Tanauan, Leyte

Atty. Karen Gempis June 25th, 2008

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I write amidst the heavy rains pouring outside brought by Typhoon “Frank” with splinters of dead branches and ripe mango fruits occasionally falling in our roof. It is unthinkable that such an occasion, as the height of another natural phenomenon will compel me to write and reveal the thoughts running through my mind. As early as 3 AM, I lay fully awake as thoughts of our mango trees might not withstand the strength of ”Frank” and leave my household unprepared for the circumstance. Previously, there has been an increasing tempo of the gusty wind and the rains and I can only tell it is once again another stormy day. With the power out, and water temporarily unavailable, the options of how to spend a stormy Sunday are narrowed. I can just finish reading a book which I just did or begin another piece of article– something I have been unable to do quite lately. Now, there is no more excuse.

My official travel to attend to one of our cases in Cebu City last May gave me the opportunity to go home even for so short a time. As always, I have been fascinated by the sight and sounds of the Queen City of the South as nothing compared to other cities. But still I longed for home. I had only the weekend to spare and being with family—I can only count the most important activities I can manage. But never can it be missed out—those early Sunday morning walk or jog along the familiar streets of San Miguel, Solano, diversion Road, San Roque and finally the beaches of Sto. Niño.

This time I wanted to pass by the neighborhood of San Roque before reaching Bachelor because it has been a long time since I walked this path. I caught sight of the pre-existing structure of what is New Leyte Edible Oil and again quite reminisced that in my younger years, this has already been part of Tanauan and of its beaches beyond. I refer to it as “pre-existing” because as far as I can remember, it has already been there and if I’m not mistaken, even before I was born.

When I was in my teens, I do remember seeing a big structure—cemented piece of a ruin—that was slowly being eaten up by the waves and the sand. As years passed and to date, what remains is a relatively small portion of it on which the waves still pound and crash into. In a young mind back then, I do remember that this cemented structure appeared to be formidable and quite incapable of being submerged into the waters as we even walked through it in our leisurely pass to the other side of the beach—farther to and beyond the “pantalan”. Now nothing will seem formidable and indefatigable in nature—as in this case the force of the tide and of the waters will impose itself consistently on this structure like any other. Nature indeed.

What caught my sight and what will again put me into agitation is the unpleasant sight of the sewage that no longer discretely flow from the exhaust vents or holes of New Leyte Edible Oil. It was in open view or “plain view” of any passerby and the pool of putrid water with trash combined in an enclosed space leaving it stagnant is something that cannot just escape my eyes. I looked at the source and found it very clear that again this company has again deceived or cheated us, of its social responsibilities or to be precise– environmental responsibilities! For even if they are granted an environmental clearance, I do not believe that obtaining such and the responsibility that comes along with it ends and cease upon receipt of the certificate or whatever piece of document is issued by the regulatory agency. The essence of compliance or if indeed there is an honest attempt to comply in good faith to the requirements of compliance is best seen or confirmed in the daily actual operation of this business entity up to the detail of its sewage management and that early Sunday morn is one ordinary day in its normal business life where this attempt at compliance can be gauged. There I saw the lack of effort to comply! Continue Reading »

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Leo Talens May 23rd, 2008

All fellow Tanauaneños:

Those who are in Manila and would like to venture Call Center career opportunity, TUCP offers PGMA Scholarship. It is located in QC Circumference, TUCP Headquarters and screens every Friday. It’s a day screening from written exam to oral exam down to phone testing. If able to score the 55 to 80, you qualify, score is 25 to 54, may still be considered for Call Center Training for a minimal fee of Php3000.00. Compare with other TESDA accredited with PGMA Finishing Course, this NGO is far more reliable and it has numbers to tell that theirs is serious enough in helping our fellows, who are jobless and would like to venture the said industry.

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Sarah Songalia April 27th, 2008

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I just facilitated a budgeting and forecasting workshop in Entrepreneurs Accounting Academy and one participant caught my attention regarding his reason for attending the workshop. To cut the story short, he was the General Manager of an agro firm based in Mindoro and the main reason why he attended the workshop was because they saw the rice crisis as an opportunity for the company to earn more and would like to align resources for this. During the lunch break he came to my office and asked if he could discuss something with me. During our discussion, I could not help but think of Tanauan, Leyte.

Tanauan, Leyte is such a “landed” town. To prove this, aren’t most of us who were able to graduate from college were one way or the other funded through the produce of our family’s farmland? I, for one, know that my great grandparents do have a lot of farmland in Tanauan, Leyte though I am not sure if these still exist. When I was a kid, I would see sacks and sacks of rice being delivered to my great grandparents place. Over the years though, that has considerably dwindled. I would not know the reason, as I am not privy to these things. However, the truth remains that rice is not such a problem for us in Tanauan, Leyte, then. Whatever the is situation now, I would not know, as I am also guilty of leaving my hometown in search for a better life.

In this context, I am just curious as to the economic program of our town with regards to agriculture. The last time I was home, I had a chat with our Hon. Mayor Roque Tiu and if I remember right he did tell me something about schools in some of the barangays who were teaching modern farming. This is a good start. I, however, am apprehensive if an economic program that would help the graduates start something on their own supports this action.

I was in Dagupan City, Pangasinan a few weeks ago to visit clients and a client of mine was talking about a certain ordinance entitled the Investment Code of Dagupan. When I saw the write-up, I was not surprised knowing the economic landscape of Dagupan City. But come to think of it, Dagupan is such a small place. It is in between municipalities that if you could go to all the places in Singapore in just a day, in Dagupan you can see all the places in just half of a day. It is a wonder that for such a small place, you can see branches of all the major banks in Manila there which only points out the fact that there is a lot of money circulating in the market. To make comparisons more glaring, Dagupan, City is composed of only 31 barangays, 22 barangays short than what we have. But, hey, don’t get me wrong. I am only making the comparisons to say that economically, it is not a question of whether we have a chance because it has been seen that everyone has but a question of whether we have the plan to make our town a viable economic zone.

Going back to the rice crisis, had we given attention to our agricultural industry, we could have stood a chance in creating an opportunity for our town in this situation. I am not saying that we could take advantage of the situation to make profits of our own (though I am not sure also if the rice cartel they are saying in Leyte is really existent as I have no first hand knowledge) but we could have helped our fellow Tanauanons rise beyond what they normally experience in terms of income and make them part of a national cause. But you know that was just a thought that crossed my mind.

An economic plan is somewhat like a plan for your life. What you want to be, where you would get the resources, how you are going to get where you want to be and all the other things to be considered. Just like what Arch. Hector Gomez was saying in the construction of the public market. We cannot just go on constructing here and there and planting here and everywhere without any plan that will integrate all our actions together. I guess, all these things that we are experiencing is just a consequence of what the macroeconomic landscape also is. Yet, at the back of my mind, a question so insistently wants to be said out loud: “How come nobody in Tanauan, Leyte has so wholeheartedly stayed to develop the potential of the town? Are we so poor and unattractive and lacking in resources as not to get the attention of anyone wanting to invest in the Philippines? And how come over the years, the economic infrastructure of our town has not been so touched with changes that will make a difference in the lives of the Tanauanenos that will in turn make them stay instead of leaving their hometown in search for a better life? Are we really the “bungto han kamagaraman”?

This rice crisis is not a joke. Two weeks ago, my family purchased rice and the price per kilo was 36.50 pesos. A month before that, the price per kilo of the rice was only 26.50 pesos. This morning we had to buy rice again and you know how much the price per kilo was? It was 40.50 per kilo. In a span of less than two months, the price of rice increased by 53%. You can just imagine the impact this has on the low-income families. I pray that this will not affect our hometown for if this problem will cascade to Tanauan, Leyte (if it hasn’t, yet), it would really be ironic. These are just my thoughts on the matter. I am looking forward to visiting my hometown again and see what can be done. Probably, all those enjoying a better life in other places would like to be part of a big cause all for our beloved hometown. As our Hon. Mayor aptly puts it in his reply to the blog of Hector Gomez: “Hope others who have nothing to do will follow your pagmamalasakit han aton bungto” referring to the many ideas HG said on his open letter. Let’s all try to discuss these ideas in this website. It’s been a while since my last blog, which talked about economies of scale, but I have been reading some of the posts. Thank you all for making tanauanleyte.com a part of your routine. Best regards to everyone!!!

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