Cebu City mayoral candidate, Margot Osmeña.
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Cebu City mayoral candidate, Margarita “Margot O” Osmena, of the Bando Osmeña Pundok Kauswagan (BOPK) said she will revive the Longlife Program and improve the Operation Second Chance and Cebu City Medical Center (CCMC) if she will be elected as mayor.
Osmeña presented her platform to the media, days before the election on May 9, 2022. She said that the Longlife Program, which brought healthcare to the doorstep of beneficiaries was something unique.
“Forty thousand beneficiaries receiving their medicine from Longlife. It’s like prevention versus curing because you’re preventing these people from getting sick. It was noticed that some people, especially seniors, had maintenance medicine nga mag-inom lang sila kung naa silay budget. If you give it to them every single day, it will help.,” said the mayoral candidate.
Furthermore, it also establishes a network of health care assistants in the barangays that could be used during public health emergencies such as the COVID-19 pandemic.
“You know the other side of that program is that the ones who are delivering are out-of-school youth. So it gave them something to do positively every day. In the event of a pandemic, in a way, contact tracers na,” she added.
Aside from the Longlife, Osmeña is also determined to improve Operation Second Chance in Barangay Kalunasan, the city’s main correctional facility for Children in Conflict with the Law (CICL).
She said that Second Chance was a beloved project of her husband, former Mayor Tomas Osmeña, which was built to protect the minors detained for criminal cases.
Osmeña laments how the facility is being managed now saying that it is difficult to run the facility that’s why it is necessary to bring in experts to handle the rehabilitation of the CICLs.
This is one of the things she wants to improve when she becomes mayor so that Second Chance will seem less like a prison and more of a shelter for the delinquent minors.
As for the Cebu City Medical Center (CCMC), Osmeña plans to employ the help of councilorial candidate, Mary Ann Delos Santos, who focused her past terms on the improvement of CCMC.
“Continue it, finish it. It’s there already. How many billions we have spent on it already. It cannot just be a building, it’s got to be operating and able to provide the services. This has gone too long,” said Osmeña.
She also wants to develop CCMC into a tertiary hospital so it will be able to provide more services.
For transportation, Osmeña said she wants the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) to be finally realized since it has long been funded.
“The BRT is already there. It is only waiting to be implemented. It’s been two years, not even a shadow, not even a study. We have to see what is pending, what is there for a long time because sayang ba,” she added. /rcg
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