The Naga City Government’s partnership with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) goes beyond the giving and receiving of donations, Mayor Maria Leonor “Leni” G. Robredo said Monday during the Church’s visit to the Newborn Intensive Care Unit of the Naga City General Hospital.
Robredo welcomed the return of Church members, led by Primary General President Rosemary K. Chibota, who visited the hospital to check on the condition and use of medical equipment previously donated to the facility and distributed 150 newborn care kits to mothers.
The mayor said the Church’s decision to personally inspect the donated equipment demonstrated the sincerity of its commitment to the city and its health-care programs.
“Not simply to handover other donations but to personally inspect and check on the donated equipment’s condition and use, an act that speaks volume about the sincerity of your commitment,” Robredo said.
She said the relationship between the city government and the Church should not be viewed as a one-time charitable undertaking.
“What goes between the city government and the church is not charity given and forgotten. This is a partnership sustained by genuine care and follow through,” she said.
Robredo said the Church’s latest visit also marks the continuation of their work together for the welfare of Naga’s children.
“Today, you came back and you add three more years of working hand in hand with the church for the help and welfare of our children,” she said.
The 150 newborn kits, containing handmade infant clothing and other essential items, were distributed to mothers at the Naga City General Hospital to help them care for their babies during the first weeks of life.
The latest assistance builds on the Church’s earlier support for the city hospital. In November 2025, it donated approximately P8 million worth of specialized medical equipment for neonatal care, including incubators, radiant warmers, neonatal patient monitors and phototherapy equipment for premature and critically ill newborns.
The Naga City Government, meanwhile, partnered with the Church and Helen Keller International in February 2026 to expand the Barangay First 1,000 Days program across the city’s 27 barangays. The program focuses on maternal and child nutrition from pregnancy through the first two years of a child’s life.
Robredo thanked the Church members for what she described as their “genuine generosity and compassion,” saying their service brings “hope and inspiration” to families and communities in need.
The cooperation between the city government and the Church builds on a relationship that began during Robredo’s term as vice president. In 2019, the Church supported the construction of homes at Angat Buhay Village in Marawi City for families displaced by the 2017 conflict, through Angat Buhay, then the flagship anti-poverty program of the Office of the Vice President. | via Jason B. Neola, CMO-Public Information Division head
