Barangay in Lamitan benefits from new health center

COTABATO CITY, Philippines  ---  The construction of a health center has provided medical services access to residents of  Barangay Buahan in Lamitan City.

The health center was built recently by villagers as a community project, assisted by the World Bank through a conduit, the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao Social Fund Project (ASFP).

“We are very thankful to the World Bank and to the ASFP for helping us put up this barangay health center,” said Lamitan city Mayor Rose Furigay.

Sick villagers had to be brought to the town proper for medication before the facility was constructed, according to Arlene Alfaro, president of Barangay Buahan People’s Organization.

“There is that sense of ownership of this health center among barangay folks because it was constructed by them,” Alfaro said.

Local folks implemented measures to ensure that the project's construction was transparent by posting the summary of expenses all over the barangay.

“Implementing the project `bayanihan style’ taught us the importance of unity and camaraderie,” Alfaro said.

Furigay said medical personnel now man the health center on a 24-hour basis.

Officials of the ASFP, which is under the ministerial control of ARMM Gov, Mujiv Hataman, said it was the residents of Barangay Buahan that recommended and planned the construction of the health center.

The World Bank had rated satisfactory for eight times, in recent years, the ASFP’s implementation of WB-assisted projects in the autonomous region. - John Unson