HEALTH CARE

LINGAYEN, Pangasinan — Former Senator Ernesto Maceda has lauded the program of Gov. Amado T. Espino, Jr. on health care which he said resulted to the saving of many lives. Recently, another group of 1,752 indigent families from four eastern municipalities of Pangasinan received their sponsored Philhealth insurance cards from Gov. Espino during the recent wave of the Baruy-I Love Pangasinan Movement last December 4. Maceda who came to Sta. Maria town during the distribution of health insurance cards, urged Pangasinenses to unite and help one another in solving community and social challenges. (Liezle Basa Iñigo)

BUILDING CODE

SAN FERNANDO CITY, La Union — Compliance to the Accessibility Law or Batas Pambansa 344 is continuously being enforced by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) to all national government buildings, structures and sports centers. This was reported by Esperanza C. Tinaza, Public Relations Officer II, as she looked through records of the DPWH District Engineering Offices in Region I, which showed a total of 23 government establishments complied with the provisions of the law. However, much work still needs to be done as the inspections also showed that 89 government buildings were still not complying with standards under the Building Code, lacking such facilities as access to disabled persons, said Tinaza. (Liezle Basa Iñigo)

SOLDIER CITED

SORSOGON CITY — The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) conferred the Military Merit Medal (Interim) to another outstanding officer in the military service for meritorious and invaluable service to the country’s defense force. Col. Felix J. Castro Jr. who served as the commander of the 903rd Infantry (Fight and Defend) Brigade, 9th Infantry (SPEAR) Division, Philippine Army from January 17, 2011 to November 8, 2012 was the recipient of the medal for his deep sense of responsibility, outstanding leadership, professional competence, and managerial acumen. Castro supervised 23 Brigade-sized Operations, 62 battalion-sized operations, 97 company-sized operations, and 12,026 small unit operations. (PIA)

EXPANDED C.C.T.

JALAJALA, Rizal — Beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program in this municipality see new hope as Social Welfare and Development Secretary Corazon Juliano-Soliman announced during her recent visit here of more programs to come for the town. Soliman shared that an extended conditional cash transfer (CCT) program is already being implemented covering children, who were previously beneficiaries of the regular program, age 15 to 17 years old. This extended program at least guarantees children to finish a secondary education within the time frame of Pantawid Pamilya. (PIA)

O.S.Y. EXAMINATION

BAGUIO CITY — The Department of Education’s Alternative Learning System (DepEd-ALS) successfully conducted the Accreditation and Equivalency (A&E) Examination in the Cordillera Administrative Region last December 2. ALS Regional Coordinator Dr. Gloria Felipe, in an interview, disclosed that for Cordillera, 5,530 out-of-school youths (OSYs) and adults (who have not finished their primary or secondary education) took the A&E examination in the various designated testing centers all over the region. (PIA)