ACT program officer visit in Bohol

Program Officer Megumi Nishijima recently visited Bohol in order to gain first-hand experience of the progress of its project being implemented in partnership with the Visayas Primary Health Care Services, Inc.



Ms. Nishijima visited Barangay Sto. Nino in the Municipality of San Miguel and Barangay Caluasan in the Municipality of Dagohoy last Sept. 6-7 in line with the ongoing project “Building community-based health programs to promote health and prevent disease in Bohol.”


Ms. Nishijima talked with leaders of the farmers’ organization in Sto. Nino, the Hugpong Mag-uuma sa San Miguel (HUMASA) or the Farmers Association in San Miguel and the farmers’ organization  Mga Mag-Uuma sa LACALSANDA Apektado  sa Land Levelling (MALALA) (Farmers in Lacalsanda affected by Land levelling)  in Caluasan.




The farmers shared with her how their communities have been adversely affected by the failure of the Malinao Dam Project which has worsened their economic situation that in turn affected their health conditions. 

Ms. Nishijima also visited San Miguel Municipal Vice-Mayor Jonathan Reyes, Dagohoy Municipal Mayor Hermie Relampagos and Dagohoy Municipal Health Officer Dr. Hermogenes Ricafort.


Ms. Nishijima also visited Sitio Back of Matimco, Subangdaku,Mandaue on Sept. 8. The urban poor community has an ongoing community-based health program (CBHP) developed by its residents’ organization KALUWASAN and the VPHCS. Members of the health committee shared their health activities and experiences with Ms. Nishijima.

Proposed budget shows diminishing priority for health

Lifted from IBON Foundation's website. Click to see the original source.

Contrary to the Aquino government’s target of expanding the coverage of healthcare for all, the proposed national budget for 2011 has allotted a decreased budget for public hospitals and subsidy for indigents, according to research group IBON.

The 2010 budget item “Premium Subsidy for Indigents under the National Health Insurance Program (NHIP)” of Php5.17 billion falls to zero in 2011. If this has been transferred to the 2011 budget item “Subsidy for Health Insurance Premium of Indigent Families including for Informal Sector Enrolled in the National Health Insurance Program” which only increases by Php3.5 billion, then this implies that subsidies for indigents under the NHIP actually falls by Php1.67 billion.

Budget allocation for 55 public hospitals nationwide also falls by Php363.7 million – from Php5.2 billion in 2010 to Php4.8 billion in 2011. Moreover the budget for specialty hospitals (i.e. Lung Center, National Kidney and Transplant Institute, Philippine Children’s Medical Center, Philippine Heart Center and Philippine Institute of Traditional and Alternative Health Care) falls by Php970.6 million.

At the same time the subsidy to indigent patients for confinement or use of specialized equipment falls by Php20 million – or more than half – from Php36 million in 2010 to Php16 million in 2011. Budget for 12 major public hospitals (i.e. Jose Reyes Memorial, Rizal Medical, East Avenue Medical, Quirino Memorial, Tondo Medical, Jose Fabella Memorial, National Children’s Hospital, National Center for Mental Health, Philippine Orthopedic, San Lazaro, Research Institute for Tropical Medicine and Amang Rodriguez Medical) falls by Php4 million.

However, amid the falling budgets for public hospitals, IBON notes that military hospitals have increased allocations in the proposed budget. For instance, the budget of the AFP Medical Center increases by Php168 million, from Php923.5 million (2010) to Php1.091 billion (2011), while that of Veterans Memorial Medical Center increases by Php130.7 million.

One of the Aquino governments supposed priority projects is to give ordinary citizens, especially the poor and elderly, access to quality professional healthcare. However falling government spending on health, especially for those who cannot afford to pay for healthcare and rely on subsidized government services, show a continuing pattern of government's neglect of the public health sector. (end)