LA TRINIDAD, Benguet – At least 300 persons from different municipalities in this highly agricultural province received assistive devices and extern foot drop devices from “Akay ni Sol” Partylist on Monday.
Dr. Meliarazon Dulay, Provincial Health Officer II of Benguet said they expected more people to join the event at the Wangal Sports Complex in La Trinidad, Benguet but there were fewer participants due to the distance of the provincial capital from the municipalities.
“Hopefully, after this, we could still be assisted by Akay ni Sol. With the help of the Benguet Federation of Persons with Disabilities, we hope they can return and do a cluster municipality activity for those who were not able to come today,” she said.
She said post-stroke patients and people with polio have difficulty walking, pulling their legs to be able to walk or move, and the extern foot drop will be of much help.
Those who will not qualify to receive the extern will get other assistive devices like a cane, crutches, or wheelchair or will be referred to have other devices needed to normalize their lives by walking.
Daniel Tianga Sr., 59, of Barangay Paco, Mankayan, and president of the Federation of PWDs Associations Benguet, said they have about 900 members in the 13 municipalities and a lot were still unregistered.
“These devices will be of big help to us in walking and those who have problems of mobility,” he said in Ilocano.
Christine Joy Tanip, who will be celebrating her 17 birthday on July 28, said in Ilocano, “I am really thankful because the extern might give me the chance to experience my young life.”
She suffered a mild stroke when she was in Grade 2, resulting in clogged veins in her brain that made her half-body paralyzed. From then on, her abnormal way of walking became normal despite the difficulty.
Basil Amado, Akay ni Sol Partylist spokesperson, said they were told that Benguet has many people in need of assistive devices.
He said that they have an ample supply of different assistive devices and will look into the request of the association for another schedule at the municipalities to be able to bring help to those in need.
“We will set another date and we might be able to return and visit the municipalities in Benguet,” he added. (PNA)
