Cebu Governor Pamela Baricuatro visited the wake of Airish Comaling, a young mother from Barangay Butong, Argao, who died during childbirth along with her unborn child.
The provincial government said the governor made the more than three-hour journey from the Capitol to personally meet the family and extend support.
Baricuatro offered her condolences and pledged burial assistance, along with grocery items and rice to help the family during their period of mourning.
The Cebu People’s Action Center, under the Office of the Governor, was the first to respond to the incident, delivering essential supplies to the household.
The case has drawn renewed attention to the state of Cebu’s healthcare system, particularly in remote areas.
The governor’s visit comes days after she ordered an investigation into a separate incident involving the death of a mother and her infant while being transferred from the Carcar Provincial Hospital to another facility in Talisay City due to lack of capacity.
Baricuatro, who assumed office less than a month ago, said both cases underscore persistent gaps in access to timely and adequate medical care in rural communities.
In a statement earlier this week, she said her administration had begun allocating emergency funds to provincial hospitals for medications and basic supplies, and was accelerating the hiring of doctors, nurses, and other medical staff.
“We are taking this seriously,” she said. “We inherited a system with long-standing problems. Change doesn’t happen overnight, but we are committed to fixing it.”
The provincial government has also committed to reviewing current protocols for referrals and patient transfers, and is coordinating with local government units to identify urgent bottlenecks.
Maternal mortality remains a challenge in parts of the Philippines where healthcare access is uneven, particularly in geographically isolated areas.
The Department of Health has repeatedly called for stronger investments in rural health infrastructure and emergency response capacity to reduce preventable deaths.
CebuBusinessNews.ph
