NAVAL, Biliran- The Biliran Provincial Hospital is soon to open an Epilepsy and Seizure Clinic, according to Vanessa Ramirez, Biliran provincial health education and promotions officer.
The initiative is in coordination with the Philippine League Against Epilepsy (PLAE) who, for the first 10 months, will send representatives to mentor trained doctors in the four health facilities in the province.
Ramirez said trained doctors in the field of epilepsy and seizure are Dr. Madonna Payao, medical officer at the Biliran Provincial Hospital; Dr. Fernando Montejo at the Naval Rural Health Unit; Dr. Estrella Pedrosa at the Culaba Rural Health Unit; and Dr. Dionesio Plaza at the Caibiran Rural Health Unit.
Initial enrollment and assessment of patients started May 23 at the out-patient department of the provincial hospital where eight patients submitted for assessment while five patients submitted for initial assessment at the Culaba RHU and 10 other patients at the Naval RHU.
Dr. Rosario Latorre, pediatrics-child neurologist, and Dr. Ana Javelosa, both PLAE members, assisted in the interview and assessment of patients and their guardians at the BPH and Naval Rural Health Unit, respectively.
“The significant turnout of patients on the first day of the service was attributed to the department’s Mental Health Gap Action Programme which they started in 2014,” said Ramirez.
Ramirez informed that within 10 months, PLAE representatives will continue mentoring trained doctors in Biliran and will regularly visit every second Thursday of the month.
Next visit will be on June 13 this year.
With assistance from PLAE, patients under this program are provided free medicines and are entitled to free diagnostic tests such as the electroencephalography (EEG).
The establishment of epilepsy and seizure clinics in health facilities in the province of Biliran aims at providing immediate access to neurology services at the primary level without the need of seeking specialized services in the cities and modern hospitals.
The program also aims at strengthening the skills and knowledge in epilepsy management of the stakeholders, Ramirez added. (LDL/MLT/PIA-8, Biliran)

TACLOBAN CITY- Unlike in other churches in the country, the Archdiocese of Palo in Leyte has no plan yet to remove the arancel system or asking fee for particular sacraments like funeral or blessings.
This was disclosed by Father Chris Arthur Militante, spokesperson of the archdiocese of Palo.
Militante said that the Archdiocese, which covers the entire province of Leyte and with suffragan dioceses of Naval, Catarman, Borongan, and Calbayog, is not yet financially capable to remove the system.
According to him, the money generated by the archdiocese out of the collection from the arancel are used to help run and maintain the operation of the churches and for the faithful who are in need.
Some churches in the country has removed the arancel system like those in diocese of Balanga in Bataan and the archdiocese of Lingayen-Dagupan.
“While we are open to that, the Archdiocese of Palo, to include its suffaragans, are not yet ready to remove the arancel system,” Militante said.
“We don’t see it as a payment but as a form of support (from the faithful). How can we help the Church and our brothers if we don’t have the funds? That is why, we are thankful that we still have this arancel system,” the spokesperson of the archdiocese added.
The Archdiocese of Palo is headed by Archbishop John Du who is also the treasurer of the influential Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP).
Militante, however, could not say as to how much the archdiocese earns out of the arancel system.
(JOEY A. GABIETA)

MACARTHUR, Leyte–Mary Ann Bren, 16, is all thankful to the dormitory set up inside Palale National High School in Mac Arthur, Leyte, saying the place has saved her from stopping on her studies.
Growing up in a family of 12, Bren said that sustaining her education has been a constant challenge of her parents who are both farmers.
‘We are 10 siblings. Our parents have a hard time supporting our studies especially for our allowance and transportation needs,” said Bren from the interior barangay of San Antonio in the said town.
Bren has to walk for an hour just to reach the school.
Yet after she moved into a dormitory room for the girls inside the high school premises, Bren said she found relief.
“It’s much better here, because I will no longer get tired from walking everyday in going to school. I can attend to my classes every day and save my allowance, too,” she said.
Bren stayed in one room along with 12 other girls in the school. Another room is also made for the 13 other boys whose houses are far from the school.
“This is the first time that I am away from my parents. But it’s just fine because this will be for my own good. I was able to adjust to my new environment. This is just little sacrifices for me to finish my studies,” said Bren who wanted to take up tourism degree in college.
“I really want to finish my studies and find work to help my parents,” she said.
Eighteen-year-old Mark Sumaya, an incoming Grade 8 student, said the distance in going to school was difficult for him.
“We are five siblings. Only two finished Grade 6 while the others already got married. I am thankful that I’ve found a new home inside the school so I can finish my high school,” Sumaya said.
He started staying at the dormitory in September 2018 after it opened in August.
Sumaya said that his parents have to spend P800 every month for the rental payment of a motorcycle which they used to take to the school.
“We have to resort to ‘pakyaw’ for our transportation. It would take about two hours if we will walk going to school from our house,” said Sumaya.
The school assigned some faculty members who also resided in the barangay to serve as “managers” or in-charge of the two rooms inside the school.
The student-boarders were given respective assignments from cooking to cleaning their area.
They also eat together, like in a family. The student-boarders have one cooking area and comfort rooms, respectively.
The dormitory “managers” also instilled discipline and values to the student-boarders. On their free time, they also have some form of recreations like playing chess and learning to play the guitar, among others.
On weekends, the students who chose to stay in the school also get the opportunity to earn extra money by tending to crops of some farmers in the barangay or act as “helper” to other teachers and residents in the area.
While the students do not get extra allowance from the school itself, they however get free board and lodging.
The allocated Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses (MOOE) for Palale National High School is around P38, 555 only. It is being spent for electricity, water, support-learning programs, and other school activities.
While the school’s monthly expenditures have increased due to additional consumption of water and electricity, this did not stop the school and community officials from sustaining the operation of the two-room dormitory for the sake saving the students from dropping out from school.
Before the school only paid about P1,000 for the power and P600 for the water. This time, they are paying about P2,000 for the water and P3,000 for the electricity.
But for Sumaya, he said he is now “focused” on her studies after finding a place in the dormitory.
“I want to become an engineer someday, and hopefully build a bigger dormitory in the school for the next students like me,” he said.
The school leaders also sought technical assistance from Raul Salano, who handled the Drop-Out Reduction Program (DORP) of the Division of Leyte, in bringing in more sponsors and coordinate with other stakeholders for the operation of the dormitory.
DORP is an adherence to the national government’s program of “Education for All.”
It provides intervention program to reduce the high dropout rate and improve learning outcomes among schools both private and public.
More, it increases significantly the achievement level of the Students-at-Risk of Dropping Out (SARDO).
In the case of Palale National High School, the school leaders with the help of the Division and community officials, managed to increase their capabilities to establish, implement, monitor, evaluate and continuously improve the DORP.
The innovation of putting up a dormitory served as its best practice.
With the help of the local government of Mac Arthur, the school’s one story, two-rooms building became a refuge to the students in the interior villages of the town who are at risk of dropping out from their studies.
The Leyte division also envisioned that the project to counter the DORP in Palale will be replicated in all schools in the 40 towns of Leyte and to the rest of the region and the country where many students quit on their studies due to the distance and expenses in going to school.
(Note: The author is a supervisor at the Division of Leyte, handles the Drop-out Reduction Program of the Leyte province)