February 27, 2014 1

“in pursuit of PIA’s commitment to provide a national mechanism for the free flow of timely, accurate and relevant information… “

VOL 2 ISSUE 48 Daily E-Newsletter of Philippine Information Agency - 8 February 27, 2014

T he ground break ing ceremony of the new and state of the ar t

Eastern Visayas Regional Medical Center E VRMC was attended by no less than the pres ident of the Phi l ippines Benigno Aquino I I I located at the nor thern par t of the c i t y in Brgy. Cabalawan. The pres ident was with his cabinet secretar ies who accompanied him ear l ier in Tanuan, Leyte. According to Dr. Ci r i lo R . G al indez chief of hospita l of the Eastern Visayas Regional Medical Center E VRMC, the hospita l i s s i tuated in a land they don’t own s ince i t i s own by the provincia l government of Leyte as ide f rom the fac t that i ts locat ion is at r i sk s ince is in in the 40-meter no bui ld zone.Thus the need of a new locat ion which is more safe and res i l ient according G al indez. I n the new E VRMC 500 bed capacit y wi l l be construc ted larger compared to the 275 bed capacit y of ex ist ing hospita l . G al indez sa id that they are target ing about 2-3 years for the t ransfer of the hospita l however within the span of t ime they wi l l t r y their best to ser ve the people of eastern Visayas as res i l ient as poss ible with a l l the commitment of the personnel

New state-of-the-art EVRMC soon to rise in Northern Tacloban

T he Depar tment of Publ ic Works and H ighways 5th

Engineer ing Distr ic t conduc ted a groundbreak ing ceremony for the P23.57 mi l l ion construc t ion and rehabi l i tat ion of f lood control projec t for H i longos, Leyte on Februar y 21, 2014. Distr ic t Engineer Leopoldo Pica sa id the projec t covers 200 l inear meters of seawal l , concrete canal on munic ipal st reets to have better dra inage system within the ent i re munic ipal i t y of H i longos, the concret ing of access road to the seapor t and road shoulder ing of Tacloban-Baybay-H i longos-Maasin Road. He added that the projec t i s expec ted to be completed continued on page 5

continued on page 7

within 125 calendar days. Seawal ls p lay a v i ta l ro le in protec t ing a par t icular area a longshore f rom potent ia l upland eros ion or storm surge f looding, DE Pica sa id. Hence, i t i s ver y necessar y that the Local Government Unit of H i longos real ized the need to develop a seawal l that covers a great area to protec t nearby res idents, businesses and other infrastruc tures. With the ground break ing of the projec t , the Munic ipal i t y of H i longos is f inal ly on i ts way to construc t ing a seawal l to protec t the local people, and at the same t ime bui ld a recreat ional p lace,

UN Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Valerie Amos visited the evacuees at the Baby Friendly Tent Area at Redemptorist Church in Tacloban on Wednesday and had a conversation with them on their concerns and their situation almost four month after Super Typhoon Yolanda hit the city. (Neil Lopido/PIA-8)

DPWH holds ground breaking activity for P23.75-M flood control project in Hilongos

2 February 27, 2014

Akbayan holds 2-day multi-stakeholders conference on rehab of East Visayas

A KBAYAN Chair R isa Hontiveros is in Tacloban for a t wo day

mult i s take holders conference on the rehabi l i tat ion of Region 8 . I n a press conference held at La R ica Hotel , Hont iveros sa id that the sa id conference wi l l be par t ic ipated in by stake holders f rom the communit y, c iv i l societ y, pr ivate sec tor and government at d i f ferent level especia l ly the Local government units in Leyte and Samar. Hont iveros who came a

day ear l ier sa id her companions wi l l even stay longer for whatever wi l l be the the outcome of the discuss ion in the t wo - day conference wi l l be v is i ted by Hontivero’s group. The group plans to rebui ld the Yolanda af fec ted houses and publ ic spaces in the communit y. On Wednesday, the group of Hont iveros wi l l go around the province f rom Cabalawan nor th of Tacloban to Dulag and Tanauan and back to Tacloban for the t wo

day conference. Ak bayan thru i ts program Ak bayanihan projec t d istr ibuted about 19 mi l l ion wor th of re l ief goods including food packs, hygiene k i ts , c lothing and equipment such as generator sets and i ts shipment to the t yphoon Yolanda af fec ted areas as par t of their d isaster response and rehabi l i tat ion. Funding came from di f ferent donors, Hont iveros sa id. (P IA 8 with L izbeth Ann Abel la)

President Benigno S. Aquino witnessed the signing of the Memorandum of Agreement by the National Housing Authority general manager Chito Cruz, DPWH secretary Rogelio Singson, Tanauan mayor Pelagion Tecson and Gawad Kalinga executive director Louis Oquiñena for the development of the permanent relocation sites in Brgys. Pago and Maribi in Tanauan, Leyte, February 25. Also in photo are (standing, l-r) PARR secretary Panfilo Lacson, Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa, Leyte governor Dominico Petilla, Gawad Kalinga president Tony Meloto, DILG secretary Mar Roxas and DOE secretary Jericho Petilla. (Vino R. Cuayzon)

February 27, 2014 3

AKBAYANIHAN village soon to rise at Cabalawan, TaclobanT h e A k b a y a n i h a n r e l i e f a n d

r e h a b d r i v e o f A k b a y a n P a r t y l i s t w i l l b u i l d 1 5 h o u s i n g u n i t s a t C a b a l a w a n i n Ta c l o b a n C i t y . T h i s w a s r e v e a l e d b y M a c h r i s C a b r e r o s C o , c o n v e n o r o f t h e A k b a y a n ’s A k b a y a n i h a n R e l i e f a n d R e h a b D r i v e . A c c o r d i n g t o C a b r e r o s , A k b a y a n i h a n i s a p r o j e c t t h a t s t a r t e d d u r i n g t y p h o o n O n d o y , a n i n i t i a t i v e n o t o n l y o f A k b a y a n b u t w i t h p a r t n e r s f r o m d i f f e r e n t s e c t o r s , f r o m d i f f e r e n t s c h o o l s , f r o m o t h e r N G O ’s w h o h e l p e d t h e m w i t h t h e i r r e l i e f d r i v e s s i n c e O n d o y , Yo l a n d a r e l i e f o p e r a t i o n s i s t h e i r 9 t h o p e r a t i o n e f f o r t s o f A k b a y a n i h a n . A f t e r t h e r e l i e f p h a s e a f t e r Yo l a n d a , t h e g r o u p o f C a b r e r o s w a n t e d t o

i n s t i t u t i o n a l i z e a k b a y a n i h a n a s s o m e o n e w h o r e s p o n d t o t h e n e e d s o f d i s a s t e r r e s p o n s e a n d p r e p a r e d n e s s o f t h e c o m m u n i t i e s b u t a g a i n i t ’s a n e f f o r t o f t h e p a r t n e r c o m m u n i t i e s , p r i v a t e s e c t o r , N G O ’s a n d e v e n l o c a l g o v e r n m e n t u n i t s t h a t t h e y c o o r d i n a t e d w i t h i s p a r t o f t h e b a y a n i h a n C a b r e r o s a d d e d . T h e C a b a l a w a n p r o j e c t a c c o r d i n g C a b r e r o s i s a d e m o -h o u s i n g , a n i n t i a l 1 5 u n i t s w h i c h w i l l b e a s h o w c a s e t o b u i l d m o r e . “ I f w e c a n s h o w c a s e t h a t t h e 1 5 - u n i t i s g o o d , t h i s w i l l b e a p i l o t t o b u i l d m o r e n o t o n l y i n C a b a l a w a n b u t i n t h e m u n i c i p a l i t i e s o f S a m a r , L e y t e , A k l a n , C a p i z , P a l a w a n , I l o - i l o a n d C e b u ” C a b r e r o s s a i d .

T h e a k b a y a n i h a n c o n s u l t e d t h e l o c a l g o v e r n m e n t u n i t a n d t h e b a r a n g a y c o n c e r n e d i n c h o o s i n g t h e b e n e f i c i a r i e s o f t h e 1 5 u n i t s o f h o u s i n g . T h e s e a r e a l s o t h e f a m i l i e s t h a t h a v e r e c e i v e d t h e i r i n i t i a l r e l i e f a n d i t ’s a s e n s e o f c o n t i n u i t y o f h e l p u n t i l t h e f a m i l i e s c a n s t a n d b y t h e i r o w n s a i d C a b r e r o s . T h e u n i t s w i t h t h e h e l p o f a r c h i t e c t f r i e n d s a r e t o b e b u i l d d i s a s t e r r e s i l i e n t , r e p l i c a b l e a n d t o u s e i n d i g e n o u s m a t e r i a l s . I n c o n s o n a n c e w i t h t h e p r e s i d e n t B e n i g n o A q u i n o ’s c a l l f o r b u i l d b a c k b e t t e r , t h e i r s i s b u i l d b a c k b e t t e r t o g e t h e r , t h e s p i r i t o f B a y a n i h a n . ( P I A - 8 w i t h L i z b e t h A n n A b e l l a )

4 February 27, 2014

A s p a r t o f t h e F i r e P r e v e n t i o n M o n t h 2 0 1 4

a c t i v i t i e s f o r t h e B u r e a u o f F i r e P r o t e c t i o n ( B F P ) – M a a s i n C i t y F i r e S t a t i o n , a f u n r u n w i l l s t a r t t h e m o n t h - l o n g c e l e b r a t i o n o n S a t u r d a y , M a r c h 1 , C i t y F i r e M a r s h a l I n s p . K e n i t h N . C a s a s i n a p r e s s s t a t e m e n t s a i d . “ W e w i l l b e c e l e b r a t i n g t h e 4 8 t h F i r e P r e v e n t i o n f o r t h e w h o l e m o n t h o f M a r c h c a r r y i n g t h i s y e a r ’ s s l o g a n : I s u l o n g a n d K a u n l a r a n , S u n o g a y I w a s a n , K a a l a m a n a t P a g - i i n g a t a y K a i l a n g a n ,” C a s a s i n f o r m e d . W h i l e t h e f u n r u n , h e s a i d w i l l c a r r y i t s t h e m e , “ R u n f o r a F i r e S a f e a n d F i r e F r e e N a t i o n ”, C a s a s d i s c l o s e d . T h e f u n r u n a c t i v i t y w i l l s t a r t a t e x a c t l y 5 : 0 0 i n t h e m o r n i n g , h e a d d e d . O n t h e o t h e r h a n d ,

F i r e O f f i c e r - I R a u l I n o c a n d o , p r o g r a m i n - c h a r g e r e v e a l e d o t h e r a c t i v i t i e s f o r t h e m o n t h - l o n g c e l e b r a t i o n , s u c h a s t h e t e s t i n g o f f i r e h y d r a n t s , a b a s k e t b a l l t o u r n a m e n t f i r e d r i l l a t M e t r o H i - P e r ( G a s i a n o - M a a s i n ) , M e d i a H o u r a t “ A c t i o n C e n t e r K a p i h a n s a P I A ” a n d m o t o r c a d e . I n o c a n d o f u r t h e r s a i d t h a t a h o u s e t o h o u s e f i r e s a f e t y i n s p e c t i o n a n d i n t e n s i f i e d f i r e s a f e t y i n s p e c t i o n o n b u s i n e s s e s t a b l i s h m e n t a r e a l s o s e t e s p e c i a l l y o n i d e n t i f i e d h a z a r d o u s a r e a s i n t h e l o c a l i t y . “ W e w i l l a l s o i n v i t e s c h o o l s , e s p e c i a l l y t h e S p e c i a l E d u c a t i o n ( S P E D ) , a m o n g o t h e r s c h o o l s f o r f i r e p r e v e n t i o n a w a r e n e s s a n d t o s h o w c a s e s o m e f i r e e q u i p m e n t a t t h e l o c a l f i r e s t a t i o n h e r e

Fun Run to kick off Fire Prevention Month 2014 in Maasin City

s u c h a s t h e f i r e f i g h t e r s t o o l s a n d e q u i p m e n t , p a r t s o f a f i r e t r u c k , p e r s o n a l p r o t e c t i v e e q u i p m e n t a n d f i r e s a f e t y t i p s ,” I n o c a n d o i n f o r m e d f u r t h e r . T h e l o c a l f i r e d e p a r t m e n t w i l l b e o p e n f o r i n v i t a t i o n s t o c o n d u c t a n y f i r e s a f e t y a n d p r e v e n t i o n l e c t u r e s a n d d r i l l s w h e t h e r i n b a r a n g a y s , g o v e r n m e n t i n s t i t u t i o n s , l a r g e b u s i n e s s e s t a b l i s h m e n t s , a m o n g o t h e r s . T h e c u l m i n a t i o n a c t i v i t y i s s c h e d u l e d o n M a r c h 2 9 w i t h a m o t o r c a d e a n d f l a g c e r e m o n y , I n o c a n d o d i s c l o s e d . ( e s g / r g c / P I A 8 -S o L e y t e )

BY: MA. REBECCA G. CADAVOS

Tacloban City Mayor Alfred Romualdez talks with UN Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Valerie Amos on the ongoing rehabilitation and recovery efforts of the city during the UN Humanitarian chief visit at the Redemptorist Church in Tacloban on Wednesday where some evacuees are still staying. (Neil Lopido/PIA-8)

February 27, 2014 5

DPWH...from page 1

a bay walk , for the H i longosnon and at the same t ime boost the economic status of the munic ipal i t y. This projec t i s considered a breakthrough for the munic ipal i t y and for the ent i re province, Mayor Alber t Vi l lahermosa sa id. “Anything is poss ible. I f a dream is worked on together, i t wi l l become a real i t y,” he added. He encouraged his const i tuents to st ick together as they are on their way towards achieving their so - cal led “H i longosnon Dream.” The sa id ground break ing ceremony was attended by 5th Distr ic t of Leyte Representat ive Cong. Jose Car los “Boying” L . Car i , Mayor Alber t R . Vi l lahermosa, Provincia l Board Member Florante “Junjun” Cayunda Jr. , Provincia l Board Member Boboy G acis , Brgy. Captain of Western Barangay M iguela G abisan, 5th DEO Distr ic t Engineer Leopoldo L . Pica , OIC-Ass istant Distr ic t Engineer Eusebio T. Culas and other prominent delegates f rom di f ferent sec tors. Cong. Car i s t ressed how he considers le isure and

Pnoy meets with Yolanda survivors in Tanauan, Leyte

T he historical event in Edsa revolution is somewhat similar

to the Yolanda incident that hit Leyte in November as it embodies the story of the people’s resil iency, hope and faith to overcome and rise from the devastation. Speaking before the Yolanda survivors in Tanauan, Leyte during his visit Tuesday, President Benigno S. Aquino II I said, he prefers to celebrate the spirit of EDSA with the people who experienced challenges due to calamities that hit Visayas and Mindanao last year.

The President came to Leyte to see for himself the condition of the people more than a hundred days ago after it was hit by the typhoon. “Puno nga po ang schedule natin sa araw na ito, pero tuwing nakik ita ko ang panibagong pag-asa ng ating mga komunidad, narir inig ang mga kuwento mula sa inyo at sa inyong mga pinuno, talaga po nawawala ang aking pagod at lalong nabubuhayan ang aking loob”, the President said. He also made inspections

BY: CONSUELO B. ALARCON

recreat ion as a great attr ibute in the development of a place and i ts people. He added that he is happy that f inal ly, H i longos wi l l have i ts ver y own bay walk upon the complet ion of the sa id projec t and seawal l to protec t the town from poss ible f looding. (P IA 8)

on some projects undertaken by the government in partnership with some private organizations such as Gawad Kalinga, INDIAP group of companies, among others. These are the permanent relocation sites in Brgy. Pago and Brgy. Maribi, Tanauan Leyte where 1, 245 families from “No Build Zones” are to be relocated and a new site for Eastern Visayas Regional Medical Center – the biggest government hospital in the region. The President l ikewise led the groundbreaking of the rehabilitation of Tanauan Public Plaza. In the same occasion, he emphasized the need to relocate 1, 245 Yolanda survivors in Tanauan Leyte to prevent them from further dangers and to ensure that a tragedy will not happen again. I t maybe recalled that more than a thousand residents in the ravaged town of Tananuan, Leyte died when Yolanda struck in November last year. (PIA-8)

UN Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Valerie Amos answers questions from the media during her visit in Tacloban City Wednesday to assess the UN humanitarian response in Leyte particularly in Tacloban City. (Neil Lopido/PIA-8)

6 February 27, 2014

Heavy rains mar PNOY Guiuan visit, Sec Procie gives local farmers banca engines, others

P resident Benigno S . Aquino I I I ’s scheduled v is i t yesterday

to Guiuan, th is province was hampered by bad weather. More or less 3 ,000 local fo lks awaited his presence at the bus terminal area but shor t ly before his expec ted arr ival , an announcement f rom the improvised stage spread over the expec tant crowd that the Pres ident ’s p i lot opted not to

take of f f rom his Tanauan v is i t in Leyte, due to the heav y ra ins and uncleared sk ies. “ We cannot compromise the secur i t y of the Pres ident ”, Guiuan Mayor Chr istopher Gonzales’ voice echoed on a i r as he expla ined to his const i tuents the reason why Pres. Aquino missed the audience which included most of the “ Yolanda” most af fec ted populat ion.

They were informed however, that a nex t schedule wi l l be considered for the Guiuananons and Eastern Samarenos. Depar tment of Agr iculture Secretar y(DA) Secretar y Proceso Alcala instead pushed through with the other ac t iv i t y that was l ikewise pre -arrange on the same day. Alcala was hours ahead of the Pres ident that he e luded the thick c loudy sk ies. According to him, such is the standing order of the Pres ident to provide the heavi ly af fec ted communit ies with the much needed ass istance. Among the gi f ts Alcala gave to the farmers here were: f ive - catt les , 5- cows which are subjec t for del iver y soon; 200 mar ine pump boat engines, coco seedl ings and a thousand wor th of farm mechanizat ion equipments to a l l the munic ipal local government units . Alcala urged the farmers to plant and divers i fy their p lantat ions. “ We cannot sur vive with just Coconut plants in our farm. You have to plant Cacaos or Coffee under the Coco trees and vegetables under the Cacaos and Coffee”, Sec. Alcala sa id. He added that he himsel f was a farmer before he became the former congressman of Quezon and authored the “Organic Ac t of 2010”. As he spoke for the Pres ident , Alcala encouraged the Guiuananon farmers and f isher folks to cont inue on with their res i l ienc y as more government ass istance wi l l come their way, but he sa id, l ikewise, that they should a lso give their par t in putt ing back their normal l iv ing condit ions. (P IA-Eastern Samar/aen)

February 27, 2014 7

New state-of-the-art...from page 1

dur ing the ground break ing. As stated by secretar y Enr ique Ona of the Depar tment of Health the old E VRMC wi l l be turn over to the provincia l government of Leyte. The new E VRMC wi l l s tand in a 25 hec tare of land and dubbed by secretar y as the nex t best medical center outs ide Metro Mani la . As of press t ime the E VRMC had a quick f ix according to G al indez and made poss ible for a better equipment and fac i l i t ies which eventual ly wi l l be t ransferred in the new E VRMC. The projec t of the new E VRMC according to G al indez is to star t as soon as poss ible meaning i f the plans of the centra l of f ice wi l l be f in ished, the secretar y of health Ona, gave the t ime table that by the year 2016 the new

Men in Catbalogan are prime movers of Women’s Month celebration

W o m e n’s M o n t h i n C a t b a l o g a n w i l l b e c e l e b r a t e d w i t h m e n

a s p r i m e m o v e r s . D u r i n g t h e m e e t i n g o n Tu e s d a y t o p l a n fo r t h e b i g w o m e n e v e n t , C a t b a l o g a n M a y o r S t e p h U y -Ta n r e c o g n i z e d t h e m e n w h o e a g e r l y a t t e n d e d t h e m e e t i n g a n d s u g g e s t e d s i g n i f i c a n t e v e n t s t o m a r k Wo m e n’s M o n t h i n t h e c i t y. “ I a m g r a t e f u l t o a l l w h o a t t e n d e d t h i s m e e t i n g, e s p e c i a l l y t h e m e n w h o d i d n o t m i n d h e l p i n g u s c r a f t e v e n t s f o r a m e m o r a b l e c e l e b r a t i o n f o r w o m e n ,” U y -Ta n a d d r e s s e d t h e p a r t i c i p a n t s . T h e M a y o r i n v i t e d r e p r e s e n t a t i v e s f r o m t h e d i f f e r e n t a g e n c i e s t o s y n c h r o n i z e e v e n t s g e a r e d t o w a r d s t h e c e l e b r a t i o n o f Wo m e n s M o n t h

t h i s M a r c h , 2 0 1 4 . O n e o f t h e h i g h l i g h t s o f t h e c e l e b r a t i o n t h i s M a r c h o n Wo m e n’s M o n t h i s a Fu n Wa l k o n M a r c h 8 , c o n s i d e r e d a s I n t e r n a t i o n a l Wo m e n’s D a y. Wo m e n a n d t h e i r m e n s u p p o r t e r s w i l l w a l k t h r o u g h o u t t h e c i t y s t r e e t s w h e r e t h e y w i l l w e a r t h e r e c o m m e n d e d w h i t e t - s h i r t s w i t h t h e t h e m e w r i t t e n i n p u r p l e , t h e w a l k i s a i m e d t o i n v i t e a t t e n t i o n t o t h e i s s u e s f a c e d b y t h e w o m e n f o l k . Le c t u r e f o r u m o n G e n d e r a n d C l i m a t e C h a n g e a n d D i s a s t e r Pr e p a r e d n e s s a r e p a r t o f t h e a c t i v i t i e s o f t h e C i t y o f C a t b a l o g a n t h i s M a r c h . D e p E d C a t b a l o g a n C i t y D i v i s i o n w i l l h o l d a p o s t e r d r a w i n g c o n t e s t w h i l e t h e C i t y LG U w i l l s p o n s o r a p h o t o g r a p h y

c o n t e s t a s p a r t o f t h e a c t i v i t i e s . A h o s t o f o t h e r a c t i v i t i e s l i k e b a r a n g a y v i s i t a t i o n s , o r i e n t a t i o n o n t h e A n t i V i o l e n c e A g a i n s t Wo m e n a n d C h i l d r e n , B u n t i s C o n g r e s s a n d o t h e r s w i l l a l s o b e d o n e . A n o t h e r i m p o r t a n t e v e n t i s t h e o r i e n t a t i o n / f o r u m o n t e e n a g e p r e g n a n c y a s t w o p r o p o n e n t s , a y o u t h g r o u p c a l l e d ” Wa r a y a” a n d t h e Fa m i l y P l a n n i n g O r g a n i z a t i o n o f t h e P h i l i p p i n e s ( F P O P ) S a m a r C h a p t e r n o t e d t h a t s e x u a l e n g a g e m e n t o f S a m a r n o n s i s g e t t i n g e a r l i e r. T h e y e x p r e s s e d c o n c e r n t h a t t e e n - a g e p r e g n a n c y i s o n t h e r i s e a n d t h a t i n t e r v e n t i o n i s n e e d e d . T h i s y e a r ’s t h e m e i s : J u a n a , a n g Ta t a g m o, a y Ta t a g N a t i n , s a p a g b a n g o n a t Pa g s u l o n g ! ( P I A 8 - S a m a r )

E VRMC wi l l be f in ished. The projec t of the new E VRMC has the in i t ia l funding of 500 mi l l ion pesos f rom the Government of the Phi l ippines GOP. According to G al indez the projec t may be funded by Publ ic Pr ivate Par tnership PPP, through the government of the Phi l ippines or through donors l ike J ICA and others. (L izbeth Ann Abel la)

www.pia.gov.ph

8 February 27, 2014

aspalto

2ft.

2ft.1ft.

Mga Pama agi sa Pagtindog sa Malig-on nga Balay

30 cmmax.

2

1

30°

V2

PAG-ATOP (Roo�ng)

PAG TUKOD (Bracing)

BINTANA UG (Doors and Windows)

PAG-PALIG-ON (Bracing)

PAGSUMPAY (Connections)