SU trains Bohol municipal leaders to improve healthcare systems

Asst. Prof. Alvyn Klein Mana-ay, a faculty member of the Silliman University (SU) Nutrition and Dietetics Department, facilitates a dialogue on Multi-Stakeholder Processes during the Bridging Leadership training of the Municipal Leadership and Governance Program (MLGP).

The Silliman University Government Affairs (SUGA) Center trained mayors, municipal health officers and development management officers in Bohol to improve healthcare systems in their communities, last Nov. 19-22 as part of the Center’s Municipal Leadership and Governance Program (MLGP).

SUGA Center, under the directorship of Dr. Michele A. Naranjo, led the four-day interactive Bridging Leadership training conducted at the KEW Hotel in Tagbilaran City, Bohol, which was attended by 14 mayors and 14 municipal health officers and development management officers.

Asst. Prof. Osel Melad of the SU College of Nursing and Asst. Prof. Myla Sardan of the College of Business Administration doing the tandem facilitation during the MLGP Bridging Leadership training.

The training was the first module under the MLGP’s third cycle.

Naranjo said the mayors who attended the training are now having their practicum before they begin MLGP’s second module.

Mayors and municipal health officers in Bohol attend the MLGP Bridging Leadership training of SU and the Department of Health (DOH) Region 7.

“MLGP is one of the program components of the Health Leadership and Governance Program, a [partnership] between SU and the Department of Health (DOH-Region 7) where selected mayors and municipal health officers or doctors are trained on leadership and governance in order to deploy leadership acts in improving their health systems for better health outcomes,” said Naranjo.

SUGA Center spearheads the MLGP in the provinces of Bohol and Negros Oriental.

Naranjo said that the MLGP has been enhanced since it was first conducted, to ensure that participating local government units contribute to the achievement of the DOH’s Primary Health Agenda, FOURmula ONE for Health framework, Universal Health Care law, and the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.

(L-R) Dr. Michele A. Naranjo, Silliman University Government Affairs (SUGA) Center director, with Carmen Mayor Ricardo Francisco A. Toribio, a resource speaker during the training, and Myra Leonora Salvaleon.

“From module 1 up to module 3 [within] 18 months [of] training, I learned and I [understood] the real health situation of our municipality. We were taught by the good resource speakers from Silliman University on how to become ‘bridging leaders.’ I am, and will always be forever grateful for the opportunity,” said Mayor Ricardo Francisco A. Toribio of Carmen, Bohol, a resource speaker during the training who shared his experience as a participant of MLGP last year.

For Negros Oriental, Naranjo said the MLGP will conduct its first module by January 2020.

14 mayors in Bohol signed the MLGP contract with DOH Region 7 Director Jaime S. Bernadas.

Selected Bohol mayors during the Final Selection Workshop with Dr. Bernadas, DOH Region 7 Director; Dr. Nelner Omus, DOH Health Leadership and Governance Program (HLGP) Coordinator; and Dr. Naranjo, SUGA Center director.

The Bohol mayors who completed the MLGP 1 training with the DOH-HLGP Team headed by Dr. Omus and resource persons from SU headed by Dr. Naranjo.