President Rodrigo Duterte couldn't help but be impressed by the new Sultan Kudarat Provincial Hospital (SKPH), which he described Friday, Sept. 24 as a "remarkable edifice".
Duterte, 76, physically led the inauguration and the unveiling of the marker of the hospital, which is located at Isulan town in Sultan Kudarat.
"Alam mo pagpasok ko sa compound, nakita ko 'yung even --- hindi naman stupendous but really a remarkable edifice na ospital na hindi mo makita labas dito sa Sultan Kudarat. Wala --- wala kang makita (You know when I entered the compound, I saw --- not a stupendous but really a remarkable edifice that's a hospital whose kind can't be found outside Sultan Kudarat. You won't find any)," Duterte, who flew in via chopper from Davao City, said in his speech.
"'Pag Maynila, wala akong nakita (Even in Manila, I can't find any)," the Chief Executive claimed.
"The thing is you have built something. Hindi ko talaga maano. Napakaganda. Gusto kong ipagyabang eh (I can't fault it. It's so beautiful. I want to brag about it)," Duterte futher gushed.
"Sabihin ninyo a laid-back province or community. Nakita ninyo gaano kaganda ang kanilang ginawa (You might say it's a laid-back province or community. You saw how beautiful their handiwork was). It is not... It is not wrong to say that the Muslim of the island of Mindanao has already gone to its flowering of civilization," he further said.
The SKPH is a four-story, 390-bed hospital that sits on a 33,740-hectare location. It will be manned by 1,004 individuals, including 178 nurses and 70 doctors.
"Certainly this new hospital will boost the healthcare capacity of the province, allowing it to serve beyond its borders and care for patients from the neighboring localities. Therefore I urge all of you to maximize the services and the state of art equipment that have been made available and accessible to you through this new hospital," Duterte said.
Speaking of equipment, the President promised to provide the hospital with an magnetic resonance image (MRI) scanner, which is among the most expensive pieces of tech that a hospital can have.
He noted that MRI scanning services in Manila were "costly".
"I will see to it that you will have an MRI. Yun na lang ang kailangan niyo to complete it really na parang a good facility, hindi na kailangan pumunta ng Maynila...Pag nandyan ang MRI mabuhay talaga ang inyong community (That's the last thing you need to complete it and really become a good facility, no need to go to Manila...If the MRI is there, your community will really live on)," he said.
"Let us continue working together to overcoming the challenges brought by Covid-19 and build a stronger and healthier for our future...Congratulations to everyone on this remarkble achievement," Duterte concluded.