Mt Province gov cites achievements

BONTOC, Mountain Province – Gov. Maximo Dalog summarized achievements of the province under his leadership for the past year in his State of the Province Address here last week.

Dalog said the Local Government Program Measurement System (LGPMS) gave a very satisfactory rating to the provincial government for the previous year.

On peace and order, Dalog cited many resolutions passed by the Provincial Peace and Order Council.

Among them were the resolutions banning jueteng in the province and another for the cancellation of land titles issued to individuals outside the alienable and disposable land within the Mount Data watershed.

The Sangguniang Panlalawigan came out with 224 resolutions and six ordinances to address concerns of the populace aside from the issues tackled by the special mandated bodies.

Programs on literacy and universal education, he said, are gaining ground even as the provincial government continues to pay honoraria of 48 alternative learning system coordinators.

The Makabasa ya Makasulat koma san IIyon-a (MAKSI) program has assisted hundreds of illiterates.

This program requires all graduating high school students to teach an adult how to read and write before he/she will be allowed to graduate. The provincial government likewise continue to help 462 college students under the provincial scholarship program.

The Bontoc General Hospital is about to be elevated as a tertiary level hospital given the creation and filling up of positions to man the required service areas.

On public health, the number of households using iodized salt and equipped with sanitary toilets continue to rise with the issuance of an executive order urging all offices not to hire applicants whose houses are without sanitary toilets.

Housed at the college is the newly inaugurated Liwid Center for student counseling like informing them on dangers of early pregnancy.

Despite meager revenue, at least 17 farm to market roads were either rehabilitated or constructed aside from the building of day care centers and classrooms.

Two open gymnasiums were also put up while seven irrigation and water works project were implemented. The first phase of the capitol extension building in under construction and is hoped to be finished this year.

These projects were funded from the total revenue which increased due to the massive tax collection campaigns of the office of the provincial assessor and provincial treasurer.

The tree planting project spearheaded by the Provincial Agricultural, Environmental and Natural Resources Offices board registered additional trees planted even as provincial and baranggay nurseries continue to produce planting materials which are distributed to people for free.

The board also distributed 12 tree planting certificates to people. The certificate entitles the holder to harvest the trees he has planted.

The Provincial government scholarship program provided tuition fees of 426 students of Mountain Province Polytechnicque State College. Illiteracy rate went down from 16% in 2007 to 9% in 2008 due to Alternative Learning Systems (ALS) program of the provincial government and Makabasa ya Makasulat Koma san Iiyon-a (MAKSI). ALS provided the honoraria of 48 facilitators. The program assisted 3,785 non-illiterates and 375 elementary and high school drop outs to enhance reading and comprehension. MAKSI assisted 140 illiterates. In the program, high school students teach at least one illiterate before they graduate .

A memorandum of agreement was inched with the 10 mayors of the province for the implementation of Early Childhood Care and Development.

United Nations Fund for Population Administration (UNFPA) representative Suneeta Mukherjee also visited pilot areas in the province. The program will be extended till 2011 in Mountain Province.

The Sumyaan Center under the social welfare and department office continues to serve as a temporary shelter for women and children victims of abuse and other clients in crises. It has served 22 women and children. Of these cases, 17 were sexually abused children and five women victims of domestic violence. -- Angel Baybay and Gina Dizon