MAASIM, Sarangani (April 14, 2016) – After verification by the municipal ZOD verification team, in compliance with Municipal ZOD Ordinance No. 2015–13–004, Mayor Aniceto Lopez Jr. (4th from right) declares that Kabatiol and Seven Hills are zero open defecation (ZOD) practicing barangays. Dr. Arvin Alejandro (2nd from left), provincial health officer, attended the ceremony April 4 when the two barangays received P50,000 each from Municipality of Maasim to be used for barangay purposes. (Marvin Soler / VICE GOVERNOR’S OFFICE)

MAITUM, Sarangani (April 14, 2016) – The punong barangay of Kalaneg Gary Lee Perrett (4th from right) and Ted Villanueva (3rd from right), Kalahi-Cidss area coordinator, pose with the barangay officials and Barangay Sub-Project Management Council during the turnover ceremony of a three-classroom building with basic amenities. (Jhie Doctor / MAITUM INFORMATION OFFICE)

MAITUM, Sarangani (April 14, 2016) – Vice Mayor Jeane Ablog expresses her appreciation for the efforts and cooperation of the Barangay Council of Kalaneg and Barangay Sub-Project Management Council during the turnover ceremony April 8 of a three-classroom building at Barangay Kalaneg. The project was funded by the World Bank. It has 40 benches with armchairs, two wall fans and genderized comfort rooms. (Jhie Doctor / MAITUM INFORMATION OFFICE)

ALABEL, Sarangani (April 14, 2016) – The Sarangani Provincial Employees Union (SPEU) has increased the hospitalization coverage of its members to P100,000 per illness per year, from P70,000 last year.

SPEU president Anacleto Saya-ang and Maxicare Healthcare Corporation sealed the health insurance contract for SPEU’s 655 members.

Maxicare, one of the country’s largest health maintenance organizations, received the P7.8-million check on April 1 as one-time payment for SPEU members’ one year healthcare coverage.

This is one of the programs Saya-ang identified as the most important among the perks of joining the union.

MALUNGON, Sarangani (April 13, 2016) – The last batch of 42 graduating students under the provincial government’s Special Tertiary Extension Service for Indigenous People (IP) are set to march on the last week of May.

This product of the MSU Extension Program in barangay Malandag is the last among the three batches that benefited from the seven-year program which offered Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education only.

The special tertiary extension program of the provincial government was designed for IP students who wanted to become teachers. It was also the province’s response to the lack of teachers in far flung IP-dominated areas.

ALABEL, Sarangani (April 7, 2016) - Members of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan in session Tuesday, April 5, study an urgent endorsement letter signed by Governor Steve Chiongbian Solon for inclusion in the agenda. It was the endorsement letter from Rene Punzalan, Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Officer, about the Draft Memorandum of Agreement between the Province of Sarangani and Philippine Red Cross for the conduct of relief operations for the affected households/populace brought about by the long drought, after placing the entire province in a state of calamity. Data from the Provincial Agriculturist’s Office thru its Consolidated Crop Damage Report revealed that agriculture in the towns of Glan, Malapatan, Malungon, Alabel and Maasim has extremely suffered reaching the damage of P281,091 as of March 2, affecting 90,701 farmers. (Ener T. Toguin for SARANGANI INFORMATION OFFICE)

ALABEL, Sarangani (April 7, 2016) - Aside from infrastructure development, the provincial local government unit (PLGU) of Sarangani has invested as well on the people’s welfare to afford comfort especially to poor Sarangan families.

From the time Steve Chiongbian Solon became governor in 2013, around P8 million was already extended to some 1,799 indigents to settle hospital bills, funeral services, counseling and referral services and other financial assistance thru the Aid to Individual in Crisis Situation (AICS) program.

The provincial government has institutionalized AICS as a specialized and functional safety net for the protection and rehabilitation of distressed and disadvantaged individuals and families in Sarangani.

AICS officer in-charge Amethyst Mangindra reported the PLGU also allocated approximately P1.8 million for the 313 clients catered to during the first quarter this year.

ALABEL, Sarangani (April 5, 2016) – The provincial government has poured in some P317 million from its local sources in the last three years for infrastructure development, easing up community life in rural areas and luring investments.

But externally funded projects amounting to P954.91 million from the Department of Interior and Local Government Special Local Road Fund and Seal of Good Housekeeping, Agriculture Food Security Program and SELAP, Mindanao Rural Development Program, Philippine Rural Development Program (PRDP), Department of Health, Department of Tourism and Department of Public Works and Highways have complemented to even boost the province’s infrastructure development in the same period.

Sarangani has accessed another P301 million from PRDP for additional farm-to-market roads (FMRs) that are already in the pipeline.

ALABEL, Sarangani (April 4, 2016) - Sarangani has been reaping domestic and international awards in just a span of two years in the fields of tourism, education, good governance, disaster management, environment and cultural preservation.

Governor Steve Chiongbian Solon described these accomplishments as the offshoot of “transparency and collaboration” with Capitol departments, municipal and barangay LGUs, national government agencies and private partners.

“It is also (because of) teamwork” that earned Sarangani the awards, Solon said.

ALABEL, Sarangani (April 3, 2016) - The Provincial Health Office has once again bagged the award for Best in Local Health Initiatives in Family Planning Program in the whole Region XII during the latest implementation review.

The province runs three major sustainable initiatives – Paaral para sa Sarangan, Tutok Buntis, Resiliency Program for Barangay Health Workers -- which were the bases for the award.

Paaral para sa Sarangan is a scholarship program which gives opportunities for Indigenous People (IP) especially in Geographically Isolated Depressed Areas (GIDA) to become midwives. It is actually anchored in Sulong Sarangani, a poverty alleviation program of Governor Steve Chiongbian Solon.