAP fiasco

Aquino who is reportedly not thinking posi-tively about facing plunder charges after his term is uneasy about hurting Abadrsquos feelings who could spill the beans on him somewhere Howev-er with her sisters working the backyard he may not be too keen about preventing other members of his cabinet from working for a lsquoBinay 2016rsquo campaign

As could be suspected the presidentrsquos sisters have been clearly influencing the Chief Executive in the manner by which he steers his administra-tion Talk about family affairs

Comedian Robin Williams recent-ly died in an apparent suicide

We remember Williams in ldquoMrs Doubtfirerdquo as a struggling father who would do everything for his children against a system that declared him misfit to exercise parental author-ity The movie was both hilarious and touching reminding us about the beauty and harshness of life for those who have not found their place in the world

We remember Williams in the ldquoBicentennial Manrdquo a futuristic mov-ie about an android home appliance

who struggled to become and be recognized as a human being The movie poignantly showed a critical dimension in the human capacity for creation that there are limits to what the human spirit can do

These roles were played by Wil-liams flawlessly He was a great and generous actor and comedian And we loved him for it We fol-lowed his next movies and felt good about them A movie by Williams was always expected not only to entertain but to teach us valuable lessons in life about living survival and more importantly hope

Learning about the passing of Robin Williams brought us both shock and sadness But what

makes this sadness even more painful was the personal story of the man behind the role player

We thought of Williams as a blissful person living a very contented happy life with a loving family We would learn later that he was in fact a very sad man struggling with pain-ful depression He battled drug addiction and before his death entered a rehabilitation facility in Minnesota to remain sober

In the end Robin Williams was never able to realize how much he gave to the world and that millions of people truly loved him and his work that he was not alone

Death of a sad comic

The TruTh in perspecTiveBuilding a counTry wiTh responsiBle

With Editorial and Business address at Rizal StreetZone 21 Ormoc City Leyte 6541 Philippines

VisayanBusinessPost

Our Malaya connectionThe Edges

Snapshot

August 201466

Distance

Publisher Urbano b MaMaspas pa (Ret)

Editor-in-Chief Frank Villablanca

On-line Editor ElizabEth bEVan News Editor John alFrEd kabalican World Page Editor nicola christEEn bEVan Business Editor amp Web Administrator andy bEVan Columnists Joy Martin GuillErMo lopEz amp luz Espacio Entertainment MEan FlorEs Editorial Consultant aaron Jp alMadro Marketing amp Circulation rEGiE GratonEs amp JonaMEl cabalo Finance amp Business Manager JEan MaMaspas Legal Affairs atty isidro sarona Jr

Our mission is to provide a link between communities government and businesses by delivering constructive news and information that educate motivate and inspire

Kapuso Primetime Star and FHMrsquos top 4 sexiest woman in the Philip-pines Jennylyn Mercado is coming to the United Kingdom for a much awaited concert at 5pm on Septem-ber 13 at Hillcrest School Theatre Hall Stonehouse Lane Birmingham West Midlands

She will also sing to Filipino and British audiences on 14 September 6pm at Hammersmith Town Hall at King Street London

We are happy that Malaya Enter-tainment Productions which is fully owned by Visayans in the UK and GMA 7 have come to produce this

big event especially for us here in the UK who seldom see Filipino art-ists perform in this part of Europe

Yes we get to read about Filipi-no artists through the net but it is way different to see them in person Seeing fellow Filipinos perform in a foreign country brings us joy We are proud to have our artists per-form outside of their comfort zones

It is indeed timely for Malaya En-tertainment Productions to bring in rising talents from the Philippines into the UK And as a columnist of the Visayan Business Post I am proud that VBP is one of Malayarsquos active media partners here in the UK for the promotion of this big event in London

I hope that Malaya will get to promote more events of this na-ture here in UK

Although I hear it is still in the drawing board I am excited to learn that plans are seriously being considered by Malaya for the production of a beauty tilt involving Filipino residents here in the UK

There are a number of beau-tiful British citizens of Filipino descent and Filipinos working in this country who would be interested to participate in this beauty and talent contest and I pray that Malaya would really push through with the plan So good luck to Malaya and VBP

Editor JeaN mamasPasvisayanbizpostgmailcomLifestyleampEntertainment

The Gospel this WeekPs 7856-57 58-59 61-62

ldquoDo not forget the works of the LordrdquoReflection One of the most difficult

things to do is forgive If the hurt is too deep it takes a herculean effort before one can truly forgive and forget And only a few are capable of this The vast majority of us need time before we can truly heal into wholeness and move on without rancour and ill will on those

We live and pass by His amazing graceGod is Good

who have offended us That is why it is not easy to be the

Lordrsquos disciple The demand is such that we have to truly believe in order to over-come We have to acknowledge first our own sinfulness and believe that we have been forgiven of our entuire debts Thatrsquos the only time we can forgive wholeheart-edly for what we donrsquot have we cannot give To claim that we have been forgiven gives us the power to forgive others as well

August 2014 7Visayan Business Post

Grow with us Advertise

Home Affairs

But it is not only the children who are re-sponsible for the grow-ing divide between par-ents and their offspring Parents are also guilty of contributing to the dis-tance that appears to be increasing in families

Parents are also often wrapped up in their own technology constantly looking at their mobile phones checking their Facebook accounts and emails or watching TV when they could be talk-ing to playing with or generally connecting with their children

We have come a long way from the days when families ate din-ner around a lsquolampararsquo or rsquopetromaxrsquo lit table talking about the dayrsquos activities and the fam-ilyrsquos hopes and dreams for the future

Nowadays it is con-sidered lsquonormalrsquo to see everyone gathered

Technology technol-ogy technology That is what society revolves around these days and will continue to revolve around for the rest of the worldrsquos existence

Technology undoubt-edly brings people to-gether On the other hand I believe that it is equally responsible for the ever growing family divide in many peoplersquos day to day life

Children are constantly texting checking what their friends have posted on Facebook or Twitter listening to their iPod surfing the web and watching television or movies on their laptop

The emergence of mo-bile technology now means that these practic-es are no longer limited to the home but can also oc-cur in cars at restaurants and just about anywhere that has a mobile phone signal

Modern Family

By BeTh BeVaN

Home Affairs

flight attendant who died in similar circumstances while taking a call on an iPhone 5 that was plugged into a non-apple USB charger

Last year a New York woman claimed her iPhone 4S spontaneously melted oozing acid that destroyed the handset and a UK man was burned and thrown across the room by an elec-tric shock when an iPad charger exploded in his hand

In February last year a house fire in Oregon was blamed on an overheated MacBook battery and in 2011 an iPhone 4 caught fire on an airplane flying over Australia

Itrsquos highly likely these and many other anecdotal incidents are all the fault of poorly made counterfeit chargers Whilst there is a clear temptation to save money on buying fake charg-

The perils of fake phone chargersMobile phone users

should take note of the death of a 28-year-old Aus-tralian woman electrocut-ed while using her laptop and mobile phone

Sheryl Anne Aldeguer was killed on 23 April and suffered extensive burns to her chest and ears from her laptop and earphones while using a counterfeit mobile phone charger

It is believed the phone charger sent a high volt-age electrical charge into her phone which she was using at the time and this was conducted to the ear-phones connected to her laptop

The case is being investi-gated by Australian police and has prompted warn-ings about the dangers of using fake USB adaptors The incident echoes the death last year of Ma Ai-lun a 23-year-old Chinese

ers for a fraction of the cost of the genuine item itrsquos a saving that could prove very costly in the long run

Unlike a fake Rolex watch or Louis Vuitton handbag these fakes can kill you

The counterfeit charg-ers are usually made with cheap and inferior compo-nents and leave out much of the protective insulation resulting in a risk of electro-cution or fire They also have less power than the genu-ine chargers so take much longer to charge your device putting additional strain on the battery and can cause overcharging

There are however over 600 million Apple devices in use around the world with only a few reported inci-dents The use of genuine Apple products is very safe but cheap counterfeit charg-ers are likely to add a very significant risk

101By aNdy BeVaN

Business Editor amp Web Administrator

VBP UK team at London Barrio Fiesta

Every year between June and August Filipinos in the UK look forward to visiting at least one of the several Barrio Fiestas organized by different Filipino organi-zations up and down the country

To us Pinoys in the UK it is a special occasion for all the family to enjoy It is a day to have fun a chance

to meet friends and other kababayans

But most of all it is a day to enjoy the many varieties of Filipino foods and products from the Barrio Fiesta stalls not normally found in local supermarkets

This year my family (and the VBP UK news team) went to the 30th

Philippine Centre Barrio Fies-ta sa London which was held in Apps Court Farm in Sur-rey And what a grand day it was too The event was spon-sored by ABS-CBN Europe

So it was no wonder that many ABS-CBN stars graced the two-day event to the delight of the thousands of Filipinos who flocked to the venue (Beth Bevan VBP-UK)

conduct rather than exert control

Here are some tips about calming angry kids

1 Leave them be for a minute or so Let them cry or be frustrated and feel what they want to feel Even adults need space

This is also a time to calm ourselves An angry child with a fuming par-ent is a recipe for disaster But do not leave an angry child alone or he will feel neglected

See to it that he is not destroying things harm-ing himself or other people You will know when to in-tervene

2 Make them laugh Humor is a good way of non-invasive interces-sion Make sure they can feel you are not mad about their outbursts You know your kidsrsquo fun sides Play with them without giving in to their unreasonable demands

3 Talk to them After

psychoParentis

Calming lsquoangryrsquo kidsWe sometimes feel frus-

trated about dealing with irate kids To loosen the pressure we most often give in to their small de-mands ignoring their re-bellion

Most parents who want a little peace at home con-trol their children by giving in to what they want

But this strategy can backfire in the form of more misbehavior or outright laxity in basic discipline that can permeate into oth-er aspects of our childrenrsquos lives

We have heard and read about approaches to deal-ing with angry kids Some kids are easy to sort out some are level tricky

However how our chil-dren behave depends on us parents Their behavior at home or somewhere else is the result of how we suc-cessfully manage them

Children who have tan-trums may become physi-cally or verbally aggressive There is a suggestion that it is easier to manage this

play time when your child has begun to calm down ask him what made him mad Listen to every detail Then explain to him what happened You will be sur-prised of the effect Kids can understand between reasons

4 Make peace and com-promise Close your con-versation by finding a logi-cal middle ground for you and your kids Make them learn to compromise and accept the things that they cannot have Tell them exactly what it is that you are not happy about their behavior They will learn to take it and give in Chil-dren have minds too

5 Finally give small re-wards The best reward for a behaving child is love not material things Give them a good massage cook for them treat them to a lei-surely walk at the park or a swim at the pool Kids will love it Make a rewards list and give it to them one af-ter another when there is a good reason only

Fashionable child-rearingBy JeaN mamasPas

around the big shiny Plasma TV watching some action packed movie or teleserye with a plate of food on their lap

Now donrsquot get me wrong I like technology as much as the next person It has paved the way for instant news advancements in medicine real time access to our hard earned cash and generally makes life better

But perhaps we need to step back from our lsquobusyrsquo lives with technology and see what is really going on around us and talk to our families face to face more

Family is the most impor-tant thing someone could ever have in their life time Let us cherish the time we have with them because you never know what is around the corner

Visayan Business Post

motoring sports Editor aNdy BeVaNeditorvisayanbizpostcom

August 2014 8

By the VBP sPorTs moNiTorManila

Powerful riders engines dominate Ormoc jet ski tilt

speCtAtors to the recently concluded jet ski competition in Ormoc are wowed by the graceful skills of the riders and the sheer power of their rides Cristina Alburo (TOP RIGHT) easily won the Ladies Open for this competition (Photo by VBP)

VisayanBusinessPostAdvertise with the

Contact us through infovisayanbizpostcom

ORMOC BAY ndash Chris-tina Alburo led powerful lady riders Erika Larraza-bal and Yvonne Yap to clinch the Ladies Open of the Ormoc City Fiesta 2014 Invitational Jet Ski Com-petition

Alburo who was second in the 2-Stroke Open cat-egory also came in a strong second in the 4-Stroke Novice category of this yearrsquos spectacular water sports at the historic Or-moc Bay

Joseph del Socorro mean-while exploited the sheer power of his ride to domi-nate the 2-Stroke Open as well as the 4-Stroke Novice categories The young Del Socorro flaunted smooth maneuvers even under un-favorable winds that made the 6 lap circuit more dif-ficult to race due to higher than expected waves

Del Socorrorsquos sharp but

flawless turns at the corner buoys easily made him a crowd favorite

Meanwhile McCoy Lar-razabal was unfazed by Del Socorrorsquos youthful compe-tence at the Bay to show actionndashpacked command over the waves that would secure him the 4-Stroke Open championship

McCoy showed experi-ence and class while best-ing Del Socorro who came in a reluctant second with Bimbo Asensi after his heel to gain the third place

Newcomer Eman Yap got in front early in the 2-Stroke Novice over nov-ices Stephen Bobares and Erika Larrazabal to get the categoryrsquos first place after 6 laps around the circuit Bobares came in second with Larrazabal taking the thirdThe gamersquos Execu-tive category was won by experienced rider Allan Del Socorro with Ruben Dahap and Clifford Bensig coming second and third place re-spectively

Region 8 has submitted to its head office in Manila The proposal which is part of the governmentrsquos Na-tional Greening Program aims to create a productive natural buffer between the sea and inner lands along the regionrsquos entire coast-line

Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Of-ficer Ricardo Tomol who heads the DENR in South-ern Leyte announced that the program aims to refor-est the 40-meter no build zone limits

The ldquono build zonerdquo are currently being imple-mented in an inter-agency effort along the regionrsquos shorelines that have been identified as high risk dis-aster or storm surge areas

The local governments are at the forefront of the monitoring and deterrence endeavor to make sure that locals are precluded from

building human structures and homes along the disas-terndashprone areas

ldquoThe project is part of the countryrsquos Climate Change Adaptation (CCA) pro-gramrdquo Tomol said adding that planting trees has long been proven to mitigate the effects of erratic climatic conditions

ldquoTrees absorb carbon di-oxide in the air and give off oxygen for people and ani-mals to breathe They pro-vide shade and act as buffer against winds and waves during bad weatherrdquo the DENR executive stated

ldquoThe program seeks to have private landowners along the coastal roads plant fruit trees The seed-lings will be provided by the DENR but the land-owners will have to choose which varieties of fruit trees they want to plantrdquo Tomol clarified

Tomol revealed that DENR have so far covered more than 4000 hectares

of timberlands in Southern Leyte where close to 2 mil-lion trees of various species have been planted with the help of Peoplersquos Organiza-tions (POs) under the gov-ernmentrsquos National Green-ing Program

The Philippine govern-ment allotted more than P6 Billion in 2014 for na-tional reforestation which is being implemented na-tionwide by the DENR If reports are to be believed as of this writing the pro-gram has been able to plant over 390 million trees cov-ering less than 700000 hectares of forest lands in the country

But the DENR still needs to transparently publish the specific areas covered by these supposedly now reforested lands as well as identify and reveal the capabilities of the various contractors it engaged to perform the tree plantings so that these can be verified independently

There is a grave concern over where much of the funding for this program has actually gone even as local advocacies insist on the conversion of the Na-tional Greening Program into a livelihood oppor-tunity not only for DENR favored contractors but by local residents in the vari-ous reforestation sites

The argument gains ground since reforestation would need maintenance and management if the trees planted should be al-lowed to survive

The proposal to reforest Eastern Visayasrsquo coastal lands with a billion fruit trees is indeed tantalizing if not mind blowing See-ing fruit trees in full blos-som along coastal high-ways in the coming future would be a ldquorosy dream come truerdquo not only for natural environmentalists and organic nutritionists

But the success of this proposed program must be

1 billion fruit trees for Visayasfrom Page 1

AnAlysis

viewed in constant evalua-tion of the actual facts sur-rounding the current Na-tional Greening Program itself

It is notable that land owners to whom these coastal lands belong and whose rights to property use and determination will be affected will have to choose which varieties of fruit trees they want plant-ed on their lands

The fact that the fruit trees project would also be implemented under the Office of the Presidential

Adviser on Rehabilitation and Reconstruction for Yolanda Areas gives much to think about and brings no additional comfort

The rehabilitation office is not a permanent feature of the Philippine govern-ment whose actions and expenditures can be sub-jected to the most stringent accounting that would be required for a tricky expansive and long-term program such as coastal reforestation involving the massive planting of varied fruit tree species

Star Fruit Balimbing (Averrhoa Carambola) is one of the disap-pearing native fruit trees in Eastern Visayas (Photo by WikipEdia)

Digital Edition