Contracts awarded to DOH, DPWH bidders

By Pamela Fiar-od Dungala

BONTOC, Mountain Province – The district engineering office here is set to implement four Health Facilities Enhancement Programs of the Department of Health in four barangays of this province.

District Engineer Wilbur B. Likigan bared this saying  contracts for these projects have already been awarded to qualified bidders although winners were not identified.

The HFEP is a program of the DOH to construct and upgrade existing health facilities for the poor to have easy access to quality health care and emergency services, Likigan added.

Fund release for the civil works component of this program was charged against Department of Public Works and Highways budget in the 2013 General Appropriations Act.

A Department of Budget and Management-DOH-DPWH Joint Circular which  states guidelines on implementation of the HFEP.

Under the program, the DPWH shall construct, repair or upgrade health facilities listed by DOH and turnover completed health facilities to DOH upon the latter’s issuance of certificate of acceptance.

The first batch of the HFEP in  this province for this year includes construction of Sadanga rural health unit building and Bekigan barangay health station in Sadanga and expansion of Malibcong barangay health station in Bontoc and Natonin rural health unit.

These were chosen after these barangays met guidelines stipulated in the Joint Circular of DBM, DOH and DPWH, assistant district engineer Charles C. Sokoken said. 

These barangays have large number of poor families/households under the National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction (NHTS-PR) of the Department of Social Welfare and Development and have no other private health facilities that can provide affordable health care, he added.