Village leaders support a stronger health care network in Davao Region

6 February 2024

Whether it is in small barangays or sprawling towns, local leaders are key to keeping mothers and newborns safe and healthy.

The Subnational Initiative Phase 2 (SNIP2) project of the Department of Health (DOH) and the World Health Organization (WHO) initiated the adoption of a governance strategy called Performance Accountability System (PAS). This aligns with the country’s Devolution Transition Plan (DTP), which encourages local government units to identify priority health programmes, where they allocate budget for interventions of gaps in health.

DOH and WHO, with support from the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), provided technical support to the Davao Region’s cascading of their DTP, integrating the Operation Plan for Barangay Engagement for LGUs (Oplan BEL) to PAS.

Through this, leaders and stakeholders in the barangay are now actively involved in the processes of forming, implementing, and assessing health programmes in the community. Health workers like the nurses deployed in the barangays are also trained to advocate for the leaders’ support in addressing health issues through insights from the locale. As a result of this coordination, the barangay council sets aside a health budget in their Annual Investment Plan to ensure the sustainability of health programmes and safeguard their constituents’ health.

Browse through the photos below to find out how PAS empowered the local leaders and health workers from three barangays in Davao Region.

WHO
Mario Sapilan, San Roque’s barangay captain, believes that the nurse deployed in their Barangay Health Station helps leaders in making informed decisions on their barangay’s health care system.

Nurses are helping health leaders make informed decisions

Mario Sapilan, San Roque’s barangay captain, believes that the nurse deployed in their Barangay Health Station (BHS) helps leaders in making informed decisions on their barangay’s health care system.

“[The nurse] helps us analyze the health situation in our community and introduces health plans to mitigate these gaps especially to us in the barangay council, informing us of the people’s priority health needs.”

Though one of the smallest barangays in the municipality of Maco, San Roque is able to supply its BHS with essential vitamins for pregnant women, lactating mothers and newborns, and maintenance for elderly citizens.

One of their earliest successes was repurposing a van as a Patient Transport Vehicle, which they used to ferry emergency cases to the nearest hospital.

To Barangay Captain Sapilan, health goes hand in hand with the barangay’s other priorities. He believes that if all their efforts are sustained in the next five years or so, the risk of community illnesses will significantly decrease.

WHO
Barangay Nurse Shiela Oliva (right) hands an information booklet on healthy pregnancy to Charmaine Plete (left), an expectant mother and a resident of Barangay San Roque, Philippines.

Attaining optimum level of health for the people

Barangay Nurse Shiela Oliva (right) hands an information booklet on healthy pregnancy to Charmaine Plete (left), an expectant mother and a resident of Barangay San Roque.

Since the deployment of a nurse in San Roque, more residents are encouraged to avail the services of the Barangay Health Station (BHS).

“One of the challenges we experienced here is the lack of resources in terms of budget and personnel,” Oliva recalls. “There was also a lack of awareness in the public about the services they can avail in the BHS.”

An orientation cascaded by the DOH, WHO, and KOICA trained Oliva to identify the gaps in the locality’s health system and lobby plans for its improvement. Backed by community-validated data, Oliva is able to advocate for the support she needs from the barangay council.

“I always strive to do what’s best for the barangay. The Barangay Council and the Barangay Health System share a common goal, which is to attain optimum level of health for the people.”

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Development Management Officer, Arvin Ablin, stresses the importance of the barangay leaders’ ownership of the health issues that affect their community in the Philippines.

Accountability of barangay leaders

Development Management Officer (DMO), Arvin Ablin, stresses the importance of the barangay leaders’ ownership of the health issues that affect their community.

Health programmes in Maco used to be limited only to bloodletting and feeding events. But with the Performance Accountability System (PAS), transparency and accountability of the leaders are enhanced. They learn to be part of the solution and look at other community needs that must be addressed.

Now, supplies and equipment are available in the health centres – pregnancy test kits, dopplers, vitamins. Patients no longer have to travel far from their houses to avail the most basic health services in the hospitals. People grow more confident of the BHS, the barangay nurse, and the barangay leaders.

“PAS eased the burden for the Municipal Health Office in providing a solution or interventions to health issues in the barangay,” says DMO Ablin.

WHO
In Barangay Balingaeng, a rural area in Davao City, Philippines, the barangay councilors and officers regularly conduct meetings on health matters in the community.

Conducting regular meetings of barangay councilors and officers

Similar developments occur in Barangay Balingaeng, a rural area in Davao City. The barangay councilors and officers regularly conduct meetings for health matters in the community.

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In Biao Guianga, Philippines, Nurse Laurence Soylon appreciates the positive impact of the government's Performance Accountability System, as the barangay health station will soon be equipped with new prenatal beds.

Equipping the Barangay Health Station

In Biao Guianga, Nurse Laurence Soylon appreciates the positive impact of PAS on the barangay health station: with the approval of the proposed budget for health, the Barangay Health Station (BHS) will soon be equipped with new prenatal beds and will be built with a better health facility.

WHO
Lolita Tecson (left), the Barangay Budget Officer, and Jenny Carlotsa-Badad (right), a Council Member, are discussing the budget plans for the new Barangay Health Center.

Increasing budget allocations for health

With PAS as a governance strategy, the barangay council recognizes the value of strengthening the implementation of health programmes, leading them to increase their allocation of budget for health. Lolita Tecson (left), the Barangay Budget Officer, and Jenny Carlotsa-Badad (right), a Council Member, are discussing the budget plans for the new Barangay Health Center.

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