By Edwin Fernandez (PNA)
BULUAN, Maguindanao — More than 1,000 indigent residents here and those from the nearby towns of Sultan Kudarat province have benefited from a two-day medical mission held by the provincial government of Maguindanao on Wednesday and Thursday.
The inter-agency outreach mission in Buluan town of Maguindanao, dubbed as “Maguindanao Peoples Day”, was a joint initiative of the office of Governor Esmael Mangudadatu and the Presidential Commission for the Urban Poor (PCUP).
Lynette Estandarte, Maguindanao budget officer and concurrent provincial health team leader, said personnel of the social welfare office, provincial hospital and Philippine Information Agency 12 (Soccsksargen) participated in the medical mission.
Aside from health services, the outreach program also served supplemental food for school children and indigent Maguindanaons who availed of the services.
“I am happy the government has this program. We don’t need to go somewhere else because health services are coming our way,” Bai Lilang, one of the beneficiaries from Mangudadatu town, told reporters in an interview here.
Mangudadatu lauded the officials of the PCUP, PIA-12, and different offices under the executive department of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) for the undertaking.
“If it is for the benefit of my people, who am I to refuse?” Mangudadatu said, referring to preparations and invitations to the provincial government to host the event.
“We immediately agreed to host and help facilitate the activity because it can boost the cordiality between Malacañang and the Moro sectors in Maguindanao,” he said.
Aside from civilian government offices, the Army’s 6th Infantry Division (6ID) also sent medical workers to help in the outreach program, including the deployment of Army personnel to secure the area and the roads leading to the venue.
The provincial government has scheduled similar events to take place in the coming months in other areas of Maguindanao, especially in far-flung communities.
