QUEZON City Mayor Herbert Bautista has personally accepted the Department of Interior and Local Government’s Seal of Good Local Governance award, the first such recognition for the city.
Bautista expressed his appreciation to “everyone who made the SGLG recognition possible.”
“Thank you to all department heads, rank-and-file employees of the city government, barangay and legislative department of the city. This is all our effort. This (award) is for all of us for giving the best public service to the people,” he said.
A total of 448 local government units received this year’s SGLG award with eight LGUs from Metro Manila.
Quezon City will receive a glass plaque with the Seal of Good Local Governance and will have access to the P2-million DILG’s performance challenge fund.
Meanwhile, Bautista has directed the City Pride Council to include mandatory HIV-AIDS testing for all LGBTQI community members in their plans and programs.
During the Pride Council meeting last Tuesday, Mayor Bautista stressed the significance of the rights of the LGBTQI sector and the need to formulate plans and programs that uphold their vision and mission.
“There is a strong rise of HIV in the Philippines particularly in Manila and more specifically in Quezon City. And HIV or AIDS is happening because of MSM or male having sex with male,” the mayor said.
Quezon City has six sundown clinics that specifically caters to individuals vulnerable to sexually transmitted diseases. The city has three sundown clinics: Klinika Bernardo, Project 7, and Novaliches, that are open from 3 in the afternoon to 11 in the evening; and three social hygiene clinics: Klinika Bernardo, Klinika Batasan, and Klinika Project 7.
These facilities offer counselling, free HIV testing diagnosis and treatment of other sexually transmitted infections, education, distribution and proper use of condoms, hepatitis B testing and vaccination, and anti-retro viral therapy. While Klinika Bernardo in Barangay Pinagkaisahan offers free HIV testing.
“They should not be pushed away, they should be encouraged to be part of the society,” Bautista added.
United Nations data reveals that the Philippines has the highest HIV infection growth rate in Asia Pacific bearing 140 percent increase in the number of infections in 2016.
Last year, about 10,500 Filipinos were infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) up from 4,300 in 2010 according to the Department of Health.