Page 32 - OGA 2017

Outstanding Governorship Award 2017

INVESTING ON HEALTH, EDUCATION, AND LASTING PEACE

“Good health and sound body is important for our constituents,” Relative to this and with a strong belief that children are the hope of
Gov. Taliño-Mendoza has time and again emphasized. For this reason, the future and that they are crucial in ensuring lasting peace and order, the
the provincial government has made customary its Serbisyong Totoo provincial government instituted the Summer Kids Camp where Grade 5
Medical and Dental Outreach that brings much needed health services pupils – Christians, Muslims and Indigenous People – across the province
closer to far-flung and isolated villages. In 2015, the province’s medical- are gathered primarily to educate the young minds on living in peace
dental outreach team visited 120 villages and served 70,659 residents with each other and respecting each other’s culture and religious beliefs.
with free check up, dental care, circumcision and others. Just recently, in Alongside with this are the High School Leadership Camp and College
recognition of this program of the provincial government, the Department Leadership Camp. Just recently, the Province of Cotabato received the
of Health gave the province’s Integrated Provincial Health Office (IPHO), a 2015 Seal of Child-Friendly Local Governance with a 100 percent rating
dental bus to further improve delivery of these services. based on the child-friendly local governance audit by the Council for the
Apart from this, the lady governor required the improvement of the Welfare of Children. This is a confirmation of the provincial government’s
management and services of the province’s eight district hospitals and excellent performance in promoting child’s rights to survival, development,
constructing of Php 64-million worth of additional buildings for the Provincial protection and participation.
Hospital. Through partnerships with the DOH and donor agencies, like the In her 2015 State of the Province Address, Gov. Lala told the
World Medical Relief Inc., the province has been able to acquire health Cotabateños: “Our Serbisyong Totoo advocacy has been successful despite
facilities and equipment. She also ensures that health services provided unsettling problems because we have worked together and remained
through PhilHealth Para sa Masa, No Outside Prescription Policy and No united. The trust you accorded me and the other officials is the driving
Excess Billing Policy are strictly implemented. force that urged us to pay back with genuine service that we believe would
For Gov. Taliño-Mendoza, education of its youth remains a prime surely improve the lives of all Cotabateños and more importantly revive the
strategy that would ensure brighter future for the Cotabateños. Thus, citizen’s confidence on the government.”
besides constructing classroom buildings and day care centers, the
provincial government has sustained its Provincial Scholarship Program
for the poor but deserving students.

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