LANAO DEL SUR, Philippines โย Sick residents in some of the Bangsamoroโs most isolated communities faced a grim choice for decades:ย Travel for hours to find treatment โ or go without it.
Now, a growing network of hospitals, medical dispensaries, and free medical missions is beginning to change that. And on Thursday, Lanao del Sur Governor Mamintal Adiong Jr. publicly credited one man for helping push the transformation forward.
Bangsamoro Health Minister Kadil Sinolinding Jr., better known across the region as โDoc Jojo,โ received a public vote of thanks from Adiong and other local leaders for his office’s role in improving hospitals and expanding healthcare services to communities long starved of medical care.
Adiong particularly cited the improvements at three hospitals in Lanao del Sur: Dr. Serapio Montaรฑer Memorial Hospital in Malabang, Wao District Hospital, and Tamparan Provincial Hospital.
The improvements to these healthcare facilities are not simply about new buildings or upgrades. They are about something far more basic, because getting help before it is too late.
FROM REMOTE ISLANDS TO MOUNTAIN COMMUNITIES
The health push has stretched far beyond Lanao del Sur. Over recent years, Sinolinding’s office, working with local governments and BARMM regional officials, has helped establish and support medical facilities in some of the Bangsamoro’s hardest-to-reach areas.
Facilities and dispensaries have been established in Pura in Datu Odin Sinsuat and Kabuntalan in Maguindanao del Norte, as well as South Ubian in Tawi-Tawi.
Healthcare services have also expanded through the Aleem Mimbantas Memorial Hospital in Masiu, Lanao del Sur, and facilities in the Basilan towns of Tipo-Tipo and Maluso.
And the hospital-building drive has continued.
Maguindanao del Sur officials have credited Sinolinding and fellow members of the Bangsamoro Parliament for contributing to the establishment of the Bangsamoro Regional Hospital in Datu Hoffer about a year ago.
But one of the biggest prizes remains frustratingly out of reach.
THE HOSPITAL THAT STILL HASN’T BEEN BUILT
BARMM officials have discussed building a hospital for the Bangsamoro Special Geographic Area. The need is obvious. The solution, however, has been anything but simple.
The area comprises eight municipalities in BARMM. But it is geographically located within Cotabato Province in Region 12. That has created a bureaucratic headache involving overlapping jurisdictions and health authorities.
The area falls within the territory covered by the Department of Health Region 12, even as its communities are under the Bangsamoro autonomous government.
Adding another layer of complexity is a proposal by pro-peace congressional representatives to turn the area into a new chartered province.
The proposed name? โMoro Province.โ
For now, BARMM and national health officials are working together to map out how a hospital could eventually be established.
Cotabato Governor Emmylou โLalaโ Taliรฑo-Mendoza has thrown her support behind efforts to bring a hospital to the Special Geographic Area. But until that dream becomes reality, residents are still waiting for a major medical center of their own.
SO THEY BROUGHT THE DOCTORS TO THE PEOPLE
With no major hospital yet standing in the area, medical teams have taken a different approach. They went directly to the communities.
Since 2022, public service teams linked to Sinolinding’s office, working alongside the Ministry of Health-BARMM and local government officials, have conducted ongoing medical missions throughout the Special Geographic Area.
The results are striking. At least 6,019 residents have received medical assistance, with patients treated for illnesses and families receiving free medicines.
Food has been distributed. And patients suffering from eye problems have undergone procedures for cataracts and pterygium. For many residents, specialist eye treatment would otherwise have meant an expensive and difficult journey outside their communities.
The medical missions have been backed by local executives, including officials and municipal mayors from Ligawasan, Malidegao, Old Kaabacan, and Kapalawan.
Taliรฑo-Mendoza has also supported the humanitarian effort.
At the center of the campaign is Sinolinding himself โ a physician and ophthalmologist who underwent specialized training in India before entering public service.
His supporters know him simply as Doc Jojo. And on Thursday, the message from Lanao del Sur’s governor was clear.
The hospitals are improving. Medical services are reaching communities once left on the margins. And while the Bangsamoro Special Geographic Area is still waiting for the hospital officials who have long promised help, thousands of residents have already received it.
That is why Adiong and other officials thanked the Bangsamoro health chief. Because in some of the region’s most remote communities, the difference between hope and hardship can be as simple as having a doctor nearby.
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