The UP Manila College of Public Health (CPH) conferred plaques of recognition and certificates of completion of the Municipal Leadership and Governance Program (MLGP) to 37 graduates from Northern Mindanao during a colloquium held on Feb. 28, 2019 at the UP Manila Theater.
CPH is the academic partner of the Department of HealthNorthern Mindanao Center for Development (DOH-NMCHD) in the conduct of the MLGP, a two-year, three-module leadership program that aims to improve health outcomes, enhance local health systems, and increase community participation through its Centers for Health Development.
The graduates were composed of local chief executives (LCEs), municipal health officers, and municipal local government operations officers from Northern Mindanao’s 13 municipalities. Beyond just a culminating activity for the MLGP, the colloquium served as an avenue for learning through the MLGP experiences of the municipal health leaders presented as personal stories of transformation.
The stories provided a deeper understanding of the health challenges faced by the local health systems and lessons on the leadership responses and effective strategies, health gains, and persistent but not impervious issues on primary healthcare, service delivery network, and social determinants of health.
During this colloquium, the municipal mayors of Mambajao (Camiguin), Pangantucan (Bukidnon), Manticao, and Sugbongcogon (Misamis Oriental) shared their inspiring leadership journeys. An expert panel composed of Dr. Adriano P. Suba-an, Assistant Regional Director of DOH-NMCHD; Mr. Austere A. Panadero, Executive Vice President of the Zuellig Family Foundation (ZFF); and Dr. Paolo Victor N. Medina, the Assistant Professor of Community Medicine at the UP College of Medicine probed the public narratives of these LCEs and lauded their commitment to the betterment of their constituents’ health.
Following the confirmation of the MLGP graduates by CPH Dean Romeo Quizon and the acknowledgment of partners by Dr. Nimfa Torrizo, Regional Director of DOH-NMCHD, the event was capped by the keynote address of Dr. Abdullah B. Dumama, Jr., Assistant Secretary for Health of the Visayas and Mindanao Field Implementation and Coordination Team.
Asec. Dumama encouraged the MLGP graduates to bring reforms to their communities by recognizing that they are part of both the problem and the solution in their respective localities and influencing the community to think and act proactively towards improving their health.
With technical assistance from the ZFF that trains academic partners like UPM-CPH on the Bridging Leadership Framework, the DOH continues to develop LCEs and other local leaders into effective health advocates to ensure successful implementation of health programs.
Published in UP Manila Healthscape No. 372 (January – February 2019)
