“’PAYBACK TIME’…I don’t know this guy. I don’t know what his politics are. But this is the kind of thing that people – Batangueños, Caviteños, helpless-feeling Filipinos everywhere – need to hear at this time. That someone cares, that someone who can marshal resources is doing something. A message that imparts not just what he’s doing but also the solidarity that’s driving him.”
Thus, leadership in the time of crisis becomes Pampanga Gov. Dennis “Delta” Pineda, in a social media influencer’s articulation of the expressions of awe and gratitude posted by hundreds, aye, thousands in the web for his initiative in mobilizing a 50-vehicle convoy of relief and rescue within a day of the Taal Volcano eruptions at the start of 2020.
The first-term governor’s motivation for prompt action drawn deep from Pampanga’s own volcanic ordeal: “Payback time po ito. Ito po ay ating pasasalamat dahil noon pong pumutok ang Bulkang Pinatubo, marami po ang tumulong sa atin para iligtas tayo at muling makabangon.”
That defining moment of Pineda shining through the disasters that made the very definition of Year 2020.
Taal eruptions
Straight from Pampanga, the governor and his team of doctors, nurses, medics, search and rescue personnel and social workers set up a field command post at the Batangas Sports Complex in Barangay Bolbok and went about the task they came for.
Modern Day Hero. Gov. Dennis Pineda of Pampanga. Isang araw matapos pumutok ang bulkan, si Gov ay nagpunta sa Batangas dala ang kanyang rescue team, fleet of trucks and heavy equipment plus tons of relief goods
Ang grupo nila ay nagtayo ng mga tent sa sports complex kung saan siya ay tumitigil. Tuwing umaga umaalis sila dala ang mga relief goods na truck–truck, ini–isa isa nila ang mga evacuation center habang ang mga heavy equipment naman na dala nila ay naglilinis sa mga bayang apektado ng ashfall. Hapon na sila bumabalik, magpapahinga, tutulog sa mga tent, at kinabukasan ganoon na naman.
Salute to Gov. Dennis “Delta” Pineda. — Genaro Cabral, former provincial attorney of Batangas/former municipal administrator of Lemery, Jan. 18, 2020
In the five days that Pineda personally directed rescue and relief operations, 27,792 families were served with a total of P8,697,636 in assistance extended to the victims, including five kilos of rice, cans of corned beef and sardines, a tray of eggs as well as rubber slippers and sets of underwear for each family. The Pampanga medical team treated a total of 2,099 patients in different evacuation centers, dispensing 56,750 medicines for various kinds of ailment.
It was not the end of the governor’s relief mission, asin four days after leaving, he returned to Batangas with more than 200 volunteers bringing 9,509 food packs, 17,843 packs of dry goods, 9,086 water containers, and 23,000 face masks to areas ravaged by the continuing volcanic activity.
“Gaya ng aking ipinangako, narito ulit kami upang maghatid pa ng karagdagang tulong sa ating mga kababayan na lubhang naapektuhan ng pagputok ng bulkan,” Pineda said.
The inrush of relief and aid initiated by the governor stirred local government units and the private sector in Pampanga to give their share of assistance, many of the executives personally delivering them, notably Mabalacat City Mayor Cris Garbo with P1.7 million in relief goods and P1 million in cash; Mexico Mayor Teddy Tumang with P1 million in cash; the League of Municipalities of Pampanga with P1.7 million for rehabilitation of schools; the Bridges of Benevolent Initiatives Foundation and the World Medical Relief Inc. Phil., at the initiative of Dr. Irineo “Bong” Alvaro with an initial P500,000; the Federation of Small Scale Quarry Operators with over P300,000; and Pampanga ICT mogul Dennis Anthony Uy with a P5-million check he personally handed to Batangas Gov. Hermilando “Dodo” Mandanas.
From a grateful Mandanas: “Kami ay taus-pusong nagpapasalamat dahil hindi lang nakikita, kundi amin ding nadarama ang kanilang pagtulong sa amin.“
Nadarama – profound sympathy transcending to solidarity in suffering, of kinship in hardship that only the Kapampangan, once a victim himself of a similar catastrophe, can truly share with the Batangueño. To inspire him to hope that he too can, and will rise triumphant from the ashes of the volcano.
As Pineda put it: “Hindi po dito nagtatapos ang pagtututlungan natin. Ito ay simula lamang ng magandang ugnayan ng mga Kapampangan at Batangueño. Kaisa ninyo kami sa adhikain, Bangon Batangas.”
Typhoon Ulysses
A reprisal of role played in Taal for Pineda at the onslaught of Typhoon Ulysses in November 2020, taking this time a 15-vehicle convoy of relief goods contributed by Kapampangans to worst devastated Cagayan.
Saup Cagayan brought 21,500 relief packs each comprising five kilos of rice, four cans of sardines, four cans of corned beef, hygiene kits, slippers, and sleeping mats to the capital of Tuguegarao.
This, notwithstanding that Pampanga itself was inundated with floods wrought by the supertyphoon that led to an anonymous group to launch a fund-raising drive in the net dubbed #PAMPANGANEEDSHELP.
Pineda’s response to the drive earned even greateradmiration for him, not only among the Kapampangan but to the flood victims of Cagayan —
“Sa mga kababayan po natin na aktibo sa social media, nagpapasalamat po kami sa pagmamalasakit niyo sa Pampanga.
Subali’t nakikiusap po ako sa inyo na huwag po nating ipanghingi ng donasyon ang Pampanga dahil karaniwan lamang po ang nangyaring pagbaha sa probinsya. Sa ginagawang pagtutulungan ng mga lokal na pamahalaan ay kaya na po natin ito.
Marami pong probinsyang nasalanta ng Bagyong Ulysses ang lubos na nangangailangan ng tulong. Sila po ang pag-ukulan natin ng ibayong pansin.”
“I’m from Alcala, Cagayan, nag–goose bumps ako after reading this. I feel the act of your sympathy.”
Act of kindness and sympathy to those in very badly needed situations…leader for all and not for personal gain. Sana ganyan lahat ang mga pulitikong nasa pamunuan…
A man with a golden heart and a province of generous charitable people. Thanks to you. God bless Pampanga more…
Tama ang Governor niyo. Alam nila ang kapasidad at kakayanan ng provincial government niyo. Isipin nalang muna natin yung ibang mas higit na nangangailangan…”
Just four of the hundreds of comments of gratitude and good wishes to the governor and the Kapampangan people for their altruism.
Pineda’s innate sense of paying it forward come to fore anew here. Of the Kapampangan helped by others during their darkest days now helping others in their direst straits. Opening the floodgates of Kapampangan pride in their governor inundating the web. The all-too trite Kapampangan ku, pagmaragul ku never resounded with as much dignified truth as there.
In fact, Pineda had the utmost all-is-well confidence to leave a flooded Pampanga to bring much needed aid to deluged Cagayan.
Relief packs had already been pre-positioned as early as two typhoons before Ulysses and relief distribution had been ongoing in the inundated towns of Candaba, Masantol, Macabebe, San Simon, and Apalit days prior to his convoy’s departure. Not to mention that the relief to Cagayan came from the contributions of his cabalens.
Long tried and tested in the regular run of calamities in Pampanga – volcanic eruptions and earthquakes, typhoons and floods, swine fever and avian flu –impressing the nation in Taal and then in Cagayan, Pineda’s characteristic leadership in times of crisis has been forged further and continues to be honed in the crucible of the coronavirus pandemic.
No disparagement of anyone now, but at the time Malacanang’s response to the then still emerging Covid-19 was the haughty “Sampalin ko pa ang veerus na yan,” Pineda was already starting the mobilization of health resources, staff and facilities, and barangay health workers, and has not stopped since: moving on to administrative measures as the suspension of classes, work schedules, declaration of a state of calamity, to the provision of goods by the time of the lockdowns.
When LGUs recoiled at the prospect of welcoming home the first Filipino repatriates from China which was then ground zero of the coronavirus disease, with a number even coming up with sanggunian resolutions shutting their boundaries to their countrymen, Pineda proclaimed Pampanga open as quarantine area to the repats.
To thunderous applause of hundreds of barangay health workers in an assembly in early February 2020, the governor declared: “Kadugo po natin sila kaya bukas po ang Pampanga para sa kanila…They are hailed as heroes so they should be helped when they’re in need of help. I see this as a call of duty.”
It was no bombastic rhetoric, Pineda having much earlier coordinated with DOH on health facilities in Pampanga meeting up to the needs of quarantine; and Clark freeport and airport authorities on preparation for landing the repatriates.
And subsequently dispatching a 40-foot container van converted into and fitted by the provincial government as an isolation chamber, along with two mini-buses fitted as containment transport to the Clark International Airport, ready for the repatriates.
A wing of the Athlete’s Village and the New Government Administrative Center in New Clark City and the ASEAN Convention Center at Fontana in Clark Freeport were commissioned by the provincial government for use as its quarantine facilities.
Balik Pinas, Balik Pampanga
The sense of kapwa, the virtue of malasakit in Governor Pineda found institutionalization in the Balik Pinas, Balik Pampanga program he brain–trusted with Vice Gov. Lilia “Nanay” G. Pineda and the provincial board.
“A milestone…that is really commendable para mapabilis ang sistema natin particularly in Luzon” enthused Interior and Local Government Secretary Eduardo Año of the program.
Using an app to track and assist all returning overseas Kapampangans, whether workers or already citizens of other countries, the program aims to bring them home safely to their homes and help the national government decongest arrivals in Metro Manila.
Teams from the provincial government attend to the repatriate upon arrival, ensure they undertake Covid-19 protocols and tests, take them to quarantine facilities until the end of the prescribed period, and give them a warm send-off home.
As of Jan. 30, 2021, a total of 3,233 returning overseas Kapampangans have availed themselves of the program, of whom 3,229 have reunited with their families and four remaining in quarantine.
Of Balik Pinas, Balik Pampanga, no less than National Action Plan against Covid-19 chief implementer Sec. Carlito Galvez, Jr. enthused: “That is a gesture na nakikita naming puedeng gayahin ng mga LGUs.”
Benchmark
More than the template for local government executives in this time of the pandemic as Galvez may have offered him to be, Gov. Dennis “Delta” Pineda has become the very benchmark of leadership in all types of crisis. Being right there – leading, inspiring, rallying – at the frontline, virtually at the ground zero of the disasters that defined 2020.
As the socmed influencer we quoted at the opening of this man-of-the-year story precisely perceived of him “…Especially in a time of crisis, it’s not enough to lead– you have to show that you’re leading. That’s what leaders do in a time of crisis, they provide the anchor to which people cling to steady themselves against buffeting winds and roiling waters. They become the beacon that tell the people that, yes, there is a light and yes, it’s showing us the way.”
Luid ya ing Capampangan!
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Libreng Sakay, Tulong Pasada
With the easing of quarantine protocols to MECQ in May allowing certain workers in government and private business to report for work, the provincial government
launched two Libreng Sakay projects came in succession. The first comprised the utilization of service vehicles of the province’s 505 barangays to ferry the workers. The second involved the mobilization of 549 PUJs and 20 large buses to bring passengers to work.
When public utility vehicles were finally allowed –subject to strict protocols – to ply their routes, Governor Pineda launched Tulong Pasada whereby the provincial government partly subsidized in part the fuel costs of some 500 PUJs.
Of this, Pineda said: “Ang mga drivers po ay nawalan din ng kita simula nang mag-quarantine tayo laban sa Covid-19. Tinutulungan po natin sila na kumita ulit para sa kanilang mga pamilya.”
P290–M from quarry in 5 months quarantine
Rebounding from zero income in the months of the enhanced quarry quarantine from mid-March to mid-May, the quarry industry yielded P290 million from May 18 to Sept. 20, 2020.
The five-month revenues brought to P730 million the total quarry collections under Governor Dennis “Delta” Pineda from July 2019 to September 2020, according to provincial administrator Atty. Charlie Chua.
The highest collection of tax and fees on Mt. Pinatubo’s sand and gravel was recorded in September at P68.402 million.
Capitol made no income from March 20 to May 17 when haulers of the non-metallic minerals suspended operations after Pampanga was put under ECQ and later under MECQ.
“The quarry sector is contributing a big part to theCapitol’s local income. Governor Delta is thanking quarry operators and haulers for their support by paying tax and fees which are being used in our Covid-19 responses and regular programs and projects,” Chua said.
Prov’l hospital annex set in Clark
The provincial government of Pampanga signed a deed of usufruct with the Clark Development Corp. for the use of land as site of the Diosdado P. Macapagal Memorial Provincial Hospital Annex at the Clark Freeport in Sept.
Governor Pineda said the Capitol has set aside an initial P100 million. Mabalacat City Mayor Cris Garbo pledged P30 million per year for five years.
The CDC board approved the use of a 5,000-square meter property inside the freeport for 25 years. The deed is extendible for 25 more years.
The Bases Conversion and Development Authority said that the hospital project has been allocated P100 million from the Bayanihan to Heal as One 2.
P500-M OFW hospital to rise in Pampanga
Construction of a hospital dedicated to overseas Filipino workers and their families has started at the PRO compound in Barangay Sindalan, City of San Fernando.
The OFW hospital was born from a memorandum of understanding on private-public partnership among the provincial government, Department of Labor and Employment, Department of Health, Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp., and Bloomberry Cultural Foundation, Inc., the CSR arm of Solaire.
Bloomberry pledged P500 million for the construction of the hospital.
PAGCor will donate P200–million worth of hospital equipment.
The provincial government donated the lot where the hospital is located.
The OFW hospital was the brainchild of then-governor now Vice Gov. Lilia “Nanay” Pineda towards the end of her last term as the provincial governor.
Local entertainers get Capitol support
Under Oplan Saup Kabanda, the public employment service office hired 600 local musicians displaced by the coronavirus disease pandemic.
The musicians were employed under the Tulong Pangkabuhayan sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers Program, a community-based package of assistance that provides 10 to 30 days of emergency employment to displaced workers, the underemployed, and seasonal workers.
To enable them to continue with their online concerts and gigs, Governor Pineda provided the group with free studio in the Capitol Compound.
“Isang inspirasyon ito lalo na sa ibang Banda Alyansa chapters sa buong Pilipinas, dahil ang Pampanga ang kauna-unahang provincial government na tumugon at nagbigay ng mabilis na aksyon para sa lahat ng mga musikero at stage comedians ng isang probinsiya,” said Dennis Gabriel Bondoc, Pampanga Musician Group vocalist and coordinator.
Home-based sewers paid for face masks
Some 200 sewers engaged by the Capitol in its “Home-based Face Mask Livelihood Program” received their pay after helping the provincial government produce reusable face masks for frontliners.
The sewers, based in Sta. Rita and Porac towns, each received P 3,000 from the provincial government after producing 600 cloth face masks that have been distributed to healthcare workers, police personnel, government workers, and other essential workers.
The provincial manpower training center is slated to pay another another batch of home-based sewers in the towns of Guagua, Porac, Sta. Rita, Lubao, Apalit, San Simon, and Bacolor and the cities of Mabalacat and San Fernando.
The provincial government targeted more than one hundred thousand reusable face masks produced under the program.
Taal boy finds patron
The heart of the Capampangan is not only in its right place, it is of solid gold. This, already manifest in the evacuation centers of Batangas, still finding that singular luster at the Banaba Center Elementary School – four-year-old evacuee Hendrix found afflicted with hydrocephalus and a heart condition, Governor Pineda immediately offering to shoulder the medical, as well as support expenses, for the boy’s treatment.
Capitol funds education-on-air for 337,230 students
At least 337,280 students currently enrolled in public schools in Pampanga are getting educated through a television program funded by the provincial government.
Super-K Teleskwela ensures continuing education amid the prohibition of face-to-face learning in place owing to the Covid-19 pandemic.
More than 2,000 television episodes are being produced jointly by 300 teachers from the Department of Education’s Division of Pampanga and technical staffers supervised by the Capitol’s provincial information office.
The initial episodes aired on CLTV–36 starting Oct. 5 when the school year 2020-2021 opened. The episodes can also be viewed on YouTube.
Super-K Teleskwela provides students with televised modules patterned after Pampanga’s social and cultural background to facilitate learning among Grades 3 to 12 students.
The modules are different from those by the DepEd central office for IBC 13, in that the learning materials are contextualized in Pampanga that the students can easily relate with.
Aside from funding the equipment, production costs and airtime of Super K-Teleskwela, the provincial government also shouldered the purchase of 74 Risograph machines for the printing of modules.
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I and Cebu owe you
IN LIGHT of the news that 2.5 million pesos worth of tuob kits were acquired by the Cebu City Government, I really feel the need to disclose one fact when I was admitted for SEVERE COVID.
During the critical period when the risk for intubation and other complications were high and I was already in cytokine storm, a very important drug, Tocilizumab (Actemra) was badly needed. I still believed this was a turning point in my battle against this disease.
The decision making for the medical team to give me this drug was also not easy since I had, what it seems to be some form of liver injury but that’s a discussion for another time. This drug costs around 40,000 to 60,000 (pesos) for ONE vial and during that time stocks of this drug in the hospital where I was admitted (VSMMC) apparently ran out some days before.
At the time when stocks of this drug were dwindling and being used left and right, it was doubtful if the other hospitals would sell theirs to us. It so happened though that at around the time I was admitted, 24 vials of this drug were DONATED, and I was the first one to use the donated stocks.
Now here’s the shocker. THIS DRUG WAS DONATED BY A POLITICIAN NOT FROM CEBU. I repeat, NOT FROM CEBU. I researched this person, and he HAD NO BISAYA BLOOD IN HIM at all. Yet, he chose the correct thing to donate. It practically saved my life as the improvement post-infusion was dramatic.
Let me repeat and make this clear again, a politician much like our mayor, councilors, governor, etc., BUT NOT FROM CEBU AND NOT A BISAYA donated 24 vials of this expensive drug to VSMMC to be used by patients for FREE. Now, contrast that with what our officials are doing. It’s an insult. Really.
**(EDIT/UPDATE) PS. I never planned to disclose his name initially (until a few hours after posting this), since the hospital hasn’t made his donation public yet in the official FB page, but since one of the senior medical house staff and ICS member already disclosed his name on FB, then I find no reason not to disclose his name here: Governor Dennis Pineda of Pampanga. I and Cebu owe you a debt of gratitude. Thank you!
(John Albert Montoya, a pediatric cardiologist at Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center, in his FB post of July 11, 2020 that has so far garnered 2.8K likes, 306 comments and 2.8K shares)
