GRADUATION SPEECH. Carina Flores, municipal mayor of Oton, Iloilo, shares the health gains of Oton town through the Municipal Leadership and Health Governance Program (MLGP) Colloquium graduation in a hotel in Iloilo City on Wednesday (June 5, 2019). Oton town is among the municipalities in the region that has secured responsive health systems through the MLGP Colloquium. (Photo courtesy of Hope Torrechante)
ILOILO CITY -- Thirteen local government units (LGU) in Western Visayas have secured their respective responsive health systems through the Municipal Leadership and Health Governance Program Colloquium (MLGP) 2019.
The University of the Philippines Visayas Foundation, Inc., the Department of Health-Center for Health Development (DOH-CHD) 6 (Western Visayas), and Zuellig Family Foundation have initiated the MLGP to highlight health challenges and leadership responses in the municipal level, showcase strategies that have been effective in achieving targeted health indicators, and provide venue for development partners to support the sustainability of LGU's health gains.
The municipalities of Ibajay and Lezo in Aklan; Belison, San Jose, Valderrama, and Libertad in Antique; Oton and Badiangan in Iloilo; Tapaz, Sigma, and Sapian in Capiz; Jordan in Guimaras; and Manapla in Negros Occidental composed the second batch of MLGP cycle two graduates on Wednesday.
The first batch of MLGP cycle two earlier graduated on April 23. These are the towns of Balete, Buruanga, Numancia, and Tangalan in Aklan; Bugasong and Sebaste in Antique; Jamindan in Capiz; Lambunao and Cabatuan in Iloilo; and Binalbagan in Negros Occidental.
Dr. Philip Ian Padilla, MLGP project leader, said that the MLGP cycle two has addressed problems on mental health, malnutrition, teenage pregnancy, among others.
The towns that had undergone the MLGP colloquium are expected to sustain their health gains.
Padilla said the colloquium eyes to reach more local government units in the region.
“As of now, we covered only around 20 percent (of the LGUs) of the whole Western Visayas,” Padilla said in an interview.
With the conclusion of the recent mid-term polls, Padilla said the DOH eyes to invite newly-elected officials to join the MLGP colloquium.
“We plan to invite them once they take over in July. We call it the Final Selection Workshop where we can probably start from September to December,” he said, adding that the workshop will screen participants who want to join the colloquium.
“We promote this colloquium for the capacity-building of our local chief executives so that they can be more efficient in the use of the funds and eventually have a more resilient and healthier LGU,” he said. (PNA)
