At least 7,360 families in Canaman, Camarines Sur are expected to benefit from the new centralized healthcare facility funded by the Department of Social Welfare and Development in Bicol (DSWD-5).
In an interview on Tuesday, Ranelle Anne Sertan, DSWD-5 social marketing officer, said the PHP10.6-million facility was formally turned over by the agency to the recipient town last week.
She said it was built under the DSWD’s Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan – Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services (KALAHI-CIDSS) program to support community-driven development.
“It also aims to minimize the impact of Covid-19 pandemic in the area and it will also serve as shelter for communities at risk during disasters during an evacuation,” Sertan added.
She noted that the project was realized because the 17 clustered barangays agreed to use their grant for one centralized facility.
“The PHP8.45 million is the grant from KALAHI CIDSS for the 17 barangays, while the PHP2.1 million is the counterpart of the local government unit (LGU) of Canaman,” Sertan said.
Walter Wenceslao B. Pante, chairperson of Barangay Development Council–Technical Working Group (BDC–TWG) who led in overseeing the implementation of the sub-project, said in a statement, “Ang turnover ng proyekto ay simula pa lamang upang maisakatuparan ang serbisyo na gusto naming ibahagi sa bayan ng Canaman (The turnover of the sub-project is just the start towards achieving our goals to provide services to the municipality of Canaman).”
Pante also gave his commitment that the operation and maintenance of the sub-project will be maintained to ensure long-term benefits for the people.
“Nakakataba ng puso na bilang isang simpleng mamamayan ay nabigyan ako at aking mga kapwa volunteer ng pagkakataon na makatulong sa pag-unlad ng aming barangay at ng aming munisipyo (It is heartwarming that as a simple community member, we volunteers were given a chance to help in the development of our barangay and municipality,” he said.
Kalahi-CIDSS is a World Bank-assisted socio-economic project implemented in 2003 by the DSWD. (PNA)
