Mayor Alexander Bryan Reganit, Jr.: From carefree son to an effective leader

Mayor Alexander Bryan Reganit, Jr., son of former Mayor Reganit, Sr. of Maitum, Sarangani, did not imagine a life of public service. Growing up, he lived life for himself, with no purpose and direction. 

He once wrote about himself: “[My father] made me enter a convent school so I can get an education, but I went to Notre Dame. I got kicked out of school. I took up Civil Engineering but I did not finish it. I finished something else: my marriage. I was embarrassed to face my father, so I left home. I handled jobs during that time, like being a taxi driver. In between, I became a driver for Uber/Grab.”

In his narrative, the younger Reganit shared that shortly after his marriage ended, he went back home to Maitum with his son. It was then that his relationship with his father saw a dramatic turn for the better, especially when he landed a job under the administration of President Arroyo. Sadly, in 2008, the older Reganit died, devastating the family. 

“I thought we could never recover; I had no intention of entering politics,” Mayor Reganit, Jr. wrote.

In April of 2009, he met Senator Manny Pacquiao who convinced him to help the sports legend run for a seat in congress. Senator Pacquiao offered him a good salary, which allowed him to pay for his siblings’ education. 

In 2019, the younger Reganit did what a decade ago was unthinkable. He ran for mayor in his town of Maitum—and won. 

Of his win, he wrote: “I won because of my surname.”

While acknowledging the family name as the reason for winning, Mayor Reganit made sure to show he deserved the people’s trust. He vowed to his family and his constituents to serve his fellow Maitumians well, having finally learned upon the birth of his son what having a “sense of duty” entailed. 

A town rich in heritage

Maitum, known for its anthropomorphic burial jars found in historical caves, is a second-class municipality in Sarangani province, bordered by Kiamba to the east, Lake Sebu to the north, and Palimbang to the west. It boasts a diverse population, including Ilocanos and T’bolis from South Cotabato, and faces challenges as a coastal town with several Geographically Isolated and Disadvantaged Areas (GIDA) among its 19 barangays, leading to a high migration rate.

Mayor Reganit Jr.’s leadership was enhanced with progress in Maitum’s health governance, thanks to its participation in the Health Leadership and Governance Program (HLGP) initiated by the Department of Health (DOH) Region XII and Zuellig Family Foundation (ZFF) in 2016. This partnership resulted in notable improvements in leadership, health service delivery, and the implementation of a robust Health Information System (HIS) with essential technological upgrades for barangay health stations and midwives.

The municipality’s success in health governance, particularly in maternal and child health interventions, earned recognition from the DOH as the best Maternal, Newborn, and Child Health and Nutrition (MNCHN) project implementer in the province by December 2019, achieving over 95% coverage. Despite these achievements, nutrition remains a challenge, with a stunting prevalence rate of 12.86% among children aged 0-5 years old, highlighting the ongoing need for targeted nutritional interventions.

Municipal Nutrition Governance Program

In June 2022, Mayor Reganit, Jr. and his core team participated in ZFF’s Municipal Nutrition Governance Program (MNGP) aimed at enhancing health and nutrition outcomes in Sarangani’s municipalities. The program provided valuable insights into the importance of nutrition, particularly focusing on the critical first one thousand days (FK1D) of a child’s life.

During this period, Mayor Reganit appointed Ms. Marife Cambel as the new Municipal Nutrition Action Officer (MNAO) for Maitum. With her background as a registered Nutritionist-Dietician and experience in community nutrition work, Ms. Cambel brought expertise and leadership to the role.

Despite being new, Ms. Cambel’s coordination skills and understanding of local government processes led to improvements in Maitum’s nutrition system. She collaborated with key stakeholders such as the Social Welfare Development Officer, Agriculturist, Budget Officer, Health Officer, and others to streamline efforts.

Participation in MNGP Module 1 training further empowered Mayor Reganit, Jr. and the MNAO to revitalize the Municipal Nutrition Council. This revitalization focused on implementing targeted interventions for vulnerable groups, including families with malnourished children and nutritionally-at-risk pregnant mothers. These efforts aimed to address nutrition challenges comprehensively and improve health outcomes in Maitum.

Information management and communication strategy for nutrition

Mayor Reganit, Jr. effectively utilized limited resources in Maitum by leveraging existing platforms to promote quality interventions in nutrition. One such platform was “Radyo Kasaganaan”, a mainstream media program broadcasted on DXNI-FM 99.7, reaching 15 out of 19 barangays in Maitum. This Nutriskwela Community Radio Network Program, in partnership with the National Nutrition Council (NNC) Region XII and the DOH Region XII, helped in improvements in health and nutrition outcomes since its launch in 2017, notably reducing stunting prevalence by almost 6% in the 2018 Operation Timbang Plus results.

Mayor Reganit Jr. employed various strategies through the radio program to influence positive health and nutrition behaviors, such as promoting the “10 Kumainments”, preparing nutritious meals for families, sharing local nutrition news, and discussing legislated policies. Live broadcasts engaged local listeners, fostering conversations on healthy lifestyles.

Recognizing the program’s effectiveness, Mayor Reganit Jr. increased investment in its operations, prioritizing funding under the municipality’s Annual Investment Plan. This led to expanded personnel, equipment upgrades, and technical training to ensure quality production. The MNAO now oversees the station’s management, conducting regular content quality checks and team evaluations.

By 2022, signal mapping confirmed the station’s reach in 15 out of 19 barangays, despite some weak radio signals in four barangays, mitigated by satisfactory internet signals. Daily feedback from listeners and online followers guides program improvements, reflecting a desired behavioral change. Stunting and wasting numbers were reduced from 19.59% in 2017 to 5.1% in 2022.

Through this dedicated platform, Maitum’s Community Radio has become a success story, delivering context-specific interventions, healthy conversations, and active information campaigns for maternal, newborn, and child health initiatives, making it a proud achievement for the municipality.

Resource mobilization and forging partnerships for food security and nutrition 

Despite Maitum’s status as the “rice granary” of Sarangani, it faces shortages in essential food groups crucial for the nutritionally at-risk, particularly children and vulnerable groups. Recognizing these challenges alongside limited resources, Mayor Reganit Jr. forged key partnerships to enhance nutrition and food security.

These partnerships span national agencies, non-governmental organizations, private sector entities, and community organizations. Collaborating with the Department of Agriculture, programs were tailored to support nutritionally at-risk pregnant women and families with malnourished children. Mayor Reganit also leveraged his co-founded volunteer group, the Eagle’s Organization, to distribute egg-laying chickens at his own expense to families in need.

A Memorandum of Understanding was also established with the Philippine Carabao Center (PCC) to set up a “Dairy Box” in Maitum, providing dairy products to the local market. This initiative involved distributing 50 carabaos to farmers within the Pangi Multipurpose Cooperative (PAMULCO), enhancing agricultural productivity and economic well-being. The PCC buys milk from these carabaos, which are processed into various dairy products for sale. This venture has been profitable, with daily sales reaching up to P10,000 during municipal events, benefiting cooperative members.

Under the guidance of the new MNAO, Maitum incorporated food fortification and salt iodization processes into its nutrition program. Collaborations with government agencies such as the Department of Science and Technology-Food and Nutrition Research Institute, NNC, and DOH facilitated these initiatives, including salt-testing in local markets to ensure adequate iodine content in food items. 

Deep Dive in an indigenous community

In February 2023, Mayor Reganit, Jr. embarked on ZFF’s Deep Dive, a guided community immersion, in Barangay Kalaneg, a T’boli community located about 20 minutes from Maitum. This barangay is among the top 10 in Maitum with the most malnourished cases. Joining the Mayor and his Nutrition Team was Sangguniang Bayan member Frediman Wanan, formerly an Indigenous Person Mandatory Representative (IPMR).

During the visit, they met “Francis”, a malnourished child born with an abdominal defect called “omphalocele”. Despite being advised to undergo surgery, Francis remained untreated due to concerns about the operation’s success and post-operative costs. Mayor Reganit Jr. discovered this and realized there were deep-seated trust issues among the T’boli community, especially concerning healthcare workers from outside their group.

To address this, the municipality enhanced a program training and deploying T’boli women as healthcare providers, which improved health-seeking behavior among pregnant T’boli women. This initiative led to a remarkable increase in prenatal check-ups from 70% in 2019 to 100% in 2022. These efforts resulted in a steady decline in malnutrition rates, with stunting dropping from 9.10% in 2020 to 4.81% in 2022, and wasting decreasing from 2.10% to 0.85% during the same period. These outcomes reflect the success of the municipality’s targeted interventions and community engagement strategies.

Behavior-centered designing workshop 

In March 2023, Mayor Reganit and his team took part in Module 2 of the MNGP, leveraging their insights from the Deep Dive. This module focused on adopting a behavior-centered approach to health and nutrition.

During this workshop, the team reviewed Maitum’s ongoing challenges despite progress in reducing malnutrition, highlighting issues like rising teenage pregnancies and early marriages among the T’boli community. They recognized arranged marriage among teenage IPs as a problem.

In response, they outlined interventions as part of their Behavior-Centered Design (BCD) project named “OPLAN ISULONG”, including providing health kits and check-ups for pregnant women, rewarding traditional birth attendants who refer patients to facilities, conducting weekly sessions for teenagers on health education, launching an information, education, and communication (IEC) campaign and health services in a selected barangay, and supporting the establishment of a community garden.

Additionally, they planned to establish a community assembly for dialogues on teenage pregnancies, draft a municipal ordinance against early child marriage, reward barangays with no teenage pregnancy cases, and recognize tribal leaders discouraging early child marriage.

Moreover, Maitum is looking to further enhance their nutrition interventions by forging active partnerships externally and internally. Mayor Reganit Jr. understands that in order to expand the nutrition program and attain their goal of “no new stunting by 2025,” he has to actively engage all sectors, especially community leaders and volunteers, including the private sector. In fact, he and his team already forged partnerships with San Miguel Corporation to expand the reach of his livelihood and food production initiatives (e.g., carabao and poultry farming to help parents with malnourished children).

Indeed, Mayor Reganit, Jr. may have envisioned a different path for himself as a young man, but having eventually chosen to become a leader, he has been keen on showing that he has what it takes to respond to the needs of his constituents. 

He believes that together with his core team, they will be able to make their vision come true—that is, Maitum becoming a “fully-empowered municipality where the peace-loving people are nutritionally resilient, healthy, and living abundantly.”