TALISAY CITY – The city government of Talisay is gearing up for the 67th anniversary of the landing of the American troops in World War II, an event that paved the way for the liberation of Cebu from Japanese occupation.

The celebration will include a reenactment of the March 26, 1945 landing. The US 8th Army led by Commanding General William Arnold met with stiff opposition from Japanese troops. More than 400 American and 500 Japanese soldiers died in the battle for Talisay.

“Every year hundreds or even thousands of people from the province visit us to see the reenactment of the Landing, but we all know they only come here to see the highlights: The battles, the parachutes. Little did they know that this particular event had liberated not only Talisay but the entire province of Cebu. (MARS W. MOSQUEDA JR.)

Talent Festival

ILOILO CITY (PNA) — The Department of Education (DepEd) Friday gathered the best students from its various divisions in Western Visayas “Regional Festival of Talents.” DepEd 6 Resource Mobilization Special Program and Project division chief Dr. Eden Deriada said the project was conceptualized three years ago and it was only now that it materialized.

The festival is being held nationwide to choose winners to represent their respective regions during the national festival slated April 9-13 which will be hosted by Iloilo. High school students will vie in five contests, namely population quiz which is being held back-to-back with the Population Commission and on the sport contest on essay writing, poster making, jingle writing and singing. Deriada said the contests anchor on population education and environment.

Handkerchief Habit

ILOILO CITY (PNA) — The Department of Health 6 (DOH-6) is encouraging each person to bring a handkerchief with them everywhere they go. Medical Specialist Edith Gimotea of the DOH-6 said by simply covering mouth with handkerchief every time we cough helps prevent the spread of tuberculosis (TB) and other viruses.

“So let’s make it a habit that every time we cough, we cover our mouth even though we have no TB”, she said during the recent press conference at the Iloilo Provincial Capitol in preparation for the World TB Day on Saturday.

N.G.C.P. Backed

ILOILO CITY (PNA) — The opposition to the proposed takeover of the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) of the connection/transmission assets of the Panay Energy Development Corporation (PEDC) is being backed by the Regional Development Council (RDC), the highest policy-making body in Western Visayas.

A resolution pushed by the RDC’s Infrastructure Development Committee (IDC) was recently approved by the council during its first quarterly meeting.

Landfill Clustering

ILOILO CITY (PNA) — Negros Occidental is considering a clustered sanitary landfill as a way of addressing its problem on solid waste management. Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) OIC Asst. Regional Dir. Jonathan P. Bulos said the high cost of putting up a sanitary landfill has kept many local government units (LGUs) from building one.

Negros Occidental is devising a way by having the towns and cities own sanitary landfill by clusters. Bulos said Negros Occidental 3rd district Cong. Albee Benitez is amenable to the proposed clustering and will allocate funds for it.