A two-year-old child suffering from hernia was assisted by the Antipolo City local government and the Philippine Band of Mercy (PBM) in receiving surgery and recovering from her illness, Antipolo City Mayor Jun Ynares said on Wednesday, Jan. 17.

(Photo from Antipolo LGU)

"Sa edad na 2-years-old, na-diagnose si Eliza Dhanniel Liquiran na may hernia o mas kilala na luslos. Pangatlo si Eliza sa mga anak ng mag-asawang Erika Mae Sta. Ana, 24, on-call parlorista, at Daniel Liquiran, 38, parking boy sa City Mall of Antipolo (CMA) (At the age of 2-years-old, Eliza Dhanniel Liquiran was diagnosed with hernia. She is the third child of Erika Mae Sta. Ana, 24, and an on-call hairdresser, and Daniel Liquiran, 38, a parking boy at City Mall of Antipolo)," Ynares said.

He added the couple had previously noticed that the bump on Eliza's genitals was growing, but due to the lack of money, they weren't able to bring their daughter to the hospital even once.

"Habang lumilipas ang panahon, palaki ng palaki ang bukol sa ari ni Eliza, dahilan para mabahala ang kaniyang mga magulang. Sa hirap ng buhay, tanging naging sandigan nila ang mataimtim na panalangin para sa kagalingan ng kanilang anak (As time went by, Eliza's bump on her genitals increased in size. But because they didn't have the money, their family just relied on prayers for their child's recovery)," the mayor explained.

Luckily, the Liquirans found out about the city government's free medical operations program in partnership with PBM for Antipolo residents suffering from the same ailment.

After several screenings and laboratory tests, Eliza was successfully operated on and is now recovering at home.

"Pilitin at gawin po natin ang lahat para ma enjoy ng ating mga anak ang kanilang pagkabata at maipagpatuloy ang masaya at simpleng buhay kasama tayong mga magulang at mahal sa buhay (Let's do everything in our capacity for our children to enjoy their youth and continue living a happy and healthy life)," Ynares noted.

The local government unit (LGU) warned the public against scammers using fake documents to seek medical assistance.

On Jan. 11, a 54-year-old woman was arrested by the Antipolo City Police for presenting falsified public documents in seeking financial assistance from the city government.

According to Ynares, the suspect, identified as "Olive" and a resident of Barangay de la Paz, went to the Mayor's Help Desk to ask for financial assistance.

When a city government employee started to inspect her documents which she claimed to have come from the National Police Commission (NAPOLCOM), Olive became irritable and shouted at the employee, prompting the security and the police to apprehend the suspect. I

They found out that the documents were fake.

Olive was charged with Unjust Vexation and Falsification of Public Documents.

"Lagi pong handang magbigay ng tulong ang ating tanggapan. Weekly ang ating pay out at libo-libong kababayan kada pay-out ang ating natutulungan. Sa dami ng mga beneficiaries weekly, sa Ynares Center na nga po natin ito ginagawa dahil kadalasan ay hindi na po tayo magkasya sa City Hall (The city government is always prepared to help those who come to our office. We hold our payouts weekly and thousands of our countrymen benefit from it. Due to the number of our beneficiaries, we are now conducting our weekly payouts at the Ynares Center as we cannot accommodate everyone at the City Hall)," Ynares said.

"Milyon-milyon din ang halagang lumalabas weekly kaya dapat talaga namin suriin ng mabuti ang mga dokumento at papeles na pinipresinta sa atin dahil ang perang lumalabas sa ating tanggapan ay hindi naman sa amin kundi pera ng taumbayan. Basta totoong mga nangangailangan, siguradong hindi namin po kayo tatalikuran o pababayaan (We are disbursing millions of pesos weekly for this program hence the need for us to scrutinize all documents and paper works being presented to us. Rest assured that as long as someone is really in need, we, in the city government will never turn our backs on them)," he added.