Duterte working on free sight, hearing check-ups for kids
ARRANGEMENTS with a medical group to conduct sight and hearing check-ups on elementary school children here were already made, said Davao City Vice Mayor Rodrigo Duterte Tuesday.
Duterte, in earlier interview, said he wishes to create a program focusing on the health of children, particularly on their sight and hearing.
Duterte said it is "impossible" that a class of 30 students would have no students with problems on their hearing and sight.
"I have talked to doctors and they have agreed to help us out. Most of the doctors I approached were willing," Duterte said.
Duterte lamented how he "was not as vigilant in protecting children's health" before.
"I'll focus on sa bata, the health of the children. It never dawned on me. I was also not at par in vigilance (to my child's health)" he said.
He then shared how he found out his daughter, Kitty, has been suffering from blurry sight for a long time.
"Ang anak ko kasi palaging nadadapa. Pinapagalitan ko minsan. Nanay niya sabi maybe it's because she’s flat-footed or lampa, but one day sabi niya, we were riding, bakit yung 'O' broken. Sabi ko patingin na. Ako myopic ako eh, I cannot see sa malayo. When she was examined, she was almost 100. Kaya di nakakakita sa malayo," he said.
Duterte also said children perhaps do not perform well in school without their teachers and parents knowing that it could be because they have poor eyesight or hearing. (Jade C. Zaldivar)