The third issue of the Visayan Business Post, published 16th August 2014. Local news for the Global Visayan.

1. demands. “Plans for the
resort’s building develop-ment
will be an expected
expansion move if we are
to satisfy the resort’s grow-ing
clientele”, said Casas
who also currently stands
as resort manager.
Mahaplag Inland Resort
which now earns roughly
P2 million to P3 million
pesos in revenues annu-ally,
up from the anticipat-ed
P800 thousand yearly
when the project was first Mahaplag Inland/p5
three years ago”, said Natu-ral
Resource Management
Specialist Mario S. Casas.
Inland Resort manage-ment
revealed to the Visay-an
Business Post News
Team that the cool hidea-way
in this landlocked
municipality has been
drawing so many local and
foreign tourists that they
now have a constant short-age
of rooms. Cabanas
that should house families
are also one of the present
Success of Mahaplag Inland Resort silences critics
MALINAO, Mahaplag
–– Earlier critics of the
local government unit
operating a resort in Ma-haplag
has been silenced
with the continuous
increase of the resorts’
annual revenue. “It was
kind of unexpected con-sidering
the prior doubt
cast over the economic
viability of the project
VBP News Team, West Leyte
FOREX: US$=P44.4 UK L=P74.9 HK$=P5.73 BRUNEI$=P35.5 EURO=P61.6 JAPAN Y=P0.44 AUST$=P41.1 BAHRAIN D=P117.76 SAUDI R=P11.84 UAE DIR=P12.09 SING$=P35.5
HILONGOS –– The local
government led by Mayor
Albert Villahermosa is
positive it will soon com-plete
its Sagana at Ligtas
na Tubig sa Lahat (Salin-tubig)
project for Barangay
Tuguipa where potable
MAASIN CITY –– Re-gional
Director Diosdado
Mendoza of the Bureau of
Internal Revenue here have
urged tax collection work-ers
of the bureau’s Maasin
City office to exert more
effort to improve its collec-tion
even as he acknowl-edged
Maasin City to be
one of the big contributors
to the region’s overall tax
collections this year.
Atty. Mendoza who
graced the groundbreak-ing
for a two storey P40
million BIR office building
in Maasin prodded the em-ployees
to do more, saying
that the region is still 30%
short of its collection tar-get
of P6.1 billion this year.
Revenue District Office
No. 90 employees together
with their officer in charge
Susan Golo listened as di-rector
Mendoza explained
the output performance
system currently being fol-lowed
by the bureau in re-taining
the services of its
employees. “To stay in BIR,
be performing, otherwise,
out you go,” he said, citing
that the bureau cannot af-ford
under-performers.
Mendoza also said that
they are closely monitor-ing
the enforcement of tax
laws in the entire region,
maintaining that it is still
one of the key strategies
of attaining tax collection
targets.
BIR Region 8 ranked 5th
among the country’s top
performing offices in 2012.
The new 600 square me-ter
BIR offices in Maasin
will be constructed in a
1,400 square meter lot ear-lier
donated by the city
government in Barangay
Combado. Southern Leyte
Governor Roger Mercado,
city Vice-Mayor Maria
Hilongos water
project soon to
be completed
The VBP News Team
Eastern Visayas
Tax employees urged/p2
The VBP News Team
Tacloban City, Leyte
Analysis
East Visayas econ-omy
to grow this
year-NEDA/p2
Naval gives incen-tives
to BHWs/p3
Is DSWD a better
builder?/p3
The perils of fake
chargers/p7
A billion fruit trees AgAinst storms. Plans for a billion fruit bearing trees to grow along coastal properties is an ambitious proposal sought to be funded as
part of the rehabilitation of Eastern Visayas. The trees are expected to strengthen coastlines against ravaging storm surges. (Photo courtesy of OXFAM)
Local Industry, p5
Tax employees urged to work harder
funded by the Department
of Finance, also helps the
local economy by employ-ing
21 locals. “The resort is
self-sustaining and has giv-en
additional revenue for
the municipality”, beamed
Casas, referring to the P6.8
million revenue raised by
the local government in
2013. “Contrary to earlier
negative forecasts by some
of its detractors, the resort
is not and will never be-
P15.00 Nationwide
Local news for the global Visayan
August 2014 / Vol. I, No. 3 / 11 Sections / 8 Pages
Visayan Business Post website visayanbizpost.com
VisayanBusinessPost
Inside
Hilongos water/p2
The VBP News Team
South Leyte
If the historic proposed
reforestation program is
implemented properly,
Eastern Visayas will be-come
the top supplier of
various tropical fruits in
Asia, sustaining the re-gion’s
own needs and low-ering
the price of fruits in
the country within a period
of five years.
If funded but not imple-mented
appropriately, gov-ernment
will lose an enor-mous
amount of resources
and the confidence of its
constituency in Samar and
Leyte.
The Department of En-vironment
and Natural Re-sources
in Eastern Visayas
plans to plant a billion fruit
trees in the region.
This intention is carried
in a proposal that DENR
1B fruit trees for Visayas
1 billion fruit trees/p8
Cool respite. Children frolic under a tree-shaded pool with crys-tal
clear water in Mahaplag’s inland resort. (Photo by JnGrey)
Ormoc fluvial parade amd procession

2. Editor John Alfred Kabalican
editor@visayanbizpost.com
2 August 2014
The truth as it happens.
Inpatient Coverage
PhilHealth provides subsidy for room and board, drugs
and medicines, laboratory exam, use of operating room
complex and professional fees for confinements of not
less than 24 hours.
(Please refer to the table of rate ceilings/maximum allow-ances
for inpatient coverage.)
Outpatient Coverage
Day surgeries, dialysis and cancer treatment procedures
such as chemotherapy and radiotherapy in accredited
hospitals and free-standing clinics.
Special Benefit Packages
• Case Rates
• TB Treatment through DOTS
• SARS and Avian Influenza
• Novel Influenza A(H1N1)
Exclusions
The following shall not be covered except when, after
actuarial studies, PhilHealth recommends their inclusion
subject to approval of its Board of Directors:
• Fifth and subsequent normal obstetrical deliveries
• Non-prescription drugs and devices
• Alcohol abuse or dependency treatment
• Cosmetic surgery
• Optometric services
• Other cost-ineffective procedures as defined by Phil-
Health
For individually paying members
Benefit Coverage
> Your dream Our focus <
Eastern Visayas to achieve economic growth this year NEDA
TACLOBAN CITY ––
The National Economic
Development Authority
(NEDA) here is still opti-mistic
that various devel-opment
programs of the
government will help ac-celerate
economic recovery
in Eastern Visayas.
“The implementation
of infrastructure, liveli-hood,
housing, and other
rehabilitation and recov-ery
projects in the region
through the Office of the
Presidential Assistance for
Rehabilitation and Recov-ery
give a positive outlook
for the region’s economy
this year”, disclosed NEDA
director Bonifacio Uy.
Director Uy was refer-ring
to the anti-poverty
programs of the national
government now worth
more than P4 Billion.
The local anti-poverty
push will be placed under
an expanded version of
the KALAHI-CIDSS-Na-tional
Community Driven
Development Project of
the Department of Social
Welfare and Development
including its existing 4Ps
program.
Uy said that the local
economy is likewise ex-pected
to strengthen with
the continued rehabilita-tion
and reconstruction of
government buildings, new
infrastructure, permanent
resettlement projects, and
the building of new roads.
The projects are poised
to generate jobs for locals
as well as spur local spend-ing.
Some of the develop-ment
projects are being im-plemented
together with
non-government organiza-tions
and private entities.
By VBP News Team
Central Visayas
Being given focus like-wise
are the agriculture
production and abaca in-dustry
sector. “We want to
attain a resilient, inclusive
and sustained high growth
path for the region,” said
director Uy.
Around 8.8 million Fili-pinos
including those from
Eastern Visayas who were
victims of super typhoon
Haiyan have rated them-selves
to having gone hun-gry
or dirt poor in the last
few months based on an-independent
survey by the
Social Weather Station.
Festival. Full of hope, locals recently took to the streets to celebrate life months after super
typhoon Haiyan devastated Tacloban City. (Photo by Aaron JP Almadro)
LTFRB 8 now
in Palo, Leyte
Road rage
kills VSU
bus driver in
Albuera
Calubian ba-rangay
needs
immediate
evacuation
NewsBrief
Topstories
From Page 1
Hilongos water project
water is still lacking to at
least 194 households. The
program is funded by the
General Appropriations
Act provision for local po-table
water supply.
“Soon to be finished, the
project will install 21 Lev-el–
2 Spring Development
water system faucets that
can be commonly used by
at least 10 households per
faucet with an average of
five people per household”
said project development
officer Avelino Lagaac of
Hilongos’ Municipal Plan-ning
and Development Of-fice
who is one of several
LGU officers manning the
project.
“We are stepping up the
project’s actual implemen-tation
to meet Mayor Vil-lahermosa’s
instructions
for us to accelerate the de-livery
of potable water for
the residents of Barangay
Tuguipa because the peo-ple
there need it”, added
Engineer Lagaac.
“The project will have a
storage capacity of 18,565
liters at any given time and
uses gravity to transport
the water from its source to
its service areas. The local
government developed a
local water source for this”,
Lagaac stressed.
MPDO Chief Catherine
‘Keith’ Fabular meanwhile
told the Visayan Business
Post News Team that the
potable water develop-ment
project is only one of
several programs lined–up
by Mayor Villahermosa as
he tackles the problem of
lack of basic necessities in
outlaying barangays of the
municipality.
Mayor Villahermosa
who is on his first term is
seeking to enhance while
fast–tracking the delivery
of basic social and econom-ic
development services in
this municipality, includ-ing
road networks to ag-riculture
areas, sanitation
and clean potable water
tapped from local sources
for its residents.
Tax employees urged
From Page 1
Effie Sabandal, councilor
Antonio Cardoza, and Epi-fania
Sy of the Southern
Leyte Chamber of Com-merce
and Industry wit-nessed
the lowering of the
time capsule to signal the
beginning of the building’s
construction.
Ormoc Urban Plans. Accomplished urban planner and environmental activist Felino Palafox, Jr. of
Palafox Associates recently visited Ormoc City. Palafox was asked by the city government to come up
with a modern urban plan for the proposed permanent relocation sites for typhoon Haiyan victims. Pala-fox’
firm is widely credited for various state-of-the-art buildings in Metro Manila. (Photo by Ormoc LGU)

3. August 2014 3
Editor John Alfred Kabalican
editor@visayanbizpost.comthe metro
starTravel &Tours
Tourism at its best!
Discover the beauty of the Philippines.
Is the DSWD a better
builder?
By VBP News Team Leyte
MATAG-OB, Leyte
–– Residents here are
asking if this is the case,
as their core shelter
units built through the
Core Shelter Assistance
Program (CSAP) of the
Department of Social
Welfare and Develop-ment
(DSWD) stood
the onslaught of super
typhoon Haiyan.
Other public struc-tures
like municipal
buildings, bridges,
gymnasiums, barangay
halls, day care centers,
and school houses built
through congressional
pork barrel funds, and
even concrete paved
roads yielded to the su-per
typhoon.
“All 80 core shelter
units built as early as
1991 up to 2000 and
2010 in Barangays San
Guillermo, Cansuso,
San Sebastian, and San
Marcelino stood after
Yolanda while many
houses in the munici-pality
sustained differ-ent
states of damage”,
Enrique A. Odtuhan,
Matag-ob Municipal
Social Welfare and
Development Officer
(MSWDO) said in a
statement.
“The units were built
to really withstand dis-asters
even as strong as
Yolanda”, he said.
Odtuhan, a 24–year
veteran in the delivery
of municipal social ser-vices
said he witnessed
the actual construction
of all the DSWD core
shelter units in his mu-nicipality.
“We are very happy
that these core shelter
units have remained in-tact
and still providing
safety to the family-re-cipients.
The town has built 70
more recent core shelter
units in the villages of
Bula, Mansahaon and
Naulayan.
Former Mayor and
now Matag-ob Vice
Mayor Michael L. Tore-villas
said the units were
really durable for them
to be able to defy Yolan-da’s
force. “Yes, they
are standing despite the
heavy blow,” Vice Mayor
Torevillas said.
In Boston, Davao Ori-ental
local officials con-firmed
that 27 DSWD
core shelter units con-structed
in their town
also survived another
strong Tyhoon, Pablo.
“In the aftermath of
typhoon Pablo, we not-ed
that the surrounding
structures and coconut
trees were practically
smashed to the ground
yet the core houses in Ba-rangay
Carmen basically
remained whole.
“only about ten units
whose roofing materi-als
were slightly dam-aged
was affected by
the storm”, Municipal
Information Officer Ju-dith
Castres of Boston
reported.
The DSWD core shel-ter
program is extended
to individuals or families
left homeless by disasters
or poor families living in
hazardous areas.
The program is a com-munity
development
initiative utilizing the
principles of community
organizing, convergence
of services, and capability
building.
Core shelter ben-eficiaries
are organized
into Neighbourhood
Association for Shel-ter
Assistance (NASA)
and participate in the
actual construction of
their respective units.
The recipients also un-dergo
Values Formation
Orientation and other
capability building ses-sions
to understand their
situation and problems at
hand and intently work
to arrive at solutions.
Having endured pow-erful
typhoons, the core
shelter units proved their
strength and are being
studied as a model hous-ing
structure for future
relocation sites for vic-tims
of disasters.
Naval gives incentives to barangay health workers
NAVAL, Biliran Leyte --
Naval in Biliran province
will be the first local gov-ernment
unit to give for-mal
benefits and incentives
to barangay health work-ers.
“The incentive which
has been authorized by a
new municipal ordinance
will be given to accred-ited
health workers in the
grassroots level”, disclosed
Naval mayor Susan V. Pa-rilla.
The implementing rules
of Municipal Ordinance 19
otherwise known as “An
Ordinance Granting Ben-efits
and Incentives to Ac-credited
Barangay Health
Workers and for other
purposes” was signed in a
formal ceremony attended
by regional officials of the
Department of Health.
The signing was a momen-tous
occasion for barangay
health workers of 26 ba-rangays
in the municipal-ity
of Naval, Biliran who
witnessed the event at the
old Sangguniang Bayan
session hall in this develop-ing
town.
“This is the first local
legislation I know that
grants benefits to baran-gay
health workers and we
support it in recognition of
the enormous sacrifice and
contribution of local health
workers to the develop-ment
of health service de-livery
in the grassroots lev-el”,
said regional director
Jose Llacuna of the Philip-pine
Department of Health.
“Local government units
must begin to consider the
volunteer health workers
whose benefits have largely
been neglected for some
time” Llacuna added.
Naval councilman Gabi-no
S. Velasquez, IV, a med-ical
doctor by profession,
authored the municipal
ordinance which was ap-
By The VBP News Team
Leyte
proved by the Sangguniang
Bayan with the full support
of the local government
unit which will source out
the funding for the benefits
and incentives mandated
by the ordinance.
Because life is clear.
Tune in to DYVL Aksyon Radyo for developing news from Leyte!
Libot Karahibot (12:00 nn --1:00 pm )
Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays
with broadcast veterans Thor Bibar & Hector Go
Hingyap han Leyteño (12:00 nn --1:00 pm ) Wednesdays
with Governor Dominic ‘Mic’ Petilla & Thor Bibar
Historic Hall. The old town hall of Naval in Biliran was the seat of the local government until
1999.

4. Editor Andy Bevan
info@visayanbizpost.com businessWeek
4 August 2014
Employers reminded of health insurance obligations
ORMOC CITY –– The
Philippine Health Insur-ance
Corporation (Phil-health)
here conducted an
employer’s forum to dis-cuss
the health insurance
corporation’s accounts
management strategy, new
premium payment sched-ule,
health benefits and
programs with government
and private employers from
different parts of Leyte.
The forum was the first in
a region–wide information
dissemination campaign
that Philhealth intends to
conduct in Eastern Visayas.
Misael F. Paigan, Chief
of the Local Health Insur-ance
Office in Ormoc told
the Visayan Business Post
News Team that the forum
focused on new require-ments
under the imple-menting
rules and regula-tions
of the National Health
Insurance Act of 2013.
“The law calls for em-ployers
to prepare and
remit their employee’s
premium contributions
on or before the date pre-scribed
by the corpora-tion”
Paigan stressed.
Reports involving con-tributions
are now direct-ed
to be submitted within
five (5) days after payment.
“Philhealth took the fo-rum
as an opportunity to
remind employers of an
existing provision in the
law prescribing monetary
interest and penalties for
an employer’s failure to ap-propriately
remit premium
contributions”, Paigan said.
The Philippine Depart-ment
of Health has man-dated
the implementa-tion
of frameworks for the
achievement of Universal
Health Care, otherwise
known as Kalusugang
Pangkalahatan (KP) Pro-gram,
for all Filipinos.
The National Health In-surance
Act mandates Phil-health
to assign a unique
and permanent Philhealth
Identification Number to
all its members including
each of their dependents
for purposes of identifica-tion,
eligibility verifica-tion
and health insurance
utilization recording.
Government has now
made it mandatory for
members of the so called
The VBP Business Team
visayanbizpost.com
VBP Business News Team
North Leyte
Formal Economy. Members of the ‘formal economy’ composed of government and private employ-ers
listen intently to new requirements governing the health insurance law. (Photo by JnGrey)
‘formal economy’ such as
government employees,
private employees, in-cluding
workers render-ing
services as job order
contractors, project based
contractors, owners of pri-vate
businesses, household
helps, and family drivers
among others to adopt
this system of record-ing
for health insurance.
Godofredo’s Car Care Center Repair and maintenance of all types of vehicle models including heavy equipment.
Services offered:
Engine overhaul
Body & chassis repair
Body work and repainting
Change oil and general engine work
Electrical, mechanical & car-aircon systems repair.
We repair ‘Yolanda’ damaged vehicles.
Come and visit us at our shop at Maharlika Highway
(in front of Tacloban Ultrasteel), Tacloban City.
Contact: 0998-171-1428 or 0949-429-1868
PASTRANA, LEYTE –
Leading Manila construc-tion
corporation Vista-
Green Builders Inc. will
soon rebuild the roof of the
Catholic Church in Pastra-na,
Leyte.
VistaGreen executive
Engineer Avito T. Opini-ano
told Visayan Business
Post that his company has
been tasked to design and
to execute construction of
the new roof of the church
that was utterly destroyed
by super typhoon Haiyan.
“The firm’s services will
be for free”, said Engr.
Opiniano who grew up in
Pastrana.
Funding for the P2.5 mil-lion
project is currently be-ing
raised through various
donations with Rev. Fr.
Arthur T. Opiniano of the
St. Paul the Apostle Parish,
Diocese of Cubao, Quezon
City, leading the effort.
The St. Paul the Apos-tle
Parish earlier adopted
Pastrana Leyte for various
rehabilitation and mercy
programs.
“We have finalized the
engineering design for the
church’s roof with the end
in view of building better
and stronger”, disclosed
Engr. Opiniano who added
that building materials for
the project will come from
Manila.
“The town would also
welcome additional dona-tions
for the repair of its
pastoral center, Angeli-cum
school building and
the parish’s convent, all of
which were damaged by
the typhoon”, Engr. Opini-ano
added.
The land-locked muni-ciplaity
of Pastrana Leyte
was one of the towns se-verely
affected by Typhoon
Haiyan on 8 November
2013.
VistaGreen Builders helping to rebuild Pastrana church
rEhabilitation. The church of Pastrana, Leyte (seen here before typhoon Haiyan struck)
will undergo reconstruction of its roof which was destroyed by the super typhoon in 2013.
For your donations,
please contact the
local parish church
of Pastrana Leyte,
or visit The Opini-ano
Foundation on
Facebook

5. Visayan Business Post August 2014 5
Cercado & Associates
Land Transportation, Franchising
and General Law Practitioners
Editor Regie Gratones
info@visayanbizpost.comLocal industry
come dependent of the In-ternal
Revenue Allotment
given these statistics”,
stressed Casas.
Mayor Daisy Abuyabor
Lleve earlier told the Visay-an
Business Post that Ma-haplag
Inland Resort is an
essential staging point for
her administration’s tour-ism
driven programs.
“Tourists staying in the
Tourism Visayas
By Jean Mamaspas
Mayor receives praise for building stalls for the poor VBP Leyte
ALBUERA LEYTE ––
Local citizens including
the fortunate recipients of
the first 18 small business
stalls set up by Albuera
Mayor Ramon “Juny”
Dela Cerna, Jr. near the
town’s public market are
all praise to the effective-ness
of this simple start-up
kit to help the poor.
“All we wanted to show
was that a little kindness
can mean a great difference
for poor people who truly
want to help themselves”,
explained Dela Cerna who
spent at least a hundred
thousand pesos of his own
money for the project.
Mayor Dela Cerna fur-ther
said that the gesture
encouraged some undecid-ed
but business-oriented
citizens of the town to take
advantage of the opportuni-ty
to start a small business.
Dela Cerna who spoke
to the VBP News Team
disclosed that he still
plans to add more of these
stalls to help interested
residents obtain liveli-hood.
“There is a need
to intervene so that pov-erty
alleviation programs
that people really need
and can directly gain ben-efits
from will be delivered.
The municipal mayor ear-lier
dispersed chickens and
ducks to farmer-recipients
who wanted to start a small
poultry or fowl business.
Start-up kit. A happy customer checks out one of the stalls built by mayor Ramon Dela Cerna, Jr.
of Albuera, Leyte to help poor residents of his town start up small businesses. Mayor Dela Cerna,
(RIGHT) reading the Visayan Business Post, funded the livelihood project through his own salary as
a public servant. (Photo by JnGrey)
The VBP Business Team
North Leyte
Developing Governance
Carigara baywalk to promote local barbecue and tourism
CARIGARA LEYTE –
Carigara Leyte Mayor Ed-uardo
Cañega Ong is posi-tive
that the development
of the municipality’s boule-vard
facing the Carigara
Bay area into a baywalk will
promote the town’s famous
nightly barbecue stalls as a
local tourism destination.
In a recent interview
with the Visayan Business
Post news team, Mayor
Ong disclosed that his ad-ministration
is trying to
locally source at least P2
million for the develop-ment
project which he
hopes to finish soon. The
mayor said that the LGU
will also accept dona-tions
for some portions
of the project, referring
to seats and other struc-tures
for the promenade.
“Our plan is to transfer
all barbecue stalls pres-ently
operating in the
town’s sidewalks to a
more appropriate space
in a Manila-style baywalk
complete with lights here
in Carigara”, Ong said. At
present, there are at least
fourteen barbecue stalls
operating at various side
streets of this coastal town.
“The intention is to make
the stalls more beautiful,
organized and presentable,
with the necessary sanitary
conditions. Uniform stalls
will be made for all the lo-cators
so that the visiting
public will feel more com-
The VBP Business Team
visayanbizpost.com
Development Construction. Carigara’s baywalk, a local government tourism and industry project, will accommodate the
town’s famous roadside barbecue stalls. (Photo by JnGrey)
fortable”, the mayor added.
Carigara’s barbecue in-dustry
is one of the munici-pality’s
many attractions.
The town is also known
for its knives and farm
blades locally known as
‘sundang’ that are crafted
by resident blacksmiths.
resort should soon have
the option to explore the
town’s other places of in-terest”,
Mayor Lleve said.
The mayor started this ini-tiative
with an allocation
to build an access road to a
cathedral cave in Barangay
Paril.
“Development will be
slow to come for these tour
sites if they remain hidden
from the news and tourism
map and we need to help in
this matter”, said Lleve.
Mahaplag Inland resort
From Page 1
Kuting Reef.
Hindang Caves.
These are must-see places in Leyte,
the Visayas, Philippines! Help us pro-mote
these tourist destinations. Share
these pictures to your local and foreign
friends and visit Leyte soon!
Hindang Caves.
Download the Visayan Busi-ness
Post Android or iPhone
app to get your Visayas tour
site alerts via our Twitter feed.

6. Editorial
All rights reserved. Except as permitted by law, no part of Visayan Business Post may be
reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means without its prior written permission.
There are just too many famous in-mates
in the Philippines today that
the Philippine National Police and
the Bureau of Jail Management are
finding it hard what to ensure: the
security or comfort of the accused?
Senators Juan Ponce Enrile, Bong
Revilla, and Jinggoy Estrada are sup-posed
to be given some special han-dling
owing to the duties they exer-cise
as members of the Senate who
have not been convicted and are thus
presumed innocent.
The three senators cannot be pre-vented
from conducting meetings
with their constituents, other gov-ernment
officials, their senate staff,
families and friends.
Charged with non-bailable plun-der,
the prison ‘cells’ of the senators
are plain against the snug environ-ments
they are used to. However,
these personalities are miles in com-fort
compared to the ordinary Jose
who is facing a robbery charge in
some gloomy prison in Samar.
We do not presume to know
what the law gives an accused in
the crime of plunder of the nation’s
wealth, but it does not seem right
that these individuals should be
allowed to hold court even under
custody.
It is criminal itself to think that
special holding facilities could
be afforded to people who
have possibly and comfortably
amassed millions in public funds
while some desperate citizens
killed themselves and their chil-dren
out of miserable poverty.
Should it be proper to think
that these accused can be put in
regular jails while being allowed
to petition for more comfortable
prison conditions and not the
other way around?
What shameful justice this is.
Managing detained ‘plunderers’
Opinion
The ‘yaya sisterhood’ of
Philippine governance
President Benigno Simeon C. Aquino III is
said to have retained with confidence the loyal
services of his embattled budget secretary Flor-encio
Abad, despite the passionate opposition of
his three doting sisters, Ballsy Cruz, Pinky Abel-lada
and the legendary Kris Aquino.
The sisters individually worked hard, touring
vote rich provinces in 2013 to get their brother
elected to the presidency. In a country where the
dreams of a psychotic local artist about the ‘death’
of the president could make headlines, this seems
to be a normal occurrence. After all, family sticks
together like ill-cooked ‘sago’ in the Philippines.
The president’s sisters, according to news
sources, wanted Abad out of the president’s of-ficial
family after the Supreme Court markedly
declared by a 13-0 vote parts of the much debated
Disbursement Accelerated Program (DAP), alleg-edly
authored by Abad, unconstitutional.
Of course, the President, in a tele–novela style
disclosure at the Palace refused to accept Abad’s
purported offer to resign, with DSWD Secretary
Dinky Soliman, Finance Secretary Cesar Puri-sima,
presidential adviser Teresita Deles, all cosy
friends of Abad, reportedly threatening to quit if
the president accepted Abad’s ‘resignation’.
The Aquino sisters who supposedly support-ed
the Noy-bi (PNoy-Binay) faction in the 2013
election are now reportedly warming up to family
friend Jejomar Binay for 2016, to the horror of Lib-eral
Party stalwarts who still believe in the possi-ble
viability of Mar Roxas for the presidency.
The result is that in a Roxas-Binay cornered
fight in 2016, any winner could properly protect
President Aquino from possible suits arising from
the DAP fiasco.
Aquino, who is reportedly not thinking posi-tively
about facing plunder charges after his term
is uneasy about hurting Abad’s feelings who
could spill the beans on him somewhere. Howev-er,
with her sisters working the backyard, he may
not be too keen about preventing other members
of his cabinet from working for a ‘Binay 2016’
campaign.
As could be suspected, the president’s sisters
have been clearly influencing the Chief Executive
in the manner by which he steers his administra-tion.
Talk about family affairs.
Comedian Robin Williams recent-ly
died in an apparent suicide.
We remember Williams in “Mrs.
Doubtfire” as a struggling father who
would do everything for his children
against a system that declared him
misfit to exercise parental author-ity.
The movie was both hilarious
and touching, reminding us about
the beauty and harshness of life for
those who have not found their place
in the world.
We remember Williams in the
“Bicentennial Man” a futuristic mov-ie
about an android home appliance
who struggled to become and be
recognized as a human being. The
movie poignantly showed a critical
dimension in the human capacity
for creation, that there are limits to
what the human spirit can do.
These roles were played by Wil-liams
flawlessly. He was a great
and generous actor and comedian.
And we loved him for it. We fol-lowed
his next movies and felt good
about them. A movie by Williams
was always expected not only to
entertain but to teach us valuable
lessons in life, about living, survival
and, more importantly, hope.
Learning about the passing of
Robin Williams brought us both
shock and sadness. But what
makes this sadness even more
painful was the personal story of
the man behind the role player.
We thought of Williams as
a blissful person living a very
contented, happy life with a
loving family. We would learn
later that he was, in fact, a very
sad man struggling with pain-ful
depression. He battled drug
addiction and, before his death,
entered a rehabilitation facility
in Minnesota to remain sober.
In the end, Robin Williams
was never able to realize how
much he gave to the world and
that millions of people truly
loved him and his work, that he
was not alone.
Death of a sad comic
The truth in perspective.
Building a country with responsible
With Editorial and Business address at Rizal Street
Zone 21, Ormoc City, Leyte, 6541 Philippines
VisayanBusinessPost
The Edges Our Malaya connection
Snapshot
6 August 2014
Distance
Publisher Urbano B. Mamaspas, PA (Ret.)
Editor-in-Chief Frank Villablanca
On-line Editor Elizabeth Bevan, News Editor John Alfred Kabalican, World Page Editor
Nicola Christeen Bevan, Business Editor & Web Administrator Andy Bevan, Columnists Joy
Martin, Guillermo Lopez & Luz Espacio, Entertainment Mean Flores, Editorial Consultant
Aaron JP Almadro, Marketing & Circulation Regie Gratones & Jonamel Cabalo, Finance &
Business Manager Jean Mamaspas, Legal Affairs Atty. Isidro Sarona Jr.
Our mission is to provide a link between communities, government, and businesses by
delivering constructive news and information that educate, motivate and inspire.
Kapuso Primetime Star and FHM’s
top 4 sexiest woman in the Philip-pines
Jennylyn Mercado is coming
to the United Kingdom for a much
awaited concert at 5pm on Septem-ber
13 at Hillcrest School Theatre
Hall, Stonehouse Lane, Birmingham,
West Midlands.
She will also sing to Filipino and
British audiences on 14 September,
6pm at Hammersmith Town Hall at
King Street, London.
We are happy that Malaya Enter-tainment
Productions, which is fully
owned by Visayans in the UK, and
GMA 7, have come to produce this
big event especially for us here in
the UK who seldom see Filipino art-ists
perform in this part of Europe.
Yes, we get to read about Filipi-no
artists through the net but it is
way different to see them in person.
Seeing fellow Filipinos perform in a
foreign country brings us joy. We
are proud to have our artists per-form
outside of their comfort zones.
It is indeed timely for Malaya En-tertainment
Productions to bring in
rising talents from the Philippines
into the UK. And as a columnist
of the Visayan Business Post, I am
proud that VBP is one of Malaya’s
active media partners here in the
UK for the promotion of this big
event in London.
I hope that Malaya will get to
promote more events of this na-ture
here in UK.
Although I hear it is still in
the drawing board, I am excited
to learn that plans are seriously
being considered by Malaya for
the production of a beauty tilt
involving Filipino residents here
in the UK!
There are a number of beau-tiful
British citizens of Filipino
descent and Filipinos working
in this country who would be
interested to participate in this
beauty and talent contest and I
pray that Malaya would really
push through with the plan. So,
good luck to Malaya and VBP!

7. Editor Jean Mamaspas
visayan.bizpost@gmail.comLifestyle&Entertainment
The Gospel this Week
Ps 78:56-57, 58-59, 61-62
“Do not forget the works of the Lord!”
Reflection: One of the most difficult
things to do is forgive. If the hurt is too
deep, it takes a herculean effort before
one can truly forgive and forget. And
only a few are capable of this. The vast
majority of us need time before we can
truly heal into wholeness and move on
without rancour and ill will on those
We live and pass by His amazing grace.
God is Good!
who have offended us.
That is why it is not easy to be the
Lord’s disciple. The demand is such that
we have to truly believe in order to over-come.
We have to acknowledge first our
own sinfulness and believe that we have
been forgiven of our entuire debts. That’s
the only time we can forgive wholeheart-edly.
for what we don’t have, we cannot
give. To claim that we have been forgiven
gives us the power to forgive others as
well.
Visayan Business Post August 2014 7
Grow with us!
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Home Affairs
But it is not only the
children who are re-sponsible
for the grow-ing
divide between par-ents
and their offspring.
Parents are also guilty of
contributing to the dis-tance
that appears to be
increasing in families.
Parents are also often
wrapped up in their own
technology, constantly
looking at their mobile
phones, checking their
Facebook accounts and
emails, or watching TV,
when they could be talk-ing
to, playing with, or
generally connecting
with their children.
We have come a
long way from the days
when families ate din-ner
around a ‘lampara’,
or ’petromax’ lit table,
talking about the day’s
activities and the fam-ily’s
hopes and dreams
for the future.
Nowadays it is con-sidered
‘normal’ to
see everyone gathered
Technology, technol-ogy,
technology. That
is what society revolves
around these days and
will continue to revolve
around for the rest of the
world’s existence.
Technology undoubt-edly
brings people to-gether.
On the other hand
I believe that it is equally
responsible for the ever
growing family divide in
many people’s day to day
life.
Children are constantly
texting, checking what
their friends have posted
on Facebook or Twitter,
listening to their iPod,
surfing the web, and
watching television or
movies on their laptop.
The emergence of mo-bile
technology now
means that these practic-es
are no longer limited to
the home, but can also oc-cur
in cars, at restaurants,
and just about anywhere
that has a mobile phone
signal.
Modern Family
By Beth Bevan
Home Affairs
flight attendant, who died in
similar circumstances while
taking a call on an iPhone 5
that was plugged into a non-apple
USB charger
Last year a New York
woman claimed her iPhone
4S spontaneously melted,
oozing acid that destroyed
the handset and a UK man
was burned and thrown
across the room by an elec-tric
shock, when an iPad
charger exploded in his
hand.
In February last year, a
house fire in Oregon was
blamed on an overheated
MacBook battery and in
2011, an iPhone 4 caught fire
on an airplane flying over
Australia.
It’s highly likely these,
and many other anecdotal
incidents, are all the fault
of poorly made counterfeit
chargers. Whilst there is
a clear temptation to save
money on buying fake charg-
The perils of fake phone chargers
Mobile phone users
should take note of the
death of a 28-year-old Aus-tralian
woman, electrocut-ed
while using her laptop
and mobile phone.
Sheryl Anne Aldeguer
was killed on 23 April and
suffered extensive burns
to her chest and ears from
her laptop and earphones,
while using a counterfeit
mobile phone charger.
It is believed the phone
charger sent a high volt-age
electrical charge into
her phone, which she was
using at the time, and this
was conducted to the ear-phones
connected to her
laptop.
The case is being investi-gated
by Australian police,
and has prompted warn-ings
about the dangers of
using fake USB adaptors.
The incident echoes the
death last year of Ma Ai-lun,
a 23-year-old Chinese
ers for a fraction of the cost
of the genuine item, it’s a
saving that could prove very
costly in the long run.
Unlike a fake Rolex watch
or Louis Vuitton handbag,
these fakes can kill you!
The counterfeit charg-ers
are usually made with
cheap and inferior compo-nents
and leave out much
of the protective insulation,
resulting in a risk of electro-cution
or fire. They also have
less power than the genu-ine
chargers, so take much
longer to charge your device,
putting additional strain on
the battery and can cause
overcharging.
There are, however, over
600 million Apple devices in
use around the world with
only a few reported inci-dents.
The use of genuine
Apple products is very safe,
but cheap counterfeit charg-ers
are likely to add a very
significant risk.
101
By Andy Bevan
Business Editor & Web Administrator
VBP UK team at London Barrio Fiesta
Every year between June
and August, Filipinos in the
UK look forward to visiting
at least one of the several
Barrio Fiestas organized by
different Filipino organi-zations
up and down the
country.
To us Pinoys in the UK
it is a special occasion for
all the family to enjoy. It is
a day to have fun, a chance
to meet friends and other
kababayans.
But most of all it is a
day to enjoy the many
varieties of Filipino foods
and products from the
Barrio Fiesta stalls not
normally found in local
supermarkets!
This year my family
(and the VBP UK news
team) went to the 30th
Philippine Centre Barrio Fies-ta
sa London which was held
in Apps Court Farm, in Sur-rey.
And what a grand day it
was too! The event was spon-sored
by ABS-CBN Europe.
So it was no wonder that
many ABS-CBN stars graced
the two-day event to the
delight of the thousands of
Filipinos who flocked to the
venue. (Beth Bevan, VBP-UK)
conduct rather than exert
control.
Here are some tips about
calming angry kids:
1. Leave them be for a
minute or so. Let them cry
or be frustrated and feel
what they want to feel.
Even adults need space.
This is also a time to
calm ourselves. An angry
child with a fuming par-ent
is a recipe for disaster!
But do not leave an angry
child alone or he will feel
neglected.
See to it that he is not
destroying things, harm-ing
himself or other people.
You will know when to in-tervene.
2. Make them laugh.
Humor is a good way of
non-invasive interces-sion.
Make sure they can
feel you are not mad about
their outbursts. You know
your kids’ fun sides. Play
with them without giving
in to their unreasonable
demands.
3. Talk to them. After
psychoParentis
Calming ‘angry’ kids
We sometimes feel frus-trated
about dealing with
irate kids. To loosen the
pressure, we most often
give in to their small de-mands,
ignoring their re-bellion.
Most parents who want
a little peace at home con-trol
their children by giving
in to what they want.
But this strategy can
backfire in the form of more
misbehavior or outright
laxity in basic discipline
that can permeate into oth-er
aspects of our children’s
lives.
We have heard and read
about approaches to deal-ing
with angry kids. Some
kids are easy to sort out,
some are level tricky.
However, how our chil-dren
behave depends on us
parents. Their behavior at
home or somewhere else is
the result of how we suc-cessfully
manage them.
Children who have tan-trums
may become physi-cally
or verbally aggressive.
There is a suggestion that
it is easier to manage this
play time, when your child
has begun to calm down,
ask him what made him
mad. Listen to every detail.
Then explain to him what
happened. You will be sur-prised
of the effect. Kids
can understand between
reasons.
4. Make peace and com-promise.
Close your con-versation
by finding a logi-cal
middle ground for you
and your kids. Make them
learn to compromise and
accept the things that they
cannot have. Tell them
exactly what it is that you
are not happy about their
behavior. They will learn
to take it and give in. Chil-dren
have minds too.
5. Finally, give small re-wards.
The best reward for
a behaving child is love, not
material things. Give them
a good massage, cook for
them, treat them to a lei-surely
walk at the park or a
swim at the pool. Kids will
love it. Make a rewards list
and give it to them one af-ter
another when there is a
good reason only.
Fashionable child-rearing.
By Jean Mamaspas
around the big, shiny Plasma
TV, watching some action
packed movie or teleserye
with a plate of food on their
lap!
Now don’t get me wrong,
I like technology as much as
the next person. It has paved
the way for instant news,
advancements in medicine,
real time access to our hard
earned cash and generally
makes life better.
But perhaps we need to
step back from our ‘busy’
lives with technology and
see what is really going on
around us and talk to our
families face to face more.
Family is the most impor-tant
thing someone could
ever have in their life time.
Let us cherish the time we
have with them because you
never know what is around
the corner.

8. Visayan Business Post
motoring sports Editor Andy Bevan
editor@visayanbizpost.com
August 2014 8
By the VBP Sports Monitor
Manila
Powerful riders, engines dominate Ormoc jet ski tilt
SPECTATORS to the recently concluded jet ski competition in Ormoc are wowed by the graceful skills of the riders and the sheer
power of their rides. Cristina Alburo (TOP RIGHT) easily won the Ladies Open for this competition. (Photo by VBP)
VisayanBusinessPost
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Contact us through
info@visayanbizpost.com
ORMOC BAY – Chris-tina
Alburo led powerful
lady riders Erika Larraza-bal
and Yvonne Yap to
clinch the Ladies Open of
the Ormoc City Fiesta 2014
Invitational Jet Ski Com-petition.
Alburo who was second
in the 2-Stroke Open cat-egory
also came in a strong
second in the 4-Stroke
Novice category of this
year’s spectacular water
sports at the historic Or-moc
Bay.
Joseph del Socorro mean-while
exploited the sheer
power of his ride to domi-nate
the 2-Stroke Open as
well as the 4-Stroke Novice
categories. The young Del
Socorro flaunted smooth
maneuvers even under un-favorable
winds that made
the 6 lap circuit more dif-ficult
to race due to higher
than expected waves.
Del Socorro’s sharp but
flawless turns at the corner
buoys easily made him a
crowd favorite.
Meanwhile, McCoy Lar-razabal
was unfazed by Del
Socorro’s youthful compe-tence
at the Bay to show
action–packed command
over the waves that would
secure him the 4-Stroke
Open championship.
McCoy showed experi-ence
and class while best-ing
Del Socorro who came
in a reluctant second with
Bimbo Asensi after his heel
to gain the third place.
Newcomer Eman Yap
got in front early in the
2-Stroke Novice over nov-ices
Stephen Bobares and
Erika Larrazabal to get the
category’s first place after
6 laps around the circuit.
Bobares came in second
with Larrazabal taking the
third.The game’s Execu-tive
category was won by
experienced rider Allan Del
Socorro with Ruben Dahap
and Clifford Bensig coming
second and third place re-spectively.
Region 8 has submitted to
its head office in Manila.
The proposal which is part
of the government’s Na-tional
Greening Program
aims to create a productive
natural buffer between the
sea and inner lands along
the region’s entire coast-line.
Provincial Environment
and Natural Resources Of-ficer
Ricardo Tomol who
heads the DENR in South-ern
Leyte announced that
the program aims to refor-est
the 40-meter no build
zone limits.
The “no build zone” are
currently being imple-mented
in an inter-agency
effort along the region’s
shorelines that have been
identified as high risk dis-aster
or storm surge areas.
The local governments
are at the forefront of the
monitoring and deterrence
endeavor to make sure that
locals are precluded from
building human structures
and homes along the disas-ter–
prone areas.
“The project is part of the
country’s Climate Change
Adaptation (CCA) pro-gram”,
Tomol said, adding
that planting trees has long
been proven to mitigate the
effects of erratic climatic
conditions.
“Trees absorb carbon di-oxide
in the air and give off
oxygen for people and ani-mals
to breathe. They pro-vide
shade and act as buffer
against winds and waves
during bad weather”, the
DENR executive stated.
“The program seeks to
have private landowners
along the coastal roads
plant fruit trees. The seed-lings
will be provided by
the DENR but the land-owners
will have to choose
which varieties of fruit
trees they want to plant”,
Tomol clarified.
Tomol revealed that
DENR have so far covered
more than 4,000 hectares
of timberlands in Southern
Leyte where close to 2 mil-lion
trees of various species
have been planted with the
help of People’s Organiza-tions
(POs) under the gov-ernment’s
National Green-ing
Program.
The Philippine govern-ment
allotted more than
P6 Billion in 2014 for na-tional
reforestation which
is being implemented na-tionwide
by the DENR. If
reports are to be believed,
as of this writing, the pro-gram
has been able to plant
over 390 million trees cov-ering
less than 700,000
hectares of forest lands in
the country.
But the DENR still needs
to transparently publish
the specific areas covered
by these supposedly now
reforested lands as well
as identify and reveal the
capabilities of the various
contractors it engaged to
perform the tree plantings
so that these can be verified
independently.
There is a grave concern
over where much of the
funding for this program
has actually gone even as
local advocacies insist on
the conversion of the Na-tional
Greening Program
into a livelihood oppor-tunity
not only for DENR
favored contractors but by
local residents in the vari-ous
reforestation sites.
The argument gains
ground since reforestation
would need maintenance
and management if the
trees planted should be al-lowed
to survive.
The proposal to reforest
Eastern Visayas’ coastal
lands with a billion fruit
trees is indeed tantalizing
if not mind blowing. See-ing
fruit trees in full blos-som
along coastal high-ways
in the coming future
would be a “rosy dream
come true” not only for
natural environmentalists
and organic nutritionists.
But the success of this
proposed program must be
1 billion fruit trees for Visayas From Page 1
Analysis
viewed in constant evalua-tion
of the actual facts sur-rounding
the current Na-tional
Greening Program
itself.
It is notable that land
owners to whom these
coastal lands belong and
whose rights to property
use and determination will
be affected will have to
choose which varieties of
fruit trees they want plant-ed
on their lands.
The fact that the fruit
trees project would also
be implemented under the
Office of the Presidential
Adviser on Rehabilitation
and Reconstruction for
Yolanda Areas gives much
to think about and brings
no additional comfort.
The rehabilitation office
is not a permanent feature
of the Philippine govern-ment
whose actions and
expenditures can be sub-jected
to the most stringent
accounting that would
be required for a tricky,
expansive and long-term
program such as coastal
reforestation involving the
massive planting of varied
fruit tree species.
Star fruit. Balimbing (Averrhoa Carambola) is one of the disap-pearing
native fruit trees in Eastern Visayas. (Photo by Wikipedia)
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