VILLAVICIOSA, Abra (PIA) – More than 800 folks in barangay Tamac, Villaviciosa, Abra are looking forward to better health services with the inauguration and turn-over of a two-storey health station.
The barangay which is around two hours away from the capital town of Bangued is a beneficiary of the Support to Barangay Development Program (SBDP) of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC).
“Since awan pay lang daytoy barbaro nga barangay health station tayo, nakakaasi dagiti pasyente nga haan da matameng nga nalaing. Tattan ket maymayaten ti pannaka-tameng da, mas safe ti privacy da agsipuden ta adda ti barbaro a barangay health station tayo,” shared Tamac Barangay Health Worker Lymar Bayod.
[Before when there was no barangay health station here, patients were not well attended to. With the new barangay health station, patients will be taken care of, they have more privacy.]
Bayod said that once equipment and personnel are completed, the health station will be a big help in improving healthcare in Tamac where the nearest health facility is more than an hour away.
Punong Barangay Ike Escobar shared that the barangay health station is one of the needed facility in the community.
“Kas maysa nga mangidadaulo ti daytoy a barangay, napalaos ti ragsak mi.Tatta lang nga maaramid daytoy nga maysa tagtagainep dagiti immuna nga barangay officials,” he expressed.
[As a barangay leader, I am so happy that this dream of the previous barangay officials is finally a reality.]
During the inauguration program, Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG)-Abra Cluster Head Mary Jane Abance congratulated the community and the implementers of the P6.8-million worth facility, which is recognized as the first 2024 SBDP project to be implemented and completed nationwide.
“Haan maaramid dagitoy without your cooperation. Daytoy nga proyekto ket naggapo kanyayo nga umili ta sikayo ti nag-identify, sikayo ti nangibaga nu anya ti masapul yo ditoy a barangay and with that daytoy garoden ket para kanyayo,” she said.
[This was not made possible without your cooperation. This project came from you- it’s the community that identified it as a need, so with that, this is for you.]
Abance shared that the building was constructed from the P2.5-million SBDP fund with P4.3-million counterpart from the local government unit.
The SBDP is among the mechanisms of government to bring peace and development in the countryside.
Meanwhile, Villaviciosa Mayor Jose W. Lagen Jr. emphasized the importance of improving access to healthcare towards the development of the town.
“Kadakayo nga taga-Tamac, tagipatgenyo kuma daytoy tapno ti kasta mausar tayo iti napaot a tiempo,” he encouraged.
Vice-Mayor Marjorie Lagen shared that barangay Tamac was relocated in 2015 due to a big landslide that hit the original site of the village. She said the barren land was slowly developed into a barangay due to the collaborative efforts of the community.
Lagen disclosed partnership plans with PhilHealth to bring the Maternity Care Package Program which covers the complete essential health care services for women about to give birth throughout their pregnancy and normal delivery. (JJMT, PIA-CAR, Abra)
