This article was published in Philippine Daily Inquirer. 

Zuellig Family Foundation (ZFF) President Ernesto Garilao was honored last May 8 in New York for his work in building collaborations among local health leaders, resulting in improved health systems in rural communities in the Philippines.

Called the David Rockefeller Bridging Leadership Award, this is given by the Synergos, a global nonprofit organization working to solve complex problems of poverty through trust building and collaboration.

During the awarding ceremony, Synergos founder and executive chairman Peggy Dulany said, “When Synergos began to work in the Philippines, we were fortunate to connect to people like Ernie. People steeped in grassroots activism and social change but who would also learned how to build bridges with institutions in government and business who held significant power.” Dulany is one of the children of the late David Rockefeller, a known philanthropist.

In his acceptance speech, Garilao said, “Bridging Leadership in the Philippines was a seed planted by Synergos in 2001. It fell on fertile ground and bore great fruit shared by many stakeholders and communities in search for equitable outcomes.”

Bridging leadership (BL) is an approach that aims to build trust among multi-stakeholders resulting in effective collaborations to address inequities.

Garilao started his work in BL when he was still with the Asian Institute of Management, focusing on conflicted areas south of the Philippines. By 2008, he started his work with ZFF and developed the Health Change Model (HCM) strategy using the BL framework to help local leaders in poor communities achieve better health for their constituents. Since then, Garilao led ZFF as it grew its reach from just nine rural municipalities to 740 municipalities and 40 provinces in less than a decade primarily through a partnership with the Department of Health. The year 2018 marks the 10^th year ZFF has been using its strategy to improve local health systems.

Former Department of Social Welfare and Development Secretary Corazon “Dinky” Soliman also received the award for championing people-focused development both in the Philippines and internationally.

Ernesto Garilao during the awarding ceremony (Photo courtesy of Synergos)

Watch the full speech here.

Four “Municipal Leadership and Governance Program” (MLGP) alumni local government units (LGUs) received “Champion for Health Governance” awards in recognition of their excellent and efficient implementation of local health programs. (more…)

For women’s month, a maternal halfway home was opened, marking a shift as well in the corporate social responsibility (CSR) activity of a Swiss company.

After a decade of helping an up-and-coming artist and disaster-struck countries as part of its CSR, Switzerland-based KBA-NotaSys opts to fund the building of a maternal halfway home in the Philippine town of San Felipe in Zambales.

“The project in San Felipe has been the first of its kind for KBA-NotaSys. In the past our CSR initiatives focused on countries struck by natural disasters and our annual project concerned a local, up-and-coming artist since artistry is very closely related to our core business. After having done this for about 10 years we felt it was time to review this and decided that supporting a community was a much stronger initiative than just a single individual,” shared KBA-NotaSys marketing manager Gerben Van Wijk.

KBA-NotaSys manufactures high-security banknote printers and counts the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas as one of its clients. Last March 23, company representatives witnessed the inauguration of the maternal home that was built adjacent to a birthing facility. The home will serve as a temporary shelter for expecting mothers who are due to deliver. It has two bedrooms, toilet and bathroom, plus reception and dining areas.

The home is especially important for mothers living in far-flung villages, including the indigenous Aeta people, who make up 12 percent of San Felipe’s population.

“We are very proud to offer this facility to the families of San Felipe, especially for those women who live far away and those women who do not have access to medical facilities,” said KBA-NotaSys representative Sonia Rodriguez.

Rodriguez was one of two KBA-NotaSys employees who underwent a two-week immersion in the municipality to support the finalization of the maternal halfway home and help the health workers.

San Felipe Mayor Carolyn Farinas expressed her gratitude for the donation. “I am deeply honored to accept the maternal halfway home from KBA-NotaSys in partnership with the Zuellig Family Foundation and the Department of Health (DOH). We accept not just the building but more responsibilities to do with it. We accept the challenge to continue to bring the best of health for our constituents. We accept the challenge to carry on the task to sustain our health programs to give quality care to our people.”
The Zuellig Family Foundation (ZFF) facilitated the donation of KBA-NotaSys for the halfway home in San Felipe, whose mayor and municipal health officer undertook the Municipal Leadership and Governance Program, a training program under ZFF’s partnership with the DOH.

San Felipe Mayor Atty. Carolyn Farinas (center, third from left) is flanked by representatives of KBA NotaSys Sonia Rodriguez and Natalie Neubauer during the official turnover of the maternal halfway home on March 23.

View related photos here.

“(Aim) for the high-hanging fruits in health. They taste better because of the effort and impact.”

This was the challenge of Dr. Myrna Cabotaje, Department of Health (DOH) Region 1 director, to the finishers of the “Provincial Health Leadership and Governance Program” (PLGP).

She was referring to the goal of attaining zero maternal death after the province was able to improve its service delivery network and bring a slight decline in its maternal deaths—from 23 in 2014 to 22 cases in 2015.

Health in Pangasinan, with its population making up 60 percent of Region 1, creates significant impact on the overall health status of the region; hence, improvements in the province are considered critical.

PLGP, a training program under the DOH and Zuellig Family Foundation joint initiative, is given to governors, provincial health officers, chiefs of hospitals and other relevant provincial government officials. Consisting mostly of executive sessions, PLGP helped provincial health leaders identify gaps in their provincial health and hospital systems that have led to maternal deaths.

Improvements done in the province include the implementation of pregnancy tracking so high-risk women can be identified early on and referred to hospitals that can handle their cases. Reforms are also ongoing to ensure the regular supply of blood. This is needed to address the top cause of maternal deaths in the province: hemorrhage. In 2015, hemorrhage led to 19 of the 22 maternal deaths.

Cabotaje is optimistic the province is now better equipped to address health challenges after its leaders completed the one-year PLGP. Of the 33 provinces under the program, Pangasinan was the last to enroll yet the first to complete the program requirements.

PLGP participants were coached on how to systemically approach health challenges using a roadmap anchored on the six building blocks of health (workforce, service delivery, information dissemination, leadership and governance, financing, and medicine) identified by the World Health Organization.

Focus was also given on the seven critical health indicators functional management committee, available obstetrician, reliable supply of safe blood, no stock-out of medicines, point-of- care Philippine Health Insurance Corp. enrollment, no balance billing, and maternal mortality and morbidity audits.

Speaking on behalf of the former governor now congressman-elect Amado Espino Jr., Vice Governor Jose Ferdinand Calimlim Jr. shared that “PLGP gave the provincial health team broader perspective and better understanding of their crucial and strategic roles in health governance.”

He added, “It affirms our longstanding belief that intensifying public and primary health program cannot succeed without the active and indispensable participation of different municipal and city governments. This is only possible if the provincial government will effectively exercise persuasive influence and leadership over the local chief executives and their respective health governance team and encourage the local governments to give public and primary healthcare the highest priority that it deserves.”

When you are a poor pregnant woman living in a far-flung area and about to give birth, there is a risk you do not reach the clinic on time.

In several of Zuellig Family Foundation’s (ZFF) partner municipalities, maternal shelters have been built close to birthing facilities so women and their care providers, usually family members, can have a place to temporarily stay for free for a few days before and after giving birth.

Such is the maternal home in Salcedo, Eastern Samar. The shelter was constructed with funds from the US-Philippines Society (USPS), and turned over last December.

Salcedo was also ravaged by super typhoon Haiyan (local name: Yolanda). Following the “Recovery Assistance Program for Mothers,” the municipal health leaders also underwent training so they could complete the development of a resilient local health system with assistance from the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and ZFF.

“Our Foundation came to the areas of local leaders burdened by serious health challenges. We tried to strengthen their health leadership and governance. They did not fail us,” said Zuellig Family Foundation (ZFF) Trustee Daniel Zuellig in his closing remarks during the first National Health Leaders Conference (HELECON).

A primary example of good health leadership and governance that led to better health outcomes is the rural municipality of Tinambac, Camarines Sur. One of ZFF’s 72 partner local government units (LGUs) under its Community Health Partnership Program, Tinambac received the Foundation’s first Excellence Awards for Leadership in Public Health during the conference.

ZFF also recognized the following “Outstanding Bridging Leaders”: Mayor Daisy Sayangda (Santol, La Union), Mayor Melchor Petracorta (Limasawa, Southern Leyte), Mayor Alfredo Coro (Del Carmen, Surigao del Norte), Mayor Candelario Viola (Hinatuan, Surigao del Sur), Dr. Mignon Andrada (Ivisan Capiz), Mayor Belman Mantos and Dr. Hermeraldo Catubig (San Pablo, Zamboanga del Sur), Mayor Timoteo Capoquian (Gamay, Northern Samar), Dr. Perlie Langi (Motiong, Samar), Mayor Daylinda Sulong (Lapuyan, Zamboanga del Sur) and Mayor Joselito Escutin (Dao, Capiz).

Municipalities of Looc (Romblon), San Vicente (Northern Samar), Limasawa (Southern Leyte), Ivisan (Capiz), Bacolod (Lanao del Norte) and Ragay (Camarines Sur) on the other hand, were recognized for having no maternal death for five consecutive years or more.

After the awarding, Health Secretary Janet Loreto-Garin acknowledged the importance of ZFF’s strategy in addressing health inequities in the country during her closing keynote address.

“The Health Change Model of ZFF has been proven to be a catalyst in harnessing the energies, talents, and commitment of the Local Chief Executives (LCEs), Municipal Health Officers (MHOs), and community leaders in improving the health outcomes of Filipinos. For these achievements and on behalf of the Department of Health, I congratulate all of you,” said Garin.

HELECON gathered ZFF partner LGUs, and representatives of government agencies, academe and other non-government organizations to share and discuss success stories in improving health systems.

Conference speakers included LCEs, MHOs and health leaders under various programs of ZFF like Lanao del Norte Governor Khalid Dimaporo and Del Carmen Mayor Alfredo Coro. Dimaporo shared the relevance of active leadership in facilitating reforms in hospitals which ensured continuity of care for his constituents, while Coro discussed about their town’s Seal of Health Governance, a means to communicate transformative leadership at the barangay level.
National Scientist and Professor Emeritus Ernesto Domingo, together with his Universal Health Care (UHC) Study group members, presented the future status of the country’s primary health care (PHC), and the gains and issues of primary healthcare evolution from pre-primary healthcare era up to the present.

Participants of the conference also showed their support for the improvement of public healthcare by signing the “Declaration of Support for the Sustained Commitment to Health Reforms.”

The two-day event, held in SMX Convention Center, Taguig City was attended by over 200 delegates.

The Zuellig Family Foundation will host the first National Health Leaders Conference (HELECON) with a theme “Co-creating the future of Public Health.”

Participants can learn from the sessions how reforms in municipalities across the Philippines can be adopted in more areas to help address the problem of serious health inequities in the country.

The conference will gather health leaders, including Health Secretary Janette Garin, to talk about ongoing and upcoming health initiatives, leadership journeys, good practices, disaster resiliency, and health challenges.

This year’s HELECON will be held on November 24 to 25 at the SMX Convention Center, Taguig City.

Don’t miss out in joining the conversation! Follow us on Twitter (@ZFF_foundation) and like us on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/zuelligfamilyfoundation/).

By Maria Teresita N. Franco

“I came here to inspire you, instead I’ll be leaving inspired,” said third district Camarines Sur Representative Leni Gerona-Robredo before mayors and municipal health officers (MHOs) of La Union and Pangasinan provinces in Region 1. The mayors and MHOs had their colloquium, a final requirement to complete their Municipal Leadership and Governance Program (MLGP), a capability program given in partnership with the Department of Health, Zuellig Family Foundation and an academic institution. During the event, mayors shared how their personal and leadership transformations paved the way for much-needed reforms in their local health systems to help their poor constituents.

Robredo, after seeing the improvements in the municipalities’ health scorecards, also shared how her husband, the late Interior Secretary Jessie Robredo, used community participation in governance to fix the political and health systems when he was the mayor of Naga City, Camarines Sur. “Mayors and MHOs should maximize the huge potential of the local government units (LGUs) because I believe the LGUs are the first line of defense of the national government especially in the face of adversities,” she added.

Another colloquium was also held in Davao City for mayors and MHOs of Region 11. In that event, San Isidro Mayor Justina Yu said, “I realized how heartbreaking it was to be poor.” Yu witnessed the struggles of her parents in availing the needed maternal health services because of poverty. Her mother, who delivered all her 12 babies with the help of a hilot (traditional birth attendant), died at 47. “I understood then that poverty is an enemy. I promised myself to help the lonely, the sick and the poor and certainly to find a way to reduce, if not eliminate, mother and childbirth mortality,” she continued.

Yu’s municipality of San Isidro reported zero maternal and infant mortality this year. She believes her participation in the MLGP helped her understand her role as a mayor and recognize the partners that could help her in identifying problems and strategies to address the needs of the poor.

Like other leaders of municipalities that had their colloquiums, Yu improved her municipal health system by strengthening the barangay and municipal health boards, improving the health information systems, opening birthing facilities and updating health technologies and equipment and hiring competent health workers.

The MLGP is a one-year, two-module training program aimed at addressing inequities in the country’s local health system by empowering local leaders including mayors and MHOs through leadership and governance training, coaching and practicum. The Academic Partner (AP) in Region 1 is Benguet State University (BSU) while the Davao Medical School Foundation, Inc. (DMSFI) is for Region 11. ZFF president Ernesto Garilao reminded leaders that though health outcomes have been improving, there are still residual challenges that need to be addressed.

“This is not the end. It is only just a beginning of becoming a champion in health. It is always important to revisit the purpose and vision of the mayors and MHOs,” said Garilao in his brief remark during the Davao Colloquium. He reiterated the importance of bridging leadership in addressing social divides and health inequities, and challenging the health leaders to continue the good practices that they have started.