Quirino, the youngest province in region 02 is making its name to be one of the agro-industrial and eco-tourism destinations in Cagayan Valley. It is one of the developing food capital and fast growing province in the country. The Provincial Government, National Government Agencies, Non-Government Organizations and other stakeholders has made significant nutrition improvement through implementation of nutrition and related projects and services.
The transformation of this province is attributed to its convergence program, the “I LOVE QUIRINO,” the flagship program of the past and current administration of the so called father and son tandem of Governor Junie and Congressman Dax Cua and the brilliant ideas and concepts of the chiefs of offices who devised activities with the goal of achieving what Congressman Dax envisioned, the “Quirino of our Dreams”- a progressive Quirino and well-equipped Quirinians. It is also attributed to the Community United in Action towards political unity and stability in the province.
I LOVE QUIRINO, a multi-sectoral/holistic approach of planning and implementation of programs, projects and activities based from the people’s felt needs, is guided by the Provincial Government Four (4) Pillars of Development- Integrating Natural Resources Management to: Education, Infrastructure, Livelihood and Health and Nutrition Services. The projects of the provincial government are delivered to the community through the CARAVAN (Comprehensive Approach in the implementation of Relevant and Accessible projects, activities and services Vital for community’s Advancement and progress through Networking of various sectoral programs) which serves as convergence process or strategy of linking the government to the community. The CARAVAN promotes strong partnership among the local and national government and the private sectors in the delivery of services into the doorsteps of the barangay folks, it informs the populace on the projects and activities of the government that could help the family and the whole community. It aims to bring chain of progress that will begin from the smallest unit of society - the family, who will help build strong barangays that can contribute to the progress of the municipalities and eventually to the progress of the province.
Various convergence projects/activities were implemented in support to I LOVE QUIRINO which helped address hunger and malnutrition. To boost the health-nutrition programs in the schools, the provincial government has allotted P20,000.00 for each school in the 132 barangays as funds for their health-nutrition related programs. Various nutrition projects such as Bantay Kalusugan Sa Paaralan (BKSP), Eskwela Gwapa (EG) and Essential Health Care (EHC) were continuously implemented and strengthened in 170 schools. All schools have permanent/improvised hand washing facilities and there are 89 schools with stationed height and weight tool (Detecto). In partnership with Bethesda Ministries International, FNRI, Coca Cola, Inc., Philippine National Red Cross and the DSWD, school feeding project was implemented which brought positive impact in the performance of the school children and reduction of malnourished cases.
Infrastructure projects such as improvement of farm to market roads, renovation/construction of barangay health-nutrition stations, multipurpose pavements/solar driers and distribution of service vehicles to all barangays were implemented. These projects aids in the fast and easy delivery of basic health and nutrition services.
To ensure food security, the livelihood component of I LOVE QUIRINO dubbed as Q-LIFE (Quirino Livelihood for Everyone) has provided income generating projects to a total of 1,974 families, 107 of them have malnourished children. It was able to increase the net income of these families by P500-P2,500 per month average and it has also generated 122 jobs for unemployed constituents. Through the Comprehensive Livelihood Emergency Employment Program (CLEEP) of the Department of Agriculture and the Provincial Government, some 750 families with malnourished children for both PS and SC were provided with chicken as food starter while another 400 families were benefited by the food for work project of the DSWD and DENR.
The People’s Day, a project that provides opportunity to barangay officials to present their needs and problems in the barangay. They consult with the Governor and request funding and intervention to mitigate their problems. Peoples Day answers the need for medical, food and other assistance that the populace need. On food assistance, it helps sustain the food requirement of the most needy populace especially those with malnourished children. People were also empowered/enhanced capability to solve their own problems. The activity is conducted twice a month, one by the Provincial Government and another by the office of the Congressman. It has benefited a total of 12,590 families, 101 of these families have malnourished children. The Provincial Nutrition Committee is also implementing a special project, the Bantay Kalusugan sa Barangay which is giving recognition in the form of health-nutrition support projects to all barangays with a rating of 95% and above. The projects/activities of the Provincial Government on health, nutrition and related concerns are made known through the Balay ni Angkuan – the local media core group of the province which is indeed of great help in increasing health-nutrition awareness hand in hand with various nutrition education classes/trainings conducted. SIGLAKAS, a healthy lifestyle project sponsored by Sangguniang Kabataan promotes good health-nutrition among employees, youth and children. Sports, socialization and educational tour activities were conducted to maintain body fit/healthy and good disposition of employees.
A laudable output of the I LOVE QUIRINO is the building of disaster-resilient and proactive communities in saving limbs and lives through education and training and providing socio-economic and cultural capacities in the community level. These had strengthened people’s capacities to withstand the damaging effects of disasters. With the effective management capabilities of the provincial leaders, the state of readiness of the local government units’ disaster teams as well as their compliance to the Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction and Management-Climate Change Adaptation (DRRM-CCA) Act were prioritized.
Despite the devastating typhoons Pedring and Quiel in 2011, El Nino and La Nina phenomena that brought vast destruction in the productive agriculture industry and infrastructure of the province, Quirino was able to get back on track and strive for its recovery. These unwanted events had never been a reason or hindrance for the province’s quest for success.
The “I LOVE QUIRINO,” with the CARAVAN as its convergence process of project delivery had seen to be a great help in the entire development of the province most especially those who are nutritionally at risk- malnourished children including their families, pregnant and lactating mothers. Following impacts were noted:
Better health-nutrition program in schools which resulted to improved nutritional status of school children Construction of multi-purpose buildings as venue of various barangay activities such as assembly meetings, nutrition classes, trainings and other events.
Better delivery of health-nutrition services due to: renovation/construction of Barangay Health-Nutrition Stations, better transportation facilities with the distribution service vehicles to all barangays as stand by service of populace during eventualities/emergency situations, monitoring of projects implemented, as patrol car and other barangay activities and with improved farm to market roads which aides fast and easy delivery of farm inputs to the barangays and transport farm produce to the markets.
More secured additional source of income for the family through livelihood/income generating projectsImprovement of hygiene-health and nutrition awareness through height and weight determination, basic nutrition counseling and distribution of health-nutri kits and information/education/campaign on proper nutrition through film showing.
The delivery of various I LOVE QUIRINO projects and initiatives proved to be an effective approach in addressing malnutrition problem in the province as reflected in the decreasing trend of underweight pre-school children from 4.60% in 2009 to 2.45% in 2011 and continuously decreasing prevalence of wasting among school children from 17.99% in S.Y. 2008-2009 to 5.92% in S.Y. 2011-2012.
