100 Nego-karts already operating in Eastern Visayas

MAASIN CITY -- At least 100 Nego-Kart (negosyo sa kariton) are now operating in the cities of Eastern Visayas, turning ambulant vendors into cart owners, the Department of Labor and Employment (Dole) reported.

Dole Regional Director Forter G. Puguon said the project is now being implemented in this city, Calbayog, Ormoc, and Tacloban with about 20 to 30 nego-kart units in every city.

Each vendor-beneficiary is provided with a total of P15,000 in assistance including a vending cart and accessory livelihood tools costing P12,000, along with working capital amounting to P2,500 and training assistance worth P500.

“Those vendors don’t have to worry that authorities will drive them away since they have permits and a permanent place to locate the cart,” Puguon said.

The project is in partnership with City Governments to ensure that securing necessary permits will be facilitated before the project was launched early this year. The role of local officials is to help vendors operate legally.

“This was implemented during the transition period from the old administration to the new administration since this was identified as deliverable,” he said.

The labor department is studying the possibility of expanding the project in capital towns and other areas of the region with many ambulant vendors.

Other than raising their income, Dole expects the initiative will provide the vendors with services that will enable them to increase, upgrade and diversify their products and services, and market the same to more buyers or customers.

One of the beneficiaries is 40-year-old Nene D. Roces of Barangay Abgao, this city. She said she’s been a vendor of soft drinks and instant foods for five years but she never learned how to deal with costumers and keep record until she was listed as one of the recipients of the project.

“Since I got this kart, my daily gross sales increased from P500 to P1,000. I hope this business would continue to support us in sending our children to school,” said Roces, a mother of two, said.

For Merylou Dalida, 32, the cart draws more buyers because it is more presentable than the old table she used before. “Now, I earn more money to buy medicines for my sickly father,” she added.

Fe Norma Valuis, head of the Dole Southern Leyte field office, said recipients are paying taxes since they have necessary permits to operate cart business.

“We asked the City Government to designate a place where they can stay after roaming around during daytime,” Valuis added.

The Nego-Kart project, which has been implemented in major cities of the country, caters to ambulant vendors who trade their goods or services without the necessary market business permits in sidewalks, buses, community market places and other public places.

Source: Sun Star Tacloban

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Leyte positive in EVRAA

CALBAYOG CITY -- Department of Education (DepEd)-Leyte Division officials believe that they will once again bring home the beacon in this year's Eastern Visayas Regional Athletics Association (Evraa) here.

For four years now, the Leyte delegation has always been declared as the overall champion of Evraa.

Rogelia Urbino, of the Leyte DepEd Division, said athletes from their division are prepared for the competition.

Around 500 athletes from various elementary and secondary schools in the province of Leyte compete for the Evraa, to include around 100 coaches, officiating members and DepEd officials from their division and staff.

Urbino, who is also the regional physical education supervisor, said that among the expected athletes to produce medals for the Leyte delegation are the scholars of the Leyte Sports Academy, a priority program of the Provincial Government of Leyte through Governor Jericho Petilla that helps enhance the ability of every student athletes in their respective field of sports.

"We are thankful for the support that the governor had provided to all our athletes from the start of our training until this very day of competition," she said.

She added trainings provided to the athletes in the academy ensure an exemplary performance for an athlete, thus they are hoping to top once again this year's regional sporting event.

Among the sports they are expecting to win gold medals are boxing, taekwondo, athletics, baseball, softball, swimming, chess, table tennis, sipa, sepak takraw and tennis.

Meanwhile, Calbayog City Mayor Reynaldo Uy said he is not hoping for their athletes to top the medal standings in the competition.

The City Government of Calbayog had allocated P5.9 million for the staging of this year's Evraa competition, while Samar first district Representative Mel Senen Sarmiento provided P500,000 as support to the City Government.

"We are hosting the competition right now and we are not expecting to be on top of the medal standing but what we can only assures is we will provide a good fight in every field of sports were our athletes are to compete," Uy said. 

Source; Leyte Samar Daily Express, Sun Star Tacloban

The owner of this blog does not intend to copy or violate the copyrights of the writer/ publication, but to disseminate and make Taclobanons aware of the current happenings in the city. If writer/ publication wishes to have this removed, just contact dancer.silent@yahoo.com.

Calbayog City Mayor supports charter change

CALBAYOG City Mayor Reynaldo Uy said he supports the move to amend the Constitution through Charter change (Cha-cha).

Uy, who is a former representative of Samar first district, said there are some provisions in the present Constitution that should be amended, like its economic provisions and the term of office of all elected officials.

Uy said extending the term of office of all elective officials would ensure that they could provide better service to their constituents.

He also said the number of economic provision of the Constitution hampers the country's economic development.

"Yes to Cha-cha because for a good elected government official, three years is not enough. We need to have more time," Uy said.

The present term of elected officials, according to him, is too short for them to carry out all their intended programs and projects intended to their constituents.

Uy also said the economic provisions of the 1987 Constitution should be amended as the strict restrictions of foreign business and property ownership in the country had put us at the tail end among our neighboring Asian countries.

"We have to re-think and re-visit the ownership of lands and properties in the Philippines by foreigners if we are to embark on the massive invitation of foreign investors to put investment in the country," Uy explained.

At present, the 1987 Constitution only allows Filipino citizens to own properties and businesses in the country.

"If want more flow of capital in our country, I think this provision in the Constitution should be amended to invite more foreign business investors to come," Uy added.

The talks on Charter change was ignited anew when Eastern Samar Representative Ben Evardone proposed that any move to tinker the Constitution should now be started.

The first attempt to change the Constitution was during the presidency of former President Fidel V. Ramos who sought to change the present system of government into a parliamentary form of government and lift the term limits of public officials.

Under former President Joseph Estrada, a similar attempt was also proposed with a process called Concord or Constitutional Correction and Development proposing for amending the restrictive economic provisions of the Constitution that is seen as impeding to the entry of more foreign investors in the country.

Former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo also sought for Cha-cha only to met strong resistance from various sectors.

Source: Leyte Samar Daily Express

The owner of this blog does not intend to copy or violate the copyrights of the writer/ publication, but to disseminate and make Taclobanons aware of the current happenings in the city. If writer/ publication wishes to have this removed, just contact dancer.silent@yahoo.com.