People's Day of Catarman

An outreach mission dubbed as "People's Day of Catarman" was held on August 12 -13 at Barangay Baybay, Catarman, Northern Samar. The two-day medical and dental outreach mission were sponsored by the Armed Forces of the Philippines Central Command, 803rd Infantry Brigade of the Philippine Army, and the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office. About 1,184 Northern Samarnons were served during the outreach mission, of these were 932 medical and 252 dental patients from Barangays Airport Village, Talisay, Abad Santos and Baybay. The outreach mission was the brainchild of Lt. Gen. Ike I. Inserto, Commander of the AFP Central Command, aimed at alleviating the living conditions of the poor.

Mr. William Medici, a Catarmanon who is the Regional Director of the PCSO based in Cebu City, facilitated the release of P75,000 worth of medicines.

Present during the People's Day of Catarman were Col. Eduardo del Rosario, commander of the 803rd Infantry Brigade, Vice Gov. Antonio P. Lucero, Mayor Alita E. Rosales, Brgy Chairwoman Mila Edria of Brgy Baybay, Brgy Chairwoman Yolanda Talavera of Brgy Airport Vilage, Brgy Chairwoman Pilar Adriasola of Brgy Talisay and Brgy Chairwoman Luz Marino of Brgy Abad Santos, Barangay Health Workers, and School Teachers of Brgy Baybay Elementary School whose classes were temporarily suspended to give way to the 2-day activity.

Lapinig - Special Agrarian Reform Community

The Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) Central Office recently confirmed Lapinig, Northern Samar as a Special Agrarian Reform Community. Agrarian Reform Communities are beneficiaries of projects which will be implemented as part of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program's support services component.

Agrarian Reform Communities are considered growth points in the countryside wherein projects extended by different stakeholders are implemented in order to improve agricultural production and increase household income in rural communities.

Studies have showed that Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries living within the Agrarian Reform Communities are better off than their counterparts in non-Agrarian Reform Communities.

Region 8 has now a total of 153 Agrarian Reform Communities, and about 59 of these are recipients of projects such as those funded by the World Bank (WB), Asian Development Bank (ADB), and the governments of Japan, Spain and Australia among others.