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JULY 06-12, 2014

- The “abrupt” closure of the Daniel Z. Romualdez (DZR) Airport, this city on July 9 had resulted for several passengers to be stranded, seething in anger and frus-tration.

“We were not informed that there will be no flights today. We could have rescheduled our flight so we will not be stranded here,” said Maria Bautista, 74, one of the several

DZR Airport halts operation for a day

Canada tops among foreign donors

- Eight months after supertyphoon Yolanda hit the Visayas, the United Nations Office for the Coordina-tion of Humanitarian Affairs (UN OCHA) reported that only $465.79 million or 60% of the $788 million requirement have so far been funded by donors.

As of July 8, aid from private individuals and organi-zations has reached $129.93 million, or 27.9% of the total contribution for the UN Strategic Response Plan (SRP), according to the UN’s Financial Tracking Service.

So far, United Kingdom has been the top donor to the recovery plan at $55.87 million, which accounts for 12% of the total donations.

Other top 10 donors were Canada ($45.46 million), the United States ($41.11), Japan ($33.49 million), the Eu-ropean Commission ($28.19 million), the Central Emer-gency Response Fund ($25.28 million), Norway ($20.87 million), Australia ($20.64 million), and Germany ($10.94 million).

Of the $465.79 million raised, $138.98 million was allocated for food security and agriculture, $73 million for emergency shelter, $61.53 million for water and san-itation, $49.64 million for health, $31.94 million for ear-ly recovery and livelihood, $27.60 million for education, $22.38 million for logistics, $20.66 million for protection, $14.49 million for nutrition, $8.82 million for coordina-tion, $10.50 million for other clusters, $4.40 million for camp coordination and camp management (CCCM), and $1.78 million for emergency telecommunication.

“There is still a continuing need for funding for the on-going transition to recovery and reconstruction,” said UN Deputy Humanitarian Chief Kyung-wha Kang in a state- Members of the Japanese naval vessel JDS Kunisaki present one thousand origami cranes to the people of Tacloban

City as a token of goodwill, looking ahead to future partnership in development and emergency response between Japan and the Philippines. Japan is one of the nations represented in Pacific Partnership 2014. (Photo Courtesy from Alfred Romualdez Facebook Page)

stranded passengers.Bautista, on the day of the temporary

closure of the airport, was bound for Ma-nila en route to her home in Olongapo City. She and brother, Lucas Galangue, 59, visited a sickly brother, Ricardo, 63,

TACLOBAN CITY-Eights months af-ter supertyphoon Yolanda leveled the Vi-sayas, hundreds of families who survived the onslaught of supertyphoon Yolanda continue to stay in tent cities, bunk hous-es and schools, said Efleda Bautista, con-venor of storm victims in Eastern Visayas.

“Rehabilitation is in standstill while the victims continue to be neglected by its gov-ernment,” Bautista, of the People Surge said, adding that survivors had to rely on them-selves and to various aid groups to sustain their living.

Bautista also hit the government for ig-noring their demand for cash relief despite that a large sum of money had already been allocated for them.

“Lately, it was exposed by Senator Fran-cis Escudero that Congress allocated P100

Hundreds still lives in tents, bunk houses

8 months after Yolanda

billion for Yolanda victims but we did not know about this,” she said.

According to Bautista, the P40,000 de-manded by the more than 17,000 survi-vors who signed the petition would only amount to P720 million.

“Both Malacanang and the Depart-ment of Social Welfare and Development already declared that they will not give the victims this demand. The government is not only callous but also heartless to the condition of the victims, especially the poor,” she said.

Ruby Figueroa, 34, a typhoon victim in Tacloban, said they continue to endure the “harsh condition” inside their tent houses in Baloc 1, San Jose District.

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NEWS2 Easter Samar Bulletin JULY 06-12, 2014

TACLOBAN CITY- The Samar Provincial Hospital has been declared by the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (Philhealth) as the second hospital in the region in so far as complying it no balance billing (NBB) policy.

This was revealed by Cynthia Palileo, acting adminis-trative officer of the said Catbalogan City-based hospital, who said that this achievement would only inspire them to work harder.

“This is the very first time that we have achieved this kind of performance in so far as the implementation of the no balance billing policy of the Philhealth,” Palileo, reached on her mobile phone, said.

According to the official, since the NBB policy was in-troduced by the Philhealth in 2011, the Samar Provincial Hospital has been ranked in the lowest rung.

“But with the perseverance, hard-work and determi-nation of Governor (Sharee Ann) Tan, we’re able to reach this far which is a big milestone to us. And obviously, this achievement will serve as our inspiration to work harder to either maintain the distinction or surpass it,” Palileo said.

Palileo, during the interview, could not say as to how many patients, mostly coming from poor families, bene-fited the NBB at the Samar Provincial Hospital.

Samar Provincial Hospital ranks second in the implementation of no balance billing policy

The NBB is a policy of the Philhealth mandating that no fees would be charged or paid by patients enrolled under the said government agency.

In the case at the Samar Provincial Hospital, patients who availed the NBB policy were enrolled under the pro-vincial government’s sponsored-Philhealth program.

This means, it is the provincial government under Gov. Tan that pays the premium of the patients.

Palileo said that one of the thrusts of the administration of Gov. Tan is to ensure that all her constituents, particu-larly the marginalized and poor people, could avail medical services.

With this thrust, the number of patients at the provin-cial hospital has noticeably increased, she added.

The Samar Provincial Hospital is a 100-bed capacity but could see its expansion to accommodate the number of pa-tients, Palileo said.

The hospital, as part of improving its services to the people, have seen major repair and now equip with needed equipment.

Also, it is now manned by efficient personnel. At pres-ent, there are 25 doctors working 24 hours at the hospital staffed with more than 200 personnel. (JOEY A. GABIE-TA)

TACLOBAN CITY- The Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) Cluster have built at least 22,063 toilets in the Visayas re-gion areas affected by su-per typhoon Yolanda.

WASH Cluster, com-posed of several human-itarian groups, start-ed transitioning from life-saving intervention to early recovery planning and implementation in December 2013.

This included not only to restoration of commu-nal and household level water and sanitation facili-ties, but also strengthening of governance and resil-ience at local levels.

As reported in the

More than 22,000 toilets distributed to various barangays in EV hit by Yolanda

Philippine humanitarian response site, significant progress is being made in the roll out of the Philip-pine Approach to Total Sanitation (PHaTS) across Leyte and Eastern Samar.

The 22,063 toilets pro-vided by various groups involving the WASH Cluster, was based on the June 19. However, another 2,579 latrines were con-structed benefitting 12,891 people.

There are informal re-ports of more than 20 ba-rangays across Leyte and Samar are ready to declare themselves a “zero open defecation” barangays.

It is working on the im-portance of water system

infrastructure and water quality. In May, 2,460 peo-ple benefited from 12 sys-tems upgrade. A desalina-tion water treatment plant was also commissioned in Tacloban City at Eastern Visayas Regional Medical Center (EVRMC).

As the pressure to pro-vide long-term durable shelter solutions continues to mount, significant num-bers of relocation sites are being developed by local government units and the private sector across Hai-yan affected areas with-out adequate planning to construct WASH facilities. The upcoming rainy sea-son also presents a height-ed risk of vector and water

CATBALOGAN CITY, Samar--During the recent City Peace and Order Council (CPOC) Meeting held on June 23, 2014 , CPOC Chair Mayor Stephany Uy-Tan, representatives of various sectors agreed and voted for the declaration of Catbalogan as a “Manageable Conflict-Af-fected and Development Ready Area” as endorsed by the 8th Infantry Division, Philippine Army.

Commanding Officer LTC Glenn Jun C Calambuhay of the 43rd IB, 8th Infantry Division , Philippine Army stated the following observation, reduced threat to sta-bility, insurgent groups cease to function as an organized movement, and an established local community defense system.

Present during the meeting were majority of the Ba-rangay Chairpersons of the City, who expressed support to the declaration, they believe such will bring in more development to their respective areas and further bring peace.

The Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAP) Representative Ms. Emy Bonifacio ex-pressed her interest and support to this initiative and fur-ther discussed the current peace and development pro-grams being undertaken in the region, which Catbalogan may take advantage of.

The Council is set to schedule the official endorsement of the Council Resolution to the Mayor and for the same to be adopted by The Sangguniang Panlungsod of Catba-logan City.

This declaration is poised to cast a positive light to the City as being stable and ready for development to further boost its economy and progress. Although the declaration does not mean that there are no more insurgents, army authorities have downgraded this to police matter. (PIA 8-Samar with Ador Hurtado Catbalogan City media bu-reau)

Catbalogan pushes for “Manageable Conflict-

Affected and Development Ready

City”

borne diseases like dengue fever.

Health has also report-ed issues with community members unwilling to un-dertake dengue monitor-ing and sanitation cleaning activities without payment of cash- for- work.

Significant investment has been directed towards the capacity-building of government staff at all lev-els. Improvements are evi-dent in some areas.

However, significant efforts are still required before the Cluster can ful-ly transfer their respon-sibilities to the respected government counterparts. (AIRYLL A.YAPOC, LNU Intern)

-The full operations of the Philippine Associat-ed Smelting and Refinery Plant (PASAR), after having been heavily damaged by supertyphoon Yolanda, may yet open new hope of job opportunities for qualified job seekers in Leyte.

With PASAR now in full operations, it is also set to em-bark a massive expansion projects.

In fact, its production has noticeably expanded. In con-centrates, the existing capacity is 767,000 Dry Metric Tons (DMT) a year but in its present expanded capacity it now generates 1,300,000 for this year; copper anode from its present 265,000 MT per year to 375,000 MT this year.

However, production on copper cathode remains at 215,000 MT/yr.

Its port unloading capacity, which was 300 tons/hour previously, is now at 600 tons/hr.

The PASAR expansion project is steadily moving for-ward because the establishment officials and investors will proceed to ensure the “long-term sustainability through low risk investment in a stable and consistently profitable asset.”

PASAR which is securely located at the compound of Leyte Industrial Development Enterprise (LIDE) contrib-utes substantial amount in taxes for the national govern-ment with a good percentage of these taxes paid to the local government of Isabel, its share being host of the industrial estate.

In order to improve employees’ performance on ac-count of these expansion operations project, the PASAR Expansion Team had already conducted trainings and pro-vided updates on its expansion activity to its employees.

These were spearheaded by Senior Vice President (SVP) – Strategic Projects Mirardo C. Malazarte. So far 57 regu-lar employees have undergone the 4 sessions in May 1. All these were designed to equip its employees with the need-ed competence to ably perform effectively under these new thrusts of the plant.

PASAR was established as a government owned and controlled corporations in the early years of Martial Law of 1972 but was privatized earlier. (ALVIN GZ.ARPON)

Full operations of PASAR spell more job opportunities

OPINION 3

COMMENTARY:By Fr Roy Cimagala

Email: [email protected]

EDITORIAL

Easter Samar Bulletin

Dalmacio C. GrafilPublisher

Romeo CebrerosOIC

EASTERN SAMAR

Brgy. Songco, Borongan City Eastern Samar

(055) 261-3319

Aljim Denver M. ArcuenoEditor-in-Chief

JULY 06-12, 2014

IN EXACTLY 24 months, the Aquino Administration that came to power on a “Social Contract with the Filipi-no People” will come to a close. Its trademark shibboleth: “Kung walang corrupt, walang mahirap.” Its path to governance: Daang Matuwid.

Today, wehear less and less of of-ficial statements peppered with the same prose now. And yet, as the Aqui-no administration enters its twilight years, the

Filipino people’s disaffection with unabated corruption in high places and jobless growth continues to rise.

In recent weeks, plunder and graft cases have been filed against some senators and congressmenmostly as-sociated with the political opposition, for alleged misuse and abuse of pork barrel monies. A few other lawmak-ersallied with the Administration had also been implicated but the investiga-tors have shown much less vigor and spunkin running after them.

What is wrong with this story? A big missing link -- a Freedom Information Act that will affirm with absolute certi-tude that the long arm of the law will snare allthe crooks,whether foes or friends of the Administration.

The cases are now unfolding on both legal and political fronts. It is most worrisome that because the wheels of justice grind exceedingly slow in the country, their prosecution will stretch

Pass the People’s FOI Bill now!

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beyond the life of the Aquino Adminis-trationand past the next national and local elections.

How the political interests of the ac-cused and the accusers would collide or converge in May 2016, the para-mount nonpartisan interest that must be favored is the Filipino people’s right to know, access information, and hold accountable in law and in the next elections those who amassed our hard-earned taxes for private gain.

At its birth, the Aquino Administra-tion pledged to crack a simple equa-tion – curb corruption to curb pover-ty. To most everyone it was clear that an FOI law could have served as fount and pivot of its reform agenda.

An FOI lawwill define clear proce-dures andreasonable limits on citi-zen requestsforinformation and doc-uments vested with public interest and in the custody of public officials and agencies.

And thisis the essence of an FOI law – a rights-based permanent framework that is far more superior to the Administration’s voluntary dis-closure of some public finance docu-ments, or only those that it decidesto post online.

About 100 countries across the world have enacted FOI laws. They have demonstrated how FOI serves

I WOULD say that when temptations come, the first thing we have to do is to immediately go to God, to run to him, to stick to him as closely as possible. That’s simply because God is our rock and fortress, the ultimate source of strength. Missing this reaction, we open ourselves to a long, tortuous episode that can end badly.

Missing this reaction is actually a common thing to happen because in the first place our relation with God is not strong. If ever there is some relation, it is more on the theoretical level and hardly on the practical, much less something that involves our feelings and instincts.

And so, we have to work hard in building up this rela-tion with God if we want to keep some safe distance away from temptations.

If our love for God is hot, the devil will find it hard to get near us, just like a fly would not get close to a hot soup.

Our usual problem is that we tend to be by ourselves when temptations come, and to rely simply on our powers which actually are already heavily compromised since our wounded flesh is an ally of the enemies of our soul. We always have a Trojan horse in our personal lives.

Without God’s grace we simply cannot do anything ex-cept to fall, if not soon then later. It would just be a matter of time. But when we are with God, we get to see the whole picture, and can distinguish the poison embedded in the many good, beautiful, true and sweet things that tempta-tions come with.

From there we would know what strategy to take. Very often, what can be effective is simply to ignore the temp-tation and the pour scorn on the evil spirits behind the temptation. This is effective if in the first place our spiritual life is healthy, with faith and love for God and for souls vibrant and strong.

But then when such faith and love is not that strong, the temptations can gain some foothold in us. When we notice this, our reaction should be just to stay calm and not to dare to get overexcited. When there is a storm around, we usually would stay home or at a safe place to ride it out, and avoid going around.

The same with this particular case of temptations gain-ing some foothold in us. It simply means that God is al-lowing these temptations to come to show us where we are weak, and therefore where we should do something about.

This is when we have to spend time praying and of-fering sacrifices, for only in this way can we discern the proper tactics to take advantage of the temptations. Yes, temptations are not all that bad. They can be tremendous occasions to boost our spiritual growth.

What to do with temptations

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4 NEWSEaster Samar Bulletin JULY 06-12, 2014

Republic of the PhilippinesDepartment of Transportation and

CommunicationLAND TRANSPORTATION

FRANCHISING AND REGULATORY BOARD

Regional Office No. VIIIOrmoc City

CASE NO. VIII-2014-3001Ref. Case No. VIII-2003-1124

Application for Reconstitution ofRecords of a CPC to operate a PUJ service. With prayer to adopt trade name

VICTOR B. OBILLOApplicant/Petitionerx- - - - - - - - - - - - -x

NOTICE OF HEARINGApplicant is a grantee of CPC

to operate a PUJ service for the transportation of passengers and freight on the route: GUIUAN-BALANGIGA VIA QUINAPONDAN & VICE VERSA with the use of One (1) unit which Certificate is still valid and subsisting up to SEPTEMBER 7, 2013.

In the present application, applicant request authority for reconstitution of records of the said certificate on the same route with the use of the same number of unit.

NOTICE is hereby given that this application will be heard by this Board on SEPTEMBER 25, 2014 at 9:00 a.m. at its office of the above address.

At least TEN (10) days prior to the above date, applicant/s shall publish this Notice once in one (1) daily newspaper of general circulation in Visayas.

This application will be acted upon by this Board on the basis of its records and documentary evidence submitted by the parties, unless the Board deems it necessary to receive additional documentary and/or oral evidence.

WITNESS the Honorable ARTHUR L. SAIPUDIN, Regional Director, this 10th

day of JULY 2014.

(Sgd.) GUALBERTO N. GUALBERTOClerk of Board







ESTELA L. APURAApplicant/Petitionerx- - - - - - - - - - - - -x

NOTICE OF HEARINGApplicant is a grantee of CPC to

operate a PUJ service for the transportation of passengers and freight on the route: BORONGAN-LLORENTE & VICE VERSA with the use of One (1) unit which Certificate is still valid and subsisting up to OCTOBER 23, 2017.






day of JULY 2014.






CASE NO. VIII-2014-3011Application for Issuanceof a CPC to operate a UV EXPRESS service. With prayer to adopt trade name

IÑIGO BALAGASAYApplicant/Petitionerx- - - - - - - - - - - - -x

NOTICE OF HEARINGApplicant request authority for

the issuance of CPC to operate a UV EXPRESS for the transportation of passengers and freight on the line: TACLOBAN CITY-BORONGAN & VICE VERSA with the use of One (1) unit.





day of JULY 2014.








GERONIMO A. BATULAApplicant/Petitionerx- - - - - - - - - - - - -x


operate a PUJ for the transportation of passengers and freight on the route: BORONGAN-DOLORES & VICE VERSA with the use of One (1) unit which Certificate is still valid and subsisting up to JUNE 28, 2017.






day of JUNE 2014.






CASE NO. VIII-2014-2970Application for Issuance of a CPC to operate a UV EXPRESS service. With prayer to adopt trade name

DAMIANO P. BALDOApplicant/Petitionerx- - - - - - - - - - - - -x

NOTICE OF HEARINGApplicant request authority for the

issuance of CPC to operate a UV EXPRESS for the transportation of passengers and freight on the line: TACLOBAN CITY-BORONGAN & VICE VERSA with the use of One (1) unit.





day of JULY 2014.







Application for Reconstitution ofRecords With Extension of Validity of a CPCto operate a PUJ service. With prayer to adopt trade name

TITO A. BANIGOOSApplicant/Petitionerx- - - - - - - - - - - - -x


operate a PUJ service for the transportation of passengers and freight on the route: BORONGAN-DOLORES-ORAS & VICE VERSA with the use of One (1) unit which Certificate is still valid and subsisting up to OCT. 9, 2014.

In the present application, applicant request authority for reconstitution of records with extension of validity of the said certificate on the same route with the use of the same number of unit.

NOTICE is hereby given that this application will be heard by this Board on AUGUST 21, 2014 at 9:00 a.m. at its office of the above address.



WITNESS the Honorable ARTHUR L. SAIPUDIN, Regional Director, this 3rd

day of JULY 2014.






CASE NO. VIII-2014-2981Application for Issuance of a CPC to operate a UV EXPRESS service. With prayer to adopt trade name

RODRIGO D. RAGUINDINApplicant/Petitionerx- - - - - - - - - - - - -x

NOTICE OF HEARINGApplicant request authority for the

issuance of CPC to operate a UV EXPRESS for the transportation of passengers and freight on the line: TACLOBAN CITY-ORAS & VICE VERSA with the use of One (1) unit.





day of JULY 2014.








ELDA R. DELA ROSAApplicant/Petitionerx- - - - - - - - - - - - -x


operate a PUJ for the transportation of passengers and freight on the route: BORONGAN-DOLORES & VICE VERSA with the use of One (1) unit which Certificate is still valid and subsisting up to OCTOBER 23, 2017.






day of APRIL 2014.








JHON DANES CURINAO DONCERASApplicant/Petitionerx- - - - - - - - - - - - -x


operate a PUJ for the transportation of passengers and freight on the route: BORONGAN-ARTECHE & VICE VERSA with the use of One (1) unit which Certificate is still valid and subsisting up to AUGUST 24, 2016.





WITNESS the Honorable ARTHUR L. SAIPUDIN, Regional Director, this 3rd

day of JULY 2014.


TACLOBAN CITY-Filipino volunteers who have shown exemplary performance and ded-ication to service in helping people and com-munities will once again be given recognition in their role in development and nation-build-ing as the Search for Outstanding Volunteers 2014 goes on.Individuals of Filipino citizenship and Filipi-no or local chapters of foreign or international non-profit or corporation organizations are qualified to participate. Awards for grabs are Volunteer Lifetime Achievement Award (VLAA) and National Outstanding Volunteer Award (NOVA).For an individual, group or organization that do not qualify under the regular SOV cate-gories but which are deemed meritorious in

The search is on for outstanding volunteers

accomplishment, a Special Citation in Vol-unteerism will also be conferred to recognize volunteering efforts and/or support to volun-teerism. There are however more specific qualifications being considered among the nominees in each category in order to get the coveted award. The Regional Search Committee will careful screen the nominations and submit to the SOV National Selection Committee all the nominations on or before September 15 this year. The awarding will be held in Manila on December 12.Louie Quebec, the media representative to the Regional Development Council, disclosed that the deadline for submission of entry is on July 31. (EILEEN NAZARENO-BALLESTEROS)

as bedrock and enabler of most other rights of people to education, health, livelihood, property, security, and even life and happiness.

In the Philippines, a multitude of citizens and sectors -- students, workers, informal settlers, professionals, academics, businessmen, church people, journalists, bloggers, donors, and civil society organizations – ha-vedeclared their explicit and firm stand in favor of the passage of the FOI law.

The online and onsite petition on www.change.org/TayoNaParaSaFOIfor President Aquino and Speaker Feli-ciano Belmonte Jr. to finally act decisively on its passage has drawn about 10,000 signatories, and counting.

FOI is a legislation that is 27 years overdue. The 1987 Constitution guarantees the people’s right to access in-formation. It enshrines transparency as a state policy.It has obliged the members of Congress to pass an FOI law that will complement and effectively enforce both.

But five presidents and nine Congresses hence, the FOI bill remains an elusive reform measure. It baffles most everyone why such an important legislation has languished for more years by an Administration that has sworn to take the path of “Daang Matuwid”.

To be sure, the Aquino administration commands a plurality of votes in both the Senate and the House of Representatives. It has shown it could muster the num-bers for reform bills certified by the President. The Sin Tax Law and the Responsible Parenthood Act are two examples. There is no question that it wants to, it could do the same for FOI.

Under the steady leadership of Sen. Grace Poe, chair of the Committee on Public Information, the Senate passed its version of the bill on third and final reading in record time last March yet. Meanwhile, in the House of Representatives, the chair of the Committee on Public Information, Rep. Jorge Almonte, has pledged to see the counterpart bill move past his committee at least before the year is over.

The next move, the final, decisive push for the FOI Act, is for the President and Speaker Belmonteto make.

Beyond partisan political interests, leaders and citi-zens must together take the path of Daang Matuwid, a road to progress basking in the sunshine of Freedom of Information, to curb corruption and poverty.

Pass the People’s FOI bill now.

Pass the FOI... ...from page 4

5NEWS Easter Samar BulletinJULY 06-12, 2014

- Nutrition stakeholders launched on July 1 the Nutri-tion Month 2014 urging everyone to become “nutrition-ally prepared” for disasters.

National Nutrition Council (NNC) regional nutrition program coordinator Catalino Dotollo encouraged local government units and non-government organizations to initiate activities that would raise the capability of com-munities to prepare for calamities through best nutrition practices.

“Nutrition Month 2014 aims to promote interventions to address nutritional needs in emergencies and disas-ters including preparedness, response and recovery. This could be achieved through the creation of local nutrition clusters,” Dotollo said during the opening of Nutrition Month celebration at the Balyuan open grounds.

This 40th Nutrition Month, anchored on the theme: “Kalamidad Paghandaan: Gutom at Malnutrisyon Aga-pan!,” aims to mobilize responders, particularly the local nutrition clusters and stakeholders to address gaps in nu-trition in emergencies response from national to barangay levels.

The celebration seeks to increase awareness among families and individuals on coping and resiliency strate-gies to prevent malnutrition and worsening of nutritional status in times of emergencies and disasters.

This year’s theme stresses the importance of increased awareness and higher level of preparedness which can be achieved through the prevention of hunger and worsen-

Stakeholders: Be nutritionally prepared in times of disasters

ing of malnutrition during calamities. During the opening, Leyte Governor Leopoldo Domini-

co Petilla renewed the provincial government’s commit-ment to reduce malnutrition.

“From 11 towns included in the top nutritionally-de-pressed areas in the country in 2012, the number was re-duced to four municipalities last year. This is an indication that everyone is working on the preventive side,” Petilla said.

However, these gains will only be sustained if local nu-trition committees are more prepared to respond to nutri-tional needs during crisis.

Briony Stevens, nutrition coordinator of the United Na-tions Children’s Fund (Unicef) emphasized the need for families to store three days of food supply before a disaster, to satisfy food requirement of families while waiting for emergency food assistance.

“This celebration is a reminder to prepare of what we should do before a disaster. Nutrition is not just about food. This is also about health, sanitation, and hygiene,” Stevens said.

Malou Tabao, nutrition action officer of Tacloban City government, lauded various international humanitarian organizations for their support to arrest malnutrition in the aftermath of Yolanda.

“Their presence has raised the capability of the local nu-trition workers on how to nutritional needs during emer-gencies,” Tabao added. (SARWELL Q.MENIANO)

TACLOBAN CITY- City Councilor Emmanu-el Domingo revealed that they are conducting an in-vestigation over reports of a “fraudulent scheme” in-volving a housing project in the northern part of the city.

The investigation came in the wake of complaints received by him from in-dividuals who were able to buy lots in Barangay Baga-cay, one of the areas iden-tified by the city govern-ment as a relocation site for victims of super typhoon Yolanda who totally lost their houses.

The complainants al-leged that they are being asked to pay to the com-pany that oversees the de-velopment of the housing site without being given re-ceipts and proofs of neces-sary documents, Domingo, who chairs the committee on engineering, said.

The housing project, involving 400 units, is sup-posed to be under the CMP or community mortgage program of the national government.

It was learned that the Brigham group, which manages the housing proj-ect in Bagacay, asks P1, 600 each for a 40 square meter lot.

According to Councilor Domingo, many of those who were able to secure lots at the said housing project

Group behind a housingproject under investigations

would like to be clarified if the Brigham group has the necessary documents like reclassification of the land from being agricultural to residential and a develop-ment permit from the city government.

In view of this com-plaint, the city council’s committees on engineering, urban poor and laws are jointly conducting an inves-tigation on this matter.

During their initial committee hearing, the offi-cials of the Brigham group were given a checklist con-taining the needed require-ments for them to comply, Domingo said.

The councilor said that the Brigham group could not legally sell any lots in the area unless they were is-sued a development permit.

Meanwhile, Siony Sia, one of the officials of the Brigham group said that they are a legal entity.

She explained that the money paid by the lot own-ers are deposited at the Philippine National Bank as mandated by Social Hous-ing Finance Corporation.

Sia said that they have a validated bank receipts as their proof.

She also said that they have the documents which they submitted before City Planning and Development Office which could easily be checked. (LIZBETH ANN A. ABELLA)

ment, after her recent visit in Tacloban.The current amount raised is just $24.53 million high-

er than what the UN generated two months ago or six months after the storm, where the UN issued a fresh ap-peal for funding.

UN agencies still need $315.47 million to carry out the Yolanda strategic response plan until November 2014.

The UN response plan is designed to complement the Philippine government’s rehabilitation assistance.

Tagged as priority areas are 171 municipalities in 14 provinces and six regions along Yolanda’s path. There are about 14 million people affected in these areas, the UN OCHA said.

In the past eight months, a total of 29,890 projects have been implemented by different clusters in the Yolanda strategic response plan.

These are broken down into 1,141 activities by the CCCM cluster; 1,995 by early recovery team; 8,380 by ed-ucation group; 4,254 by shelter needs responders; 2,513 by the food security and agriculture cluster; 1,535 by the health sector; 612 by nutrition stakeholders; 3,224 by pro-tection advocates; and 6,236 by water and sanitation clus-ter. (SARWELL Q. MENIANO)

...from page 1

Canada tops....

in Basey, Samar.The siblings were supposed to take the 1:20 p.m. Cebu

Pacific flight.The DZR Airport, located at San Jose District, was shut

down for operations started at 5 a.m. on July 9 but to be operational again following day.

The one-day closure of the DZR Airport, Eastern Vi-sayas main airport, was due to the potholes located within the 2.2 kms runway of the airport, said Allan Cahingcoy, officer-in-charge of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines(CAAP).

“We ask for understanding of our passengers but at the same time, we cannot afford to comprise their safety and the planes using the airport,” Cahingcoy said.

He, however, stressed that before the closure, which took effect around 5 p.m. on July 9, after the last flight, that they went to several local radio and television outlets to announce the closure.

“This is just a one-day closure of the airport due to the repair of our runway,” he said adding that the airline com-panies using the airport were informed on this.

Cahingcoy said that some of the potholes at the runway are big enough to fit in the landing gears of the airplanes.

He said that there are 60 potholes, as big as 5X10 feet and four inches deep, that need to be covered by asphalt.

These potholes were seen in the runway for months now and were aggravated with the arrival of several big C-130 military planes from other countries and even a C-17 from the United States at the height of assistance due to Super Typhoon Yolanda.

The DZR Airport which serves the Manila and Cebu routes with 13 daily flights. (JOEY A. GABIETA)

DZR Airport...

...from page 1 Figueroa, however, said she is thankful not to the gov-ernment but to aid group Internal Organization for Migra-tion for giving her a temporary job as timekeeper for its cash for work program.

“As of now, I work in cash- for- work for IOM, monitor-ing the workers. They also built a cooking counter for us. Other survivors are employed as carpenters, earning P350 to P400 pesos a day,” she said.

Meantime, Save the Children, an international group working closely in Yolanda-affected communities, warned that children who survived Yolanda are “vulnerable to poverty, exploitation and family breakdown if permanent housing isn’t found.”

“Nearly 6,000 families remain in temporary housing af-

Hundreds.... ...from page 1

ter Yolanda destroyed their homes. Now, over 7 months on, non-governmental or-ganization Save the Chil-dren are highlighting the dangers that children and young people face as they continue to live in tempo-rary accommodation, “ said the group’s acting country director Rowena Cordero.

“Sanitation problems are going to continue to cause sickness and disease and the lack of infrastructure means there is no sense of routine and normality. It’s time to prioritize these children, these survivors, and not let Yolanda claim anymore young lives,” she added. (RONALD O.REYES)

We all need to be tested.Let’s always remember

that everything that hap-pens to us, including those that appear very bad, are at least allowed by God to hap-pen. And if he allows them to happen it is because there will always be some good that can be derived from it.

Let’s remember St. Paul’s words: “Where sin has abounded, the grace of God has abounded even more.” (Rom 5,20) Let’s be quick to assume this reasoning when

...from page 3What to do....

turn to page 4...

6 NEWSEaster Samar Bulletin JULY 06-12, 2014

PANTALAN EATERY

“Come & Dine!”Brgy. Tiguib,

Pantalan,Oras Eastern Samar

- Mussel-rich bays in Sa-mar province have been de-clared by the Bureau of Fish-eries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) as red tide positive on July 5, effectively enforcing a shellfish ban.

In its latest bulletin, BFAR found red tide toxins in Ma-queda Bay and its inner por-tion, Villareal Bay in Samar, known as one of the top green mussel producers in the coun-try.

Laboratory tests found 64 micrograms of toxins in every 100 grams of shellfish meat, beyond the regulatory limit of 60 micrograms.

“All types of shellfish and Acetes sp. or alamang gath-ered from these areas are not safe for human consumption. Thus, the public is advised to refrain from eating, harvest-ing, marketing, and buying shellfishes and Acetes sp. from Irong-Irong Bay, Maqueda Bay, and Villareal Bay until such time that the shellfish toxicity level has gone down below the regulatory level,” said Juan Albaladejo, BFAR re-gional director.

Fish, squid, shrimps, and crabs are safe for human con-sumption provided that they are fresh and washed thor-oughly, and internal organs such as gills and intestines are removed before cooking, ac-

Red tide up in Samar Bay

cording to BFAR.The shellfish ban was

raised after nearby Irong- Irong Bay in Catbalogan City was found positive of red tide toxins, prompting the fisheries bureau to conduct twice week-ly tests in Samar bays.

The phenomenon will affect the livelihood of 651 households in Samar to in-clude traders, processors, bamboo splitters, and trans-port operators.

Based on previous gov-ernment monitoring report, the two bays produced 10,616 metric tons of mussels with a total market value of P43.24 million through shipment to Metro Manila, Davao City, Bi-col, and Cebu City.

In 2009, Samar contributed 17% to the total green mussel production in the country. It was the third top producer next to Capiz and Cavite prov-inces, according to the Depart-ment of Agriculture.

Maqueda Bay covers the coastal waters of the towns of Jiabong, Daram, Pinabacdao, Talalora, San Sebastian, Villa-real, and Calbiga.

Major bays in Eastern Vi-sayas that are still free from red tide toxins are Cancabato Bay, San Pedro Bay in Carigara Bay, Ormoc Bay, Sogod Bay, Cam-batutay Bay, and Matarinao Bay. (SARWELL Q.MENIA-NO)

About 35 houses, mostly made of light materials, were gutted down during a fire incident in Barangay Hamorawon, Calbayog City on July 7,2014. No person was reported injured or killed during the incident.(HENRY C. PUYAT)

temptations come to avoid sinking in depressions.

Rather we should be quick to discern God’s ever wise, if mysterious and often painful ways of his providence that is meant to

lead us to him through the drama of our life here on earth. That’s why he is full of mercy, and also wants us to be merciful to one another.

It is also good that we avail of whatever help we can get to tackle our temptations. In this, what is most recommended is frequent confession and regular spiritual direction. That would mean that we are going to God and to a

very reliable person to ask for help.

The story of Christ be-ing tempted by the devil af-ter his forty days of prayer and fasting in the desert is a model for us to follow. Like Christ, we should be steeped in prayer and fast-ing if we want to be pre-pared to face temptations properly.

Let’s not forget that temptations will always be packaged very beautifully. In Christ’s case, even God’s words were cited by the devil. But then again, if we are truly with God, we also would know where the lie is inserted and, like Christ, how we can remain unaf-fected by these temptations.

...from page 3What to do....

Republic of the PhillippinesREGIONL TRIAL COURT

8th Judicial RegionBranch 3

Guiuan, Eastern Samar

IN RE: PETITION FOR AP-POINTMENT AS NOTARY PUBLIC FOR and IN THE PROVINCE OF EASTERN

SAMAR

ATT.Y RODOLFO A. YOD-ICO II

x-------------------------xORDER

Notice is hereby given that a Sum-mary Hearing on the Petition for Ap-pointment as Notary Public for and in

the Province of Eastern Samar of ATTY. RODOLFO A. YODICO II, JR., is scheduled on August 7, 2014 at the Ses-sion Hall of the Regional Trial Court, Branch 3, Guiuan, Eastern Samar at 8:30 in the morning.

Any person who has any cause or reason to object to the grant of the pe-tition may file a verified written opposi-tion thereto, received by the undersigned before the date of the summary hearing.

SO ORDERED in chambers.July 10, 2014Guiuan, Eastern Samar, Phil-

ippines.

(Sgd.) HON. ROLANDO M. LACDO-O

Executive/Presiding Judge

ESB: July 6-12, 2014

Documents

ESB July 06-12,2014