JANUARY 24 - JANUARY 30, 2021


METROPOST


2 NEWS and UPDATES Inter-Agency Task Force IED


Updates


and the confirmation of three additional active cases, City Health Officer Dr. Maria Sarah Talla reported that the active cases dropped to 64 as of Thursday evening. Dr Talla also disclosed that the 64 active COVID cases


CoViD cases drop to 64 Following the recovery of eight COVID-19 patients


are residents of Barangays Bagacay (6), Bajumpandan (3), Balugo (2), Banilad (3), Bantayan (2), Batinguel (5), Buñao (2), Cadawinonan (1), Calindagan (3), Candau-ay (3), Cantil-e (2), Daro (3), Junob (5), Looc (3), Piapi (7), Poblacion 1 (4), Poblacion 4 (1), Pulantubig (1), Tabuc-tubig (1) and Taclobo (7).


Of the 36 Persons under Monitoring: 15 close contacts of new COVID positive cases in Barangays Bagacay and Cantil-e; two Overseas Filipino Workers from Saudi Arabia and Kuwait; one police officer from Manila, and 18 Locally Stranded Individuals from Manila, Pampanga, Zambales and Cebu.


day quarantine without any medical incident, thus cleared to join their families.


Meanwhile, of the current 636 PUMs: 240 are in designated hotel facilities, 56 are in the community isolation center, while 340 are in barangay isolation centers. One of the PUMs seen and examined by the City Health personnel has shown signs and symptoms of ILI.


MSMEs get P8M grant from DOST


Eleven micro, small and medium enterprises in the province have received technology upgrading worth more than P7-M through the Department of Science & Technology’s Small Enterprise Technology Upgrading Program Innovation- Enabling Fund (SETUP iFund). The SETUP iFund is intended mainly for the acquisition of productivity- enhancing equipment and additional product variance, among others.


food processing include Delg Chorizo & Homemade Food Retailing in Canlaon City; New San Jose Delicacies & Pastries, also in Canlaon City; Cassy and Hannah Store in Ayungon; Daebak Korean Food Trading in Dumaguete; Lyn White’s Cakes & Pastries in Valencia; and Pitpat Burger in Basay.


Recipient-MSMEs for


For furniture making, funding was extended to Rajey Furniture in Tanjay City, and Miguel Casket Making in Valencia; Citi Glass Aluminum & Roll- up Door Hardware in Bayawan City for metals and engineering; JAB Handy Craft in San Jose for


handicraft; and Nangka Agrarian Reform Farmers Cooperative in Bayawan City for agriculture. SETUP cooperators will return the seed fund in three to five years - depending on their repayment capacity - without interest.


flagship program that aims to assist the MSMEs to produce quality products, increase productivity, and sustain marketability through technology and equipment upgrading and strengthening of innovation capability. (jct/PIA7 NegOr)


SETUP is a DOST gifts, decors and In contrast, eight PUMs completed on Jan. 21 their 14- So kalit goodbye


The Philippine Army’s 62nd Infantry Battalion gives food supplies to returning residents of barangay Trinidad in Guihulngan who fled their homes following a skirmish between Army troops and communist rebels. (62nd IB photo)


Around 30 fami l ies comprised of 120 to 150 individuals from a hinterland village in Guihulngan, Negros Oriental on Tuesday started returning to their homes as skirmishes between suspected New People’s Army guerillas and the Philippine Army have died down.


Lt. Col. Melvin Flores, commander of the Army’s 62nd Infantry Battalion, in a phone interview, said they allowed the civilians to go back to their homes and farms after assuring it was already safe to do so. “We have secured the area for them and have reassured them that the armed rebel group is no longer there,” he said. The residents of Sitio Batong-buang in Barangay Trinidad of the said town fled their homes Saturday as a firefight between government troops and the suspected NPA insurgents erupted in the sub-village. Initial reports said 20 families evacuated to the adjacent Sitio Punong, but the number grew as Guihulngan officials, led by Mayor Guido Reyes, through the City Social Welfare & Development Office, started handing out food assistance, the Army commander said.


Guihulngan evacuees return home


The food aid was distributed at the barangay hall of Trinidad to mostly women and children as many male family members were not among those who evacuated, he said. Flores said that on Saturday, four separate encounters took place in the vicinity of Batong-buang as soldiers clashed with around 40 armed NPA members.


The military was acting upon reports of the presence of the insurgents, who, Flores said, were just “passing through and asking for food from residents”.


Sporadic clashes followed as the NPA splintered into smaller groups, which warranted air strikes by two MG-520 attack helicopters of the Philippine Air Force on Sunday, he said. No casualties were


Owners of the Mapa- Ledesma (MapLe) Farm in Tanjay City are mulling over their options after a telecommunications operator dug a trench through their property Friday to


Telco digs on private farm


telecommunications tower without permission. Ico Manalo, manager the MapLe farm,


of


reported the incident to their barangay captain, but couldn’t go to the farm to verify the report because he was sick.


reported on the government side and from the civilian sector, while Flores said they believe that some rebels may have been injured or killed in the clashes, although no bodies were recovered, he added. On Monday, troopers scoured the area and found what they believe was an abandoned encampment of the suspected NPA rebels,


TO PAGE 6


DA to set up estate in Tamlang


ALL’s WELL. Mayor Felipe Remollo assures residents of barangay Bantayan that no trees will be cut in the course of developing the central area at Silliman Park, and that it will be utilized in accordance with the terms of the Deed of Donation from Silliman University as a playground and recreation area. The P2 million development project at Silliman Park includes the installation of lights and CCTV cameras, a multi-purpose pavement (not a basketball court), and pathways. No basketball goals will be installed. The Mayor also assured the residents that an ordinance will be passed regulating the time for the use of the Park so that the users will not disturb the peace, especially at night time. (Photo from Lupad Dumaguete)


CONG. SAGARBARRIA....FROM P. 1 The road will connect


the barangays of Bagtic and Luyang in the mountain town of Mabinay, about 76 kilometers north of Dumaguete.


small businessmen will be happy with this ‘shortcut’ road,” said Mabinay Vice Mayor “Jango” Uy.


The new road will ease the travel of residents going into the Poblacion where they can sell their farm produce, animals and plants, and do their business transactions.


“Our farmers, students,


He expressed gratitude to Congressman Sagarbarria for his partnership with the Mabinay executives, and for his quick action on the people’s concerns in the mountains.


Through the initiative of


the Congressman, another P12 million has been allocated for the concreting of the Luyang-Bato road as well.


importance to us all that our development efforts reach the farthest barangays of any municipality or city in the 2nd District,” Congressman Sagarbarria vowed. (Anicee dela Rama)


“It is of utmost


Agro-industrial estate development is expected to be established in over 214 hectares of government land in Tamlang Valley, which stretches from Sta. Catalina in the south, through Siaton and Sibulan uto Pamplona in the north in Negros Oriental.


me e ti n g,


Executive Director Atty. Salvador Diputado of the Department of Agriculture and its attached agencies representatives discussed with Gov. Roel Degamo the agricultural development in Tamlang Valley, including the implementation of agriculture and fishery projects in the Province. Both the DA and the


In a “harmonization” R e gi o n a l


TO PAGE 10 set up a


Lt. Col. Mark Gifter Sucalit, who served as Dumaguete City Police Chief since June 2020, said his goodbyes to the people of Dumaguete City last week.


Sucalit told members of the City Council that he is being assigned to the PNP Regional Headquarters in Cebu to fulfill his senior executive training course, a requirement for promotion. He said his replacement will be Lt. Col. Jodimar Bonilla, the chief of the Bayawan City PNP.


Sucalit bids


He thanked the Council for their support, saying he felt loved by the people of Dumaguete even though he is not from this City, and expressed hope that that the new chief of police will continue the good relations with the Council and the City.


Sucalit reported that index crimes went down during his watch. He said from June to December, index crimes were at 50 incidents, compared to 200 plus index crimes in 2019. Index crimes are serious


crimes that include murder, homicide and theft.


Manalo said he has tried talking to the backhoe operator but was surprised to learn that the operator, from Myanmar, could not speak English or Cebuano. The farm manager


was compelled to post the incident on social media, with the hope that other similarly-situated landowners could share their experience.


sometime last month, a Tagalog-speaking woman approached him, saying they were just going to “pass through” the MapLe property. No documents were signed with any telco.


Manalo recalled that


police had been launching two operations per week against illegal drugs, arresting three persons per week. They also launched two operations against illegal gambling each week, leading to the arrest of four persons weekly, and arrested two wanted persons per week.


The Police chief earned praises from the members of the City Council, with some even saying that he has been the best police chief to have served Dumaguete in such a short time.


Sucalit also said the


Sucalit, who served for only six months, took over Lt. Col. Wilfredo Alarcon, who served for only eight TO PAGE 6


province strengthened its partnership and


A backhoe operated by a non-English-speaking Myanmar national is excavating a ditch within the Mapa-Ledesma farm in Tanjay allegedly for a telecommunications company, without any permission from the landowners (Photo by Ico Manalo)


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