Tag Archives: Dolores
Dolores Gives Awards to First 3 Babies
Less than a month after the inauguration of its new building, the Rural Health Unit, headed by the Municipal Health Officer Dr. Michael-Vince Castelo, have successfully attended to the deliveries of a baby boy and 2 baby girls. One can easily remember Dr. Castelo being emotional during the inauguration, which everybody attributed to his dedication to Dolorenian Service. His dedication was somehow rewarded a few days later when the first two babies he, and the RHU, attended to were named after him.
Vince Michael Pacapac Co, was born January 30, 2013 at 7:30 pm with a birth weight of 3.5 kg. Vince Michael and his mother, Reyna Rose Pacapac Co, now hold the distinction as the Dolores Rural Health Unit’s First Baby and Mother respectively.
The second delivery would happen on February 1, 2013 at 1:08 pm. Michaela Venice C. Bulda would become Dolores RHU’s Second Baby (and First Baby Girl) with a birth weight of 2.9kg. Michaela’s mother is Emma Claro Bulda.
Claurita Faye Dalligos, Dolores RHU’s 3rd baby, was born February 8, 2013 at 2:32 pm with a birth weight of 2.8kg. Her mother is Evangeline Ariota Dalligos.
Vince Michael, Michaela Venice, and Claurita Faye, and their mothers all received prizes (Cash and Certificates of Distinction) from Mayor Robert Victor G. Seares, Jr. and the Local Government Unit of Dolores. A simple awarding ceremony was conducted at the Rural Health Unit this afternoon.
BUHAY, NDA, LGU-Dolores launches Milk Feeding Program
This was the first time the Buhay Party List set foot in Abra. Together with the National Dairy Authority, the party list payed a visit to Dolores to officially launch a 6 month long Milk Feeding Program for the Day Care Pupils.
The program would cater to 851 beneficiaries who will be provided with a tetra-pack of milk every day from Monday to Friday for 120 days. All Daycare Pupils of Dolores will be enrolled in the program as well as some higher level pupils who are in need of nourishment.
This morning, a program was held at the Dolores Civic Center to introduce the project to the Daycare Workers, Barangay Health Workers and Barangay Captains of Dolores.
In his opening message, SB Emelito Cortez, was in a jolly mood as he thanked the guests and acknowledged the importance of milk being a complete food source, and that the program would serve as a big help especially to the poor citizens of Dolores. Towards the end of his message, he jokingly requested that some Barangay Captains be included in the program which elicited the laughter of the crowd.
Healthier Children, Wealthier Farmers
Ms. Cecilia Manuel, the Project Development Officer for the National Dairy Authority, conveyed that aside from the 851 pupils that are slotted to receive free milk-feeding, the Filipino Milk Farmers will also benefit from this kind of program. In essence, the program serves both as a source of child nutrition, and as a source of livelihood.
The project’s cost is set at 1.6 million pesos.
Mayor heaps Praises
Mayor JR Seares wasn’t short on praises during the affair.
Ms. Manuel, and Mr. Jose Desacallar, a staff of the Hon. Mariano Michael Velarde Jr, recounted how they were impressed with the initiative of Mayor Seares. Apparently, they were only able to trace the connection of BUHAY Party List to Dolores when they arrived here yesterday.
The province of Abra and BUHAY have no direct or even secondary connections. It was through a friend of a friend of a friend (Kaibigan ng Kaibigan ng Kaibigan/KKK) of a staff in BUHAY that the Mayor managed to arrange a meeting with the party list to request this program.
Hence, Mr. Desacallar likened the Mayor to the Abra River, which keeps rolling and finding a way towards its destination.
Ms. Manuel meanwhile says that the milk they are offering will help nurture the children into strong and intellectual men and women, who in the future, would help Dolores develop further.
Pro-Life
Mr. Desacallar also took the chance to acquaint the audience of the purpose of BUHAY which is an acronym for Buhay Hayaang Yumabong. BUHAY, according to him, is an organization which seeks to promote the quality of life for the Filipino Children, their Parents, and the whole family. Among the legislations passed by the party list include the Anti Child Pornography Law and the Motorcycle Helmet Law. The Party List was also one of the toughest opposition to the Reproductive Health Law.
The Party List is headed by the Hon. Michael M. Velarde Jr, son of renowned Pastor Mike Velarde of the El Shaddai.
Benefit to be Seen In Due Time
“In due time, detta ubing nga painumen tayo ti gatas nga libre, paglaki nila makikita niyo ang difference” (In due time, the child we will be feeding with free milk, we will see the difference when they grow up). This was the message of the Honorable Mayor who himself, while growing up, was nurtured by his parents with milk. He expressed his belief in the benefits of the milk being offered by the NDA that his Son, One Victor, will also be enrolled in the program.
He also informed the audience that he is hoping for more Milk producing – Bull Dispersals from the National Dairy Authority to serve as both livelihood projects and a source for the continuance of the milk feeding program after 6 months.
Orientation
Ms. Emeline de la Cruz of the National Dairy Authority discussed the details of the 6 month long milk feeding program.
According to her, the program should exclusively be Center Based which means No Milk Packs should be allowed to be taken home.
The Daycare workers should observe the pupils during the first week of the program for any signs or symptoms of lactose intolerance.
For evaluation purposes, the weight of each beneficiary will be monitored before the start of the program, then 3 months into the program, and finally after the program.
While the milk requires no refrigeration, the handlers should avoid prolonged exposure of the milk packs to sunlight to maintain their shelf life.
Ms. de la Cruz also reminded everyone that although Milk is rich in nutrients, it should not be considered to be a substitute for the child’s daily meals.
Photos of the Event can be found at our Facebook Page
Bottom-Up Budgeting gives Decision Making to the People
You should be seeing and hearing more of Bottom-Up Budgeting this 2013.
A new approach to attaining the millennium development goal of reducing poverty from 26.5% in 2009 to 16.6 in 2015 has been introduced in Dolores. Bottom-up budgeting, also known as participatory budgeting, involves the people at the bottom i.e. the citizens thru civil organizations making the decisions. In comparison, top-down budgeting, which has been the norm, is when the executives at a the high levels exercise this privilege.
Last January 16, 2013, at the Dolores Legislative Building, the Bottom-Up Budgeting was explained in a Lecture-Workshop to the heads and members of the various civil organizations in Dolores including 4Ps, Senior Citizens, Farmers Association, Namin, Barangay Health Workers, Day Care Workers, KALIPI and Parent Leaders. The Municipal Local Government Operations Officer Dan Rullan was the speaker for the event.
According to him, Dolores is 1 of 609 Municipalities selected to pilot the Bottom-Up Budgeting. The National Government has allotted 9 Billion Pesos for projects approved through this approach which may involve education, health, social welfare and development, public works and highways, agriculture, agrarian reform, transportation and communications, tourism, environment and natural resources, labor and employment, justice and interior and local government.
During the workshop, the delegates were tasked to propose priority projects that will ultimately aid in the reduction of poverty. Those that came out include pig dispersal, scholarship programs, more farm to market roads, livelihood programs, and Botika ng Barangay to name a few.
These suggestions will be forwarded to the concerned agencies for approval.
In fact, as of this writing, 4 Farm to Market Roads for Barangays Kimmalaba, Taping, Namit-ingan, and Bayaan are already being worked on by the Local Government through the Bottom-Up Budgeting. If our Civil Organizations (Farmers Association, Namin, Senior Citizens, Parent Leaders, etc) are active enough, we should expect more in the coming months.
Pics of the event can be found at our Facebook Page.
New RHU Building Inaugurated
Dr. Michael Vince Castelo, the Municipal Health Officer, was teary eyed as he delivered his speech. Not only was he celebrating his birthday (January 15), his biggest accomplishment was about to be inaugurated. For the first time in the history of Dolores, a new building to serve as the Rural Health Unit, complete with a birthing facility, laboratory, dentist room, nurses quarters, and soon to be PhilHealth accredited has been put up.
Construction of the 1.5 Million Peso building plus 1 Million Pesos worth of Equipment were funded by the Department of Health through the Health Facility Enhancement Program. The Japan International Cooperation Agency also donated another 1 million peso worth of equipment which include a delivery table, examining table, recovery bed, blood pressure apparatus for adult and pediatrics, resuscitation bags for adult and newborn, gooseneck lamp, an air conditioner and a generator among others.
Assisted by Dr. Castelo, SB Lito Cortez, SB Sesy Seares, PHO EPI Coordinator Tita Turqueza, and Rev. Fr. Emilio Cortez, Mayor JR Seares performed the ceremonial Ribbon Cutting. In his message, he credited the carpenters and the engineers who have tirelessly given all their effort since construction began Mid-October last year. He expressed confidence in the RHU continuing to become more productive and that additional funding coming from the PhilHealth’s Capitation Fees will be arriving for the RHU once the RHU acquires its Philhealth Accreditation.
Rev. Fr. Emilio Cortez performed the Spiritual Blessing of the building through prayer and sprinkling of Holy Water.
Pics of the Event can be found at our Facebook Page.
DOH dispatches 12 Nurses to Dolores for RNHeals Batch 4
With most of the previous batch of RNHeals about to reach the end of their contract next month, the Department of Health deployed another 12 nurses to Dolores for the 4th batch of Registered Nurses for Health Enhancement and Local Services Program(RNHeals).
Like previous batches, the trainee cum employees are given a 1 year contract with 8,000 pesos monthly allowance plus additional benefits that may be extended by the local government.
This batch’s roster are the following, all residents of Dolores:
1. Harmony Cristie V. Gonzalo
2. Charmane Jae C. Tesoro
3. Regency Mae R. Lachica
4. Naisa Kristel T. Talledo
5. Louise Mae M. Insigne
6. Dette Heizel Granada
7. Ashley L. Biccay
8. Lorie May V. Buenavista
9. Sheryll Anne C. Ballacillo
10. Grethel Joey A. Agaid
11. Aubrey C. Avero
12. Mark Jude A. Gapuz
The 12 nurses started their first day of duty at the Rural Health Unit last January 7, 2013.
