Basilan midwife receives 'Bayani ng Kalusugan Award'

COTABATO CITY, Philippines - A dedicated midwife in Basilan will receive on June 23 from President-elect Rodrigo Duterte the “Bayani ng Kalusugan 2016 Award” for her loyal servitude to local Muslims and Christians.

Physician Kadil Sinolinding Jr., health secretary of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), on Saturday said public midwife Virginia Cadano, a hardworking health worker in Lamitan City, is popular for her dedication to work and commitment to serve the needy.

“She was chosen as this year’s `Bayani ng Kalusugan’ for her exemplary service to the local communities,” Sinolinding said.

The grant of such award to nominees is a yearly program of the national office of the Department of Health (DOH) in recognition of the hardships and sacrifices of workers in the medical service throughout the country.

Functions and powers of the DOH had been devolved to the ARMM government based on the region’s charter, Republic Act 9054.

Cadano said she attributes her feats in serving the Muslims and Christians in Lamitan City to the support of their mayor, Rose Furigay, and ARMM Gov. Mujiv Hataman, himself a native of Basilan.

Sinolinding said Cadano will receive the award during a program on June 23 at the Manila Hotel in Manila, which Duterte will attend as special guest.

“That award is a badge of honor for the rank-and-file personnel of the DOH-ARMM,” Sinolinding said.

The ARMM covers Maguindanao and Lanao del Sur, which are both in mainland Mindanao, and the island provinces of Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi.

Cadano is supposedly assigned only in a birthing facility of the DOH-ARMM in Barangay Limook in Lamitan City, but has also been serving poor patients in far-flung areas nonetheless, unfazed by security constraints.

“It is a shame and scandal not to work hard seeing our mayor, the ARMM governor and Doctor Sinolinding work hard even in dangerous places. We too must follow suit,” Cadano said.

The city government of Lamitan and Hataman's office will also extend simple honor rites to Cadano to complement her special citation from the central office of DOH.