Tanauan, Leyte - Tanauan, Leyte Mayor Roque Tiu and the employees of the Local Government Unit had the surprise of their life when First Secretary and Consul Shigekazu Sakunaga of the Consular Office of Japan in Cebu visited the town.

He arrived from Tacloban City riding a tricyle, Mayor Tiu exclaimed. This is the first time a diplomat and foreign officer arrived in this town riding in a public transport, a tricycle at that.

Mr. Sakunaga explained that he had Japanese friends in Tacloban, but he did not want to disturb them. Since he could not find a taxi, he took the tricycle instead.

Mayor Tiu said that Mr. Sakunaga was in town in order to monitor the Japanese volunteer, a nurse by the name of Sugami Azumi who has been doing volunteer service for eight months already, in Tanauan, Leyte.

Mayor Tiu admired the humility of the Japanese Consul, adapting so fast to the culture of the citizens of the locality, taking the tricycle, the means of transportation of the ordinary Leyteno.

Another surprise awaited Mayor Tiu because early this week, Ayako Shibata, a Japanese volunteer medical student who will do community emersion in Tanauan arrived from Manila taking the bus and from Tacloban, she arrived in Tanauan riding in a public utility jeep. Mayor Tiu said he could only smile in amazement.

It appears that the Japanese Consul was contented with what he has seen in the municipality, he decided to send another volunteer to help the health sector in Tanauan in taking take of the health needs of the people in the municipality.

The instruction is for the volunteer, who is a graduating medical student in Japan, to do some emersion work in the barangays. Thus, Mayor Tiu, decided to assign her to Barangay Calsadahay where the University of the Philippines Health Sciences students are also doing community work right now. These Health Sciences students are taking the ladderized system of education, Mayor Tiu said. They start as Barangay Health Working, Midwife and then rise up to graduating in Nursing and finally in Medicine.