Nat’l govt agencies pool services in DavSur town

By Carina L. Cayon

STA. CRUZ, Davao del Sur, Apr. 20 (PIA) – Over a thousand residents here have benefited today from a convergence of programs and services delivered by some 47 national government agencies of Davao Region in this town. The Association of Regional Executives of National Agencies in the region (ARENA-XI) brought its banner project “Serbisyo Caravan” in Sta. Cruz to provide various services to the constituents from all its 18 barangays.

“This is one way of informing our people that the taxes they pay to the government is being used properly, and that services go directly to the people,” stated ARENA-XI President and Department of Budget and Management Regional Director Achilles Gerard C. Bravo.

Bravo led the other NGA regional executives in this one-stop-shop delivery of various services in Sta. Cruz which was identified by the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA-XI) and the 10th Infantry Division to be one of the priority recipient towns in the province. Among the agencies that provided its services was the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG-XI) which handed over a P410,000 cash assistance to the local government of Sta. Cruz for the purchase of disaster preparedness equipment.

The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE-XI) turned-over a symbolic check worth more than P300,000 as livelihood assistance to the women leaders of the Bagobo-Tagabawa tribe from Barangay Tibolo. The assistance aims to support the basket weaving and food processing enterprises of the tribal women’s group which has 141 members. DOLE-XI also provided loan assistance worth P200,000 to the Benepisyaryo ng Repormang Agraryo ng Darong (BREAD) Multi-Purpose Cooperative for the coop’s coconut vinegar and wine production undertakings.

The LGU of Sta. Cruz received P1 million livelihood assistance from DBM-XI. The Department of Education (DepEd-XI) distributed 150 school bags for kindergarten pupils from the Badjao tribe of this town. The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR-XI) handed over 30 units of tuna hand line and 200 pieces of mangrove seeds to the fisheries office of Sta. Cruz LGU. The Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR-XI) distributed 18 Certificates of Land Ownership Award (CLOAs) covering 39 hectares to its agrarian reform beneficiaries.

The Department of Health (DOH-XI) distributed medicines worth P25,000. Aside from providing security to the participants in the caravan, the 39th Infantry Battalion also facilitated dental extraction and other related dental services. The other services such as consultation and dialogues, lectures, advocacy campaign, information drive, rice distribution, among many others were provided in four separate sites within the heart of Sta. Cruz.

Governor Douglas Cagas lauded ARENA-XI’s initiative of holding the “Serbisyo Caravan,” saying that the convergence of different agencies to deliver their respective programs direct to the communities signified the sincerity of the government programs. “This is something unusual, but memorable. This (Serbisyo Caravan) is the only in the entire country,” Cagas stated in his message during the opening program of the activity.

Bravo said “Serbisyo Caravan is a novel approach to public service.” He said that the caravan will also be brought to the municipality of Malita as the second priority recipient for Davao del Sur. The activity is slated on April 27, with same agencies and services to be provided. Sta. Cruz is the 4th recipient of the “Serbisyo Caravan.” The previous caravans were held in Boston and Cateel of Davao Oriental and Nabunturan of Compostela Valley. (PIA-11/Carina L. Cayon)