GoodPage Weekly

TRAFFIC DISCIPLINE ZONE, ORMOC CITY. PART TWO.

Sukwahi sa una nakong gi-post [forklift gipadagan sa national highway]: makita sa hulagway ang usa ka matawag nga AMAZING CONTRAPTION, SHEER WILL AND DETERMINATION.

Usa ka PWD nga wheelchair-bound nag-drive sa usa ka talagsaon, customized nga tricycle nga dili lang kay TULO ANG LIGID, kung dili DUHA ANG MOTOR.

Dili lang ang maong engineering wonder, hasta ang abilidad sa nag-drive ang importante dinhi-- mas angay panaminan ang ka-ligdong sa tawo.

Makita dinhi nga ang motor sa left side, naay license plate (plaka)-- samtang ang motor sa right side, dunay PWD plate nga may registration code gihapon.

Karon, talking about aning gitawag nga "kamote" riders, kini unta ang angay nga parehasan. Daghang bikers, even drivers of four-wheel vehicles, nga walay lisensya: kung naa man gani, Student Permit-- or expired.

Daghang mga motor, even four-wheel vehicles, nga naa sa mga public roads nagdagan nga walay rehistro: kung naa man gani, tampered-- or expired.

Ang Ormoc pinaagi sa Operation P.R.O.T.E.C.T. (Promoting Road Order Through Education, Compliance and Teamwork) nagduso sa paghimo sa siyudad isip Traffic Discipline Zone.

Karon, subay sa makita sa picture dinhi, dili ba maayo kini nga example sa Disiplina?

June 10, 2026.
Boundary of Brgy. San Pablo
& Brgy. Cogon National Road

GOODPAGE WEEKLY congratulates Sec. Mel Senen Sarmiento on his appointment as Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconcialition and Unity.

Sec. Sarmiento was mayor of Calbayog City, congressman of the first district of Samar, and DILG Secretary. While mayor of Calbayog City, he chaired the Regional Development Council of Eastern Visayas. During his term as RDC Chair, he successfully looped the three Visayas Regions into the One Visayas team of the three RDCs.

The effort resulted to coordinated and synchronized developmental pursuits in all three regions, given that the Visayas is the most geographically fragmented area in the country.

Prior to his latest appointment, Sec. Sarmiento chaired the Galing Pook Foundation, which is a leading resource institution that recognizes, capacitates, and promotes innovation, sustainability, citizen empowerment, and excellence in local governance.

Galing Pook has been existing for more than 30 years.

Sec. Sarmiento also encouraged workers' participation in policy-making. During his incumbency as RDC chairperson, he opened the Council's doors to the entry of the National Conciliation and Mediation Board (NCMB) of the Department of Labor and Employment.

The effort helped Eastern Visayas gain a more stable industrial and labor relations climate-- putting a stop to labor unrest and strikes that lasted for more than 17 years.

IN PHOTO: November 25, 2009 at Waterfront Hotel Cebu.
Sec. Sarmiento with GoodPage Weekly Publisher Rene de los Reyes, who was the private sector representative for labor of the RDC while the former was chairperson.

This was during the national convention on labor-management cooperation organized by the Philippine League of Labor-Management Cooperation (PHILAMCOP), of which de los Reyes was national president from 2007-2011.

Sec. Sarmiento was a plenary speaker of this event, discussing good governance as an essential standard for a stable industrial relations climate.

THE UNRELENTING RAINS THAT HIT LEYTE caused the waters of Layug River in the town of Mahaplag to reach critical level.

A house hangs precariously, tilting towards being washed away, on one of the banks of the mighty river, while the owner could only stare blankly, helpless.

This scene was photographed by Merlindo Empron, a local resident of Sitio Naba, Brgy. Union towards the southern part of the town.
Elsewhere in the country, scenes like this unfold whenever there are dramatic downpours-- and makes everyone miss the funds that were squandered in the ghost flood-control projects.

Mahaplag was last given an allocation by the DILG for the construction of embankments along the Layug River in 2021, for a miniscule amount enough only to cover a few hundred meters to protect the town center.

The town's request for a bigger fund has been on hold since 2018.