The Pasig City local government marked on Saturday, Oct. 8, its elected officials’ 100th day in office with a series of activities dedicated to the health, education, and response sectors.

From morning to afternoon, Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto, Vice Mayor Robert “Dodot” Jaworski Jr., Congressman Roman Romulo, and other city councilors roamed five locations in the city to attend their respective ceremonies.

Emergency, disaster response sector

The day began with local government officials turning over automated external defibrillator (AED) kits to each of the city’s 30 barangays.

The AEDs, placed at the respective barangay halls, are portable life-saving devices that will help barangays readily respond to urgent community cases of heart attacks or cardiac arrest.

Training sessions will be set to help barangay officials utilize the AEDs.

In the same ceremony, insurance grants were awarded to the Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (DRRMO) volunteers who come from 16 local government-accredited non-government organizations (NGOs).

Three-years in the making, the insurance policy will benefit around 500 volunteers.

It will cover the expenses of volunteers in case of any accidents they may experience during disaster response.

Sotto hailed the invaluable and “proactive” contribution of NGOs in partnership with the local government, especially as additional first responders.

Education sector

In a separate ceremony, the local government proceeded to turnover 136 laptops to public school teachers of the Department of Education-Schools Division Office (DepEd-SDO) in Pasig City.

Sotto assured the education sector of the local government’s commitment to providing quality education to the city’s students by improving the capacities and resources of their teachers.

With the new laptops, educators will be able to better prepare learning materials, lesson plans, and fulfill their other needs in school.

Around 1,600 more laptop units are expected to be distributed soon, the local government said.

This is the third batch of the laptop distribution to teachers in the city. The local government had begun to distribute laptops to teachers amid the height of the pandemic in 2020 as the education policy nationwide shifted to blended modes of learning.

Health sector

Sotto led the inauguration of three newly renovated health centers in Barangays Palatiw and San Miguel – the San Miguel Health Center, Palatiw Bilog Health Center, and Palatiw Main Health Center.

Improving the city’s barangay health centers makes health services more accessible to communities, said the local government.

Sotto emphasized that these renovations are paving the road for universal healthcare in the city.

“Hindi sapat na kumpleto lang and equipment; di rin sapat na maayos lang ang mga ospital. Mahalaga na maiayos ang primary o preventive healthcare para mas palakasin pa ang universal healthcare sa Pasig (It is not enough that our equipment is complete or our hospitals are functional. It is important that we improve our primary or preventive healthcare (that is spearheaded by our barangay health centers) to strengthen universal healthcare in Pasig),” Sotto said.

Direction setting

Overall, Sotto noted the first 100 days is all about “direction setting,” from filing ordinances to conducting actual committee hearings.

He said he is satisfied with the Jaworski-led city council’s many accomplishments so far and he sees their policies are heading toward the “right direction.”

He added that the cooperation and support of a city council that shares a common vision greatly helps their goal of institutionalizing good governance reforms in the city.