Airlines to serve new Eastern and Northern Samar routes

TACLOBAN CITY, Leyte, Feb. 11 (PIA) -- Two airline companies in the country will start to service Samar Island in two weeks’ time.

The first commercial flight at the Guiuan Airport in Eastern Samar will take off on February 20 as the Mid-Sea Express will conduct is maiden flight for the Cebu-Guiuan route on that day.

Meanwhile, Eagle Trans Asia Airways Corp. (ETA Air) will serve the Catarman-Cebu and Catarman-Tacloban routes starting February 22.

Northern Samar Governor Paul Daza said that ETA Air will field a 29-seater aircraft to serve Catarman, capital town of Northern Samar.

"The 29-seater aircraft will both load passengers and cargo. There will be additional economic trade between Tacloban and direct link between Catarman and Cebu," Northern Samar Governor Paul R. Daza told the local media.

Governor Daza said that the introduction of this link will shorten travel time between Cebu and Catarman and the travel time between Catarman and Tacloban.

Currently, travelers from Catarman have to go to Tacloban which is five hours away by land, or to Manila to get to Cebu.

The aircraft will depart from Cebu for Catarman at 8:00 a.m. and is estimated to arrive at 8:35 a.m. The plan will leave for Tacloban at 9 a.m. and from Tacloban, it will leave for Catarman at 9:40 a.m. From Catarman, it will fly back to Cebu at 10:20 a.m.

The airline added that they will operate with the route every Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays.

Meanwhile, Guiuan Analiza Gonzales Kwan confirmed that the launching of the Mid-Sea Express service in Guiuan is on February 20.

Mayor Kwan said the Mid-Sea Express service will greatly help boost tourism in Guiuan, the jump-off point to surfing destination Calicoan Island.

Guiuan is 109 kilometers south of the provincial capital of Borongan City and 154 kilometers from Tacloban City.

On its website, the airline company said its 19-seater Jetstream 32 aircraft will serve the Cebu-Guiuan route at 10:30 a.m. on Saturdays and Mondays, and the Guiuan-Cebu route at 12:00 noon on Saturdays and Mondays. (PIA8)

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Three best E-trike designs selected today

QUEZON CITY, Feb. 24 (PIA) -- The Department of Energy held today the final judging of the National Contest for the Best E-Trike Design. Three out of 180 valid design entries have been buoyed up as winners of the said contest.

The technical screening committee (TSC) composed by representatives from DOE, Land Transportation Office, Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), and Department of Science and Technology (DOST) dedicated a three-day filtering of the 180 design entries.

According to Charminia Natividad of DOE, during the cut-off date, the DOE team validated 180 entrees according to the completeness of documentary requirement. Some failed to meet the 4 p.m. deadline, and 20 out of the 180 entrees were disqualified for being unable to present a duly-notarized Oath of Ownership.

Natividad said, the TSC then screened the 160 entries by batch in groups of ten. Further, 35 entries made it to the next screening phase. Pictures of designs were laid down and given stars if they have passed the evaluation of the TSC based on the preset criteria.

Some entries were disqualified for using four wheels, and some for using a steering wheel instead of a handle bar.

The set of entries were then trimmed down to 35. In the next screening phase, entries were examined according to their 2D and 3D CAD drawings using the AutoCAD software. Natividad said there were entries that displayed identifying marks, and this invalidity narrowed the number of entries down to 23.

Moreover, Natividad said the 23 entries was further scrutinized by the TSC. As result, 13 entries proceeded to the most tedious part of screening wherein the TSC strictly examined the configurations of the designs.

“From the 13 entries, the 10 entries that garnered the highest total scores were chosen,” said Natividad.

Finally, the 10 designs were reviewed by the Board of Judges headed by DOE Sec. Jose Rene D. Almendras, and is comprised by representatives from selected government agencies such as DOE, TESDA, DOST, Department of Trade and Industry, Department of Transportation and Communication, Department of Environment and Natural Resources, and Metropolitan Manila Development Authority.

Criteria for judging were as follows: 50 percent for Aesthetics/Creativity; 20 percent for Originality/Innovation; 20 percent for Safety and Functionality; and 10 percent for Ergonomics.

The three winners will be recognized and awarded with a P200,000 cash prize on the awarding ceremony to be scheduled by the DOE. The remaining seven who made also it to the top 10, will also receive a cash prize amounting to Php 50,000. (PCCC/PIA-GHQ)

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