LAGAWE, Ifugao – Congressman Teddy Baguilat Jr. joined other elective officials of the province in celebrating the 51st Founding Anniversary and Gotad ad Ifugao on June 18, 2017 here.
In his message to the Ifugao folk during the grand Gotad program, Baguilat said that the province has been there since time in memorial. “As a people, we always say during our Gotad celebrations that we are an ancient race,” Baguilat said adding that the province was created from the old Mountain Province.
The Congressman also took advantage of greeting all fathers present since it was Father’s Day. He included in his greeting all mothers acting as fathers or the solo parents.
On the other hand, Baguilat said that he was happy to witness the different cultural presentations of the 11 municipalities of the province. “It seems that every Gotad, the presentations keep on improving,” he said. He mentioned that the different ethno-linguistic groups such as the Kalanguya, Gaddang, Tuwali and the Ayangans showcased their rituals, rites, chants, dialects and dances in their cultural performances. “Hopefully our younger generations will learn from these presentations,” he said. Moreover, he hoped that this will be sustained in the years to come.
He also acknowledged the presence of the Department of Health family led by USEC Mario C. Villaverde who represented Sec. Paulyn Ubial, the guest of honor. “Villaverde’s visit here is very important and we understand that Sec. Ubial cannot make it today because we have problems such as the one happening in Marawi which needs the personal attention of our secretary, Baguilat said.
However, Baguilat averred that the province is still happy that USEC Villaverde was present because public health program is very important here. He said that one of the major concerns which the Secretary and the USEC are very much aware of is the completion of the Ifugao General Hospital (IGH) which started its construction in 2009.
The DOH already allocated a total fund of P218M broken down as follows: in 2009, DOH turned over P50M, 2012 – P100M and recently – P68M for phase 3 which is currently being implemented.
The Ifugao solon appealed to everyone to be more patient because the officials here, from the legislative body of the provincial government, the governor and the congressman are doing everything to source out funds from the DOH for the completion of said hospital.
Later after the program Cong Baguilat, USEC Villaverde and some members of the Task Force IGH inspected the incomplete main structure of the proposed IGH and also monitored the ongoing construction of the other buildings.
Meanwhile, USEC Villaverde promised to bring this to the attention of SEC Paulyn Ubial .**
