Issue 3 of the Weekly Vanguard

The Weekly

Vanguard

Photo by Jovic Navarro

Vol. 1, No. 3

For what is true, for what is just, for what is right!.

Oct. 31 - Nov. 5, 2016

November is the month for remembering those who perished before us, the vicitms of Typhoon Uring in 1991 and those of Yolanda in 2013. Let us offer our prayers.

Casualties in the drug war

6 top cops listed

By Miriam Desacada

TACLOBAN CITY- Six top ranking police officers, with the ranks of senior superintendent to chief inspectors, have been recently included in the charge sheet of Albuera Police Chief Inspector Jovie Espenido.

This is the third batch so far in the expanding network of suspected drug coddlers and protectors filed by Espenido at the Police Regional Office 8’s Regional Internal Affairs Service (RIAS).

The list of respondents is led by Senior Supt. Bucsit Macanas, then Ormoc City PNP director. He was recently relieved as Cebu PNP provincial director after his name was cited among those listed as drug protectors of the Kerwin Espinosa syndicate.

Cebu Governor Hilario Davide however has only praises for Macanas, saying he had done well in the three months that he headed the CPPO and that he had forged a “very good working relationship” with Capitol even in that short period.

Macanas was the Ormoc City police director when Espinosa was released from the Ormoc City Jail in Barangay Alta Vista in 2014 and started building his drug empire, according to Espenido. But it was during his time that the police arrested Kerwin and 12 of his companions on March 5, 2015.

The police filed charges against Kerwin and his group for attempted homicide and illegal possession of explosives, a non-bailable offense.

But the charges against the suspects were dismissed by the court.

Davide said Macanas might have been just included in Mayor Espinosa’s narco list because he wanted to get back at the police officer for previously arresting Kerwin Espinosa.

Macanas earlier dismissed the accusations as he questioned the credibility of Espinosa and his associates as “full of lies.”

Also included in Espenido’s list is Supt. Ebrahim Jambiran, Supt. Rey Musauding, Chief Inspectors Noel Mondragon, Teudolo Armada and Frederick Vano, PO1 Dennie Torrefiel, PO2 Cereno Luage and SPO1 Erwin Manalo, all accused of receiving payola from drug Lord Kerwin Espinosa.

Onick in slay rap

Senior Supt. Bucsit Macanas Jambiran was also assigned in Ormoc while Espinosa was operating here, then he was transferred to Zamboanga then to Calbayog prior to his relief. He blames a former PDEA official, with whom he has a personal grudge, and family of police officers for his inclusion in the list of drug protectors.

Jambiran also said he has been accused of causing the disappearance of Benhur Babol, a suspected “big-time”

(Go to p. 2)

Jailed Albuera town Mayor Rolando “Daddy Onick” Espinosa will face another non-bailable case in a Regional Trial Court. This time in Ormoc City, not Baybay City, for “masterminding” the murder of retired police officer Alfredo B. Bucabuca after the last elections. A 14-page resolution, penned by Ormoc City Prosecutor Marcelo C. Oñate finds cause to elevate the murder charge filed by Mercedita, widow of slain former cop Alfredo Bucabuca, to the RTC against Espinosa.

Two other accomplices, Alfred Christian “Alchris” Batistis, and Leonardo Boliño “Daot” dela Cruz, have been similarly charged.

Bucabuca, who ran and lost as a candidate for town councilor under the local Liberal Party of former Mayor Ramon dela Cerna Jr., was ambushed by two men riding

in tandem at the bridge in Brgy.Macabug, Ormoc City, at around 4 o’clock in the afternoon on May 23, 2016. In her affidavit, Bucabuca’s widow said she was on the front seat of their Isuzu SLX Hi-Lander vehicle when it stopped at the bridge that was undergoing repairs at that time.

Suddenly, a helmeted man who covered his face approached Bucabuca who was driving and shot him at close range several times through the vehicle’s window shield, hitting the victim.

The retired policeman died instantly from multiple gunshot wounds.

Mercedita declared in her affidavit that her husband had been earlier receiving death threats after former Albuera town councilor Sergio Batitis was dis-

(Go to p. 2)

2

Vanguard

Oct 31 - Nov 5, 2016

in Leyte

16 towns, cities ‘internally stable’

By Gina Dean Ormoc City – Fourteen municipalities and two cities in Leyte are said to be peaceful and internally stable, but there are still 12 armed groups scattered operating in some mountainous areas here. This was disclosed by the 802 Brigade Commander Francisco Mendoza in an interview with The Weekly Vanguard last week. The period covers the months of February to October, this year.

The list includes the towns of La Paz, Kananga, Palo, Carigara, San Isidro, Albuera, Macarthur, Isabel, Jaro, Javier, Villaba, Tanauan, Capoocan, Burauen, Baybay and Ormoc. Tacloban City’s SIPS declaration is set on November 7, Mendoza said.

Mendoza however admitted that NPAs are still visible in a “SIPS area,” but their strength has been reduced into squad sizes. They no longer pose a major threat to the peace and order situation of said municipality or city, he said.

He said in Leyte, there are 12 armed elements scattered throughout the province and can be felt in the hinterlands of Carigara, Kananga and Ormoc. Hard core personalities who have been known to operate for quite some time in the moun-

tains are being monitored by military intelligence, he added.

He attributes the success to the Internal Peace and Security Plan which enables stakeholders to be engaged, especially the local chief executives, and the continued assistance to former rebels through the so-called Comprehensive Localized Integration Program (CLIP).

He said the IPSP intends to change the mind-set of the people from an old perception, to bring government services and private institutions or non-government organizations closer to the community.

But he also said some local chief executives refuse to admit military presence in the area. Political indifferences and bickering between the municipal mayor and the barangay leaders have affected the IPSP Bayanihan, that the military has to exert effort to influence these officials.

Two features have accordingly changed the perception of the public about the AFP. One of the direct engagements between the stakeholders is the ongoing monitoring of civil society organizations of the AFP’s performance in its implementation of IPSP Bayanihan, which should be in accordance with the human rights principles and rule of law, Mendoza said. #

( 6 top cops...from p. 1) pusher in Zamboanga City.

In a phone interview with The Weekly Vanguard, CIDG regional Chief Supt.

Marvin Marcos said Armada and Mondragan, who are presently assigned at the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, will soon be relieved of their respective assignments.

“After my official report to my higher headquarters, I can do nothing do but to sack them from their respective posts while the investigation is going on,” Marcos said.

Mondragon is the provincial CIDG provincial director in Southern Leyte, while Armada is the chief of the Investigation division of CIDG regional Office 8.

Torrefiel, also of CIDG,

is now currently detained at the Tacloban City Jail after he was arrested in a buy bust operation of this city police operatives, while Manalo, prior to his assignment at the CIDG regional office on August, was already reassigned to the Cordillera province.

To recall, the Albuera PNP also charged 22 policemen before the RIAS, and the respondents already summoned so they can submit their counter affidavits.

Espenido said they are still building up the cases against other Leyte officials in the narco-list and PNP Generals. He hopes the cases against these officials would be bolstered by the revelations of the recently captured Kerwin Espinosa.

(Onick in...from p. 1)

had cut off the wires that supplied electricity to their house, a move seen as part of the harassment tactics employed against Bucabuca.

In another affidavit that bolstered the claim of Mercedita, one of the Espinosa’s drivers, Nelson M. Pepito Jr., admitted that he acted as the spotter and lookout working in tandem with the assassins.

missed from service. Alfredo Bucabuca had filed charges of falsification of public documents against Batistis with the Ombudsman. One of those accused of murder, Alfred Christian Batisis, is the brother of Sergio.

Moreover, Bucabuca’s widow said, Espinosa’s men

Photo shows Col. Francisco F. Mendoza Jr. , Inf (GSC) PA, Commander of the 802 Brigade attending the Joint Declaration of Stable Internal Peace and Security (SIPS) of Baybay, City at the city hall grounds last Oct. 24, 2016. Also present were Lt. Col. Allan Jose Taguba, BattalionCommander of the 78th IB, PSupt. Orgonia of the PNP, Mayor Carmen Cari and Vice-Mayor Michael Cari, with other members of the council. Some 300 people were said to be in attendance.

He said it as he who sent a text message to them to wait for Busabuca’s vehicle at the bridge in Macabug as it was going to to Albuera from Ormoc.

He said he saw the two assassins approach the vehicle of Bucabuca and shot him several times. According to Pepito, Espinosa plotted to kill Bucabuca because the latter refused to support the former during the elections. He said he was present during a meeting of the three accused sometime on the second week of May, this year, at Espinosa’s house, when the murder plan was hatched. Pepito is close to the Espinosas being a neighbor in Brgy. Binolho where the Espinosas built their houses.

Mayor Espinosa is currently jailed at the Leyte Provincial Jail, Baybay City, charged with four counts of related-drug non-bailable cases, including illegal possession of firearms, ammunitions and explosives.#

By Jun Tarroza

Ericson Cycle Center

Dealer of all kinds of motorcycle spareparts- genuine and replacement Rizal Corner Osmeña St., Ormoc City, 5616399

Proprietor: Babie Ong ltcol. allan jose taguba, batcom

Vanguard

Oct. 31 - Nov. 5, 2016

3

Inmate slain in police raid Drugs sell like gold

By Jun Tarroza and Miriam Desacada

Now inmates are no longer safe from extra judicial killings even in jail.

Relatives who came to see the remains of their uncle after the raid of his prison cell by police operatives and the alleged shootout on the early morning of October 28 could not believe the reports.

Fernando “Intoy” M. Balagbis, a suspected druglord considered a “high value target” in the police order of battle had been detained at the Baybay City jail for various drug-related charges when the police decided to search his cell. What they recovered was an incredible array of drugs and drug paraphernalia and a .45 caliber pistol with five live ammunition.

The official police report said they confiscated 2 big sizes, 3 medium sizes and 9 small sizes plastic sachets of shabu; 8 pieces of Alluminum foil, 7 medium sized sachet packed with marijuana, and P3,810 cash money.

How Balagbis came to possess the drug sachets and guns was difficult to believe, as far the nephews Avel Balagbis and Rafp Nico Balagbis were concerned.

He could not have smuggled those inside the cell as the jail warden and the jail guards followed strict regulations for visitors, they said.

Hence, their uncle could not

have ‘resisted’ and much less put up a fight against the raiding police troops, they said. But according to the report, there was a firefight between the prisoner Balagbis and the police, after which he was slain.

The report said the raid was led by the Regional Anti-iIllegal Drugs Special Operations Task Group (RAIDSOTG) team in Eastern Visayas headed by PSupt.

Harry V. Sucayre, along with Leyte Province Police Station Chief PSupt. Marben M. Ordonia, and Baybay City Police Station Chief PSupt. Ramil Amodia. The warrant was accordingly served at about 2:55 o’clock on October 28.

The search warrant was issued by Regional Trial Court, Branch 33, Judge Janet M. Cabaluna, of Calbiga, Samar, on October 25.

The victim’s nephew Rafp also noted that the time of the raid was very early, a time when a person is in deep sleep. The circumstances were highly questionable, he said.

He said although his uncle has no job, he owned a sari-sari store while his wife works in the local government of this city. He said his uncle was the silent type who did not want trouble.

Another relative said that he called up SJO4 Jimmy Vera Topia, the jail warden, about the incident but

the latter refused to entertain a conversation, saying he was busy because of the incident.

The warden has 57 inmates to look after and their safety to ensure. Balagbis was facing 8 various charges related to drugs, four of which were dismissed. He was said to be one of the drug distributors of Kerwin Espinos in Baybay. The other cases he left at RTC, Branch 14, Baybay City, were 3 counts of violation of RA 9165, and an illegal possession of explosives.

A day after the incident, Senior Supt. Efren Nemenio, BJMP regional director ordered the immediate relief of the jail warden and his 15 other jail guards to allow a thorough investigation by BJMP in-house personnel.

“Malaking dagok ito sa Bureau (This is a big blow to the bureau), and I have to relieve them while investigation is going on how the illegal drugs and firearms were able to get inside ,” Nemenio said.

According to the police, Balagtis continued his illegal drug trade while inside his detention.

Nemenio said Topia was replaced by Jail Inspector Lourdes Noveda. The other personnel will also be replaced as those relieved are undergoing investigation and will be on floating status at the regional office.#

Ormoc City - The price of shabu is being compared these days to that of gold – almost priceless and unaffordable, a police source who refused to be named told The Weekly Vanguard last week. As a result, sugar cane workers and tricycle drivers now appear to be more robust because they can no longer afford the drug.

A few months ago, shabu can be had in group sessions.

Although the drug is still available, the source said it can be had at a very high risk, thanks to Operation Tokhang.

He said Tokhang has caused the surrender of nearly 2,500 drug users and pushers in this city and the death of four high value targets or known drug personalities.

According to the police, these targets fought back. Thus, they were shot and killed, In the police records, there is nothing about extrajudicial killings or summary executions. But it is publicly known that there were at least two such killings and one frustrated murder.

Among these were the murders of Dist. 1 Brgy. Kag. Ra-

mil Daffon and Hibunawon Brgy. Kag. Allan Bensig, and the attempted killing of Raymund Peñalosa. Daffon was shot and killed by unknown killers inside his house.

The same fate was also happened to Bensig who was cornered at Brgy. Punta by his killers who run after him.

Peñalosa has lived to tell his story and is recuperating from his bullet wounds.

According to the police source, the killings are classified by the police here as “death under Investigation.”

So far, no one has dared to file a complaint since the Operation Tokhang started last July. Apparently families of victims also fear for their lives.

In Eastern Visayas region, the PNP regional office has recorded 25 deaths because they accordingly resisted and fought back. Operation Tokhang has reportedly caused the surrender of 2,358 pushers and 17,644 users. The police also confiscated 12,660 grams of shabu worth P101.3 million and 46.62 grams of marijuana.

Tokhang has caused the arrest of 287 persons in the region. # By Jun Tarroza

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Shabu sachets and guns seized in prison raid.

Vanguard

4

Ormoc fiscal mum on drug charge Ormoc City -The city fiscal who was included in the charge sheet filed by Chief Inspector Jovie Espenido with the Ombudsman the other week has refused to grant interviews to the media, saying he has not received any complaint from the Ombudsman. Fiscal Marcelo Oñate of Ormoc City however granted access to records related to drug cases filed at his sala.

Fiscal Espenido included him along with five government officials who received payolas as protectors and coddlers of Kerwin’s illegal drug operations. Espenido said the Oñate has not lifted a finger against Kerwin’s illegal activities. Some sources said the cases against Kerwin Espinosa were dropped at his sala, but these cannot be readily blamed on the fiscal.

If the records are to be made as basis, the prosecu-

Political murder?

Family hints at culprit

tor’s office here has received 86 drug-related cases, of which only four were dismissed. This was as of August, this year, including the two months drug war period of the Duterte administration, Included here are 76 in inquest proceedings. while 10 already went through preliminary investigation by the city prosecutor.

Last year, it recorded a total of 106 drug-related cases as the term of Edward Codilla administration was ending. During this period, only two were dropped. The total included 99 inquest cases and seven undergoing a preliminary investigation.

There were much fewer cases filed in the years 2013 and 2014. In 2013, only 21 cases were filed, out of which four were dismissed. In 2014, 34 cases were recorded, and two dismissed. By Jun Tarroza

Muslim woman nabbed for drugs Hilongos, Leyte A Muslim woman now living in Hindang was nabbed for dealing in illegal drugs popularly known as shabu, by the combined forces of the Baybay and Hilongos police forces. The arrest occurred last October 22 yet.

Found in her possession was a piece of mediumpacked of white crystalline substance said to be worth P 3,000. The suspect, identified as Raidah Sarip, 30 years old, is a native of Marawi City and is currently renting a house in Brgy. Poblacion 2 in the neighboring town of Hindang.

According to Hilongos Police Chief P/C.Insp. Alberto Renomeron, the Baybay police, headed by P/Supt. Ramil Amodia, has been chasing Sarip since she was tagged as one of the new big players in the drug trade in Baybay.

They had monitored the illegal transactions of Sarip who was peddling drugs in Baybay down to Matalom.

That Friday afternoon of October 22, the police noticed that movement of Sarip and decided to follow her. She was nabbed in one ukay-ukay store in Hilongos as she was about to transact business.

Oct. 31 - Nov. 5, 2016

She tried to throw the shabu from her bag but she was seen by one of the cops who subsequently arrested her During her interrogation, she told the police that she was just running errands for one of her friends in Baybay, and that she earned P2,000 for each delivery. She also pleaded that she be released because she had just given birth to her first baby a month ago.

The prosecutor’s office in Hilongos found probable cause to file the case, with no bail recommended. By Najib M. Cubio

Make your day with The Weekly Vanguard.

By Miriam Desacada Tomas Oppus, Southern Leyte - The police are expected to respond immediately to crime situations when they occur, but the police of Tomas Oppus, Southern Leyte appear to be remiss in their duties. They came three days after murder was committed – and the victim was a public official, Barangay Captain Celso Torion of Brgy. Hinagtican.

“Masakit talaga. Kahit na ang kanilang hot line ay nakasado. imagine pumunta lang ang mga police sa bahay after three-days.(It’s really painful. Their hotline was closed. Imagine the police came to our house after three days.)That was the time we lost our trust to the police in our town,” the 23year old daughter Narissa told the media in tears.

Torion was gunned down by an alleged hired killer riding in tandem in the evening of last October 19 in nearby Barangay Looc, this town.

He was shot twice, once in the forehead and in the side of the body, with his eightyear old son looking on.

Nerissa suspects politics is involved. She said her fa-

ther used to be an ally of the incumbent mayor of Tomas Oppus, Nene Escano, for the past 40 years. But in the last elections, her father shifted his support to Escaño’s opponent. After that, he started getting death threats as shown in several police blotters, Although the motive of the killing has not been established yet, the family is convinced about its political nature.

“Malakas ang kutob namin na politika ang motibo ng pagpatay ng tatay ko.(I have a strong hunch that politics is the motive bhind my father’s murder.) That is why we are here in the NBI asking to step into the case,” Nerissa added.

On Wedenesday last week, several barangay chairmen of Tomas Oppus and the family of the slain barangay chairman came to the National Bureau of Investigation regional office so they can do an independent investigation of the murder.

Four of the barangay chairman, who accompanied the widow of Torion to the NBI, said a local politican was made after Torion and several other barangay chair-

men did not support him during the elections. They said they received death threats afterward, which they reported to the police.

“We came here to the NBI regional office to seek justice for the family for the death of Barangay Chairman Celso Torion, as we feel there is no justice in our town because we are PDP Laban members,” they told reporters.

For his part, the Southern Leyte PNP provincial director Senior Supt. Warren de Leon has assured that a parallel investigation will be undertaken with the National Bureau of Investigation, a week after Torion was killed.

He said the police was never been biased but will always give a fair conduct of the investigation in Torion’s death. He also appealed to the victim’s family to send a letter to his office, so that action will be taken immediately. So far, the family has only asked for the relief of police chief Sr. Inspector Rolando Paloma.

“Kailangan meron akong pinanghahawakan na reklamo (I need to get hold of the complaint), so we can investigate and take action,” he

Cacao, a way out of poverty CATBALOGAN CITY, Samar, Oct 28 (PIA)--Cacao production in Eastern Visayas may help poor farmers get more income.

Today, officials of the different agencies tasked to assist farmers joined together to aggressively push the cacao industry notches higher than the usual fare.

In the recent Cacao Industry Stakeholders’ Forum held at the Leyte Academic Center, government and non government vowed to support cacao producers in Eastern Visayas.

In his message, Agriculture Secretary Manny Pinol said that the theme,”Eastern Visayas Responding to 2022 Cacao Challenge” is perfectly

in sync with Pres Duterte’s directive to the agri sector to provide affordable and nutritious food to every Filipino.

Regional Director Wilson Cerbito said that initially, some 5,000 hectares will be devoted to cacao plantation in the region. This 2016, the government is said to provide 600 thousand planting materials.

Vanguard

Oct. 31 - Nov. 5, 2016

No remorse in killing Ormoc City - After seeing his daughter and niece bloodied and sprawled on the pavement, the enraged father, Michael Asedillo, took his .45 cal pistol without hesitation and shot the motorcycle driver at pointblank, instantly killing him.

The driver had fractured his head on the pavement after hitting the two children with his motorcycle that had no headlights and signal lights.

According to SPO1 Teodoro Abril, the MC driver Helbert Lucernas, was riding on his SRM Honda motorcycle on the night of October 23 when he hit the two children, Nicole and Ana, both nine years old. They were going to a store in the neighborhood to buy cigarettes. But the driver himself fell off his bike and slammed his unprotected head on the pavement, that would have caused his death had not the father of

Nicole came with his gun and finished him off.

The next day, the police came to arrest Asedillo, confiscating his unlicensed firearm with three live ammo.

When interviewed at the police station, he said he was filled with rage when he saw his niece lying unconscious on the pavement and his daughter also unconscious nearby. He then approached the driver whose head was pressed on the pavement and shot him.

“Wa gyud ko magbasol sa akong nabuhat (I do not regret what I have done),” Asedillo told The Weekly Vanguard. Both his niece and daughter would recover consciousness only at the hospital.

Meanwhile, the driver’s wife found his cadaver at one of the funeral parlors in the city after days of looking for him. She said Helbert was

Tarroza

(From Samar Breeze..p 6

In June the technical working group took the lead in crafting the Eastern Samar Cacao Industry Development Roadmap. More than 14 farmers’ groups sent representatives to the planning workshop. The provincial government was represented by the vice governor who pledged support to the roadmap and the whole cacao initiative in the province.

Months after the workshop, the Office of the Provincial Agricultural Services has included in its proposed budget for 2017 an allocation for cacao. The approved budget has yet to be made public.

But word is out that the provincial government has allocated an amount for putting up a nursery in the north to achieve economy of scale in the province’s cacao production. Such investment from the provincial government will encourage more private sector investment in Eastern Samar.

But all is not well yet.

Despite government support, uptake of cacao growing by farmers and landowners in

Eastern Samar is still slow, probably because of the low appreciation of cacao’s market potential and some apprehension on the risk of growing cacao on a larger scale. To address these concerns, PIN and the council have asked Seedcore to put up learning farms in the ESSU campuses and ESSU agreed. PIN has also partnered up with Wave Network, Incorporated to air weekly radio programs that will partly be devoted to the promotion of cacao.

Multiple players are now collaborating to support cacao growing in Eastern Samar. Each one plays a distinct role and each one is driven by the thought of an incentive, which need not be monetary. How this confluence of forces will play out, remains to be seen. One hopes the results will benefit the people. One also hopes the loss of the coconut industry would usher in a new one. And one hopes Typhoon Yolanda, for all the havoc it brought the province, has ironically jumpstarted its development. #

Barangay Iberan, Salcedo.

The nursery can produce 200,000 grafted cacao seedlings per cycle. Seedcore will also train farmers in all stages of cacao growing from land preparation to post-harvest handling. It also committed to bring along Casco Commodity, Incorporated, its sister company, which has a sourcing partnership with Barry Callebaut, the world’s largest cacao grinder. This immediately links the province to the global cacao value chain.

Government agencies in Eastern Samar have been supportive of the cacao iniative. PIN along with the Provincial Government and the provincial offices of DTI, DOST, DAR and PCA served as the technical working group of the council. Later, the council expanded to include farmers, tablea-makers, municipal governments and ESSU. DOST provided an office for the council at the ESSU campus in Borongan.

Michael Asedillo: Remorseless attending a birthday party in Brgy. Libertad, a neighboring barangay, on the night of the accident. # By Jun

Region to host ICT meet TACLOBAN CITY, Leyte October 28 (PIA) – “We would like to announce to the world that Eastern Visayas is ready as an ICT destination,” Department of Science and Technology, Eastern Visayas regional director Edgardo Esperancilla said.

According to RD Esperancilla during the Panginsayod, a kapihan with PIA and friends, some 28 ICT organizations throughout the country will join in the

national ICT summit, which is considered as the biggest gathering of information and communication technology champions of the industry on November 10-11, 2016 at Palo, Leyte and Tacloban City.

Tacloban City was chosen to host the summit by the National ICT Confederation of the Philippines in a way to help Region 8 to recover from the devastation of Super typhoon Yolanda three years ago, he said.

Before the onset of Yolanda, Tacloban City used to have 4,000 seats in the BPO industry. However, some of the young talents went to Cebu after the calamity, Esperancilla said. He noted that today Cebu City is swelling with 130,000 seats while Iloilo gets 20,000 seats, as well.

He is confident that there are enough talents that would attract more ICT companies to invest in the region.

5

(From Vintage View...p. 7) lated to the whole course of history and predestined from eternity” (Ibid., 648-649).

The greatest bane in the post-Yolanda recovery and rehabilitation efforts are the image-building tactics of some local leaders to impose their names as labels and simultaneously spite their political adversaries on specific aspects of these efforts.

The credit-grabbing dynamics are being rationalized by partisans in gossip circles as practical realities of local politics. Some of them seem to be succeeding, to the detriment of their less-favored constituents. Of some consolation to the unaligned majority of Yolanda victims, independent international and national NGOs have filtered down parallel assistance and are making significant successes in their own efforts, even under the shadow of petty politics.

On the force that moves nations, Tolstoy wrote: “The movement of nations is caused not by power, nor by intellectual activity, nor even by a combination of the two as historians have supposed, but by the activity of all the people who participate in the events, and who always combine in such a way that those taking the largest direct share in the event take on themselves the least responsibility and viceversa” (Ibid., 1290).

This is where you, Mindanao/Visayas participants

of this workshop, could come into the picture in a significant way. By engaging in the “least responsibility” to introduce and teach about the environment and climate change impacts as components of the New General Education Curriculum, the resulting “critical mass” of your collective efforts can greatly contribute to the body of actionable knowledge that could help cushion or prevent the adverse consequences of future disasters in your respective places of origin.

In closing, whether we like it or not, the tragic images produced by Supertyphoon Yolanda, now recorded and available in the public domain, will likely haunt and influence the movement of our nation and the conduct of our leaders and our people over the next few years.

Along this line, the Post-Haiyan Tacloban Declaration on disaster risk reduction and management, which came out of the Asia-Europe Meeting held in Manila last June 4-6, 2014, already provides revised policy directions and guideposts for the international community in dealing with mega-disasters over the next decade or so (www. dfa.gov.ph/index.php/asemmanila/3105-post-haiyan-tacloban-declaration).

In Tacloban itself, Supertyphoon Yolanda has already become the new milestone of our lives.#

PNP, DPWH set for ‘undas’ NAVAL, Biliran, Oct. 28 (PIA) – For the safety of motorists and Biliranons in visiting their departed ones in cemeteries around the province on November 1 and 2, the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) laid their preparations for Undas 2016 to guide the public.

Major Alfredo Espina, Chief of Police of Naval Municipal Police Station (MPS) disclosed over Radyo NatinNaval during PIA’s Kapihan at Pulong-Pulong Ng Bayan, that they will set up police assistance hub at the Naval Catholic Cemetery where majority of believers flock for the traditional annual visit.

He said, the police assistance hub is manned by policemen with the barangay tanods and army reservists to assist traffic in the vicinity.

For her part, Police Chief Inspector Teodora Salarza of the Police Community Relations (PCR) of Biliran Police Provincial Office(BPPO), said, they will monitor and inspect every municipal po-

lice stations in their preparations and ensure that all men in uniform are in their areas of assignment.

She also advised all who are planning to spend “Undas” in the cemeteries to bring enough food and drinking water.

Likewise, she informed everyone not to take with them alcoholic beverage.

Bringing pointed, bladed and deadly weapons, and any items for gambling inside the cemetery is not allowed, she added.

She urged everyone to be vigilant with their belongings and see to it they won’t create fire accidents or any untoward incidents while visiting their dearly departed.

Secure small children and provide them with name tags or IDs for proper identification in case they are separated from their companion; maintain cleanliness the surroundings inside the cemetery; and be familiarized with the first aid station and PNP assistance hub in case of emergency or police assistance.

Vanguard

6

OPINION

Oct. 31 - Nov. 5, 2016

The Power of Far Vista

By Phillip Ting

Bored with the President who cried wolf too much

F Editorial

The mark of scorpio

W

e are at the beginning of the month of November, the eleventh month of the Gregorian Calendar, with scorpio as our prime symbol. According to astrologers, that should not be taken lightly.

There is accordingly no fluff or chatter for the scorpio, and scorpios concern themselves with beginnings and endings.

For us in the region, astrology does not have to tell us that November is one of those dreaded ‘-ber’ months This is the month when the cold winds from Siberia start to blow, and we begin to witness the slight drizzle that comes with the wind. While we welcome the change of weather from the warm habagat, we also dread the coming of typhoons that no longer go up northwest, with the pressure from Amihan bearing them to a steady westerly direction.

Recent history will bear us out. In 1991, typhoon Uring took more than 6,000 dead from Ormoc’s informal settle-

ments, mostly living alongside riverbanks. The rain was not heavy, and even the wind was barely a slight breeze.

But the downpours fell in the mountainous areas steadily and made the two river systems into temporary dams that would later burst rampaging in the two rivers that cut through the city.

In 30 minutes, thousands of dead bodies lay half-buried in the sand as the city became a flood plain.

Yolanda was different. It had all the horror and drama associated with huge typhoons. The rampaging waters were brought by the sea in what became known as an apocalyptic storm surge, bashing against puny human structures in several coastal towns and cities in Eastern Visayas, Cebu and Iloilo.

An undetermined number of souls perished as billions of properties were lost.

We all prayed that such will not come again. But at the back of our minds, we are pretty sure that it will come again. Scientists wrote their prophecies on climate

change, saying Yolanda is the new normal. Meaning let’s not expect weak typhoons anymore.

I guess it’s payback time for the sins we have committed against mother nature. The rampant cutting of trees. The slash-and-burn farming system that still goes on in the uplands. The spewing of ashladen carbon dioxides to the atmosphere. The use of vehicles with toxic fumes. The unrelenting use of fossil fuels.

Etcetera.

We’ll probably wash our hands of some of these sins.

Fine. But nature answers wholesale. Everybody suffers from the sins of a few.

Going back to astrology, we should probably learn from the regenerative powers of the scorpion which can lose its tail and promptly grow a new one. They just keep on going, since they are stubborn and determined to succeed. In the new normal, we need to have this attitude.

Relentless to fortify ourselves in face of overwhelming odds. Some people call that resiliency.

The Weekly Vanguard

is the Eastern Visayas weekly newspaper published by The Vanguard Communications and Publishing Corporation, with its main office at Brgy. 95, Diversion Road, Caibaan, Tacloban City.

Publisher: Bong Contapay

Business Manager: Rey Enales Editor: Emil B. Justimbaste

Associate Editor: Elmer V. Recuerdo

Columnists: Prof. Rolando Borrinaga, Phillip Ting, Fr. Virgilio Cañete, Eric Aseo, Jun Portillo

Writers/Correspondents: Miriam Desacada (Tacloban), Gina Dean (Samar), Jun Tarroza (Ormoc), Jose Victor Navarro (Photojournalist)

Production staff: Emilio Bacoto, Sergio S. Canoy Jr., Christian RayTorres Asprenio G. Ladim Email Address: rey_enales@yahoo.com Telephones: (053) 888-0947

inally, I think it is dying down. The raucous exchange that accompanies every shocking action or speech that President Duterte delights in making, has finally started to lose its ability to inspire arguments, dissent and idolatrous adulation.

Supporters of Duterte and people who said they have known the man insists that he is a calculating strategist, that he is someone who never does anything without having assessed the risks and opportunities, that every action is calculated to elicit a particular response strategically placed in a context to produce a desired result.

Clearly, the result has been a growing but clear divide: between a strongly supportive, at times vociferous and yes, near idolatrous pro-Duterte advocates, whose near fanaticism has brought to them the cognomen Dutertards; and on the other end, also equally rabid opponents of this wildly popular (at the time of the elections at least) President, predominated by supporters of the previous regime whose own diatribes have earned them the tag Noytards, for their unswerving support of the old “yellow” regime, and of their undiluted admiration for the former President (and his supposedly saintly mother, as one campaign has it).

Now, after the over 100 days of Duterte praising and Duterte bashing, finally, the proponents of each side seems to have already gotten tired. Or maybe it is because the novelty of a president that acts this way have already sunk in, and faded out. Either way, the energy is waning, the enthusiasm is flagging, and people have begun to realize that for all the hullaballoo over whatever change it is they are expecting, it still has some work to do before it becomes fact.

Take the extra-judicial killings, for example. Last month, there was practically nothing that dominated the social media and regular media than this EJK subject.

Days on end, analysis upon analysis were made on the statements of Duterte and his Cabinet, on every nuance and dare he gave to the international community who dared to call him to task over his seeming inability to control what was perceived as

a runaway rubout machine in the police system itself. I believe that whole EJK track began to lose steam in October, when policemen chased and finally caught two people riding in tandem who shot dead anticrime crusader Zenaida Luz. The two riding in tandem were later found to be Senior Insp. Magdaleno Pimentel Jr. and Insp. Markson Almeranez. I think reality has finally caught up with imagination, and the people who insisted the police were behind the killings got their evidence and were satisfied, while those who believed otherwise were just happy that someone got caught so the President no longer gets the flack for the still continuous killing that goes on unabated.

And yet, this is what worries me. After the pathos and the catharsis, when the people have finally gotten tired of being shocked, when the novelty of an unconventional president has worn off, where does that leave us, the people? What happens when the theatrics become tiring, when we have become inured and blasé to the point of ennui, to the point of not caring about anything anymore beyond what is seen and heard, wallowing deeper into social apathy and self-absorption?

One possibility looms: that we would no longer resist change that oppresses us, because we have already wasted our energies opposing those visions spun by a calculating President on the winds of social media. We hear of changes to the constitution, of a creeping Martial law, losing sovereignty in the Scarborough, or even the slow constriction of social space due to the pressures between pro and anti-Duterte, and do we really still care much?

After a while, it is easier to just keep the head down, work through life in the next 5 years, and hope that someone better will come along to save us, again.

And so, for those who continue to resist both sides, those who call for sobriety and fact, only one thing remains: this President has already called wolf far too much, but the dangers remain nonetheless. We need to stay vigilant, because it is when we are tired and down, that evil is most active. Never stop raging against the dying of the light.#

OPINION Vanguard

Oct. 31 - Nov. 5, 2016

7

Vintage View

Voices

By Prof. Rolly Borrinaga

ByJun Portillo

Supertyphoon Yolanda: The new milestone of our lives (Presented at the Green Education Workshops in Ozamiz City and Iloilo City in late June 2014.)

I

n the weeks and fewmonths after Yolanda, when our school operations were suspended and the students had been sent home, when there was not much work to do, when there was no electricity yet in the house (until four months later), and there was much time for boredom and waiting for the overall social services situation in Tacloban to stabilize, I decided to catch up on my book readings. Around the disaster’s half-year mark last month (May), I finished reading Leo Tolstoy’s monumental epic, War and Peace, which was set during Napoleon Bonaparte’s invasion of Russia in 1812. Although I had read the book’s two epilogues with the author’s treatise on history more than 30 years ago, reading the entire story this time around provided

a fascination of its own. It helped me put in context the bickering of our politicians and “great men” types who think they have control and can dictate the pace of postYolanda recovery and rehabilitation efforts.

Tolstoy wrote: “Examining only those expressions of the will of historical personages which were related to events as commands, historians have assumed that the events depended on the commands. But examining the events themselves and the connection in which the historical persons stood to the people, we have found that they and the commands were dependent on events” (Tolstoy 1998, 1289).

The finger-pointing over the blame for the confusion and anarchy, the looting of business establishments, and the exodus of people away

Samar breeze

By Eric Aseo

Cacao poised to replace coconut in E. Samar

A

ll of Eastern Visayas now wants to grow cacao. The regional cacao forum last week in Palo, Leyte piqued the interest of the dismissive, removed the misgivings of cynics and reinforced the faith of long-time converts, like my colleagues at the Eastern Samar Cacao Industry Development Council. The council has been working to make cacao a major product of the province.

The desire to find a source of long-term income to replace the coconut inspired the choice of cacao for Eastern Samar. That national government agencies and some INGOs have distributed thousands of cacao seedlings, also influenced the choice. The group who initiated the council organizing also considered the market potential of cacao and its

suitability to the soil and terrain of the province.

Cacao has been grown in the province long before the PCA, DAR and some INGOs distributed seedlings to replace the coconuts lost to Typhoon Yolanda. It’s no surprise then that even before farmers in Guindalitan, Maydolong planted the seedlings given to them by the DAR, they were already producing tablea for home consumption. Cacao has been around the province for so long. It’s been proven suited With the worldwide drop in supply and the spike of demand for cacao beans, cacao might just be what the province needs to be removed from the national poverty list. Cacao beans command a higher market price than copra. A kilo of the former can sell as much as 140 pesos if dried, while the latter would only sell for less than 30 pe-

from Tacloban that were linked to the vacuum or failure of leadership in the few days after Yolanda simply underscored the dependence of our leaders and their acts on the natural course of this disaster. I strongly believe that a similar cycle of human reactions happened in the wake of the 1897 typhoon, but unfortunately the chroniclers of that time were silent about this.

About “great men” types, Tolstoy wrote: “In historic events, the so-called great men are labels giving names to events, and like labels they have but the smallest connection with the event itself.

Every act of theirs, which appears to them an act of their own will, is in an historical sense involuntary, and is re-

(Go to page 5) sos. Needless to say, Eastern Samar farmers will earn more from cacao than from coconut.

After Yolanda, the government and some INGOs distributed thousands of grafted cacao seedlings to farmers in Eastern Samar.

But they ended with distribution. These agencies did not teach farmers how to plant properly. In one barangay in Guiuan, for example, a government agency distributed 19,000 cacao seedlings but less than 10% survived.

Farmers planted the seedlings in close distances with no shade provided.

Thinking Eastern Samar farmers lack the knowledge on how to grow cacao, sometime in March, People in Need (PIN), a Czech NGO, sent nine farmers to Davao City for a week-long training in cacao growing at Puentespina Farm, home of the world-famous Malagos chocolates. Later, PIN and the council sent ten more farmers and technicians to CIDAMI’s training also in Davao to deepen the province’s bench of people who know cacao growing.

In April, PIN also started negotiations with Seedcore Agri-Industrial Corporation to come to Eastern Samar and put up a nursery. Seedcore agreed and construction of the nursery is ongoing in

(Go to page 5)

Unforgetting Yolanda: Voices from the Ground

I

t was few days after Yolanda. Sular, one of my neighbors, made a bonfire from debris.

Other bonfires soon lit up the streets of Burauen. We gathered a lot after the storm and also talked a lot about everything, about people who died, about rumored escaped prisoners breaking in houses, about food getting scarce.

Pa Erning, one of my uncles, hated not knowing where and how to get resources to rebuild without draining his small capital in vending fish. Tatang Opoy, my ninong, worried about the next months. His copra farm was destroyed. Sular was anxious because of his roofless house and empty sari-sari store.

At that point, I went to my house, got back and showed them something. It was an Inquirer issue that a staff of Pongos Hotel in Ormoc gave me the previous day. The headline announced, Haiyan donations total 49B. Somehow that lifted the group’s spirits. There’s money meant for us. Help was coming.

Indeed, help came. The next day, authorities distributed 3 kilos of rice and 3 cans of sardines. Never mind that the rice was almost stale. We cooked and ate and looked forward to the next “relief.”

Malaysian aid workers arrived and unloaded sacks of rice at the municipal building where we all eagerly waited for the distribution.

Then few weeks later, there was cash donation. As soon as there were goods and money, controversy erupted.

People complained of some influential families getting more while some poor families not getting anything at all. That day, I learned a new concept: disaster politics. For a UP political science major, that was something.

Then MSF arrived. I met some of the staff at health center where they offered me a job in the psychosocial unit. The mission at that time was stress debriefing and psychological first aid. I coordinated sessions in nine towns of Leyte, assisted disaster psychologists and sat in on those sessions. I listened to people tell painful stories of loss, suffering and disappointment. It was part of the job that was difficult to bear but, somehow I picked up some that lifted me up.

One that I vividly remem-

ber was from a grade school teacher in Dagami who said that she’s sure, even if she’s not seen it yet, that people will recover. Why is that?

The puzzled Greek psychologist asked the Waray school teacher. The teacher pointed to one of the trees that survived and said, look at that tree, it was brown after the storm but, now it is getting green again with new leaves beginning to appear. Every time I doubt, I look at it and know we will also recover, she said. At that moment, I felt being rebuilt, literally.

Another memorable experience was in Anibong where I lived and worked as community organizer for CRS. In one meeting, a survivor stood up and started narrating what it was like.

She told how the wind took off their roof first and later, how the sea took off their daughter from her arms. At that point she broke down and cried. But I will never forget the next thing she said. She said her daughter is in a much better place now. She will not be wet again every time it rains.

She will not be hungry ever again. It is better now, she said.

Almost 3 years after Yolanda, of the 518,878 houses destroyed, only 13,335 houses were built using donated funds while 79, 219 are still being constructed according to NEDA statistics. There were 5.9 million who lost livelihood but only 425,160 various projects have been completed, of these projects only few resulted in sustainable income.

My neighbor, Sular, has restocked without outside help but the store’s income has nosedived. Tatang Opoy is still unable to restore his farm. Pa Erning died of complications from TB. He got sick shortly after Yolanda.

His house, like most people’s house, was wet whenever it rained.

Until now, people from Anibong are still waiting for houses and livelihoods. I followed the next chapters in their stories but not from TV or mainstream media. Their voices are drowned by the noise from politicians, actors and fads. But in this corner, those voices and stories will be heard and retold like bonfires lasting until wee hours lighting up the vast midnight.#

Vanguard

8

Congratulations to the newly opened community paper in Eastern Visayas.,

Oct. 31 - Nov. 5, 2016

Congratulations to

The Weekly Vanguard.

The Weekly Vanguard. from

Mayor Eulalio G.Maderazo Caibiran, Biliran

Congratulations to

The Weekly Vanguard.

from

Mayor Eduardo “Boy” Ong Staff and personnel Carigara,Leyte

from

Mildred Contapay-Modesto Vice Mayor and the staff and personnel of the Carigara local gov’t. unit CARIGARA, LEYTE

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Oct. 31 - Nov. 5, 2016

Vanguard

9

RAM Guardians International - Alakdan induct officers, mbrs, had med mission

On October 28, 2016, some 1,500 new RAM-Guardian members were inducted by RAM founder Gen. Danny Lim in Merida, Leyte. The next day, 500 more members in Sta. Rita, Samar were inducted into the fold.

In the laast two days of the general’s visit, the organization undertook a medical mission in the town of Carigara, Leyte where doctors and dentists, accompanied by other medical professionals, felt the pulses of patients, performed dental extraction and dispensed with medicines for free. Children also got free haircut from military personnel who knew how to cut hair. Said medical mission was sponsored by Rebolusyonaryong Alyansang Makabansa (RAM) and RAM GuardiansInternational (RGI) - Alakdan.

10

3,500 participate in prov’l meet

By Najib M. Cubio

Hilongos, Leyte – More than 3,500 athletes and coaches gathered here for the provincial meet at the Erap Sports Complex from October 24 to the 29th, led

by Regional Director of the Department of Education Region 8 Dr. Ramir Uytico.

Sources from the Department of Education said 41 municipalities of the Leyte were represented, the towns clustered into seven areas, with each area having more than 400 delegates. Uytico in his opening remarks said the DepEd chose Hilongos because of their “very pleasant experience before.” The provincial meet was also held here in 2014 and found the place “very peaceful and pleasant.”

Uytico in the same message reminded the athletes and officials of the true spirit of sportsmanship and cama-

Vanguard

Oct. 31 - Nov. 5, 2016

raderie, thanking local government for its “never ending support to DepEd’s endeavor in academics as well as in sports development.”

This was the second time for the town to host the meet in two years. It was supposed to be Burauen’s turn, but for some reasons, the town declined.

In his welcome remarks, Hilongos Mayor Albert “Bentong” Villahermosa said “there are more important things than winning, like building strong alliances and creating a bond with each other.” He wished the visitors that their stay in the town it will be fun, safe and memorable.

He said one of the reasons why they readily accepted the offer to host the meet was that it would put his town in the spotlight.

Moreover, the weeklong stay of the visitors could boost the town’s economy. #

In the photo above, officials from different delegations representing seven areas raise their respective flags during the opening ceremonies of the Leyte provincial meet, The second photo shows two groups with their respective colors.

Cucina de Aleia

Dealer & merchandiser of imported kitchenwares

Maharlika Highway, Brgy. Tagak, Carigara,Leyte.