Cebu LGUs meet repooling health funds

CEBU, Philippines — Forty-three of Cebu’s 50 local government units (LGUs) have begun taking steps toward integrating their health services under a province-wide system, a move that could also pave the way for the pooling of health funds through the Special Health Fund (SHF).

The 43 mayors, together with their municipal health officers, convened at the Cebu Provincial Capitol on Monday, September 7, for an information session on the Universal Health Care (UHC) Act and the proposed inter-LGU agreement that will serve as the framework for the integration.

The meeting was intended to help local chief executives and health officials understand what integration entails, including how the SHF could be used once LGUs become part of the province-wide health system.

Cebu Governor Pamela Baricuatro is pushing for the integration, saying residents shouldn’t receive different standards of healthcare simply because they live in different parts of the province.

“Wherever a Cebuano lives in the province, whether it’s in a city or municipality, he or she should have access to the same quality of healthcare,” said Baricuatro.

She said the initiative should go beyond mere compliance with Republic Act No. 11223, or the UHC Act, and instead become a shared responsibility among the Province, cities and municipalities.

Pooling resources

One of the major components discussed during the meeting was the SHF, which allows participating LGUs to pool and manage health resources for population-based and individual healthcare services, operational requirements, capital investments, and the hiring and incentivizing of health workers.

Public Health Consultant Dr. Nikki Catalan, who discussed the importance of the integration, said the SHF was among the key matters that needed to be explained to the LGUs because it would follow once they are integrated into the province-wide health system.

She said the pooling of resources could make it easier for the province and participating LGUs to access and manage additional funding from national government agencies, nongovernment organizations and other sources.

“Because once it's pooled, it's easier if there's national funding, NGO funding, additional funding --they're already fully organized,” Catalan said.

She cited Bohol as an example of a province that has long implemented health system integration, noting that Cebu is still behind in this area.

Catalan said having an organized and integrated system could allow additional funds to be downloaded to the province-wide health system, which could then be used to augment healthcare services.

Catalan said Cebu’s move toward integration has taken about a year, with the proposed Inter-LGU Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) now serving as a crucial step in advancing the province’s UHC implementation.

“We need this inter-LGU MOA for our maturity level in UHC implementation,” she said.

She described the lack of integration as a “choke point” preventing Cebu from moving forward in certain aspects of UHC implementation.

The proposed MOA will provide the framework for participating LGUs to become part of the Cebu Province-Wide Health System.

As of Monday, 18 municipalities had already passed resolutions authorizing their mayors to sign the agreement, while several others were working on securing authorization from their respective Sanggunians.

Catalan said the majority of the LGUs present during the meeting were positive about the proposal and were expected to work on the necessary resolutions.

Health data analyst and Coordinator for the Cebu Provincial Health Office Dr. Miguel Tristan Rebalde explained that integration essentially means LGUs working together to address health needs that may be difficult for one municipality to handle on its own.

“For example, integration basically means that the LGUs will work together for health, that's it in a nutshell,” Rebalde said.

He cited ambulance availability as a practical example.

If a municipality such as Tuburan lacks enough ambulances to transport patients, the municipality may have to seek assistance either from its mayor or the provincial government, with the expense eventually shouldered by either the municipal or provincial government.

But under an integrated system, neighboring LGUs could identify the need together and determine how their resources could be pooled to address it.

Rebalde said municipalities such as Tuburan, Pinamungajan, and Balamban could coordinate their resources if they belong to the same healthcare provider network and agree that ambulance availability is a shared problem.

“They can then pool that fund together so that some funds can be exchanged for other funds,” Rebalde said.

The proposed province-wide system is expected to link municipal health centers, provincial and district hospitals and other healthcare providers into a coordinated network, with the goal of improving primary care, referrals, financing, patient navigation, health information systems and continuity of care.

The meeting also covered PhilHealth’s Yaman ng Kalusugan (YAKAP) program, Cebu’s current Local Health System Maturity Level and the key provisions of the UHC Act.

PhilHealth Regional Office-7 Acting Regional Vice President Jenet Ann Advincula and DOH-Central Visayas officials served as resource speakers.

PhilHealth’s Dr. Kier Tamparong of the Accreditation and Quality Assurance Section also presented updated YAKAP registration data and discussed the program’s enhanced primary care services, including consultations, health-risk assessments, selected laboratory tests, cancer screening, and essential medicines through accredited YAKAP clinics.

The gathering builds on a June 2026 Provincial Health Board resolution encouraging Cebu’s municipalities and component cities to participate in province-wide health-system integration.

For the governor, the long-term goal is a unified system that can provide more equitable healthcare access across the province.

“My dream, as governor, is for the whole province of Cebu to have the best kind of healthcare it deserves,” Baricuatro said. — (FREEMAN)