Category: News

Four teams — Wakanda Knights, CMO Tightans, Mondragon Rippers, and Green Hornets . . . different game plans but fighting for one purpose — victory. This was the fuel that drives each team engine to succeed amidst the challenges in the Sports Team Building held in the Galleria Luisa Activity Center. Everybody gave their all, but there is only one winner, the Mondragon Rippers, the Rippers dominated most of the events, Dancesport, Men’s Badminton, Word Factory, and Basketball, which eventually earned them the Over-all Championship title. City Mayor John Geesnell “BABA” Yap and First Lady Jane Yap provided the cash prizes and subsidized the uniform of each team. Mikel Eden of Globe Telecoms has also been a consistent sponsor of the CMO team building for the last three years.

Two ballgames were held, basketball and volleyball. The Mondragon Rippers dominated the basketball competition, while the Green Hornets triumphed in Volleyball. Various teams emerged as winners in badminton, for the men’s double and singles, the Mondragon Rippers captured the title, for the women’s badminton, the singles category was won over by the Mondragon Rippers, while the CMO Tightans dominated the doubles. OSCA Head and CMO Tightans Evelyn Leyble is still the grand winner in the Sungka, Wakanda Knights conquered Chess, Dart and Air Hockey (women), Mondragon Rippers won in the Word Factory, and the CMO Tightans victoriously dominated the Air Hockey (Men). The Dancesport Competition showdown proved to be a dazzling display of rhythm and accuracy. Three couples showed off their repertoire in cha-cha and jive. Chairman of the Board of Judges Dr. Butch Bernas declared the couple from the Mondragon Rippers as the over-all champion.

City Mayor John Geesnell “BABA” Yap, City Councilor Joseph Bompat, SK Federated President Tom Cesar Vergara, and BACU Head Alvin Acuzar awarded the tuition fee subsidy to 552 scholars in Tagbilaran City. This program has been consistently providing opportunities to students who wished to finish college. To date, the City Government also established the Tagbilaran City College which aims to provide affordable and quality education. The current enrollment of TCC numbers to more than 800 coming from all over Bohol.

City Vice-Mayor Jose Antonio Veloso presided over the committee meeting tasked to review the proposed Pedestrian Safety Ordinance in Tagbilaran City. Premised on the general welfare code, the ordinance aims to regulate the use of streets and sidewalks. It mandates that pedestrians should be provided with sidewalks, pedestrian crossings, pedestrian refuge island, curb extension, accessibility ramps, signage, and adequate lighting. Once approved, an ad hoc committee is tasked to oversee the project headed by the City Planning and Development Office.

The City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (CDRRMC) chaired by City Mayor John Geesnell “BABA” Yap spearheaded a four-day training workshop among the key players in disaster response and management. The CDRRM, City PNP, City Fire, City Health, City Traffic and Management, City Media Bureau, ALERT, CHARL, and the barangay officials of Brgy. Cogon convened to prepare and draft out plans in case of human induced disasters. Mayor Yap has tasked the CDRRM to prioritize these plans and stressed its importance, “We have to outline a clear and specific points for action in case of fire and break-out of accidents in mass gatherings. This is crucial, specifically in Brgy. Cogon where the population is so dense. Crafting a detailed contingency plan will totally make a difference in reducing the casualty and responding to the victims’ immediate needs. For mass gatherings, the onset of Saulog is expected to draw in large crowds. We have to be on guard and prepare for worst-case scenarios”, Yap said.  CDRRM Officer Gerard Lavadia provided the inputs for the drafting of the contingency plans. According to UNHCR, Contingency Planning (CP) is a forward planning process in a state of uncertainty in where scenarios and objectives are agreed, managerial and technical actions defined, potential response systems put in place to prevent or better respond to an emergency. It is a management process that analyzes specific potential events in a state of uncertainty, and establishes response arrangements.  CP is mandated in Rule 6, Section 4 (3) of IRR of RA 10121 which states, “The Provincial, City and Municipal DRRMOs or BDRRMCs, in coordination with concerned national agencies and instrumentalities, shall facilitate and support risk assessments and contingency planning activities at the local level.”

The CP addresses issues related to emergencies such as the essential use of time, the CP outlines how you can maximize time in limiting the number of casualties and how can response be immediately deployed in the scene. The enormous needs during emergencies will also be answered by the CP through a clear identification of roles, as well as the complex coordination needed during such human induced disasters. Mayor Yap has always reiterated the value of preparedness and even equipped the CDRRM with the much-needed logistics to capacitate and strengthen its operations, “We have invested a sizable amount to enhance the response mechanism of our CDRRM. To date, we already have 3 ambulances, a rescue truck, a fire truck, a water tanker, search and rescue gadgets, LED boards, and a state-of-the art command center. All these are geared to increase the resiliency of Tagbilaran City and mitigate the ill effects of calamities”, Yap emphasized.

The club crew from Brgy. Poblacion 2 topped the Men’s Category in the recently concluded Saulog Dragon Boat Challenge, followed by the crew from Brgy. Cabawan, and Brgy. Cogon. The Women’s Finals were conquered by the crew from Brgy. Taloto, followed by Brgy. Poblacion 2, and Brgy. Dao. While the Mixed Finals went to Taloto and Poblacion 2. The dragon boat competition was the opening salvo for the Saulog Sports Competitions. City Councilor Adma Relson Jala and SK Federated President Tom Cesar Vergara graced the event.