The awarding ceremony was well-attended by 270 guests, LGU-delegates and awardees coming from the 7 provinces, 14 cities and 19 municipalities of Central Luzon and the regional network. Two (2) local chief executives were among the delegates, Mayor Nerivi M. Martinez of Talavera, Nueva Ecija and Mayor Jose Gorospe of Dilasag, Aurora, and nineteen (19) Barangay Captains of the 22 barangays visited by the RNET during the search for the Regional Outstanding BNSs and Outstanding Barangay Nutrition Committee in the Region awardees, during the event. Almost everyone was delighted to come in their red-black attire, which also expressed their burning passion and dedication as nutrition workers, partners or allies, and nutrition supporters.
A solemn invocation led by Rev. Father Edilberto V. Santos, retired Benedictine Priest of “Bale Pari” (house of the priests) at the Social Action Center of Pampanga (SACOP), City of San Fernando aroused spiritually of the participants during the opening. His prayer took longer than expected because he established connections from the time God created the world to the propagation of fruits and vegetables, to associating the nutrition profession to Jesus Christ’s acknowledgement of people who gave him food at the time he was malnourished and to the food included in the song “Bahay-Kubo” as written in the Holy Scriptures. The singing of the National Anthem was graced with a ceremonial rite of raising the DOH, DA and NNC banners and the Philippine flag by four police inspectors from the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP), accompanied by the acapela singing of Mr. Mark Francis E. Reyes, Bet ng Bayan finalist and adopted singer-son of NNC-Region III.
Assistant Regional Director Ruben S. Siapno from the DOH-Central Luzon Center for Health Development gave the warm welcome remarks and expressed his profound appreciation for a well-attended event manifesting the LGUs’ serious commitment to support the regional nutrition programs.
Keynote Speaker and Guest of Honor, Dr. Azucena M. Dayanghirang, Deputy Executive Director of the NNC delivered her keynote speech with her touching and inspiring life story in her younger days and pieces of advice to all present. She also dealt with the nutrition situation of Central Luzon and encouraged the LGUs and the members of the regional network to continue with their utmost support in the implementation of nutrition program in the region.
The important highlight of the event was the presentation of awards and certificates of recognition. The roll of honors are: a) two (2) LGUs as national awardees: Mabalacat City and Municipality of Talavera, Nueva Ecija as Consistent Regional Outstanding Winners in Nutrition (CROWN) for CY 2018 given the regional certificates of recognition; b) three (3) LGUs- recipients of the regional green banner awards, namely Bataan Province – Outstanding Province in the Region, Mabalacat City – Outstanding City in the Region and Talavera, Nueva Ecija – Outstanding Municipality in the Region; c) seven LGUs- recipients of the provincial green banner awards as Outstanding Municipality in the Province: Dilasag (Aurora); Morong (Bataan); Calumpit (Bulacan); Talavera (Nueva Ecija); Lubao (Pampanga); Anao (Tarlac), and Candelaria (Zambales); and d) eighteen barangays- recipients of the Outstanding Barangay Nutrition Committee in Region III.
Thirteen (13) provincial and city outstanding BNSs were awarded with certificates of recognition, with corresponding cash award of Php4,000 for the provincial level and Php3,000 for the city level. Of the 13 nominees for the 2018 search for Regional Outstanding BNS, Ms. Thelma S. Esteban of Barangay Bugtong na Buli, Talavera, Nueva Ecija was awarded the 2018 Regional Outstanding BNS. Ms. Esteban also emerged as one of the 8 finalists in the national search for the outstanding BNS. She received her trophy from NNC-Central Office, with a cash prize of Php16,000, and a certificate of recognition from NNC-Region III. The second runner-up regional outstanding BNSs was Ms. Jennifer Beley of Barangay Pagas, Cabanatuan City, who received her certificate of recognition and cash award of Php3,000. (AMPasos)
