DUMAGUETE CITY (PNA) – Despite the global economic gloom which cast ominous shadows in the country, Negros Oriental managed to pull through 2009 quite well in such sectors as health, education, internal security, agriculture and the environment.

Gains in the province included the acquisition of modern medical equipment for the Negros Oriental Provincial Hospital (NOPH), local health insurance for the low income bracket sectors, construction of more public schools and classrooms, and an improved disaster management action plan.

The NOPH now boasts of a state-of-the-art Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scan, an Immuno Assay, a cardiac monitor and anesthesia machines. The acquisition of such equipment was made possible partly through a ten percent counterpart fund contribution from the local government units (LGUs).

In terms of health care, there has been a notable increase in the number of enrollees in the Provincial Health Insurance of Negros Oriental (PHINO), a local project that Governor Emilio Macias says does not compete with, but rather complements the national PhilHealth insurance program.

An initial P25-million funding from the Provincial Capitol has been allocated for the five-year PHINO program implementation targeted for 30,000 members, mostly from indigent families. Members contribute P50 a month or P600 annually and can avail of various services to include major surgical procedures.

A major activity held during the year were eight “Paningkamot Caravan” outreach missions led by the provincial government in various towns in the province. The Caravans, an improved version of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s “Halad sa Katawhan” program, was aimed at delivering basic services to countryside communities.

Caravan beneficiaries during the year were thousands of indigent families in Basay, Mabinay, Jimalalud, Bais, Bayawan, Sibulan and Zamboanguita towns.

Apart from the regular medical and dental consults and minor surgeries like circumcision, free medicines and health care supplies were handed out. Other services given were free organic farming training and hybrid seeds distribution.

The province also took immediate action in responding to the global threat of the A-H1N1 virus by activating an anti-swine flu virus action plan.

In the education sector, the Macias administration strengthened its Basta NegOr Education 104 program by building a total of 130 classrooms province-wide with counterpart funds from LGUs.

Macias also said he expects Education Secretary Jesli Lapus to fulfill his promise to complete the teacher allocation for Negros Oriental.

Only 100 allocations were given to the province last year and Lapus has promised to allocate 30 more teacher items for Negros Oriental.

Among various activities in response to the global call for climate change mitigation was the creation of the Negros Oriental Advisory Council on Climate Change (NOACCC).

Chaired by Macias, the NOACCC is comprised of multi-sectoral representatives and has two key environmentalists on board acting as consultants, Dr. Ben Malayang III, President of Silliman University in Dumaguete, and Dr. Angel Alcala of Silliman University’s Angelo King Center for Research and Environmental Management (SUAKCREM).

Alcala was former Environment and Natural Resources Secretary while Malayang was an Undersecretary of the same agency in the early 1990s.

During the year, an Environment Summit, focused on climate change, was held, with Macias urging unity in fighting environmental abuse and destruction.

In an effort to prevent a repeat of the massive flooding incidents that occurred in the province in February, July and August causing loss of lives and millions of pesos in property and infrastructure, Okoy River in the town of Sibulan and Siaton River in Siaton municipality were both re-channeled.