The Imugan Dream: Preserving the “Ikalahan” pride

The nursing profession already brought her to international conventions, but she is never remiss in visiting fellow tribal folks. In fact, regular medical visits to the upland barangay of Imugan and neighboring villages in Sta. Fe, Nueva Vizcaya is no longer a new challenge for Leticia Puguon, a registered nurse by profession who rose from the care of a poor family at barangay Imugan, a situation she treasured as a challenge to reach her dream profession. “Our life then was difficult but because of the help of our fellow villagers who inspired me and pushed me to study, I did it,” she said. The absence of health workers in their barangay, especially during her childhood, days prompted her to take up the nursing course. Guided by the religious teachings of then Reverend Pastor Delbert Rice, a United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP) protestant missionary during her childhood years, Puguon grew up nurturing Christian values and beliefs along with her cultural beliefs and traditions as an Ikalahan native. Rice also helped her in getting scholarship grants from benevolent individuals abroad. In return, Puguon continues to provide free medical services in Sta. Fe, bringing in doctors and fellow nurses, and free medicines. It was payback time.

She implemented the Community-Based Health Program, a primary health care approach which started at barangay Imugan in 1984. She served as the provincial coordinator for the Expanded Program on Immunization (EPI) and Control of Diarrheal Diseases (CDD) while doing primary health care activities.

In 1989, she organized the Federation of Barangay Health Workers (BHWs) of Nueva Vizcaya to which she served as adviser. She finished her master’s degree in nursing, major in Mother and Child nursing from the St. Paul University Philippines in Tuguegarao City and a doctorate from the Nueva Vizcaya State University.

“We should be proud of our culture and show to our fellow IPs that we can become cultural models in our communities,” Puguon tells her people. She claims that improving health and nutritional status in the upland villages have inspired her to move on with her vocation and serve with all the dedication and commitment she can now muster. “When I started my profession and service, we did not mind our low salary. First and foremost, for us is to serve our fellow IPs. It gave us satisfaction and inspiration,” she said.

She was the lone representative of the country to the International College of Nursing-Global Nursing Leadership Institute at Chatteau de Bossey in Geneva, Switzerland in September 2012, and in the International Training on Community Maternal Child and Child Nursing at KhonKaen University in Thailand in 1993. Her awards portfolio includes Most Outstanding Nurse in Community Health Nursing by the National League of Philippine Government Nurses.

“A major challenge for us is to be at par with our lowland counterparts. Let us show them that discrimination has no room in our society,” she said.

by Ben Moses Ebreo, 3/2016