Tacloban City (21 March) --- About 115, out of the 136 municipal government units in Eastern Visayas will have five nurses each when the NARS project is fully implemented, Department of Labor and Employment Region 8 Director Forter Puguon informed the media in the recently held Harampang Ha PIA.

Thanks to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's NARS (Nurse Assigned in Rural Service) project, each of the 115 municipalities which belong to the 1000 poorest municipalities in the Philippines, will have five additional nurses who will cater to the health needs of their respective communities.

The NARS trainees shall be warriors of wellness in their hometowns to do three (3) I's: Initiate primary health, school nutrition, maternal health programs and first line diagnosis; Inform the public on community water sanitation practices and perform health surveillance; and Immunize children and mothers.

NARS Project is in line with the pump priming strategies under the Economic Resiliency Plan of the Arroyo Administration to mitigate the impact of the global financial crisis, to save and create as many jobs as possible and expand social protection.

Under NARS project, about 10,000 unemployed registered nurses will be employed and deployed to the 1,000 poorest municipalities. They will be given P8,000 per month plus they will be trained for three months on public health in the rural health units and another three months in the hospitals for clinical health training, Department of Health Regional Office 8 ARD Minerva Molon, said. After six months, they will be given Certificates of Competency, a necessary tool for them to be employed locally or overseas.

The LGU-recipients in Eastern Samar are Jipapad, Arteche, Maslog, Hernani, San Policarpio, Gen. MacArthur, Llorente, Quinapondan, Dolores, Balangiga, Oras, Can-avid and Salcedo.

For the province of Leyte, the 36 LGU beneficiaries are Leyte, San Isidro, Calubian, Mayorga, Tabango, Tabontabon, Julita, Pastrana, San Miguel, Santa Fe, La Paz, Matalom, Alangalang, Javier, Babatngon, Bato, MacArthur, Dagami, Dulag, Kananga, Albuera, Capoocan, Burauen, Villaba, Jaro, Hilongos, Matag-ob, Barugo, Mahaplag, Merida, Carigara, Abuyog, Inopacan, Tanauan, Hindang and Palompon.

Twenty-three out of the 24 municipalities of Northern Samar are included in the list of LGU-beneficiaries while all the 8 municipalities of Biliran are also included.

Meanwhile, all the 26 LGUs in Samar province are included in the 1000 poorest municipalities of the country and are therefore LGU-beneficiaries of NARS project. In the province of Southern Leyte, 10 out of 19 Local Government Units are target beneficiaries of the project. These are Pintuyan, Saint Bernard, Bontoc, Tomas Oppus, San Ricardo, Limasawa, Libagon, Liloan, Malitbog and San Francisco.