ALL of the 12 barangays of Apalit town, Pampanga on Tuesday, November 30, 2021, received their own ambulances from the local government.
Mayor Oscar Tetangco, Jr. and Vice Mayor Peter Nucom led the turnover of the brand new ambulances to village chairmen as part of the local government's health program.
Tetangco said the distribution of ambulances to barangays aims to give the residents of this town and easy and quick access to the vehicles in case of emergency.
"Itong mga ambulansya ready anytime. Hindi naman sa gusto natin magamit parati pero in case kailangan, assured ang ating mga kababayan na may magagamit sila," he said.
To further lessen the burden of barangays, Tetangco said the local government will also shoulder the salary of drivers of the ambulances.
"Employed sila under ng Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office at bibigyan din sila ng basic emergency response training para skilled sila," he said.
Nucom said the local government allocated some P24 million for the procurement of the said emergency vehicles which, were purchased at Nissan Clark.
"Dumaan ito sa masusing bidding process para masiguro na doon sa pinakamura pero quality mapupunta ang pera ng bayan," he said.
Association of Barangay Captain Gabby Mutuc, for his part, expressed deep gratitude to the local government for providing ambulances to the villages of Apalit.
Mutuc said the turnover of its own ambulance to Barangay Balucuc is a dream come true for him, especially since his village is one of the remote barangays of Apalit.
"Dahil isa kami sa mga remote barangays, halos isa't kalahating oras ang hinihintay namin para mapuntahan kami ng ambulansya kaya napakalaking bagay na ang ambulansya nasa amin na mismo dahil alam naman natin na bawat segundo importante sa mga emergency cases," he said.
The purchase of the 12 ambulances was in addition to the existing five ambulances earlier procured by the local government and donated by the provincial government.