Aquino inaugurates newly upgraded Naga City
Hospital
(NAGA CITY) President Benigno S. Aquino III led
the inauguration Friday of the newly upgraded Naga City Hospital for the health
care needs of the poor Naguenos.
“Sa pagbalik natin dito sa Naga, hatid natin ang
isa na namang magandang balitang bunga ng ating bayanihan at pagpiling iangat
ang kapwa ---ang mas pinaunlad na Naga City Hospital,” the President said in
his message during the inauguration.
“Iisa ang diwa ng ating mga programang
pangkalusugan: binibigyang-lakas natin ang ating mamamayan para maiangat, hindi
lamang ang kanilang mga sarili, kundi maging ang buong bayan,” he said.
The Department of Health allocated P15 million
under its Health Facilities Enhancement Program for the upgrading of the
hospital’s main building. Under the P15-million upgrade, the DOH enhanced the
Naga City Hospital’s operating room and delivery room complex.
In addition to the facility upgrading, the DOH
also allotted P3 million for the purchase and installation of modern medical
equipment such as portable anesthesia machine, ECG machine, and oxygen therapy
set.
Aside from enhancing the medical capabilities of
the Naga City Hospital, the President said the expansion and rehabilitation
works of the Bicol Medical Center, also located in Naga City, is also ongoing
to widen its services especially to poor Bicolanos.
He added that this initiative is being supported
by the DOH and the office of Sen. Franklin Drilon.
The President pointed out that providing the
health care and social services needs of Filipinos, as well as increasing the
budgets of agencies providing health care services andsocial support were among
his top priorities when he assumed office in 2010.
“Nariyan ang pagtataas natin ng pitumpu’t walong
porsyento sa budget ng DOH, at ng dalawandaan at animnapu’t walong porsyento
naman para sa DSWD,” he said.
According to the President, his administration
wants to make sure that assistance reaches poor Filipinos under its Pantawid
Pamilyang Pilipino Program, adding that when he assumed the presidency in 2010,
the government had only 800,000 registered household beneficiaries under the
program.
Today, more than 3.9 million households are
benefiting from the program. More and more Filipinos are also being covered by
the expanded coverage of the government’s universal health care program.
The President noted that more enhanced medical
professional services are also being given to the less fortunate Filipinos.
The government has so far deployed more than
50,500 nurses in different parts of the country under the DOH’s RN Heals
Program, the President said.
The Naga City Hospital is a non-profit, service
oriented institution catering to the health care needs of poor Naguenos.
Licensed to operate as a primary hospital, the Naga City Hospital has a bed
capacity of 16 but actually implementing 29 beds. There are 10 beds for
medicine, 10 for pediatrics, four for obstetrics, two for isolation room and
three for infirmary.
A primary hospital, Naga City Hospital’s
services are limited to providing firsthand contact emergency cases and
confinement for simple cases.
The Naga City Hospital upgrading under the new
DOH classification minimizes referrals to other tertiary hospitals in the
medical management of tertiary medical cases.
With the upgrade, the hospital could now provide
wider laboratory services for more patients requiring diagnostic examinations.
As BEMONC (Basic Emergency Obstetrics and Newborn Care) hospital, the Naga City
Hospital is now a referral hospital for emergency medical neonatal and
obstetrical care cases.
Among those who attended the inauguration were Interior
and local Government Secretary Manuel Roxas, Transportation and Communication
Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya and Health Secretary Enrique Ona. PND (as)
Malacanang says Aquino government has taken
significant steps to deter extra judicial killings
The Aquino government assured the public that it
has taken significant steps to deter extrajudicial killings, a Palace official
said on Friday.
Presidential Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said
during the regular press briefing in Malacanang on Friday that the Chief
Executive had already created an inter-agency committee in order to deter
extra-judicial killings and other human rights abuses.
"We will continue our efforts to stop the
impunity against journalists, the extralegal killings," Lacierda said.
The government vowed to effectively enforce its
policy to go after the perpetrators of extra judicial killings and other human
rights abuses, Lacierda said.
Lacierda said President Aquino created an
inter-agency committee (IAC), through Administrative Order No. 35 last
November, to investigate human rights abuses by state and non-state forces and
ensure a focused probe and speedy resolution of all unsolved and new cases.
"May task force tayo tungkol diyan na
tinayo si Pangulong Aquino, at si Secretary Leila de Lima po ang tumitingin
dito sa mga extralegal killings. So we are looking into all these extralegal
killings," Lacierda said.
Under AO 35, the secretary of the Department of
Justice serves as chairperson of the IAC, which members include the head of the
Presidential Human Rights Committee, the secretaries of the Departments of the
Interior and Local Government and National Defense, the presidential advisers
of the Peace Process and Political Affairs, chief-of-staff of the Armed Forces
of the Philippines, the Philippine National police chief and the National
Bureau of Investigation director.
The chairperson of the Commission on Human
Rights and the Ombudsman sit as observers and resource persons in the IAC.
"But, again, let me also explain that when
we look into each particular incident, we also look into the motives, and there
we’re able to segregate kung ano talaga ‘yung politically motivated or may mga
ibang reasons for the extralegal killings of journalists," Lacierda said.
PND (js)
President Aquino says government to bid out
Sabang Calabanga Port project in Camarines Sur
(CALABANGA, Camarines Sur) The government will
be bidding out the P50-million Sabang-Calabanga Port project which is designed
to improve the trade and tourism sectors of this province, President Benigno S.
Aquino III said on Friday.
During his meeting with local leaders and
residents of Calabanga here in Camarines Sur, the President said the Department
of Transportation and Communication (DOTC) has already allocated P50 million
for the project that will be bidded out this August.
The government is working to seal the project so
that the people of Camarines Sur especially those in Calabanga could benefit
from the project.
“Ang handog nito sa mahal nating mga
taga-Calabanga ay mas maunlad na komersiyo at turismo. Nagpapasalamat nga po
tayo kay Attorney Leni Robredo na talaga namang puspusang tinututukan ang
progreso ng inisyatibang ito,” the President said in his message here.
The President also said he expects travel time
to become much faster when the Bicol Commuter Train begins servicing the
Naga-Legazpi City route starting April next year adding that this will further
enhance commerce and tourism in the Bicol region.
He also said that the government has also
completed major infrastructure for the province’s agriculture sector. The
Aquino administration has so far completed 52 projects and there’s an ongoing
15 irrigation projects that will benefit 27 towns in Camarines Sur including
Calabanga.
According to the President, the Pantawid
Pamilyang Pilipino Program of the Department of Social Welfare and Development
(DSWD) also continues to help the poor Bicolanos.
In 2010, Camarines Sur had 3,970 households
benefiting from the program and in March 2013, there are 108,497 households
registered under the program, which is 99.9 percent of the government’s target
for the whole year, the chief executive said.
The President said there were 800,000 recipients
during the previous administration and the number of beneficiaries is now more
than 3.9 million nationwide under the present government.
“Sa mga proyektong ito, di po ba’t malinaw naman
na ang dating napapabayaan, ngayon nabibigyan na ng panahon. Ang dating
imposible, ngayon lagi nang naaabot,” the President said in Bicol dialect.
“At malinaw din po na hindi isang tao ang gumawa
ng pagbabago. Naabot ito sa pakikipagtulungan ng bawat Pilipino ---kayo ang
gumawa nito. Kaya nga po lalo pa nating mapapaspas ang pagsulong ng ating bayan
tungo sa malawakang pag-unlad, kung dadami ang mga makikibuhat sa halip na
magiging pabigat lamang,” the President added.
During his speech, the President asked the
people of Calabanga to vote for candidates supportive of the administration’s
cause so that reforms and development will also continue in Camarines Sur.
Joining the President during his visit here were
Transportation and Communication Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya, Interior and
Local Government Secretary Manuel Roxas and Secretary Jesse Robredo’s widow,
lawyer Leni Robredo who is running for representative of the third district of
Camarines Sur. PND (as)
Malacanang says law enforcement agencies have
mapped out action plan to ensure free, orderly, honest, peaceful and credible
May 13 elections
Law enforcement agencies have mapped out an
action plan to ensure free, orderly, honest, peaceful and credible conduct of
the May 13 automated national and local elections, a Palace official said on
Friday.
Presidential Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said
during the regular press briefing in Malacanang that the Department of Interior
and Local Government (DILG) launched the “Oplan Last Two Weeks” to enable the
DILG and the Philippine National Police (PNP) to maximize the deployment of
their men in the field during Election Day.
The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) is
coordinating with the PNP to carry out their mandate in ensuring a peaceful and
orderly elections and the safety of the people, Lacierda said.
"In fact, DILG came out with the Operation
Last Two Weeks to discuss the security situations. They conducted a presscon,
discussing how many armed groups have been disbanded, ilang mga firearms ang
na-confiscate. We want to ensure a peaceful and credible elections come
Election Day," Lacierda said.
Lacierda said President Benigno S. Aquino III
has directed the DILG, the PNP, the AFP and other concerned government agencies
to beef-up their security preparations for the elections.
"Early on we already had a meeting with the
PNP and the AFP, and the President gave the marching orders for them. Our aim
really is to have peaceful elections and so the AFP and the PNP forces have
been coordinating to ensure that," Lacierda said. PND (js)
President Aquino vows to Secretary Ona that he
will take some rest after elections
CALABANGA, Camarines Sur) Before thousands of
Bicolanos here, President Benigno S. Aquino III on Friday vowed to Health
Secretary Enrique Ona that he will take at least one day of his much needed
rest immediately after the election period to keep himself healthy.
Secretary Ona met with President Aquino Friday
morning when he inaugurated the Naga City Hospital which was a project of the
Department of Health under its Health Facilities Enhancement Program for the
upgrading of the hospital’s main building.
President Aquino said Secretary Ona looked at
him ‘from head to toe’, as though he was trying to examine him, and told him
that he should take some rest.
“Ako po’y masunurin sa aking doktor. Sabi niya,
magpahinga ka. Umasa ka, Sec. Ike, malapit na. Malapit nang matapos ang
eleksyon. ‘Pag natapos ‘yung bilangan, bigyan mo ako ng isang linggo,
magpapahinga tayo ng isang araw ‘pag tapos ‘nun—siguro bandang Sunday,” the President
said.
President Aquino admitted he was having trouble
delivering his speeches smoothly at Team PNoy sorties, initially attributing it
to simple colds, which, he said, affected his voice on top of the hectic
schedule he had to deal with during the campaign period.
“Ang boses po natin ay hindi na yata
pang-Pilipinas Got Talent at pang-Kermit the Frog na, pagpapasensyahan na ninyo
na muna ako,” he would often tell the public jokingly.
"Alam po ninyo nahihirapan po akong
magsalita sa inyo, ganito ang boses e. OK lang po sa akin mapagod, OK lang po
sa akin lahat ng pagod na ito, lahat ng hirap na ito, dahil kayo naman ho
talaga ang lakas ko. Nahihiya lang po akong iparinig sa inyo ang boses na
ganitong parang sampung paper bag yata ang dinaanan e; nalulon pa ‘yung paper
bag."
Over the last three months, President Aquino
visited several provinces in Visayas and Mindanao. This week, he has been to
Batangas, Quezon, Tarlac, Pangasinan and here in Camarines Sur to woo voters’
support for the 12 senatorial bets of his administration.
Malacañang recently stated as a matter of fact
that President Aquino is ‘in the pink of health’ despite his coughing fit.
“Siguro panay kampanya ni Presidente, e natural lang ‘yan sa kanya,” his
spokesman, Edwin Lacierda, said.
“He wants to campaign for his candidates. And we
have no indication of any problems,” Lacierda stressed. PND (hdc)
