Pahinungod 4 awardees pose for posterity with PhilHealth 10 Regional Vice President Delio Aseron II, October 23, 2025, at Limketkai Luxe Hotel, Cagayan de Oro City. Photo by Misamis Oriental Provincial Information Office.
TheMonitorMindanaoToday.com | UHC advocates get recognized
By: Uriel Quilinguing
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY, Philippines – For advocating universal health coverage, the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation Region 10 (PhilHealth 10) conferred over a hundred Pahinungod (Recognition) trophies to institutions, associations, and individuals on Thursday at the Limketkai Luxe Hotel here.
Every recipient of PhilHealth 10’s Pahinungod has a story to tell — encapsulated in the 12-inch x 4.5-inch-wooden trophy with a bronze plate at its base, where the texts of the were engraved, and the state insurer’s two-figure-reaching-out logo as topper. And, narratives on how the government takes care of its people must go beyond numbers.
“This (award) is a reminder that genuine public service is about the lives that we touched and the trust that we built,” Maramag Municipal Mayor Jose Joel Doromal said, after receiving the Pahinungod trophy, and further commented that “trust and confidence in government are slowly eroding.”
He challenged all the awardees to do their share in restoring faith and confidence in public service amid reports of widespread corruption in government infrastructure projects involving high-ranking officials. It was Maramag’s third award, though it was Doromal’s first to receive it personally.
Commissioner Emmanuel Gison Jr. of the Presidential Commission of the Urban Poor (PCUP) picked up from what Doromal left, saying what makes public service truly meaningful is on how many lives of informal settlers and relocated families have been uplifted – including primary health care — not just on how many houses built.
“When the urban poor rises, the nation rises with them,” he said, but when it comes to universal health care, their recipients must know that “health care is a right, not a privilege.”
PhilHealth claims, however, must be legitimate, properly vouched, hence among this year’s awardees is the National Bureau of Investigation Regional Office 10 (NBI 10), a signatory of Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) forged with PhilHealth-10 in 2022. This NBI-10 and PhilHealth-10 partnership was reaffirmed lately.
“We are here because we are committed to support PhilHealth 10 when it comes to investigation,” said NBI-10’s Nolan Gadia who represented Regional Director Patricio Bernales Jr. “Uso ang scams ug mga palusot karon,” (Identity theft and fraudulent claims are rampant nowadays,” he admitted.
For the commander of the Philippine Army’s 10th Infantry Battalion, their partnership with PhilHealth-10 and Ozamiz City-based Tagaloguin-Adona Polymedic & Diagnostic Center, Inc. is not just about health care services, “it is about restoring dignity, compassion, and hope for those who have given so much for peace and security.”
“When people from different walks of life unite under one mission, miracles begin to happen quietly in the lives of those who need them most,” said Lieutenant Colonel Nelson Boticario, whose 10th IB is based in Oroquieta City, Misamis Occidental. “Healing also comes from kindness, empathy, and genuine concern of others,” he said.
Over 800 members of the Civilian Armed Forces Geographical Unit (CAFGU) and more than 300 former rebels within the 10th IB’s area of responsibility had enrolled under PhilHealth Konsultasyong Sulit at Tama (KONSULTA) and then to the Yaman ng Kalusugan Program (YAKAP) and many have availed of the package of health care services.
PhilHealth Regional Vice President for Northern Mindanao Delio A. Aseron II, who launched the annual recognition four years ago, led the awarding ceremonies, orchestrated by PhilHealth 10’s Public Affairs Unit. (Uriel Quilinguing)
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