ILOILO City – “Daku nga bulig.” A big help.
This was how barangay residents described the community outreach program “Pag-ulikid sang Syudad, Pag-ulikid ni Mayor” of the city government.
An estimated 12 thousand residents were served on July 20 and 21 in the districts of Arevalo and Mandurriao, respectively.
“Pag-ulikid” was held at the covered gym of Barangay Sta. Filomena, Arevalo on Friday morning last week.
But even those from 11 nearby villages (Bonifacio, Yulo Drive, San Jose, Santa Cruz, Sto. Niño Sur, Sto. Domingo, Calaparan, Dulonan, Quezon, Sto. Niño Norte, and Mohon) came over to avail themselves , too, of various free city government services such as teeth extraction, medical checkup, circumcision, identification cards for senior citizens, anti-rabies vaccination, legal assistance, and free vegetable seedlings from the City Agriculture Office.
“We are grateful for the help,” said Barangay Captain Fredo Avanceña of Sta. Filomena.
Friday afternoon, “Pag-ulikid” moved to the covered gym of Barangay Sooc, Arevalo where over 2,000 more people, mostly indigent, were served.
Other services offered were free processing of birth certificates and marriage contracts.
A happy Genalyn Reli of Barangay Sta. Filomena said she was finally able to process the birth certificate of her child.
The Commission on Elections of Iloilo City joined “Pag-ulikid”, too. It entertained new voter registrants.
“Daku gid ini nga bulig kay maka-save ka sang bulong. Libre ginahatag sang syudad,” said Shella Mae Montaño of Barangay Dulonan, Arevalo.
She had her two children suffering from cough checked by a “Pag-ulikid” doctor.
On Saturday morning, “Pag-ulikid” reached out to residents of Barangay Bolilao, Mandurriao but those from the nearby village of Bakhaw also participated. An estimated 2,500 persons were served.
Afternoon of Saturday, it was the turn of those in Barangay Tabucan, Mandurriao to avail themselves of the city government’s services. Some 1,0000 were served.
“Daku nga bulig ini sa mga pigado. Kabay nga mapadayon ini nga programa,” said Barangay Kagawad Arniel Lumbo of Sooc.
Barangay Captain Arsenio Pedrosa of Bolilao cited Mayor Jose Espinosa III for establishing “Pag-ulikid.”
“Ini nga mayor may pag-ulikid sa barangay ilabi na gid kay si mayor halin man sa pigado nga pagpangabuhi,” said Pedrosa.
According to Espinosa, he shared the “Pag-ulikid” program to his counterparts from other countries during an international summit of mayors he attended in Singapore recently.
“They were impressed and asked how we did it,” said Espinosa.
The mayor said some summit participants expressed interest in replicating “Pag-ulikid” in their respective areas.
“May iban nga mayors nga gusto magkadto diri sa aton kag obserbaran ang aton ginahimu,” said Espinosa./PN
