Japanese firm donates P1M for health center and emergency clinic at Saint Bernard

By BONG PEDALINO, PIA Southern Leyte
May 1, 2006

MAASIN CITY, Leyte  –  A Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) was signed at the Kinamot Restaurant here on Friday, April 28, detailing the donation, construction, and provision of a medical facility worth P1Million at Saint Bernard town intended for the health needs of the Guinsaugon tragedy victims and other people displaced by constant landslide threats in their home barangays.

Among the signatories of the MOA were Masanori Otani, President of Cyber Brain, Inc., an Information and Technology firm from Japan which sponsored the P1Million grant to undertake the project;  Yoshihiro Miyagi, President of Jafino (for Japanese-Filipino) Educational Foundation, Inc.;  Rep. Prospero Pichay, Jr., Director for Political Affairs, Jafino Foundation;  Atty. Erlando Abrenica, President, Rotary Club of Kamuning, Quezon City;  and Atty. Salvador Lobres, past President of the Kamuning Rotary Club and Director of Jafino Foundation.

On the part of the province, those who signed were Rep. Roger Mercado, Vice-Gov. Miguel Maamo in behalf of Gov. Rosette Lerias, and Mayor Maria Lim of Saint Bernard.

Other Japanese guests who witnessed the signing were Mickey Suzuki, Director, Jafino;  Kenjie Miyamoro, another Jafino Director;  and Yuklu Kurisu, Director of Cyber Brain, Inc.

It was learned that Cyber Brain, Inc., an IT corporation based in Tokyo City, Japan, donated P1Million through the Jafino Foundation “for a specific purpose of using the same (the donated sum) for the benefit of the people and the victims in the Southern Leyte tragedy,” the MOA stipulated.

“The Foundation through its partner in service, the Rock (referring to the Rotary Club of Kamuning, Quezon City), cognizant of the current situation in Southern Leyte where there is scarcity of health centers and/or emergency clinics for purposes of carrying out the donation of the Cyber Brain, Inc., has decided to construct a Health Center and Emergency Clinic in a strategic place thereat in order to guarantee and safeguard the health and physical condition of the people therein,” the MOA said.

Mayor Lim, as the beneficiary, was tasked to look for the exact location and venue in which the health center and emergency clinic will be constructed in a lot owned by the municipality.

The Mayor was also charged with the proper coordination to the Department of Health (DOH) and the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), and to secure the necessary permits, pertinent documents and other basic requirements to hasten the realization of the project.

Meanwhile, the Jafino Foundation and the Rotary Club of Kamuning, upon the recommendation of the LGU, the DOH, and the DSWD “commits to do its best effort to provide the equipment, instruments, and medical supplies for the normal operation of the Health Center and Clinic.”

As long as all the required papers are in order, actual construction work for the project may take only two months from start to finish, it was learned.