Rotary, dental group, Cong. Yulo sign MOA to bring smiles to teachers

About 110 teachers from Bacolod City and the 5th District of Negros Occidental will benefit from a dental makeover project initiated by the Rotary Club of Bacolod Central, in partnership with the Philippine Dental Association Negros Occidental Chapter and the Congressional Office of the 5th District.

Dubbed, “Project Smile: Yuhum ni Titser,” the new edition of the project will identify 100 teachers from schools in the 5th District and 10 from Barangay Granada in Bacolod City who will undergo teeth restoration procedures which involve extraction, filling and dentures.

RCB Central president Rolem Basiya, PDA NOC president Dr. Analie Gonzaga and Rep. Emilio Dino Yulo III today, Wednesday formalized the partnership through a tripartite Memorandum of Agreement signing held at the Seda Hotel in Bacolod.

As stipulated in the agreement, RCB Central will provide administrative support in the implementation of the project.

For the Bacolod edition, the club has chosen Barangay Granada as the area for the implementation. Ten teachers from schools based in the barangay will be chosen as beneficiaries. Barangay Granada Captain Armando Vito has committed to assist the club in the selection process, as well as take charge of the other dental services such as extraction and filling, while RCB Central will shoulder the cost of the dentures.

PDA-NOC, meanwhile, will perform all necessary and appropriate dental treatment and procedures necessary to achieve the objective of Project Smile, from assessment to post treatment activities.

On the other hand, Yulo and his representatives will select the 100 teacher-beneficiaries and will provide both financial and logistical support to the beneficiaries.

The agreement also stipulates that the project must be completed by the end of the current year.

Project Smile was first launched in 2017 with 20 teacher-beneficiaries from Handumanan National High School and Elementary School.

The relaunch of the project coincides with Rotary International’s Basic Education and Literacy theme for the month of September.* (Arman P. Toga/NDB photos)