From left to right: Dr. Eva Rabiya, Cotabato Provincial Health Officer II; Austere Panadero, ZFF President and Executive Director; Governor Emmylou “Lala” Mendoza, Provincial Government of Cotabato; Dr. Joyce Ann Viar, ZFF Nutrition Director; and Rachel Paradiang, ZFF Project Manager for NutriLEAP.

Executive Coaching with Governor Emmylou “Lala” Mendoza under the Zuellig Family Foundation (ZFF)’s Nutrition Leadership and Equity Acceleration Program (NutriLEAP)

In the Province of Cotabato, leadership, data-driven governance, and local ownership are shaping the next phase of nutrition reforms. 

The executive coaching session last May 4, 2026 marked a pivotal moment following the province’s engagement with ZFF as Cotabato took a closer look at its nutrition systems and drilled down on key gaps for improvement. With ZFF President and Executive Director Austere Panadero as governance coach guiding the process, this year’s session focused on sharpening Cotabato’s Provincial Nutrition Action Plan (PNAP), strengthening data systems, and aligning priority interventions for the years ahead.

Related articles:

• NutriLEAP Monitoring and Coaching Visit: Strengthening Nutrition Governance in the Provinces
• NutriLEAP: A Pathway to Healthier Provinces

From Plans to Action: Treating Nutrition Plans as a ‘Bible’

Cotabato entered the executive coaching session with a strong PNAP already in place. 

Governor Mendoza underscored the importance of institutionalizing the plan: “It should not just be for compliance; it should be treated like a bible.” Panadero affirmed this direction, encouraging the province to use its finalized plans as leverage for future investments: “You already have a good PNAP. Use that as the basis for your engagement… You don’t need to reinvent it because you already poured effort into it.”

Data as the Backbone of Governance

A major theme of the executive coaching was the urgent need to strengthen data systems and documentation. 

Panadero noted that improving data accuracy and coordination systems will unlock Cotabato’s ability to maximize resources and scale impact: “Data really needs improvement and accuracy. Once you solve that: You can maximize your resources. You already have an advantage because you have started many initiatives. Coordination systems at the service delivery level must be institutionalized.”

The session also revealed ongoing challenges with national datasets, population projections, and poverty statistics. Governor Mendoza openly raised concerns about data reliability, reinforcing the need for local data validation and improved documentation of local innovations and outcomes.

Prioritizing Nutritionally At-Risk Pregnant Mothers and Teenage Pregnancy

A key forward-looking priority is addressing nutritionally at-risk pregnant mothers, especially amid rising teenage pregnancy. The provincial team recognized the need for stronger convergence between nutrition programs and adolescent health initiatives. 

In the closing part of the session, the province identified potential next steps for partnership: support for teenage pregnancy programs and a convergence program between nutrition and teenage pregnancy. This priority reflects Cotabato’s commitment to breaking the intergenerational cycle of malnutrition by focusing on young mothers and adolescents, an area where NutriLEAP can continue to provide strategic support.

Province-Led Coordination and Systems Strengthening

A strong theme throughout the session was the importance of provincial leadership in coordinating nutrition investments and ensuring accountability. 

Governor Mendoza said that programs and funding must be coordinated at the provincial level to ensure proper oversight and technical support: “It should really be coordinated through the province… Sometimes they have not even been capacitated yet, but they are already thinking of different ways to spend the money.” Panadero reinforced this province-led approach, noting that Cotabato is already ahead in preparation for the upcoming Philippine Multisectoral Nutrition Project (PMNP) implementation.

Addressing System Gaps in Child Nutrition

Despite progress, the coaching session identified a critical service gap for children transitioning from daycare to early elementary school. While programs for ages zero to five years old are strong, no single agency clearly owns nutrition for children in kindergarten to first grade. 

At the national level, many different agencies share responsibility, but no single office fully owns the issue. Governor Mendoza proposed a local solution: “Maybe this should already fall under the [provincial government]… We should provide funding for that.” This reflects the province’s willingness to step in where local leadership can own the problem and bridge systemic gaps.

Sustaining Gains Amid Resource Constraints

The discussion also brought to light the realities faced by local governments, from vaccine shortages to the need to subsidize medicines and tuberculosis treatment. Governor Mendoza conveyed the province’s commitment to prioritizing health and nutrition even amid competing demands: “If your efforts are not sustained, we will just go back to zero… we redirected the budget toward vaccines, hospitals, and the people’s needs.”

Moving Forward: Transitioning to PMNP

As the NutriLEAP engagement transitions toward the PMNP, the province is focused on refining its PNAP and strengthening information systems. Governor Mendoza summarized Cotabato’s immediate priority: “We just need to improve our [PNAP] in preparation for the PMNP implementation next year.”

With a strong foundation in place, Cotabato is poised to deepen its focus on adolescent health, nutritionally at-risk mothers, and integrated service delivery. As the partnership with ZFF evolves, the province’s experience serves as a model of how local governments can lead the way in building resilient and responsive nutrition systems.

Photos from: Provincial Government of Cotabato Facebook page

Authors: Samantha Morales, ZFF Nutrition Knowledge Management and Communications Associate; Krizzia Esperanza, ZFF Corporate Communications Associate

Austere Panadero, President and Executive Director of the Zuellig Family Foundation (ZFF), was re-elected Chairman of the Association of Foundations (AF) Board of Trustees during the organization’s 54th General Assembly held on May 13, 2026, at Novotel Manila.

Panadero, who was first elected AF Chair in 2024, will now lead the AF Board for another two-year term, alongside seven newly elected national board seats and a regional board seat for Luzon.

The general assembly also saw the election of new trustees. In the organizational meeting that followed, the newly constituted AF Board elected its executive officers. Panadero was re-elected as Chairperson, alongside Cecile Dominguez-Yujuico as President, Diane Romero as Treasurer, Sebastian Quiniones, Jr. as Internal Auditor, and Phoebe Carrera as Secretary.

AF, established in 1972, is the first and biggest heterogeneous NGO network in the Philippines and is a pioneer in building and supporting capacities of its more than 250 member-NGOs and foundations towards the achievement of the development agenda.

Read more: 

• AF elects new trustees at 54th General Assembly

Photos from: AF

Playful parenting has the power to transform family dynamics and build stronger bonds between parents and children. This was proudly on display as the Zuellig Family Foundation (ZFF), in partnership with the City Social Welfare and Development Office (CSWDO) of Calbayog City, Samar, hosted the graduation ceremony for the Masayang Pamilya (MaPa) Program last April 27, 2026, celebrating the program completion of participating families from Barangays Balud, West Awang, Obrero, and Pahayan.

The MaPa for Teens Program is an evidence-based parenting intervention that promotes playful parenting techniques to help reduce parenting stress, prevent child maltreatment, and strengthen family relationships to prevent adolescents from engaging in risky behaviors including early pregnancy. As part of the broader Barangay Expanded Youth Leadership and Governance Program (BEYLGP), MaPa contributes to building safer, healthier, and more supportive communities by strengthening family relationships and promoting positive parenting practices at the barangay level.

The graduation marked the culmination of nine meaningful sessions facilitated by the CSWDO MaPa Teen Hybrid Facilitators, composed of dedicated Registered Social Workers committed to strengthening Filipino families through positive and playful parenting approaches. Thirteen parent-and-child pairs completed the program through a hybrid learning format, consisting of three face-to-face sessions and six online sessions.

The final session emphasized the importance of nurturing healthy parent-child relationships, open communication, and creating safe and supportive home environments. Following the completion of the sessions, the graduation ceremony was held to recognize the commitment and active participation of all completers.

Showing strong local government support for the initiative, Calbayog City Mayor Raymund Uy personally expressed his commitment to reinforcing programs and activities that promote family welfare and child protection in the community. 

As the thirteen families return to their barangays as champions of playful parenting, their journey serves as a powerful blueprint for building resilient, joyful homes across Calbayog City. With continued support from local leaders and dedicated social workers, the MaPa Program proves that small, playful moments can create lasting legacies of love and connection.

Author: Mikee Ebias, ZFF EYLGP Provincial Associate Officer for Samar and Camarines Sur; Krizzia Esperanza, ZFF Corporate Communications Associate

A health information system (HIS) succeeds only when end users adopt it, local governments finance it, and national standards support it. The Bayang Malusog Community of Practice convened on May 6, 2026 to advance exactly this kind of systems-level learning.

This Community of Practice, convened by the Zuellig Family Foundation (ZFF), serves as a dedicated learning platform where health officials exchange implementation experiences, discuss operational challenges, and develop practical solutions for advancing UHC across the Philippines. This session brought particular focus to HIS, which many describe as the backbone of health reform.

The learning session drew participants from 17 provinces and one city, alongside representatives from five Department of Health (DOH)-Centers for Health Development from Regions 1, 4A, 7, 8, and the Cordillera Administrative Region. The provinces represented include Pangasinan, Apayao, Benguet, Ifugao, Kalinga, Mountain Province, Isabela, Nueva Vizcaya, Quirino, Quezon, Occidental Mindoro, Aklan, Biliran, Eastern Samar, Leyte, Northern Samar, and Southern Leyte. Baguio City also participated as the lone city delegation. Each locality brought distinct operational realities and varying stages of digital health maturity to the learning session.

Related article:

• “No Time to Wait”: Health Leaders Push to Accelerate Digital Health in the Philippines

‘No UHC Without Strong HIS Support’

ZFF President and Executive Director Austere Panadero opened the discussions with a pointed reminder: “At the end of the day, the sustainability of entire reforms in local health systems, one of the key pillars is the infosystem.”

He acknowledged the difficult trade-offs local governments face daily. “Marami kasing investment decisions ang dapat gawin ng mga local governments. Saan ninyo ilalagay ang inyong mga limited resources so that you can really support the UHC implementation?”

Panadero reaffirmed ZFF’s commitment to hosting these critical conversations. “Kami sa ZFF, we’re happy to host these types of conversations and find out more ano pa ‘yung mga kailangan nating sabay tuklasin at hanapan ng paraan upang mabigyan ng kaukulang atensyon o solusyon ‘yung mga problemang hinaharap natin.”

Dr. Catherine Chung, ZFF Local Health Systems Director, set the context for the learning session with a sobering assessment of UHC’s seventh year. “Functional na dapat lahat itong seventh year, pero marami pa rin tayong struggles and challenges,” Chung said.

Chung warned that without reliable data and sound planning, UHC implementation will continue to fall short. “Kung walang kaperahan, walang maayos na data, walang maayos na pagpaplano, hindi magiging maganda ‘yung implementation natin.”

Peer Learning as the Path Forward

Dr. Carlo Panelo, healthcare economics expert and professor at the University of the Philippines Manila College of Medicine, encouraged participants to embrace peer learning as the most critical strategy at this stage of UHC implementation. “National guidelines can only go so much,” Panelo explained. “They provide you the framework, the general direction but implementing it on the ground is really very nuanced in terms of your unique situation as individual local governments.”

Panelo remained unequivocal about the necessity of robust information systems. “HIS will not solve everything but it can definitely improve things. Similar to UHC, HIS is not your magic bullet or your magic pill for UHC. But I think there is no UHC without strong HIS support.”

He placed the responsibility squarely on local governments. “These systems are existing, and the ball is actually in your court now to adapt what these systems can provide you. National government needs to create an enabling environment for local governments to invest in an HIS, meaning at the end of the day you have to convince your mayors and you have to show them the figures—how much it will cost you and how much you will get in return by investing in this improvement in your systems.”

Health as Foundation of National Progress

Leyte Governor Carlos Jericho Petilla made the case that health cannot remain a side agenda. “You cannot have a progressive country if you don’t actually focus on health,” he declared.

Petilla emphasized that data gathering is the most crucial component of the entire UHC system. “We’re just trying to capture everything. If you capture everything in the easiest possible way, you can do a lot of analysis. It’s the data gathering that’s actually very crucial here.”

Quezon’s Journey: No ‘Best System,’ Only What Works

Dr. Chris Mangunay, Provincial Health Officer I of Quezon Province, shared his province’s ongoing journey in developing a customized and integrated health information system designed around actual healthcare workflows.

“The success of a health information system depends largely on the end users,” Mangunay said. “We need a system that is user-friendly because we want something that follows the workflow of a primary care facility.”

The province transitioned between providers after discovering their previous system no longer progressed according to operational needs. “There is no one best system,” Mangunay acknowledged. “Whatever system you present, there will always be hiccups and resistance from end users.”

He stressed the necessity of continuous development. “We have to continuously explore other features and continuously develop because every facility is still adapting to these systems. We need a mature system to support evidence-based governance. At the end of the day, we want [HIS] to translate into better health outcomes.”

Aligning Local Systems with National Standards

Ms. Cherry Esteban, OIC Director of the DOH Knowledge Management and Information Technology Service (KMITS), discussed the national government’s efforts to strengthen governance and interoperability across local health systems. “Digital health is positioned as a strategic enabler of UHC,” Esteban said. 

She highlighted the planning advantages that robust data provides. “Decision makers can already do better planning if the data is available.” Esteban emphasized governance as the foundation of digital transformation. “Good governance must guide digital transformation. Interoperability is not just about systems connecting with each other.”

Lessons from Experts: Start Small, Think Big, Learn Fast

Two senior health experts offered closing reflections that captured the day’s themes. 

Dr. Ayedee Domingo, adjunct faculty at the Ateneo School of Medicine and Public Health and former director of the National TeleHealth Center, encouraged experimentation grounded in local reality. “We can only learn by trying. So unless we try, we can never really know what really works in our setting. We can write the best enterprise architecture on paper, but it may still fail.”

Dr. Manuel Dayrit, Chairman of the Zuellig Family Foundation and former Secretary of Health, noted the opportunity for greater alignment between national and local governments. “National government will create policies and standards, but not address the structural bottlenecks to enable those policies and standards to be implemented. We could move faster if there was more coherence in how the central government and local governments work together.”

The way forward requires simultaneous action on multiple fronts: strengthening information systems alongside the people who run them, investing in digital literacy while planning for interoperability, and advancing beyond pilot stages without delay. Stronger systems produce stronger data. Stronger data produces better health for every Filipino.

In the highlands of Benguet, where fog often obscures the mountain trails, a different kind of clarity emerged on April 28, 2026. Kibungan Mayor Agustin Tello sat beside the bed of a three-time stroke survivor: a former sayote farmer now unable to work, cared for by his elderly wife in a modest home in Barangay Sagpat. What the Mayor heard in that small room is now reshaping how Kibungan delivers Universal Health Care (UHC).

The visit is referred to as Deep Dive, a guided leadership learning activity, part of the Bayang Malusog Leadership and Governance Program (BMLGP) of the Zuellig Family Foundation (ZFF). Unlike traditional field visits, the Deep Dive immerses leaders directly into the lives of the most vulnerable, requiring them to see,  listen, observe, and reflect.

A Mayor Confronts the “Face Behind the Number”

Mayor Tello is no stranger to community engagement. His administration has long practiced consultative governance, and he has regularly visited barangays. But this visit was different. For the first time, he sat across from a family too exhausted to perform—a wife uncertain whether they even qualified for government aid, and a patient whose children, all farmers themselves, had already incurred significant debt from medical expenses. Reflecting on the experience, the Mayor admitted “iba talaga kapag face-to-face,” explaining that in group settings, people hesitate to voice shortcomings, but in a private household, the truth emerges naturally.

The revelation that the family was unaware of their PhilHealth eligibility struck the Mayor as a systemic failure. The experience affirmed that data, no matter how accurate, cannot capture the shame, exhaustion, or confusion of a family navigating a fragmented support system. As Dr. Anjelica Joy Nacnac of ZFF framed it during the processing session, the Deep Dive “puts a face [to data]. Itong numbers na ‘to ay may tao, at itong taong ito ay may kwento.”

Municipal Health Officer Dr. Hydre Nga-ew, who accompanied the Mayor, described the moment as deeply validating. For years, his team had been implementing programs for noncommunicable diseases (NCD), but sitting in that home gave emotional weight to their daily work. The visit confirmed that even small interventions were reaching patients but also revealed how much more needed to be done, particularly in rehabilitation services and medicine continuity.

The Silent Crisis: Elderly Caregivers Left Behind

Beyond the patient himself, the Deep Dive exposed the growing number of elderly residents caring for other elderly residents. As younger family members migrate to Baguio City and other urban areas for work, Kibungan’s senior citizens are increasingly left to fend for one another. Mayor Tello observed that while community ties and neighborly support remain strong, serious illness quickly overwhelms these informal arrangements. “Ang naiiwan dito sa lugar iyong mga matatanda, at usually walang magbantay kaya kawawang-kawawa sila,” he said, adding that in a few years, the municipality may need a home for the aged as traditional care structures buckle under demographic and economic pressures.

Josephine Fawayan, Development Management Officer IV of the Baguio-Benguet Provincial Department of Health (DOH) Office, amplified this concern by highlighting the double vulnerability of elderly women who serve as primary caregivers. These women, she noted, often balance caregiving with household management and livelihood activities while their spouses work elsewhere. “Care for the caregivers,” she urged, pointing out that DOH still lacks robust community-based rehabilitation programs. With only one physical therapist serving all 13 municipalities, many post-stroke patients miss the critical window for rehabilitation, leading to permanent stiffness and disability.

From Reflection to Action: A Three-Point Agenda

The Deep Dive was designed not merely to evoke empathy but to catalyze concrete action. Following the household visit and a structured processing session, Mayor Tello committed to immediate priorities aligned with his 2026 timeline. First, he will issue an executive order to integrate the work of various local government unit (LGU) committees on health, social welfare, and the like so that support systems operate cohesively rather than in isolation. He noted that while individual committees are functional, their fragmentation often results in duplicated efforts and missed opportunities. 

Second, he prioritized the hiring of a municipal pharmacist to strengthen the PhilHealth Guaranteed and Accessible Medications for Outpatient Treatment (GAMOT) program. The Local Health Board had previously discussed this need, but the Deep Dive accelerated its urgency. Without a dedicated pharmacist, patients with maintenance medications for hypertension, diabetes, and other NCDs face dangerous gaps in treatment. Third, the Mayor committed to deepening community participation in health program design, implementation, and monitoring. “The community will not be part of what is being programmed if they will not be part of the decision process,” he argued. “When you are part of it, you will take care of it.” Programs imposed from above, he noted, rarely survive beyond the political term that created them.

“Health is Number One”

For Mayor Tello, the Deep Dive reinforced a philosophy he first articulated during his campaign. “Noong nagca-campaign ako, sabi ko tatlo lang ang kailangan ng bayan para mabuhay: health, education, economy,” he recalled. Without health, he argued, neither learning nor labor is possible. “Health is number one.”

He further committed to advocating with the Sangguniang Bayan for increased investment in satellite health facilities, particularly in geographically isolated areas. Some barangay health stations, he noted, lack even basic amenities like toilets and kitchens, making it difficult for health workers to serve their communities with dignity. 

Dr. Catherine Chung, ZFF Local Health System Director, formally welcomed Kibungan into the network of over 700 LGUs that have completed the Deep Dive journey. The goal, she said, is to ensure that health governance is never purely statistical but always grounded in the lived realities of the people it is meant to serve.

What began as a household visit had become a blueprint for a more responsive, more humane local health system. Mayor Tello put it simply: without direct engagement, the LGU would have continued operating on assumptions. With it, Kibungan now has something more valuable than data: a story, a face, and a renewed sense of purpose.

Davao Oriental has one of the lowest malnutrition rates in the Davao Region, yet nearly one in three residents lives below the poverty line. This disconnect took center stage on April 22, 2026, where Provincial Administrator MGen. Jose Eriel Niembra (PA Ret.) represented Davao Oriental Governor Nelson Dayanghirang in an executive session under Zuellig Family Foundation’s (ZFF) Nutrition Leadership and Equity Acceleration Program (NutriLEAP). The session gathered health officials and nutrition experts to present a comprehensive analysis of the province’s nutrition landscape and recommend responsive governance actions.

The Challenge: High Poverty vs. Low Malnutrition Rates

Dr. Reden Besaldo, Provincial Health Officer, presented the numbers behind the paradox. While Davao Oriental boasts some of the lowest malnutrition rates in the region, with stunting at only 4.44% and wasting at 0.64%, the socio-economic backdrop tells a different story.

Poverty incidence stands at 29.1%, nearly three times the national average. Despite a total health budget of Php 938.5 million, the annual nutrition investment has remained at Php 2 million from 2024 to 2026, translating to roughly to Php 3.33 per capita.

“We engage ourselves in this activity to better understand the current status of the province and determine how we can move forward from where we are now,” said Dr. Azin John Libanan, Provincial Government Assistant Department Head of the Provincial Health Office.

Critical Gaps in Workforce and Services

While the province meets the ratio for physicians (30 doctors) and has a Barangay Nutrition Scholar (BNS) in every village, the session revealed critical shortages:

• 116 additional nurses needed to meet the 1:10,000 ratio
• 89 additional midwives required
• 4,950 more Barangay Health Workers (BHWs) to hit the ideal 1:20 household ratio

Service delivery also showed disconcerting trends. Immunization coverage dropped from 75.8% to 60.57%, while Micronutrient Powder supplementation remains critically low at just 4.5% due to budget devolution. Furthermore, teenage pregnancy rates have risen to 16.1%, which experts labeled a significant barrier to nutrition targets.

Response to Data Paradox

Representing the Governor, Niembra acknowledged the disconnect between low malnutrition rates and high poverty incidence. He explained that while poverty limits access to nutritious food, Davao Oriental’s rural character provides families with alternatives such as growing their own food or seeking help from neighbors—advantages not available in highly urbanized areas.

Niembra assured the attendees of the Governor’s commitment: “The Governor is very positive and supportive of these initiatives. I am confident that he will fully embrace his responsibilities, being a man of action who genuinely desires a comfortable and decent life for all his constituents.”

Following the April 22 session, Governor Dayanghirang met with ZFF President and Executive Director Austere Panadero on May 1, 2026. The Manila meeting bridged the technical groundwork laid during the session with the executive action needed to move the province’s nutrition agenda forward.

Authors: Krizzia Esperanza, ZFF Corporate Communications Associate; Alvin Acidre, ZFF Nutrition Project Expert

Fifteen parent-teen pairs in Barangay Payao, Catbalogan, Samar, celebrated their graduation from the Masayang Pamilya Teens (MaPa Teens) Program last March 28, 2026.

The nine-session hybrid intervention, implemented from October 2025 to March 2026, aimed to strengthen positive parenting, reduce child maltreatment, and open long-stifled conversations about adolescent and youth sexual and reproductive health (AYSRH). The MaPa Teens Program operates on a simple but powerful premise: better parent-teen relationships lead to healthier, safer adolescents. 

At the graduation ceremony, families who completed the program shared how the curriculum transformed their relationships.

The program gave 14-year-old Kimberly her voice. Before MaPa Teens, she describes herself as a quiet child, unaccustomed to sharing her feelings with her parents. Her mother, Ofel, admits that before the program, she often reacted out of frustration rather than understanding. The nine modules gave her a framework, not just to discipline, but to listen. “Natutunan kong magsalita nang maayos at tama para sa aking anak, at lalo pang napalawak ang aking pang-unawa upang mas maintindihan at magabayan siya nang wasto,” Ofel said.

Another teen graduate, Precious, offered a distinction that resonated with many in attendance: family comes before friends. She notes that not all advice from peers proves helpful, making parental guidance a safer and more reliable support system. Her mother, Roxanne, spoke candidly about the challenges of balancing family schedules and responsibilities. Yet her family kept showing up. “Bilang mga magulang, hindi namin kayang bantayan ang aming mga anak sa lahat ng oras. Sa pamamagitan ng bukas na komunikasyon at pagkakaroon ng mas malalim na pag-unawa sa isa’t isa, napagtanto namin kung gaano kahalaga ang tamang pag-uusap,” Roxanne explained.

Dorie Lyn Balanoba, Director of the Expanded Youth Leadership and Governance Program at the Zuellig Family Foundation (ZFF), led the graduation ceremony with a mix of pride and honest acknowledgment of the MaPa Teens journey. The program emerged from data—city-led deep dives, research, and study—all pointing to the same conclusion: parents need help guiding their adolescents through a high-risk period. Balanoba urged graduates to share their learnings beyond their own homes: “Umaasa kami na maibahagi po ninyo sa ibang magulang o ibang mga kabataan ang inyong mga natutunan para sila rin ay magkaroon ng mas magandang komunikasyon at relasyon,” she said.

She also called on the local government to sustain the initiative, acknowledging that without barangay and city support, the program could not have materialized.

The Masayang Pamilya Teens was implemented by the City Health Office of Catbalogan in partnership with ZFF and the Masayang Pamilya Organization, Inc., with support from the Catbalogan City Social Welfare and Development Office and the City Population and Youth Development Office.

The Department of Health (DOH)-Central Visayas and the Zuellig Family Foundation (ZFF) signed a Memorandum of Understanding on April 20, 2026, formalizing a strategic partnership to strengthen health leadership and governance capacities of local government leaders across the region.

DOH-Central Visayas Regional Director Dr. Joshua Brillantes and ZFF President and Executive Director Austere Panadero led the signing ceremony in Cebu City.

The agreement paves the way for implementing ZFF’s Bayang Malusog Leadership and Governance Program (BMLGP) in Central Visayas. The program includes the Provincial Leadership Development Program (PLDP) for provincial health teams consisting of executive sessions for governors, and technical assistance, coaching and mentoring on local health systems governance.

Brillantes noted that devolution makes the program essential. The 2018 Supreme Court ruling on devolution (the Mandanas case) and the subsequent signing of Executive Order 138 in 2021 give local government units (LGUs) a bigger share of national taxes. This means provinces, cities, and municipalities now have more money and more responsibility for basic services, including health. Brillantes said, “With devolution, [the program] really is needed by our local chief executives because there’s no direct command from DOH anymore, especially with health programs. [Local health systems governance] is now under the LGUs.”

The partnership also formalizes the inclusion of Central Visayas provinces into ZFF’s Bayang Malusog Community of Practice, a structured learning venue for regional and provincial stakeholders to share implementation strategies, challenges, and innovations on Universal Health Care (UHC).

In his message of support, Panadero acknowledged the ongoing challenges of UHC Law implementation: “The reality is that it’s not that easy. It is always a continuing challenge to get our LGUs to carry out everything that is being provided by law. Timing is very crucial here.”

Panadero committed the Foundation’s continued support. “We are definitely on board, interested, and committed to work with you on this. With your leadership, we will all be able to put together something that we can all say contributed to the progressive realization of UHC. You cannot put everything in one place overnight.”

DOH-Central Visayas Local Health Support Division Chief Dr. Jonathan Neil Erasmo added, “[LGUs] are the last to know but the first to implement. We hope that with this initiative, we may be able to give them a fighting space so that they can implement programs guided by all of us, government and non-government, so that all our people and stakeholders will reap the benefits of UHC.”

The partnership aims to enable provincial health systems to become more responsive to province-wide health needs, deepen health leadership competencies, and establish integration mechanisms for priority health challenges. 

The program will cover the provinces of Cebu and Bohol. Academic partners from the University of the Philippines Cebu and Cebu Normal University will provide technical assistance.

The Zuellig Family Foundation (ZFF) strengthened its academic collaborations in Central Visayas on March 31, 2026, as its leadership team met with two higher education institutions to advance the implementation of its Health Leadership and Governance Program (HLGP) in the region.

ZFF first met with the University of the Philippines (UP) Cebu, a new institution joining the Foundation’s pool of academic partners. The session brought together UP Cebu’s HLGP team and Chancellor Atty. Leo Malagar, who welcomed the partnership and affirmed the university’s commitment to supporting local health and nutrition systems development. The two parties formally signed the Memorandum of Understanding between UP Cebu and ZFF during the visit, marking the official start of the collaboration.

ZFF also met with the Cebu Normal University (CNU) HLGP team, led by its president, Dr. Laurence Garcia. Dr. Garcia expressed his full support for the partnership and granted approval to move forward with preparations for joint implementation.

Austere Panadero, ZFF President and Executive Director, together with Philip Jerome Flores, Acting ZFF Institute Director, initiated these engagements, emphasizing the vital role of academic institutions in shaping future health leaders and sustaining governance improvements in local communities. These reinforce ZFF’s longstanding commitment to fostering strong academic partnerships as a cornerstone of its strategy to advance responsive, equitable, and enduring health systems across the country.