9 LGUs in Albay receive Seal of Good Housekeeping Award

LEGAZPI CITY, Jan 31 (PIA) -- It seems that more and more local government units (LGUs) are becoming conscious that good governance if fully appreciated not just by government but also by people governed. One city and eight municipalities in Albay received the Seal of Good Housekeeping Award granted by the Department of Interior and Local Government for its third round of assessment and validation.

The Seal of Good Housekeeping is part of the performance-based incentive granted by the DILG to LGUs with good performance in internal housekeeping particularly on the areas of Sound Fiscal Management, Transparency and Accountability, and Valuing Performance Management.

Tabaco City, along with the municipalities of Camalig, Jovellar, Malilipot, Manito, Oas, Polangui, Rapi-Rapu, and Sto. Domingo are the LGUs recognized for their continued practice of transparency, accountability, and participation in governance.

The said grant also makes them automatic recipients of the Local Government Support Fund (LGSF), which will depend on the proposed projects submitted by the qualified LGUs. From the proposal submitted, Albay and legazpi City will receive P20 million each from the Fund, while Ligao City will get P25 million, and the rest will get amounts ranging from P600, 000 to P1 million.

With the Seal of Good Housekeeping in hand, the recipients are likewise set to receive the Performance Challenge Fund which grants P1 million for municipalities, P3 million for cities, and P7 million for provinces as support for their local development initiatives in line with the development agenda and priorities of the national government. (MAL/SAA, PIA V/Albay)

Bayan Muna, Gabriela launch scholarship program at CSC

VIRAC, Catanduanes, Jan. 31, (PIA) -- Bayan Muna and Gabriela Party-Lists signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with the Catanduanes State Colleges (CSC) on January 24 for the implementation of a scholarship program that will benefit poor and deserving college students.The two congressional party lists each allocated from their Priority Development Assistance Funds (PDAF) P100,000 or a total of P200,000 to benefit 20 scholars.

The program gives priority to students with strong social commitment and who are primarily children of full-time community and sectoral organizers, workers, peasants, indigenous peoples, the urban poor, and fisherfolks.

Dr. Minerva I. Morales, CSC SUC president, signed the memorandum of agreement with the Bayan Muna Party List and Gabriela Party List provincial coordinators Marlon A. Buenafe and Maria Dina C. Buenafe.

The P10,000 scholarship assistance for each grantee per semester covers tuition and miscellaneous fee, subsidy for books, uniform and other school supplies, and stipend and food allowance. (MAL/EAB/GSR/PIA Catanduanes)

CamSur town, Minalabac inaugurates birthing facility

NAGA CITY, Camarines Sur, Jan. 31 (PIA) -- There will be fewer mortality rates among pregnant and birthing mothers because of the care a government gives to its constituents. A new birthing facility was recently inaugurated in Minalabac town, graced by Health Undersecretary Teodoro J. Herbosa that has all the modern equipment to assist pregnant and mothers. This is in an addition to two existing birthing centers earlier initiated by Minalabac Mayor Leovegildo Gil Basmayor.

Basmayor, seeing the need for a facility that would ensure the safety of the mother and her child, sought the assistance of private entities to help him build an edifice which will contain a complete set of birthing equipment. This was realized last year when Zuellig, Philippines donated two birthing centers located in the coastal barangay of Salingogon and Hobo.

On January 27, another modern and well-equipped birthing facility was added to serve the maternal needs of its female constituents. The inauguration of the Naybalay building was spearheaded this time by another private entity - Pfizer Foundation, a pharmaceutical company that encourages patients to make a conscious choice to live a healthy and better life.

Herbosa congratulated the local government unit of Minalabac and the efforts exerted by Mayor Basmayor to come up with the ideal health facility that would cater to the health needs of his constituents.

“This is the perfect example of public-private partnership being pushed by President Benigno Aquino. We need institutions like them whose thinking is aligned with the programs of the government. This is so far, the best and most modern birthing facility all over the country that should serve as model for other communities to emulate,” Herbosa said in his speech.

Aside from the main birthing facilities, the local government of Minalabac has also spearheaded the creation of alternate birthing centers located at various barangay health stations. Four of them are in place at Barangays Malitbog, Antioplo, Tariric, and in Manapao in 2011.

Dr. Renabeth Vera of Minalabac Health Station, upon instruction from Basmayor has established a pregnancy monitoring board to collate important data vital for the monitoring of their health situations. Their list contains the total number of pregnant women in the municipality and their expected date of deliveries, number of normal and complicated pregnancies, and the number of expectant mother within a particular month.

This was also backed up by a local ordinance which was supported by the majority of the Sangguniang Bayan members. The ordinance specifically prohibits birth delivery with the help of a komadrona or local midwife and specifically orders that no delivery shall be done at home.

This continuing effort is also aligned with our country’s commitment to the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) which is to improve maternal health and reduce by three quarters, between 1990 and 2015 the maternal mortality ratio. MDG consists of eight (8) international development goals that 193 United Nations member states, including the Philippines and other international organizations have agreed to attain by 2015. (MAL/LSM-PIA Camarines Sur)