11 Cordillera towns graduate from MLDP course

Eleven towns from the Cordillera graduated from the Municipal Leadership Development Program (MLDP) course on November 27 at Hotel Elizabeth, Baguio City.

Graduates of the course are the municipalities of Atok, Bokod, Mankayan and Buguias in Benguet; Hingyon, Aguinaldo, and Asipulo in Ifugao; Bontoc and Sagada in Mountain Province; Lagayan, Abra; and Balbalan, Kalinga.

The Municipal Leadership Development Program (MLDP) for Universal Health Care Acceleration dubbed “Bayang Malusog” is a course offered by the Department of Health-Cordillera in collaboration with the Zuellig Family Foundation (ZFF) and the Cordillera Career Development College (CCDC).

BAYANG MALUSOG GRADUATES. The 11 municipalities of Cordillera led by their mayors during the culminating activity of the Municipal Leadership Development Program (MLDP) at the Hotel Elizabeth, Baguio City on Nov. 27, 2024. (From l, front row) Mayors
Archie Lee Quindo (Asipulo), Jerome Tudlong Jr. (Bontoc), Franklin Smith (Atok), Almar Malannag (Balbalan), Florencio Nalula (Hingyon), Edmarc Crisologo (Lagayan), (from l, backrow) Felecito Dula (Sagada), and Dario Banario (Mankayan), Zuellig Family Foundation Director for Local Health Systems Portfolio Dr. Catherine Chung, Mayor Thomas Wales (Bokod), DOH-CAR Director Dr. Ferdinand Benbenen, Mayor Gaspar Chilagan (Aguinaldo), and CCDC President Sherry Junette Tagle. Also a graduate of the course was Buguias town led by Mayor Ruben Tinda-an (not in photo).

During the culmination activity, DOH-CAR Director Dr. Ferdinand Benbenen lauded the local chief executives and their municipal health teams for finishing the course. He said the leadership program is a step towards making the Universal Health Care a reality.

Director for Local Health Systems Portfolio for Zuellig Family Foundation Dr. Catherine Chung urged the local government units to continue monitoring the UHC implementation in their respective areas, as primary healthcare is important in achieving UHC.

“It takes the whole of government approach, the whole of society approach; it requires collective effort to achieve the Universal Health Care. Let us reaffirm our commitment for UHC as a fundamental rights of the Filipinos,” Chung said.

CCDC President Sherry Junette Tagle said they hope the program can generate adaptive responses in addressing emerging and persistent challenges especially in the implementation of the Universal Health Care.

Tagle, who was also among the facilitators of the MLDP course, urged the LGUs to work together in the steadfast pursuit of quality care in the community.

During the colloquia, the various mayors gave their narratives on how they handled, with their health teams, the implementation of the program in their respective towns.

Municipal mayors present during the event were: Edmarc Crisologo (Lagayan); Franklin Smith (Atok), Thomas Wales (Bokod), and Dario Banario (Mankayan); Gaspar Chilagan Jr. (Aguinaldo), Archie Lee Quindo (Asipulo), and Florencio Nalula (Hingyon); Almar Malannag (Balbalan); Jerome Tudlong Jr. (Bontoc) and Felecito Dula (Sagada). Buguias Mayor Ruben Tinda-an was represented by his municipal health team during the culminating activity, where the mayors recounted their application of the learnings from the MLDP course in their communities.

MLDP NARRATIVES. The municipal graduates, represented by their mayors, presented the output from the learnings during the MLDP course in their respective communities. The collaborative program aims to improve the healthcare systems of the municipal governments for the effective implementation of the Universal Health Care.

The provincial health officers of the provinces of Abra, Benguet, Kalinga, Ifugao and Mountain Province then gave their responses to the presentations of the LCEs in their area.

Benguet PHO Dr. Meliarazon Dulay urged the four mayors of Benguet to influence their fellow local chief executives to enroll in the MLDP course, which will give way for an improved healthcare system. This was echoed by the PHOs of Kalinga Dr. Edward Tandingan, Dr. Lilibeth Martin of Abra, Dr. Priscilla Pagada of Ifugao, and Dr. Carolyn Yawan of Mountain Province.

“We cannot have a vibrant economy without a healthy population,” Tandingan said adding that sustainability is also important in the implementation of the program.

The MLDP is a leadership course that consists of two modules of face-to-face training, practicum activities, technical sessions and coaching with experts, and colloquium culmination activities stretched over a 12-month period.

It aims to equip the various local chief executives and its respective health teams composed of the municipal health officers, Sangguniang Bayan member for health, and the municipal accountant or an equivalent local finance committee representative to improve on their health care systems particularly on the implementation of the UHC.

The Universal Health Care (UHC) Act in the Philippines or the Republic Act No. 11223, enacted in 2019, aims to provide all Filipinos with access to high-quality health services and financial protection.

More MLDP courses are on the pipeline in the region with CCDC and ZFF as collaborators of DOH-CAR.