Category: Self Care

Bukidnon – The Bagong Pilipinas Serbisyo Fair (BPSF) in Bukidnon province this weekend is set to provide more than PHP379 million in cash assistance and various government services to about 110,000 beneficiaries.

According to Philippines News Agency, Bukidnon is the seventh province to host these full-service caravans, featuring 58 government agencies implementing 176 different programs and services. The fair was inaugurated at Bukidnon State University in Malaybalay City on Saturday, with House of Representatives Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez representing President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.

Speaker Romualdez emphasized the significance of the BPSF, stating that its founding principle is to challenge government agencies to bring services directly to the people, not just to hasten but also to expand the delivery of government services. He assured that every area visited by the Serbisyo Fair will receive assistance, information, and guidance for problems related to health, education, livelihood, and more. Among the key services offered in Bukidnon is the province-wide payout under the Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situation by the Department of Social Welfare and Development, expected to benefit more than 53,000 individuals with PHP105 million in cash aid. The Department of Labor and Employment’s Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers emergency employment will also oversee payouts in specific municipalities. The BPSF, which had been pilot-tested in Biliran, has been previously launched in several provinces including Ilocos Norte, Camarines Sur, Leyte, and Davao de Oro, with Laguna being the last stop before Bukidnon.

Speaker Romualdez shared their ambition to visit all 82 provinces with the Serbisyo caravan, aiming to reach a total of 2 million beneficiaries. This initiative is expected to provide easy access to social services, health and medical support, livelihood and educational assistance, regulatory functions, and other bureaucratic services. He encouraged the public to anticipate the BPSF’s arrival in their areas and join the government in efforts to improve the lives of the Filipino people, with a collective goal of rising again together.

Bauko, Mountain Province – The Department of Health (DOH)-managed Drug Addiction Treatment and Rehabilitation Center-Mountain Province (DATRC-MP) is poised to significantly enhance its client services. The facility, currently providing limited services, anticipates receiving a permit for expanded operations, including an in-patient dormitory, by 2024. This development was shared by Randy Samonte, the supervising administrative officer of DATRC-MP, during a briefing on Thursday.

According to Philippines News Agency, Samonte expressed optimism about obtaining the necessary permit from the DOH central office before year’s end. This permit will enable the facility to offer comprehensive services beyond its current scope. The DATRC-MP currently serves clients from Benguet, Mountain Province, and Ifugao, with the closest alternative DOH-managed facility located in San Fabian, Pangasinan.

The center’s current services include technical assistance on substance abuse prevention and mental health, proactive advocacies, drug dependency examinations, and monitoring drug testing. The anticipated expansion will allow for a broader range of accredited services. These will encompass community advocacies, aftercare programs, technical assistance, management of medical emergencies and minor surgical procedures, treatment for co-occurring psychiatric conditions, psychological testing, therapeutic counseling, case management, group therapy sessions, physical assessments, health education, drug testing, nutrition management for drug dependents, family intervention and psychoeducation, life skills and livelihood training, spiritual and religious activities, and comprehensive intake and psychosocial assessment and counseling.

Samonte also highlighted the center’s aim to extend its reach to Kalinga, Apayao, and Abra following the permit approval. The DATRC-MP, which began operations in the first quarter of this year, is the first and only government facility in the Cordillera region catering to persons who used drugs (PWUDs). It is currently operating at 70 percent capacity, fulfilling its mandate on a one-hectare land area within the Luis Hora Memorial Regional Hospital. The center employs approximately 42-45 staff members.

SAN JOSE DE BUENAVISTA – In a significant move to secure the tenure of Barangay Health Workers (BHWs), the Antique Provincial Board passed an ordinance on Monday ensuring their retention even after the election of new barangay officials. Board Member Egio Elio, the author and sponsor of the ordinance titled ‘An Ordinance prescribing guidelines for the retention and continued service of the BHWs in the Province of Antique,’ emphasized the necessity of this measure following the recent Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE).

According to Philippines News Agency, the ordinance is particularly timely given the recent barangay elections resulting in a new slate of officials. Elio highlighted the challenge faced by BHWs, who, despite providing voluntary primary healthcare in their communities, are at risk of being replaced by incoming barangay officials. The ordinance aims to protect BHWs from replacement, which Elio asserts would not only undermine the investment in their training but also the healthcare services they provide to the community.

Elio pointed out that trained BHWs are essential as they can perform fundamental healthcare tasks such as measuring pulse rates and body temperatures. Replacing them would mean not only losing experienced workers but also incurring additional costs for retraining new BHWs, further utilizing barangay resources.

Under the ordinance, BHWs may only be relieved for unsatisfactory performance, as determined by local health boards (LHBs). Elio stated that the municipal governments’ LHBs are tasked with creating a BHW Registration and Accreditation Committee (RAC) to oversee the registration and accreditation of BHWs, which will allow them access to entitled benefits and incentives.

Additionally, the ordinance mandates the LHB, through the municipal health office, to develop policies and strategies to protect BHWs. This includes establishing a process for discontinuation of services and addressing complaints and grievances.

In Antique, over 1,000 BHWs provide voluntary healthcare services to their barangays, receiving allowances ranging from PHP500 to PHP2,000 per month based on the internal revenue allocation (IRA). Melanie Raymaro, president of the Sibalom BHW Association, voiced her approval in a separate interview, noting that the ordinance bolsters the BHWs Benefits and Incentives Act of 1995, further supporting their continued service. Raymaro also mentioned that on top of their barangay allowance, BHWs receive an additional PHP1,000 monthly from the Antique provincial government, distributed every December as a Christmas gift in recognition of their services.

Rio Branco – A small plane carrying 12 people crashed in the northwestern state of Acre, Brazil, resulting in the death of all passengers, including an infant.

According to Philippine News Agency, the plane had taken off from the airport in Rio Branco, the capital of Acre, and crashed into the Amazon rainforest. Emergency services, including ambulances and firefighting teams, were dispatched to the scene. The airline owning the aircraft expressed deep sorrow for the accident and stated that the plane caught fire immediately upon impact. An investigation into the crash has been initiated.

SEOUL, Prime Minister Han Duck-soo said Sunday the government will make “all-out” efforts to stop lumpy skin disease (LSD) from spreading further across the country.

South Korea had confirmed 61 LSD cases nationwide as of 2 p.m. Sunday since the first-ever outbreak of the viral infection on Oct. 20. The number of cattle culled or to be culled has reached 4,107 so far.

“The next three weeks will be the most important period to contain the infection. Livestock farms need to actively carry out vaccinations,” Han said in a meeting with officials at the prime minister’s official residence in central Seoul.

As of Saturday morning, health authorities had administered the vaccine to 357,000 out of 438,000 cows subject to emergency inoculation, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.

The agriculture ministry has been scurrying to further expand its emergency vaccination campaign by securing more vaccines from abroad, and the interior ministry vowed to manage the overall vaccination program based on plans drawn up by each local government.

The country had LSD vaccines for 540,000 cows as of last year and plans to secure 4 million additional vaccines by the end of this month.

The government aims to complete the nationwide inoculations by Nov. 10, although the number of cases will likely rise for the time being, considering it takes around three weeks for vaccinated cattle to develop protective antibodies against the disease.

LSD, which does not affect humans, is a highly infectious disease that causes skin lesions, fever and loss of appetite, often leading to a fall in milk production and even death. It affects cattle and buffalo via mosquitoes and other blood-feeding insects.

Source: Yonhap News Agency

BOEUN, South Korea, A tourist bus crashed with a van inside an expressway tunnel Saturday, killing four people and leaving three seriously hurt, officials said.

The 15-seat van was traveling inside Suriti Tunnel along the Dangjin–Yeongdeok Expressway in Boeun, 135 kilometers southeast of Seoul, when the tourist bus rear-ended it at 8:55 a.m., police officials said.

The accident left four of the van’s 11 passengers dead. Two were pronounced dead at the scene, while the others died while being treated for injuries at a hospital.

The seven remaining passengers in the van also sustained injuries, two of them seriously.

Officials said all 11 passengers were friends on a weekend outing.

From the bus, one of the 26 passengers was seriously hurt, and the driver sustained a minor injury.

The police have booked the bus driver on charges of reckless driving causing death and injury, as they are investigating the exact cause of the crash.

This photo provided by the Chungbuk Fire Service Headquarter shows a tattered van in a traffic accident inside an expressway tunnel in the central county of Boeun on Oct. 21, 2023. Two of the van’s 11 passengers were killed and another was left in cardiac arrest after a tourist bus rear-ended the van.

Source: Yonhap News Agency