THE Provincial Governments of Pampanga and Bohol agreed to strengthen their partnership by sharing the best practices especially in the fields of health, social welfare, agriculture, employment, disaster management, and income-generating services.
Pampanga Governor Dennis Pineda and Bohol Governor Arthur Yap said they are willing to share the programs of their respective provinces.
This was gleaned during the learning visit of Yap together with the department heads of the Bohol Provincial Government in Pampanga over the weekend.
The delegates were welcomed by Pineda himself upon their arrival at Kingsborough International Convention Center in the City of San Fernando.
Pineda said they also plan to visit Bohol so their partnership could become stronger, as he and Yap vowed to work together as one. Pineda also said that Kapampangans consider Boholanos as family.
Pineda stressed the importance of learning from other provinces, especially in public service.
"There was a calamity then when I went to Bohol in 2013 to visit Governor Yap. He toured me around the area. I observed and learned new things. And we, in the public service, should know the importance of continuous learning. Through it, we would be able to adapt key solutions to achieve development," Pineda said.
Meanwhile, Yap expressed his gratitude to the Pineda family, as he recalled the assistance they gave when Bohol was hit by a 7.2-magnitude earthquake in 2013.
"They sent us water filtration trucks that we used to help the victims even without me asking them to," he said. "We are beyond grateful for Pampanga's untiring support to Bohol," he added.
Yap also acknowledged the generosity of Pineda, especially in offering the provincial employees of Bohol free training in the City of San Fernando.
"Likewise, if there's any way you can learn from us in Bohol, we will be more than happy to sponsor some of your officials," Yap told Pineda.
Angelina Blanco, special assistant to the governor, said the learning visit was aimed at benchmarking the best practices, understanding current issues, and obtaining knowledge on the implementation of comprehensive programs and services that can be replicated in the province of Bohol.
The Bohol executives were initially given updates on health services, a flagship program of the Pampanga government under the administration of former governor, now Vice-Governor Lilia Pineda, which is now being continued and improved by Governor Pineda.
Michelle Lopez, Pampanga coordinator for Philhealth, said that under the said health program, free health services are being provided to people in remote areas. There are patrol vehicles that are going around the 505 barangays of Pampanga to transport sick people to district hospitals.
"Instead of bringing them to private hospitals, we bring them to district hospitals supervised by the government, so that the hospitals could collect the hundred percent of the client's benefits from Philhealth. And that is how our district hospitals earn income," she said. (PR)