by Dong de los Reyes July 13, 2022 Gov. Helen Tan (Photo from her FB Page) LUCENA CITY - Hardly had governor-elect Dr. Angelina "Helen&...
July 13, 2022
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| Gov. Helen Tan (Photo from her FB Page) |
LUCENA CITY - Hardly had governor-elect Dr. Angelina "Helen" Tan taken over the reins to steer Quezon province into a new direction, but this early, cries and plaints were brought before her, mostly from capitol workers and creditors pleading, even begging for help.
The sad reality of how the Lucena capitol worked dawned on the erstwhile lawmaker-- regulars and service providers hired on temporary basis (so-called 'job order' workers) have yet to receive their take-home pay for months, while suppliers dunning the capitol honchos for settlement of debts were similarly unpaid their due.
Even the contractuals are hanging on to hopes that their work contracts would be renewed under the Tan leadership, despite their salaries unpaid for months.
There is something awry with how things are run in the capitol, prompting Gov. Tan to affirm that "walang palakasan" (no playing favorites, no political appointees and nepotism) during her tenure.
She is eyeing a competency-based work force that entails a thorough assessment of skills and competencies of the current batch of workers and those yet to be hired.
"But definitely I will strengthen the employment and job generation in the province. I will directly supervise the provincial employment services unit para makagawa ng mga (angkop na) programa," she states in a recent radio interview broadcast nationwide.
With governance reforms in mind, she confesses that she may likely make unpopular decisions, and pleads, "sana maintindihan ng ating mga kalalawigan; wala po akong political accommodation, wala pong hiring just because kailangang magpalakas at magparami ng suporta sa akin.
"We'll start at the provincial capitol, aayusin natin ang current situation doon. Hindi ito business as usual. Ang corruption sa loob ay mawawala. Ang atin pong proseso ay magiging mabilis," she says.
Investment in information technology
For faster transactions with the capitol, Dr. Tan is eyening investment in information technology while looking into the state of affairs she is about to wade into.
"Titingnan pa ang mga (patakaran), so kung ito ay very political, papalitan po natin. There will be transparency, walang palakasan and we'll make capitol employees including the governor accountable sa anumang gagawing desisyon o aksiyon."
The thrust toward IT would likely be felt by December 2022 or by next year, she relates.
Going IT "will also involve data collection to obtain a health and socio-economic profile of the Quezon population. So we will be working in synch with Quezon LGUs for this," she notes.
She reveals having seen and learned from "the best practices of other provinces and cities. (And I really want these carried out) in the 41 towns of Quezon."
Reforms in agriculture
As erstwhile lawmaker in Congress, Dr. Tan has crafted laws mandating the establishment of multi-species fish hatchery that would bring long-term benefits to marginal fishermen of Quezon's coastal towns.
"(Plans are in the pipeline) for fish production in fish cages and systematic marketing of fish catches.
She has also drawn up laws that assist farmers from raising crops to ancillary support with post-harvest facilities, and expressed dismay that the local bagsakan or trading post in Sariaya sells more produce from other provinces-- less than 50% of the crops sold at the bagsakan comes from Quezon.
Plans for cold storage facilities and processing of surplus produce are to be fitted out at the Lopez, Quezon trading post.
"Kung maramdaman nila na sila ay kasama sa lahat ng gawain, it's a way of energizing the (work force) of the government," she cites.
Meanwhile, the governor doctor priority remains the health system.
Governor Dr. Tan recently met with DOH IV-A Regional Director Ariel Valencia and all Health Officers in each town to discuss how to improve the health system throughout the province of Quezon.
One of the issues raised by the governor was the existence of Centralized Health Profiling. She stated that the Provincial Government will assist each town in accelerating the collection of data from each barangay to the entire province in order to determine people's health status.
Attention was also paid to the proper implementation of the Universal Health Care Law in all hospitals. “Let’s work together to get funding from the National Government, Local Government Unit, and other private sectors to properly implement the Universal Health Care Law in our province”, the governor said.
Discussions included the Provincial Wide Vaccination Program and conducting Basic Life Support and Advanced Cardiac Life Support (BLS & ACLS) Training in support of the medical staff of the hospitals.
Gov. Tan has visited the ongoing hospital in Brgy. Mayao Parada, Lucena City General Hospital
DPWH and DOH funded a visit to the proposed Lucena City General Hospital. According to DOH, they were not consulted, which is why construction of DPWH proceeded without a Certificate of Need and a Permit to Construct, as well as a Hospital Development Plan.
As you can see it is not strategically located for a hospital. But we will make sure that people’s tax money will not be put into waste.
Beautiful, clean, and more airy look. That was the result when Tan led the renovation in front of Quezon Medical Center starting this Saturday, July 02, 2022.
Dr. Tan's priority as a doctor is to organize and develop Quezon province's health system. That is why Quezon Medical Center was one of the first places he went to learn about the health of the patients under the hospital's care. The front of the hospital, which was full of tents, immediately drew his attention, obscuring the monument to former President Manuel L. Quezon. As a result, it received immediate action, resulting in a significant change from its usual appearance.
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