MALAYBALAY CITY, Bukidnon – Malaybalay took a historic step in healthcare recently with the inauguration of its first Snake Anti-Venom Center here in the provincial capital

The facility is based at the City Health Office (CHO) in Barangay 4, where the Animal Bite Center is also located.

The initiative was highlighted during the hour-long KBP Bukidnon Interaction Program, a weekly “Kapihan”-style radio forum broadcast live across 14 KBP member stations in the province aired on August 15, 2025.

City Councilor Jayson Ayala, a guest on the program, explained the center’s significance for Bukidnon’s 464 barangays, where access to advanced medical care has long been limited.

This is a milestone in the 111-year history of Bukidnon. For generations, snakebites were treated with traditional rituals—sometimes effective, sometimes tragically not.

Ayala, the driving force behind the anti-venom center, said other municipalities had long sought similar facilities but faced regulatory hurdles and funding shortages.

When asked how the project pushed through despite the lack of funds, Councilor Ayala revealed that he and Malaybalay City Mayor Jay Warren R. Pabillaran pooled their own money to make it happen.

Meanwhile, the provincial government lately announced that anti-snake venom is now also available at its two provincial hospitals: the Medical Center in Barangay Casisang, Malaybalay, and another in Maramag, about 50 kilometers away.”

As this developed, Bukidnon, a mountaintop province of 20 towns and two cities, now has a fighting chance against this silent threat.

With this long-awaited initiative now in place, residents across Bukidnon can breathe a little easier, knowing that help is finally closer should a venomous snake strike.

Indeed, venomous snakes like cobras have claimed lives across the province. In Dancagan town, a grade-one pupil succumbed to a king cobra bite while being transported 160 kilometers to the nearest anti-venom facility in Cagayan de Oro City. In San Fernando, a father of two died on his farm after a similar encounter. And in Sitio Tigbe, Barangay Bangcud, Malaybalay, a young farm girl was fatally bitten by a cobra as she slept on her mat.

The truth is, we’ll never know how many lives have been lost to venomous snakebites over the past century. (Rudy Estrada Tagimacruz – Bukidnon Press Club/Contributor)