The third batch of nine local government officials from Eastern Visayas completed the Municipal Leadership and Governance Program of the Department of Health at the Asian Institute of Management conference center in Makati City on September 29.
“MLGP was launched by DoH in order to capacitate the mayors and municipal health officers to address the millennium development goals of reducing maternal and infant mortality,” Professor Jusie Lydia Siega-Sur, associate professor and MLGP coordinator, University of the Philippines-Manila School of Health Sciences, said.
At the colloquium ceremony, the final component of MLGP, local chief executives (LCEs) deliver their public narratives followed by a panel interview to assess understanding and application of bridging leadership.
The graduates were four former mayors of Leyte: Loreto Yu of Alang-Alang, Alden Avestruz of Barugo, Fe Renomeron of Burauen, and Manuel Sia-que of Dulag, Leyte; and the present mayors: Gemma Zosa of Sta. Margarita, Samar; Kathleen Prudenciado of Almagro, Samar; Marilou Latorre of Villareal, Samar; Mario Nadera of Mondragon, Northern Samar; and Mark Biong of Giporlos, Eastern Samar.
Dr. Exuperia Sabalberino of the DoH-8 said the MLGP is a one-year, two-module program for local chief executives and municipal health officers and is centered on the World Health Organization’s six building blocks of health systems.
The six building blocks include good governance in the health sector, health service delivery, health workforce, health information, access to essential medicines and healthcare financing.
The LCEs shared their achievements, health indicators, lessons learned and how the program help them develop and transform them to become bridging leaders in order to achieve the MGDs particularly those pertaining to the health system of their municipalities.
The program was initiated by the DoH, Zuellig Family Foundation and the UP Manila school.
To date, 49 local chief executives in Eastern Visayas have completed the MLGP.
