CARAGA, DAVAO ORIENTAL – Two more remote sub-villages in the municipality of Caraga have enjoyed a downpour of government services after a team from the provincial government conducted an outreach caravan here.
Sitios Binaton and Tagbanahaw, which are considered geographically isolated and displaced sub-villages in Barangay P.M. Sobrecarey, Caraga, Davao Oriental, were the latest sitios that benefited from the program.
More than 70 personnel from the different provincial government offices, workers from the Caraga municipal health office, and security personnel from Philippine Army and Philippine National Police walked through difficult road going to these sitios as vehicles were unable to reach these communities due to the bad road condition.
A total of 290 families in Sitio Binaton and 160 families in Sitio Tagbanahaw benefitted from the caravan which was held on September 14 and 15.
Among the highlight services was an “Operation Tuli” facilitated by the medical team from the Philippine Army’s 701st Infantry Brigade. More than 50 young boys aged 6-15 years old benefited from the free service.
Free medical check-up and free medicines were offered by the Municipal Health Office of Caraga. The Provincial Social Welfare and Development Office delivered social services which include distribution of cash assistance of P1,000 to senior citizens, sports equipment for the youth, assistive devices for Persons with Disability, and family food packs.
The Provincial Veterinarian’s Office dispersed free animal medicines, vitamins, deworming, and antibiotics. They also gave anti-rabies vaccines to the residents’ pets.
The Provincial Agriculturist’s Office distributed coffee seedlings, fruit bearing tree seedlings, peanut seeds and vegetable seeds while the Environment and Natural Resources Office delivered falcata seeds.
Meanwhile, personnel from Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office and Provincial Civil Security Unit provided emergency rescue for the team, conducted advocacy campaign for disaster preparedness and distributed IEC materials.
The Philippine National Police offered free haircut, free legal consultations, pencils for the kids and hot meals for all the residents.
Personnel from the Provincial Governor’s Office distributed reams of book papers to Binaton Elementary School and Tagbanahaw Integrated School to be used on the modular mode of teaching this upcoming class opening.
Provincial Administrator Art Benjie C. Bulaong, who leads the program, said that NLD-Sitio Outreach Caravan is the fourth level of the governor’s wide range of services to the communities. He said the that the initiative stemmed from the governor’s intention to bring the provincial government’s regular programs to far-flung sub-villages in the province as part of its relentless efforts to achieve peace.
Governor Nelson Dayanghirang, who was present during the program in one of the sitio, said that these government is doing its best to reach out these communities which were once neglected due to the presence of lawless armed groups and influence of communist rebels.
A staunch advocate for peace and development, Governor Dayanghirang said that “Communist armed conflict existed in most hard-to-reach communities in Davao Oriental before because government services were not there,” he said.
To address this issue, the provincial government has extended these services to cater the needs of the people in the grassroots by putting up satellite offices called GNLD – Social Services Program Office, which spearheads the Barangay Outreach Caravan and Sitio Outreach Caravan.
The provincial government is set to continue bringing services closer to the people to serve the more than 192,000 families in the province. By Van Jorain Rufin/Photos by Eden Jhan Licayan
