Archive for the ‘News and Events’ Category

On the lead is Catbalogan City, having the most number of banks in Samar island and the third along with Ormoc City in the whole Eastern Visayas region.

This was reflected in the latest data as of September 2018 from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) along with the actual count of banks in the city, which some just recently opened in 2019.

Banks according to BSP are categorized into three (3), namely: Universal and Commercial Banks (UCB); Thrift Banks (TB) or Savings Banks; and the Rural and Cooperative Banks (RCB).

There are nine (9) UCB in Catbalogan and these are BDO Unibank, Inc. (BDO); Metropolitan Bank and Trust Company (Metrobank); Land Bank of the Philippines (Landbank); Philippine National Bank (PNB); China Banking Corporation (Chinabank); Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP); Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC); East West Banking Corporation (EastWest Bank); and Asia United Bank Corporation (AUB).

For SB, there are four (4) and these are BPI Family Savings Bank – Samar, Catbalogan; Philippine Business Bank (PBB); First Consolidated Bank, Inc.; and the BPI Direct BanKo, Inc. while there are only one (1) RCB and this is the CARD Bank, Inc. 

Topping the list is Tacloban City with a total of 53 banks, Ormoc City with 30 banks, Maasin City with 14 banks; Calbayog City with 13 banks; Baybay City with 9 banks; and Borongan City also with 9 banks.

In another report from BSP, it was estimated that more than half of the money flow in the province are in Catbalogan and it has recorded in 2017 with the highest number of deposit accounts in the whole island of Samar describing of a higher economic and commercial activity in the city compared to other cities in the island.

This standing firmly sets Catbalogan as the island’s financial, economic, commercial, institutional and political center of Samar.

(Report by Ador Hurtado)

#catbalogancity #banking #finance #banks #samar #sparksamar#kauswagkatbalogan #captivatingcatbalogan

Globe Telecom has opened its first GEN3 Store in Eastern Visayas right here in Catbalogan City earlier today.

Their newest store is conveniently located at the ground floor of Lucky Three Reality & Development Building found at the corner of San Bartolome Street and Curry Avenue, Catbalogan City.

Catbalogan’s Globe Store joins other major cities in country with GEN3 stores that are exclusively designed by Tim Kobe, founder and CEO of Eight, Inc. and among his most famous work is the Apple Store in New York, alongside his other dynamic designs for international retail stores such as Nike, GAP and Coach, among others.

GEN3 stores features various lifestyle zones that showcase the latest trends in product, people and business, which veered away from the basic transactional set-up to a venue where customers can discover and learn new things in the digital space.

With the opening of the region’s first Globe GEN3 store in Catbalogan, it further emphasizes the city’s strong position in the regional market of digital communication and business economy.

(Photos by Councilor Michael “Mike” Tuazon; Report by Ador Hurtado)

#catbalogancity #globe #gen3 #kauswagkatbalogan #captivatingcatbalogan

Alumni Month in Catbalogan City will officially start next week as three (3) schools commence their respective grand alumni homecoming festivities!

From April 08-14, 2019, Samar College (SC), St. Mary’s College of Catbalogan (SMCC), and Samar State University (SSU) will be opening its doors to alumni and guests for their annual homecoming with their respective themes, gimmicks and activities.

Samar National School (SNS) will then follow on April 22-28, 2019 right after the Holy Week observance to cap off the alumni month celebration.

Come home to Catbalogan this April for the Alumni Month 2019 and bring along your families and friends for yet another wonderful time to rekindle high school fun.

Uli na, bakasyon na!

Samar College 2019 Grand Alumni Homecoming
Shc-Smcc Grand Alumni Homecoming 2019
The 2019 42nd Grand Alumni Homecoming STS SSAT SSPC SSU
2019 Samar High Grand Alumni Homecoming Music Festival

(Photos by respective host batches; Report by Ador Hurtado)

#catbalogancity #alumnimonth #samarcollege #sc #smcc#stmaryscollegeofcatbalogan #ssu #samarstateuniversity #sns#samarnationalschool #karisyokatbalogan #captivatingcatbalogan#kulturakatbalogan

The City Government of Catbalogan through the City Tourism, Culture, Arts & Information Office (CTCAIO) joins the nation in celebrating the 2019 National Literature Month (NLM) this whole month of April.

This year’s theme is “Buklugan Panitikan”, which is derived from a Subanen ritual called “buklog”, a thanksgiving ceremony performed at the start of the planting and harvest season; and combined with “panitikan” or literature, which puts emphasis on the connection between literature and language to other forms of literatures and languages in our country.

Annual conduct of NLM is anchored on Presidential Proclamation No. 968 series of 2015 by then President Benigno Aquino III that coincides with the birth and death anniversaries of Francisco “Balagtas” Baltazar and other literary pillars like Emilio Jacinto, Paciano Rizal, Nick Joaquin, Edith Tiempo and Bienvenido Lumbera.

The celebration recognizes that “national literature plays an important role in preserving and inspiring the literature of today and in introducing to future generations the Filipino values that we have inherited from our ancestors”.

Locally, Catbalogan City government through the CTCAI Office has been conducting several activities to popularize “siday” or the local poetry to both the young and the adults as well as the regular online publication of forgotten or rarely used “binisaya” words dubbed as “Kapulongan Katbalogan”, which is aimed at raising awareness on its preservation and promotion among many other activities and forms of written and spoken literature.

The annual NLM or Buwan ng Panitikan (BnP) is lead by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA), Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino(KWF), and the National Book Development Board – Philippines (NDDB).

(Photo provided by @nccaofficial; Article by Ador Hurtado)

#NLM2019 #BukluganPanitikan #NLM #catbalogancity#captivatingcatbalogan #kapulongankatbalogan #kulturakatbalogan#teamtourism

A big step was achieved for The City Government of Catbalogan through the Catbalogan City Health Office when it took home the FIRST PLACE – BEST EMPLOYER AWARD for CY 2018 under the Government Category during the PhilHealth Stakeholders Forum during its Regional Awarding last March 28, 2019 at Tacloban City.

Catbalogan City was the lone local government unit in the whole region who was awarded for the outstanding performance in 2018 and coming in second place was Leyte Normal University (LNU) and third place was our very own Samar State University (SSU) for the said category.

Special awards were also bagged, which include “Best Employer for CY 2018 – Government Sector” and “Best Partner – Local Government Unit CY 2018” both under Catbalogan Local Health Insurance Office.

In 2015, the city government won the “Best PhilHealth Partner Award – Top Performer Rank, Best LGU Partner Award” and in 2016, the city government was awarded for having the highest premium collection as accredited collecting agent of PhilHealth among all local government units in Region 8.

Health has always been one of the priorities of the local administration and this award among others, confirms this thrust in its efforts to ensure an accessible and available services to Catbaloganons.

(Photod by Mr. Melvin Zabala; Report by Ador Hurtado)

#catbalogancity #firstplace #philhealth #bestemployer#captivatingcatbalogan #kasugbongkatbalogan #kadungganankatbalogan

For the year 2017, Catbalogan City ranked with the highest crime solution rate in Samar Island and fourth among cities in Eastern Visayas as reported by the 2018 Regional Social and Economic Trends (RSET) for Eastern Visayas Region as reported by the Philippine Statistic Authority (PSA).

Topping the list is Tacloban City with 83.9% followed by Ormoc City with 73.8% then followed by Maasin City with 54.6% and Catbalogan City closing in with 54.6% then followed by Borongan City with 52.4% followed by Baybay City with 45.6% and at the bottom is Calbayog City with 40.1% crime solution rate.

According to the Philippine National Police (PNP), the crime solution efficiency tallies crime cases that have been solved relative to the crime volume.

‘Crime solved’ means a case has been filed in court and that at least one suspect has been arrested and when a case is counted as solved, it is also already counted as cleared by the PNP.

In 2016, Catbalogan ranked second with 59.7% to Tacloban City with 76.2% crime solution rate as reflected in the 2017 RSET report of PSA. 

This stellar performance of the local police as well as of the city government for the years 2017 and 2018 further establishes Catbalogan as having a peaceful, stable and just environment that is very conducive to growth and development.

With the presence of the provincial office of the PNP in the city as well as the regional stronghold of the Philippine Army with its presence at Camp Lukban for its 8th Infantry Division, Philippine Army coupled with an active coordination with the local communications groups in the city, Catbalogan City further cements its stature as the cabecera or capital of the whole Samar island not just economically and politically, but in matters of public order, safety and justice.

(Report by Ador Hurtado)

#catbalogancity #peaceandorder #crimesolutionrate #pnp #police#kasugbongkatbalogan #captivatingcatbalogan #easternvisayas

For everyone’s guidance, Catbalogan City through the Catbalogan City Public Employment Service Office(PESO), will have NO SPES or ‘Special Program for the Employment of Students’ popularly known as ‘Summer Job’ for this year.

For clarification or genuine information regarding this matter, kindly visit Catbalogan City PESO through the Catbalogan City Cooperative Office located at 3rd Floor, City Hall Building, Rizal Avenue, Catbalogan City or through landline number (055) 543-8756.

#catbalogancity #catbaloganpeso #kasugbongkatbalogan #spes #summerjob

St. Mary’s College of Catbalogan (SMCC), formerly Sacred Heart College (SHC) is already geared up for this year’s Alumni Homecoming hosted by Batch 1994.

One of the highlights is the Mardi Gras Parade of Lights happening on April 11, 2019, which will feature colorful display of costumes on a grand night parade.

Don’t think twice, come home this April 2019 and rekindle high school memories.

Come home to Catbalogan this Alumni Month this month of April because captivating fun can only be found here in Catbalogan!

(Photo by Shc-Smcc Grand Alumni Homecoming 2019)

#smcc #catbalogancity #april2019 #alumnimonth #karisyokatbalogan#stmaryscollegeofcatbalogan #captivatingcatbalogan #kulturakatbalogan

Nearly a hundred heroes supported the bloodletting activity organized by the Catbalogan City Health Office earlier today, March 28, 2019 at Cocina de Cabral, Catbalogan City.

From city employees to uniformed personnel to tricycle and motorcab drivers, the regular bloodletting was the first activity for this year and was assisted by the medical staff from the Samar Provincial Hospital, who collected the donations to be stored at their blood bank to be ready for medical emergencies.

Themed as “Find the Hero in You”, indeed these donors were heroes in many ways because a bag of blood can help many people in varying emergencies and moreover, regularly donating blood lowers your risks to heart diseases and even lowers risks to cancer as reported by various international studies.

Catbalogan City’s bloodletting activities were previously partnered with the blood bank in Eastern Visayas Regional Medical Center (EVRMC) in Tacloban but with the upgraded and now available blood bank at the provincial hospital, patients need not go farther now to get through any medical needs.

(Photos by Roldz Larios; Report by Ador Hurtado)

#catbalogancity #bloodletting #beahero #cityhealthoffice #healthycatbalogan#kasugbongkatbalogan #captivatingcatbalogan

As Samar island’s cabecera or capital, Catbalogan City tops with the most number of accommodations in the whole island and the third among cities in the whole Eastern Visayas as reported in the 2017 Report on Accommodation Capacity Survey of the Department of Tourism – Regional Office VIII (DOT RO8) and the 2018 Countryside in Figures – Samar Province of the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

Tacloban tops the regional standing with 57 accommodations, Ormoc with 43, Catbalogan with 31, Calbayog with 26, Borongan with 24, Maasin with 18, and Baybay with 16.

Accommodations include hotels, resorts, pension houses, tourist inns, apartels, and homestays as categorized under RA 9593 otherwise known as the Tourism Act of 2009.

This good news can be credited to the welcoming business climate that offers tax holidays and incentives to businesses who engages in the city and its thriving economy as observed in the mushrooming of establishments, new buildings and various enterprises. 

It further emphasizes Catbalogan’s stronghold as Samar island’s commercial, trading, educational, financial and political center as enjoyed since 1616 when Jesuit missionaries established Catbalogan as the cabecera or capital and our very own St. Bartholomew Church as the residencia and mission center. 

Catbalogan City’s Tourism, Culture, Arts and Information Office (CTCAIO), which was established only in 2016 oversees the tourism program including culture and arts as well as the information management programs of the city government.

Tourism has been one of the major pillars of development of the local administration and puts sustainable tourism along with other major thrusts in its programming geared towards an equitable economic development while protecting and preserving the city’s natural and cultural assets.

(Article by Ador Hurtado)

#catbalogancity #tourism #captivatingcatbalogan #kauswagkatbalogan#easternvisayas #accommodation #stepforwardcatbalogan #region8#teamtourism