PADRE BURGOS, Southern Leyte (PIA) — The local government unit here has received a transport vehicle for medical emergencies given by the Japanese government.
In a turnover ceremony on Wednesday, August 28, Mayor Hermenegildo Culpa disclosed that it was in the year 2021 that the municipality forwarded a request to the Japanese Embassy for an ambulance, an effort which is now realized.
Attending the ceremony was Tokiko Nishimura, Second Secretary of the Embassy of Japan, who shared that the granting of ambulance is under the Grant Assistance for Grassroots Human Security Project of the Japanese government.
Delivery was delayed because of the pandemic, Nishimura said, adding that since 1989, some 500 units had been distributed in various parts of the country.
In a follow-up interview, Mayor Culpa told the Philippine Information Agency that the Japanese-donated ambulance has already been used for transport of patients needing medical care since it was received by the municipal government.
This was the second ambulance the local government unit possessed. The first was procured out of the prize the LGU got as winner of the much-coveted Seal of Good Local Governance (SGLG), a timely move as it was widely used at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Mayor Culpa said.
In addition, the LGU has been slated to receive yet another ambulance, this time from the Department of Health, as well as a Patient Transport Vehicle from the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office, the mayor said. (MMP, PIA Southern Leyte with reports from Gevic Epiz, Radio Pilipinas Sogod)
