Quezon programs get Galing Pook awards

LUCENA CITY—Two programs of the Quezon provincial government were among the Top 10 Galing Pook (GP) awardees this year for innovation and excellence in local governance, a top provincial official said.

Gov. David Suarez said he believed Quezon was the first province to receive two GP awards in a year.

“I’m very proud,” Suarez said in a text message. “This award is not for me but for Quezon province,” he said.

The award, given by Galing Pook Foundation and the Department of the Interior and Local Government, cited the provincial government’s mangrove planting program, dubbed “Quezon’s 2 in 1,” as a worthy example of environmental protection.

The program led to the planting of more than 2 million mangroves in a day along the province’s more-than-1,000-kilometer coastline.

The provincial government organized nearly 2,000 volunteers to monitor the growth of the mangroves and replace those that did not survive.

Another program that received the GP award for the provincial government is one dubbed “Lingap Kalusugan sa Barangay (village) (LKB),” which gave improved access to healthcare to 1,242 villages. It was cited as a model of a successful local government health program.

Under LKB, which was also among the 17 GP award finalists in 2012, each of the village was given P50,000 in health coupons every year for distribution by the village chief and community leader to indigents.

The use of health coupons, instead of cash, guaranteed that the assistance would be used solely for medical and health needs.

Beneficiaries use the coupons to buy medicines and defray the cost of services in government hospitals such as laboratory tests, diagnostic procedures, outpatient consultation and others.

Records from the provincial health office said that from

January 2011 to December 2013, 138,547 people benefited from the innovative health program.

The GP awardees were chosen after a nationwide search of local governance programs, which were evaluated in a rigorous screening process.

Interior Secretary Mar Roxas handed the awards in a ceremony held at the Edsa Shangri-la Hotel in Manila on Tuesday.

The awards, Suarez said, are “an inspiration for us.”