BONTOC, Mountain Province – A community consultation on the forthcoming Health System Resilience Project (HSRP) was conducted at the Multi-Purpose Hall on June 4, 2024.
The consultation was spearhead by the Provincial Department of Health Office (PDOHO), in partnership with the Provincial Health Office and the Philippine World Bank and it was attended and actively participated in by government officials, personnel and representatives from the Provincial Government, the municipalities of Bontoc, Bauko, Paracelis, Sagada, and Tadian. These five chosen municipalities are the ones whose construction of its Super Health Center are not yet funded.
Meanwhile, other participants include representatives from the different national line agencies, and Civil Society Organizations of Mountain Province, the Department of Health (DOH) – Center for Health Development – CAR and Central Office, and World Bank, among others.
In his opening remarks, Community Affairs Officer June C. Pinayakan relayed Governor Bonifacio C. Lacwasan, Jr.’s regards and warm welcome to all the attendees and to the visitors – Project Officer II Alexander Padilla, Jr. from DOH Central Office, Health Specialist Vida Gomez, and Social Specialist Izah Lao, who are both from the Philippine World Bank.
Pinayakan also said that the Governor is thankful to the DOH for its continuous support to the health sector of Mountain Province.
“The support (of the Provincial Government) is always there. We will support you and we will try our best to make sure that all the programs and support will benefit our constituents para hindi kayo mawalan ng gana na ipagpatuloy ang pagsuporta sa aming probinsya,” he further said.
The HSRP, as introduced by PDOHO Development Management Office (DMO) IV Madelyn P. Tudlong in her discussion, is a five-year loan project (that will start 2025-2029) of the DOH, in partnership with the Philippine World Bank as its loaning agency that aims to strengthen local health systems and pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response by providing solutions to the following gaps in the Philippine local health system: underdeveloped health system that does not match the population’s need; large gaps in disease surveillance and outbreak responses; weak coordination at various levels of the health system; and varying technical, managerial, and financial capacity at the local levels.
Moreover, Tudlong said that there are 26 provinces in the whole country that serve as pilot implementation sites for the HSRP. Two of the 26 provinces are from (CAR) – Mountain Province and Kalinga.
DMO V Michael B. Capuyan, Jr. continued the discussion on the implementation of the HSRP, where he tackled the 10 Environmental and Social Standards, the Stakeholder and Community Engagement Plan, and the Labor Management Procedures.
Moreover, Capuyan explained the implementation arrangements of the HSRP wherein the close coordination between the DOH down to the Provincial Health Office, the Provincial Health Board, the different Municipal Health Offices and other partner agencies was explained to be very crucial in the implementation process.
Meanwhile, an open forum that gave answers to some of the questions and concerns was held after the discussion.
Another highlight of the consultation was the message-delivery coming from the Sangguniang Panlalawigan that was delivered by Board Member Tomas B. Tawagen, on behalf of his fellow Sangguniang Panlalawigan members – BMs Ricardo M. Masidong, Jr., Johnson D. Bantog II, Kapon B. Gomgom-o, and Ken Paulo P. Nacnas; and Mayors Jerome B. Tudlong, Jr. of Bontoc, Felecito O. Dula of Sagada, and Marcos G. Ayangwa of Paracelis. All messages from SP and the mayors reflected one common thing – their commitment to support the implementation of the HSRP. By HENT
