5 dead in Leyte road mishap

ORMOC CITY, Philippines – Five persons, including two children, were killed when the motorcycle they were riding collided with a mini-bus Saturday in Albuera, Leyte, police said.

The fatalities were identified as Nomer Durango, his wife Gloria, both 40; their daughter Julie Ann, 10; Regine Heredia, 2; and motorcycle driver Nilo Bernal, 43.

Heredia’s mother, Jenny, 21, was seriously injured taken to the OSPA Farmers’ Medical Center by members of the 78th Battalion based in Albuera, about 23 km from Ormoc City.

All of the victims were on a “habal-habal” – public utility motorcycles where passengers squeeze themselves in front and behind the driver that are common in the Philippine countryside. They were on their way from Albuera to the town of Baybay.

Inspector Pascasio Murillo Jr., Albuera police chief, said the motorcycle was about to turn left on the national highway in at Barangay Tinag-an when it was hit by a mini-bus headed for Ormoc.

The bus driver, Jiel Rubencia, 32, said he was cruising at a speed of 60 kilometers per hour when the motorcycle suddenly crossed the intersection.

He said he stepped on the brakes but they did not seem to work. The bus dragged the motorcycle about 50 meters away.

The bus owner, Edrito Deguiles, promised to shoulder the burial expenses of the fatalities as well as the medical bills of Jenny Heredia.

-with reports from Elvie Roa of Inquirer.net

1M Eastern Visayas students need 2,000 more classrooms

TACLOBAN CITY—About one million pupils and students in Eastern Visayas face lack of teachers and classrooms when they go back to school today.

Imelda Parado, Department of Education in Eastern Visayas (DepEd-8) information officer, said the department was trying its best to address these perennial problems by tapping the help of local government units, business groups and nongovernment organizations.

“We don’t only rely on government resources,” she said.

The DepEd-8 was anticipating over a million pupils and students to troop to both elementary and secondary public schools as enrollment for this school year was expected to rise by 10 percent.

Last year, DepED-8 recorded 708,715 pupils in the elementary level and 288,740 students in secondary level.

The anticipated increase in the number of enrollees will worsen the problem of lack of teachers and classrooms in Eastern Visayas.

For one, there were only 5,381 public school teachers in the elementary level, and 431 in the high school level.

Parado said the DepEd was grateful for the local officials who hired new teachers for their localities.

For classrooms, elementary public schools need 869 new classrooms, and 1,184 in the secondary level for this school year.

Parado said several nongovernment organizations and business groups had built and donated classrooms in Eastern Visayas.

-with reports from Joey A. Gabieta of Inquirer.net

Tacloban's Best Band: Island Paradise

The Pride of Tacloban City, the Island Paradise, triumphed in the Battle Robinsons Music Scene held at the Robinsons Place Tacloban last April 10, 2011.

I really look forward to seeing this band obtain regional and national spotlight, as it serenades its fans through its reggae-oriented music and enters the Waray-waray dialect into the local music scene.