TABUK CITY, KALINGA – Responding to issues of sanitation and the criticisms that came with it, Governor Jocel Baac has ordered employees of the Provincial Capitol to take up cleaning duty at the Kalinga Provincial Hospital (KPH).
Baac instructed that each office of the Provincial Capitol is to clean at the said hospital for a week at a time, beginning with the Provincial Engineering Office (PEO) followed by the General Services Office (GSO), the Provincial Governor’s Office (PGO), and so on.
Baac also ordered additional security personnel to replace some members of so-called Blue Guards, men who are responsible for the security of the KPH, over issues of poor job performance.
Further, the local chief executive ordered the recruitment of 20 utility workers and 30 nurses, all on job order contracts to augment manpower at the hospital.
Baac directed that recruitment of new KPH staff will take priority over the renewal of job order employees at the Provincial Capitol.
The Human Resources Management Office (HRMO) had earlier terminated all job order employees effective December 31 and is withholding the renewal of their contracts pending the release of the Capitol’s 2018 budget.
The local chief executive issued his directives during Wednesday’s flag-raising ceremony wherein he spoke of rumors circulating in Baguio City about the poor state of sanitation and bad odor permeating the province’s main hospital.
Baac said that upon inspection, it was found out that the KPH suffers from problems of loose security and lenient implementation of visiting hours.
He sought an explanation from KPH officials who cited insufficient manpower as the main cause of the facility’s array of sanitation problems.
Baac urged employees to take responsibility for the problem collectively. “I-treat yu man daytuy nga problema tau amin, hankadi? Mabalin nga kasjay? I-treat tayu nga problema tayu amin, I-treat tayo nga balay tayo amin” he said.
Baac stressed that “cleanliness is everyone’s responsibility” and warned employees that lack of cooperation will warrant consequences. “Aramiden tayu daytuy, han nga mabalin nga saan.Daytuy ti ibagak kanya yu,” he said.
“Isimpa tayo, isimpa tayo dayta ospital tayo, kababain dayta pag-isistoryaan da,” he said.
By Iryll Sicnao
