THE city government created the Health Facility Development Unit (HFDU) under the City Health Office (CHO) through Executive Order (EO) No. 46, Series of 2022, issued on September 21.
EO 46, signed by Mayor Sebastian “Baste” Duterte, cited Article II, Section 15 of the 1987 Constitution, which states that “the State shall protect and promote the right to health of the people and instill health consciousness among them” and Article XIII, Section 11 of the 1987 Constitution, which provides that “the State shall adopt an integrated and comprehensive approach to health development which shall endeavor to make essential goods, health and other social services available to all the people at affordable cost. There shall be a priority for the needs of the underprivileged sick, elderly, disabled, women, and children. The State shall endeavor to provide free medical care to paupers.”
Section 3.1b of Republic Act No. 11223, also known as the Universal Health Care Law, also seeks to “ensure that all Filipinos are guaranteed equitable access to quality and affordable health care goods and services and protected against financial risk.”
The new EO also cited Section 4 of EO No. 138 s. 2021 – Full Devolution of Certain Functions of the Executive Branch to Local Governments, Creation of a Committee on Devolution and for other purposes issued by the Office of the President states that the
functions, services, and facilities which shall be fully devolved from the National Government (NG) to the Local Government Units (LGUs) no later than the end of FY 2024, shall include those indicated under Section 17 of RA No. 7160 and other existing laws which subsequently devolved of the NG to LGUS.
Section 5 of the same EO states that the national government agencies (NGAs) concerned and all LGUs shall prepare their respective devolution transition plans (DTPs) which conform to the guidelines to be jointly issued by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) and the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG).
The Department of Health Devolution Transition Plan (DOH DTP) 2022-2024, approved by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) on March 24, 2022, states that the Health Facilities Enhancement Program (HFEP) will be gradually and partially devolved by the calendar year 2022 based on the National Allocation Framework in the Philippine Health Facility Development Plan (PHFDP) 2020-2040.
Based on DOH DTP 2022-2024, HFEP will re-devolve the functions to Category 4 (high capacity, low gap) provinces and cities.
Davao City is identified as Category 4 (high capacity, low gap) based on the National Allocation Framework, a category based on capacity parameters such as resources of the local government, presence of Geographically Isolated and Disadvantaged Areas (GIDA) as classified by the Department of Health (DOH), and the level of household income.
EO 46 states that the HFDU will have five sub-units: Health Facilities and Infrastructure Development (HFID), Health Facility Maintenance (HFM), Health Facility Licensing and Accreditation, and Health and Medical Equipment Maintenance (HMEM). Each subunit has its set of functions.
The HFDU is mandated to develop plans, programs, projects, and strategies related to health facility development, planning, operation, and maintenance.
Its specific functions include plan development for health facility management and health integration of health facilities at all levels of health care including primary care, laboratories, hospitals, treatment and rehabilitation centers under the CHO, and support facilities such as water treatment stations, waste management facilities, and the like; ensure that all CHO health facilities are licensed and accredited accordingly by the related regulatory bodies; design, manage and maintain health facilities and equipment and health support facilities; develop a Health Facility Development Plan in alignment with the Philippine Health Facility Development Plan (PHFDP), Local Investment Plan for
Health, and based on the needs of the Health Care Provider Networks within Davao City.
The budgetary allocation for personnel, training, planning, construction and maintenance of facilities, fixtures, medical equipment, and other incidental expenses shall be appropriated from the city’s Annual/Supplemental Budget to finance HFDU’s daily operations and in the fulfillment of the tasks and functions.
Full-time HFDU personnel shall be sourced from the regular CHO staff excluding engineers and architects.
Here is the link of the full provisions of EO 46, Series of 2022 https://www.davaocity.gov.ph/transparency/executive-orders/2022-2/. CIO
