Tag Archives: PhilHealth
Bottom-Up Budgeting gives Decision Making to the People
You should be seeing and hearing more of Bottom-Up Budgeting this 2013.
A new approach to attaining the millennium development goal of reducing poverty from 26.5% in 2009 to 16.6 in 2015 has been introduced in Dolores. Bottom-up budgeting, also known as participatory budgeting, involves the people at the bottom i.e. the citizens thru civil organizations making the decisions. In comparison, top-down budgeting, which has been the norm, is when the executives at a the high levels exercise this privilege.
Last January 16, 2013, at the Dolores Legislative Building, the Bottom-Up Budgeting was explained in a Lecture-Workshop to the heads and members of the various civil organizations in Dolores including 4Ps, Senior Citizens, Farmers Association, Namin, Barangay Health Workers, Day Care Workers, KALIPI and Parent Leaders. The Municipal Local Government Operations Officer Dan Rullan was the speaker for the event.
According to him, Dolores is 1 of 609 Municipalities selected to pilot the Bottom-Up Budgeting. The National Government has allotted 9 Billion Pesos for projects approved through this approach which may involve education, health, social welfare and development, public works and highways, agriculture, agrarian reform, transportation and communications, tourism, environment and natural resources, labor and employment, justice and interior and local government.
During the workshop, the delegates were tasked to propose priority projects that will ultimately aid in the reduction of poverty. Those that came out include pig dispersal, scholarship programs, more farm to market roads, livelihood programs, and Botika ng Barangay to name a few.
These suggestions will be forwarded to the concerned agencies for approval.
In fact, as of this writing, 4 Farm to Market Roads for Barangays Kimmalaba, Taping, Namit-ingan, and Bayaan are already being worked on by the Local Government through the Bottom-Up Budgeting. If our Civil Organizations (Farmers Association, Namin, Senior Citizens, Parent Leaders, etc) are active enough, we should expect more in the coming months.
Pics of the event can be found at our Facebook Page.
New RHU Building Inaugurated
Dr. Michael Vince Castelo, the Municipal Health Officer, was teary eyed as he delivered his speech. Not only was he celebrating his birthday (January 15), his biggest accomplishment was about to be inaugurated. For the first time in the history of Dolores, a new building to serve as the Rural Health Unit, complete with a birthing facility, laboratory, dentist room, nurses quarters, and soon to be PhilHealth accredited has been put up.
Construction of the 1.5 Million Peso building plus 1 Million Pesos worth of Equipment were funded by the Department of Health through the Health Facility Enhancement Program. The Japan International Cooperation Agency also donated another 1 million peso worth of equipment which include a delivery table, examining table, recovery bed, blood pressure apparatus for adult and pediatrics, resuscitation bags for adult and newborn, gooseneck lamp, an air conditioner and a generator among others.
Assisted by Dr. Castelo, SB Lito Cortez, SB Sesy Seares, PHO EPI Coordinator Tita Turqueza, and Rev. Fr. Emilio Cortez, Mayor JR Seares performed the ceremonial Ribbon Cutting. In his message, he credited the carpenters and the engineers who have tirelessly given all their effort since construction began Mid-October last year. He expressed confidence in the RHU continuing to become more productive and that additional funding coming from the PhilHealth’s Capitation Fees will be arriving for the RHU once the RHU acquires its Philhealth Accreditation.
Rev. Fr. Emilio Cortez performed the Spiritual Blessing of the building through prayer and sprinkling of Holy Water.
Pics of the Event can be found at our Facebook Page.
AKO Training by PhilHealth Conducted, JICA main sponsors
For some reason, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) really loves Abra. They have been putting up projects in different municipalities, sponsoring seminars, trainings, and workshops for our doctors, nurses, and midwives, all geared towards uplifting the health system and the health status of the people.
This time, JICA partnered with the Philippine Health Insurance Company (PhilHealth) to train Barangay Kagawads, Barangay Health Workers and other Focal Persons who are in constant interaction with the community to serve as Advocate of Knowledge Officers (AKO).
The goal is for the members to be informed of their benefits, registration, contribution and availment procedures. However, the corporation’s human resource would not suffice to reach out to the millions of people it covers. With trained AKO Officers, the information is available within the community.
The training will equip participants with the right amount of information needed to assist members, beneficiaries and even potential members in navigating their way thru PhilHealth’s membership programs and benefits.
Pictures of the Event can be found at our Facebook Page.
PhilHealth MOVES to Empower Dolores
Over the past few years, the majority of the Health Care System of the nation has depended largely on the Philippine Health Insurance System (PhilHealth). For the people of Dolores,Abra, acquiring a free membership means a helping hand in times of need. But since the PhilHealth Office in Bangued is at least 100 pesos worth of commuter’s money from Dolores, majority of the members are bound to cram on the day they need PhilHealth’s help i.e. when someone is already in the hospital.
By bringing Philhealth Representatives to the far municipalities like Dolores, the PhilHealth Mobile Orientation Validation and Enrollment Scheme (PhilHealth MOVES) aims to empower every member of PhilHealth with the Health Care Benefits they deserve, long before hospitalization arrives.
This morning, PhilHealth MOVES reached Dolores with the arrival of a 5 man team who conducted lectures and open fora at the Dolores Civic Center where The Philhealth Representatives clarified a number of issues and concerns from the audience. They also assisted members in updating and correcting their PhilHealth Membership Information, which is vital to the process of claiming PhilHealth Benefits.
599 members also received new PhilHealth Identification Cards made of Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) which were handed out by Dolores Officials headed by Mayor JR Seares. In his speech, the Mayor emphasized the importance of PhilHealth to the people of Dolores and that the new Rural Health Unit, one of only six in the entire province of Abra, will be PhilHealth accredited once it is put up.
Photos of the Event can be found at our Facebook Page
