BY GLENDA SOLOGASTOA
ILOILO City – Aside from P5,000 worth of starter kits, more benefits await the 100 millionth symbolic babies from seven provinces in the region, according to Population Commission (PopCom) Region 6 director Harold Marshall.
Marshall said the babies will automatically become lifetime members of PhilHealth for free.
“We are coordinating with PhilHealth for the identification numbers of the symbolic babies,” Marshall said.
Also, PopCom is working with local government units (LGUs) for more assistance for the100 millionth babies.
“This is not only a one-shot deal. The respective LGUs and other stakeholders will also monitor as the babies grow to become productive members of society and contributors to the nation’s progress,” he said.
In Iloilo City, Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog is set to invite the parents of the 100 millionth baby from the city to extend assistance.
Exactly 11:46 a.m. on July 27, this city welcomed Baby Boy Belo. His mother delivered him through normal delivery at the Western Visayas Medical Center in Mandurriao district.
Karla Belo, 34, of Barangay Lanit, Jaro district, expressed surprise and elation over her baby’s luck.
“Nalipay gid ako kag nakibot kay wala ko ini gin-expect,” the mother told Panay News.
Baby Boy Belo symbolically pushed the country’s population to 100 million on Sunday.
For a nation where poverty remains a challenge, the milestone highlights the need of providing more to a ballooning population.
Other cities across the Philippines also recognized their symbolic “100 millionth” babies./PN
