Samar gov to cops: Act up, solve shooting incidents

MESSAGE OF GOVERNOR SHAREE ANN TAN RE SAMAR SHOOTING INCIDENTS
Posted by Samar Province on Wednesday, April 6, 2016

CATBALOGAN CITY-- Governor Sharee Ann Tan sternly called on the Philippine National Police (PNP) in the region to act up and solve the recent spate of shooting incidents that occurred in Calbayog City.

Tan’s call came with a plea to implement law and order in the area without bias to existing political parties in the province. A number of the governor’s family members is vying for high posts in Samar province including the mayoralty seat in Calbayog City, under the banner of the Nacionalista Party.

Tan claimed that not only is the police yet to resolve the spate of killings, most of the victims of which are known supporters of the Tan family, but has also failed to fairly and equally implement law and order.

Among the recent incidents that occurred in Calbayog City involved Rogelio Salvame, 42, a Nacionalista Party organizer in Barangay Guimbauyan Norte, who survived a shooting spree on Sunday morning.

Salvame claimed he was able to identify the gunman who sprayed him with bullets. He said the gunman is on the top list of the police most wanted and is purportedly a supporter of a close rival of the Tans.

Meanwhile, Tan said that it is quite puzzling that most, if not all, of the victims of these shooting incidents are coming from their camp and the police have failed to resolve them.

Tan also asked the police not to allow themselves to be used by politicians and succumb to pressures by other high government officials and be hindered in their honest dispatch of duty.

“Campaign is only for a few weeks and the election is only for a period of time. It is not enough reason to allow themselves to be used for political ambitions,” Tan said.

She also slammed the police for allegedly downplaying the number of shooting incidents that recently occurred and accounting it instead to land disputes and personal motives.

A recent press briefing by the PNP regional office revealed a total of 18 shooting incidents happened in Samar province from January to March of this year. However, PNP-8 Regional Director Chief Supt. Jose Erwin Villacorte said this figure is “not alarming”.

Tan also expressed her disappointment with the spate of shooting incidents even when politicians have signed a peace covenant to stop violence and ensure a peaceful conduct of the election.

“I am calling on the police not just the authorities, but the people, as well as the cooperation of everyone, to remind them not to resort to violence and to respect the dignity of life,” Tan said. (PNA)

Calbayog LP bets kick off campaign

Photo grab from Miles Vasquez Santos Facebook Account

CALBAYOG CITY -- Local Liberal Party (LP) candidates kicked off their campaign in this city on Monday, promising to continue unfinished tasks.

Re-electionist Calbayog City Mayor Ronaldo Aquino led the campaign kick-off through a motorcade around the city and ended with a proclamation rally at the city’s plaza.

“We’re not finished yet with our job and we still have more that we have to do,” said Aquino, who is running against Angelie Tan, a member of one of the influential political clans in Samar province.

Joining them were Samar gubernatorial candidate Emil Zosa and first district congressional bet Edgar Mary Sarmiento, and candidates for board members.

Aquino acknowledged the police for a job well done in keeping peace and order in the city especially in pursuing private armed groups.

According to Aquino, his pro-business, pro-growth policies enabled the city to boost its economy, but he has other goals to accomplish as city chief executive.

“We can’t take our economy for granted. The path to success does not need a new program, huge spending or additional burden to our taxpayers, but rather it must be built with hard work of entrepreneurs around our city,” Aquino said.

Calbayog, the hometown of Department of the Interior and Local Government Secretary Mel Senen Sarmiento is one of the commercial trade centers in Samar Island. It is subdivided into three major districts - Calbayog, Tinambacan and Oquendo. (PNA)

Improvements on Sohoton Cave lined up

BASEY, Samar, -- More improvements are now on the pipeline for the Sohoton Cave and Natural Bridge National Park in this town in the bid to draw more tourists.

Photo from Spark Samar Facebook Page 

Basey Tourism Officer Evangeline Ritaga said they are highly considering the recommendation of the Tourism Promotions Board officials who toured the park last year.

Experts found that the site is very attractive to tourists, but its amenities and available services is not yet ready for international market.

The local government unit and the Department of Tourism will take the lead in the improvement projects.

Part of the development that will be done to give better services to visiting tourists is the improvement of tour guiding and food handling services, according to Ritaga.

“The local government unit has made some initiatives, but we are limited with funding constraints,” Ritaga said.

Ritaga noted that since the Samar provincial government initiated the Spark Samar campaign, tourist arrivals in Sohoton went up to 3,259 in 2015 from 865 in 2014.

“We are very thankful to Governor Sharee Ann Tan for doing the campaign but of course this will not be a success without the help of other government agencies like the Department of Tourism and the private sector that had started to come to us to offer help in the promotion of Sohoton,” Ritaga added.

The increase of tourist arrival in Sohoton is attributed by DOT Regional Director Karian Rosa Tiopes to proper coordination between tourism stakeholders.

“This is what happens when provincial and town governments, national line agencies, private sector and communities converge, act together, dedicate time and effort and work for a shared goal to make tourism happen,” said Tiopes.

Last January, ABS-CBN Foundation opened an eco-lodge for tourists who will stay overnight near the natural park.

“The challenge now is for the local organization, Basey local government and residents to enhance the quality service, preservation of natural resources, practice good values to sustain the momentum and increase the arrivals and earnings,” Tiopes added.

Sohoton Cave and Natural Bridge National Park are located within the Samar Island Natural Park, one of the top tourist destination in this province.

Sohoton Cave can be reached from Tacloban through a 45-minute drive passing through the picturesque San Juanico Bridge. A boat would take visitors from the take off point in Guirang village to the cave. (PNA)

44 Eastern Visayas town under election watchlist

TACLOBAN CITY -- The Philippine National Police (PNP) has tagged 44 towns in Eastern Visayas as election watchlist areas in relation to the May 9 elections.

In the list of areas of concern list are 15 towns in Samar, 12 towns in Leyte, nine in Northern Samar, seven in Eastern Samar, and one in Biliran.

Sr. Supt. Brigido Unay, chief of the police regional intelligence division, said these places of concern have been consistently included in the past elections.

“These have been categorized as areas of concern because of past and recent election-related violence, presence of private armed groups, intense political rivalry and insurgency problem,” Unay said.

Calbayog City and all towns within the first legislative district of Samar are included in the areas of concern. These are Almagro, Gandara, Matuguinao, Pagsanghan, San Jorge, Santa Margarita, Santo Niño, Tagapul-an, Tarangnan.

Outside Samar’s first district identified in the watch list are Hinabangan, Paranas, Pinabacdao, San Jose de Buan, and Tarangnan.

The police official declined to disclose the specific areas in Leyte, Biliran, Northern Samar and Eastern included in the watch list for 2016 polls, but he said the list are the same in 2013.

Listed as hotspots in the last elections are Baybay and Ormoc cities and the towns of Bato, Inopacan, Kananga, Matag-ob, Tabango, San Miguel, Albuera, Burauen, Carigara, and Jaro in Leyte.

In Eastern Samar, these areas are Arteche, Taft, Can-avid, Dolores, Hernani, General MacArthur, Jipapad and Quinapondan.

In Northern Samar, these places are Bobon, Catubig, Mapanas, Mondragon, Palapag, San Isidro, Gamay, Las Navas, Lavezares, Lope de Vega, Pambujan, Capul and Victoria. The only town in Biliran province tagged as watchlist in the past elections was Kawayan.

Only the Southern Leyte province was not included in the police areas of concern this year.

Commission on Elections (Comelec) Regional Director Jose Nick Mendros said there will be more deployment of police in these areas to ensure peaceful, orderly, and honest elections.

“More intensified checkpoints will be implemented in these areas to help prevent the occurrence of election-related violence,” Mendros added.

The Comelec, PNP, and the Philippine Army has stepped up security measures for the May 9, 2016 polls with the election period kick off on Sunday. (PNA)

Tacloban bizmen braces for full launch of San Juanico cruise

photo from wikepedia

TACLOBAN CITY -- The business group behind conceptualizing the cruise from downtown to San Juanico Bridge, the country’s longest, is looking for more investors to make the tourism activity up and running by summer.

Oliver Cam, consultant of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) Eastern Visayas Business Recovery Center, said the planned regular cruise tour from the city port to the famous San Juanico Bridge is still on hold, given the absence of boats that match the standard for cruise tourism.

“We initially have two 60-footer fiber glass boats donated to fishermen. These are fishing boats. In order for them to be converted to a cruise boat, they have to undergo the conversion process. We are still gathering enough funds,” Cam told PNA.

For each fishing boat, an additional PHP300,000 investment is needed to convert it for tourism, including the acquisition of additional equipments such as life vest, emergency ramp, two-way communication, and night navigation lighting system.

“We want to make those boats up to standards because we have histories in the Philippines that boats are not safely operated. In this case, we want to make an exception. We want to show that we can do this very safe. That’s why we are very strict in adhering standards,” Cam explained.

The business group, in partnership with the Department of Tourism held a soft launch for the San Juanico Cruise early November. Since then, the group have been doing promotional tour every weekend.

“The promotional tour is our way of trying to get enough support and build up the market,” Cam added.

DOT Regional Karina Rosa Tiopes said the initial plan was to build a jetty port in Magsaysay Boulevard for the cruise, but with the absence of funds, the group tapped the existing city port.

“We are marketing San Juanico as the main attraction, because this not just the longest bridge in the country, but this is also an engineering marvel,” Tiopes said.

“We are happy that the government and private sector are on board to add new tourism products not just for the city, but for neighboring areas in Samar. We cannot be a standalone destination because there are less natural resources
in the city.”

The 18-kilometer route of the cruise starts from downtown area in Tacloban City then under the majestic 2.1 kilometer San Juanico Bridge that links Leyte and Samar province. It takes about two hours to complete the trip either for sunrise or sunset.

The promotional rate is PHP550 promo for each of the 15 participants, inclusive of breakfast or dinner.

Stations will also be put in place to showcase the different sceneries in the area. Floating restaurants are also planned to be put up in some parts of Samar.

If there are no tourists, the boat can also be used to transport passengers from downtown to relocation sites in the northern part of the city.

The business group conceptualized the new tourism product to help fisher folks in new relocation sites to have alternative sources of income. (PNA)

Comelec notes drop in number of registered voters for 2016 polls in Samar

Voters Registration (File photo from www.catbalogan.gov.ph)

CALBAYOG CITY -- A total of 490,420 names appeared on the final list of registered voters for the May 9, 2016 elections in Samar province, lower than what the Commission on Elections (Comelec) recorded two years ago.

The drop in the number of voters, according to the Comelec, was the result of the cleansing/deactivation of some voters due to absence of biometric data, unable to vote for the past two elections as well as the transfer of registration of some voters to other places.

Among the 24 towns and two cities in the province, this city remains a vote-rich area with 110,028 registered voters.

Other top five areas with high-voting population are Catbalogan City (60,033), Basey (31,643), Daram (25,607), and Sta. Rita (24,877).

Samar province has 951 villages. It has a total of 3,385 established precincts and 1,165 clustered precincts.

Meanwhile, the local police has already stepped up its plan to secure the peace and order of the province for the coming elections.

In Calbayog City, city police chief Supt. Salvador Tagle said that stricter conduct of checkpoint will be implemented starting Jan. 10 as election period starts. Gun ban will be enforced during this period.

Tagle calls on the support and cooperation of the public for the smooth conduct of checkpoints.

“We would like to appeal to the public to support the authorities and follow what are prohibited during the election period, especially carrying of guns,” he added. (PNA)

Firecracker injuries in E. Visayas climb to 79

THE Department of Health (DOH) reported 79 fireworks-related injuries during the New Year festivities in Eastern Visayas.

This is slightly higher than last year but the agency did not hesitate to call its anti-firecracker drive successful.

Roderick Boyd Cerro, chief of the DOH regional epidemiology and surveillance unit, said all cases are minor blasts and there was no single victim of stray bullet.

Majority or 80 percent of cases were injured due to "piccolo" ignited by children below 11 years old.

“We still consider the 'Iwas Paputok' campaign successful since injuries this year were less serious than in the previous years,” he said.

Of the 79 injuries, 37 were reported in Northern Samar, 24 in Eastern Samar, 12 in Leyte, five in Samar, and one in Southern Leyte.

The typhoon-hit Northern Samar recorded the highest injuries in the region after typhoon Nonan hit the province.

The heatlth department said more Filipinos were spared of firework-related injuries as the country welcomed the New Year.

In a press release, DOH reported a total of 384 fireworks-related injuries as of 6:00 AM, January 1, 2016.

Of the total 384 cases, 380 were from fireworks/firecrackers, 4 from stray bullets, and no case of fireworks/firecrackers ingestion. 219 out of 380 injuries were caused by Piccolo, a prohibited firecracker in the country. Other firecrackers causing injuries were from 5 star with four percent, Kwitis with nine percent, Luces with four percent, and other unknown firecrackers on five percent.

The government has launched its monitoring of Christmas and New Year revelries on December 16, 2014 and will conclude on January 5, 2015. (PNA with SNR)