BACOLOD CITY, Negros Occidental, Philippines – Once upon a time, not so long ago, Hinobaan was a town where Communist rebels dreamt their revolution could win.
Deep inside the town’s once lush mountains, guerrillas of the New People’s Army trained for their protracted people’s war within a rebel stronghold once codenamed “Emporium” that included in its sprawl several upland villages of the mining town.
That was the time when residents complained of scant government attention to their problems.
That was then.
Now, however, a nurse by profession who has become the youngest mayor of the southernmost town of Negros Occidental province plans to build on the improved social services of his predecessor, rolling out a series of executive orders creating three social services arms.
“LESS is more for Hinobaan,” Eric Tenerife, a publicist of new town Mayor Daph Anthony Reliquias said as he announced the creation of the Livelihood and Cooperative, Emergency Asistance and Social Services (LESS) Offices.
Tenerife said in a news release from the town, close to 200 kilometers away from here, that these offices “will address the very basic needs of (Reliquias’) constituents.”
Reliquias issued successive orders in three days as the new chief executive that included Executive Order No. 1 providing for the creation of a one call/text/dm hotline that he said is a “cornerstone of DIAL D.A.P.H. Central Command.”
Tenerife said “any concerns that focus on emergency, fire, police and medical support will be sent through the hotline so that the Central Command can relay and coordinate with proper offices the immediate response to the concern.
The rest of the news release is quoted in full below:
Executive Order No. 2 was also signed by Mayor Reliquias Creating the Hinoba-an Social Services (SoSe) Unit. It is an office directly under the Office of the Mayor that aims to timely address scholarships, financial assistance, medical and hospitalization and other social services needs of Hinoban-ons.
It is likewise a one-stop shop for all social services concerns, thus eliminating table to table and office to office hooping of someone who is in dire need of help from the local government.
Also created through Executive Order No. 3 was the Municipal Cooperative And Livelihood Development Unit (CLDU) that aims to empower and organize those in the grassroots level.
The main goal of CLDU is to be the catalyst of self-empowerment of Hinoban-ons by developing cooperatives and methodically drafting and dispensing livelihood programs that can greatly impact on the lives of people in this now booming municipality in Southern Negros Occidental.
Where former President Ramon Magsaysay used the phrase “those who have less in life should have more in law”, Mayor Reliquias translated it into concrete action by really focusing in addressing the concerns of those who have less in life.
“I am a nurse by profession and a public servant by commitment, thus, I am trained to save lives as a nurse and deliver the best ever service directly to the people as a public servant”, Mayor Reliquias pointed out.
