APPRECIATION. Alma Gustilo, officer-in-charge of the Department of Social Services and Development in Bacolod City, receives a certificate of appreciation from Timothy Ruberton, deputy chief of American Citizens Services of the United States Embassy in Manila, at the Government Center on Monday (March 18, 2024). The US Department of State recognized Gustilo and two other social welfare officers for their “extraordinary work and support in assisting a US citizen with a medical condition.” (Photo courtesy of Bacolod City PIO)
BACOLOD CITY – Three social workers of this city’s Department of Social Services and Development (DSSD) received recognition from the Department of State of the United States of America (USA) for providing care to an ailing American retiree for almost four months before he passed away last month.
DSSD officer-in-charge Alma Gustilo, social welfare officer II Anjanette Servano, and social welfare officer I Patricia Rissy May Esmino received certificates of appreciation from Timothy Ruberton, deputy chief of American Citizens Services of US Embassy in Manila, during his courtesy visit to Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez at the Bacolod City Government Center on Monday.
“We were kind of shocked. We never expected to receive this recognition, an appreciation for what we did. It’s overwhelming, though it feels good to be recognized for all our efforts,” Gustilo told the Philippine News Agency on Tuesday.
She said that being social welfare officers, helping other people is “normal” since they do it daily in the DSSD.
“We’re just doing a low-profile job that’s why we were surprised,” she added.
The three women were each awarded a certificate of appreciation “in recognition of extraordinary work and support in assisting a US citizen with a medical condition.”
Gustilo said their office received a referral about the case of a male US citizen staying in a condominium unit with a medical condition in November last year.
They brought him to the Corazon Locsin Montelibano Memorial Regional Hospital, where he refused surgery and was eventually discharged.
“He refused to disclose his personal details. We contacted and coordinated with the US Embassy in Manila to locate his family but they could not also divulge his personal information because the person himself has refused to do so,” she added.
Without any family member to care for him, the patient was brought to the city’s evacuation center by the team of the DSSD, which likewise hired a caregiver to watch over him.
“Our team, our office supported his needs, paying for his medicines and caregiver on our own. His friends also provided assistance,” Gustilo said.
She said they also obtained financial assistance from the Department of Social Welfare and Development-Western Visayas to cover his expenses for about two months.
The City Health Office and the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office provided medicines and sanitary supplies.
Gustilo said that when the US citizen passed away around the middle of February, the DSSD availed of the city government’s funeral assistance.
“Before he was laid to rest, we informed the US Embassy. They told us to just follow our burial customs. His friends paid for the expenses for his burial in a private cemetery,” she said. (PNA)
