MAASIN CITY (PIA) -- Outgoing President Rodrigo Roa Duterte sent financial assistance to the province in the amount of P80 million for the repair and rehabilitation of the Salvacion Oppus Yñiguez Memorial Provincial Hospital (SOYMPH) in Brgy. Dongon.

This was on top of the P50 million the Department of Health (DOH) earlier earmarked for the same purpose, Atty. Teopisto “Boy” Rojas, provincial board member, reported during a recent Kapihan sa PIA interview where he was the guest.

Typhoon Odette in December 2021 badly devastated SOYMPH in its new location in Brgy. Dongon, so its old location in Brgy. Mantahan  was used, serving the healthcare needs of patients near and far, even outside Southern Leyte, while the massive overhaul of the Dongon structure is on, Rojas said.

The planned relocation initially met some concerns as the old site was used as an isolation facility for confirmed COVID-19 patients, but luckily the cases continued to drop and no longer referred to the province but handled by the respective LGUs’  isolation, quarantine units.

Rojas, who chairs the Sangguniang Panlalawigan (SP) committee on appropriation and finance, among others, also said that the provincial government budgeted the amount of P24 million as its counterpart share of the repair project.

Based on the information shared by Rojas, the total allocation for the comprehensive repair and major rehabilitation of the Dongon-based SOYMPH stands at P154 million. (LDL/MMP/PIA Southern Leyte)