QUEZON Gov. Angelina Tan has marked her first year of administration as the first woman governor of the province of Quezon, with primary focus given to the delivery of health services and various programs and projects under her HEALING agenda.
In her “Ulat sa Lalawigan” delivered last week, the governor, who is fondly known in her province as Doktora Helen Tan, said that while there is still much to be done in fighting poverty, her administration was able to make significant headway in the delivery of meaningful and sustainable services, particularly in terms of Health, Education, Agriculture, Livelihood, Infrastructure, Nature and Environment/Tourism, and Good Governance (HEALING). One of the highlights of her accomplishments is the improved management and delivery of medical services of the Quezon Medical Center (QMC), which is now halfway in its physical renovation track.
The QMC was also able to bring down to 400 what used to be a 600 average occupancy for the hospital, which only has a 200-bed authorized capacity. Tan’s administration also implemented PhilHealth’s Konsultasyong Sulit at Tama or Konsulta Package as one of the five pilot LGUs where the public can access preventive care services, including free medicine and laboratory tests for out-patient consultations.
Also as part of her continuing advocacy of the Universal Health Care (UHC) Act, which she authored when she was a member of Congress, Tan inked a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with all the city and municipal local chief executives and the Department of Health (DOH) for the implementation of the province-wide Health System Integration that is considered as the first in the country.
“With a provincial government that is deep in debt and with very little financial resources, not much can be done. But I am happy to report that we have done so much,” Tan said in her report to the people.
Also part of her long list of accomplishments are the implementation of the “One Family, One College Graduate Scholarship Program” and the “Priority Courses Scholarship and Return Service Program, formation of 31 cooperatives for coconut farmers in line with the Coconut Farmers Industry Development Program, and various infrastructure projects.
Because of her prudent use of funds, the provincial government got the highest audit rating from the Commission on Audit (COA) or the “unmodified opinion” for the first time, a coveted mark from the government auditing arm as it indicates a culture of clean financial governance.
With the Quezon Convention Center filled to the brim, Tan renewed her commitment to deliver on her HEALING agenda in the remaining two years of her term. Various guests from national government agencies, Sangguniang Panlalawigan, local government units, non-government organizations, people’s organizations and private sector attended the event.
