DAVAO CITY—The Bangsamoro Ministry of Health (MOH) completed last week the distribution of 34 ambulances to the different health facilities in the region after some members of the Bangsamoro Parliament allocated a portion of their office budget to the procurement of the units.
Nine ambulances were handed over to Maguindanao municipalities of Pagalungan, Datu Paglas and General Salipada K. Pendatun and to the barangay local government units in the municipalities of Ampatuan, Mother Kabuntalan, Parang, Sultan Kudarat and Sultan Mastura. A ninth ambulance was given to the rural health unit (RHU) of Datu Blah Sinsuat.
In Basilan, two ambulances were given to Maluso RHU and one each to Lantawan, Mohammad Adjul and Al Barka. Also, Cotabato City has one as with Tamparan District Hospital in Lanao del Sur and Bangsamoro Communication Network (BCN) in Kabacan.
Each of the 17 ambulances was worth P2.4 million, documents from the Bangsamoro MOH stated. The acquisition of the ambulances was funded under the respective Transitional Development Impact Fund (TDIF) 2021 of Bangsamoro Transition Authority members Bai Intan Adil-Ampatuan, Faiz Alauddin, Hashim Abdullah, Ali Sangki, Paisalin Tago, Abdulraof Macacua, Haron Abas and Narciso Co Yu Ekey.
The first batch of 17 ambulances was already turned over to the beneficiaries from the different provinces of the region last March 6.
“This is a sign that our government is responsive to the needs of our community,” said MOH Minister Rizaldy Piang. “I hope, those who will be receiving these vehicles should ensure that the ambulance is used as intended to transport needy patients.”
“We are deeply humbled for always choosing our municipality in all of the programs of the BARMM government,” said Jaihanie Mamugka, who represented the municipality of Pagalungan.
BTA member of Parliament Hashim Abdullah said “we have to properly use these ambulances because our office has chosen your areas to receive them.”
The ambulance distribution project was part of the P157-million worth of different health projects pooled by the Bangsamoro lawmakers. The other projects were mobile clinic, incentives for barangay health workers, essential medicines, Covid-19 testing kits and barangay health station.
Image credits: Manuel T. Cayon
