BAGUIO CITY – Councilor Elaine Sembrano said that the City Council has approved on first reading a proposed ordinance mandating all the 128 barangays here to formulate their integrated short and medium-term health development plans as part of their annually submitted barangay development plans.
Sembrano, who authored the ordinance, said once approved, the barangay development plans will not be considered complete if there is no health development plan included in the submission.
In the proposed ordinance, the integrated barangay health development plan shall be consistent with the basic services and facilities that a barangay is mandated to provide. These are:
Infectious disease prevention and control, maternal and child health, prevention of non-communicable disease; adolescent health development; health of the elderly and environmental health and sanitation, barangay nutrition action plan;
Disaster prevention and response; including disease outbreak and epidemics; identification and maintenance of evacuation centers in case of calamities; purchase and maintenance of emergency transport vehicles or setting up of community-based emergency transportation facilities; construction, maintenance and repair of water and sewer systems as well as power and communication facilities;
Support for community health volunteers or teams; solid waste management which may include purchase of related equipment and facilities and identification or purchase of lots for the construction; and maintenance of barangay health stations and similar health facilities.
The barangays will be assisted by the City Health Services Office and the City Planning and Development Office in the crafting of their barangay plans to ensure that plans, programs, projects and activities are in harmony with the local and national health development agenda.
Under the proposal, barangay programs, projects and activities relative to health services and facilities that seek to be funded from the city’s Annual Investment Plan (AIP) or from the budget of the City Health Services Office must be stated in the integrated barangay health development plan.
The proposed ordinance explained that the general welfare clause of the Local Government Code provides that every local government unit shall exercise the power expressly granted, those necessarily implied therefrom as well as powers necessary, appropriate or incidental for its efficient and effective governance and those which are essential to the promotion of the public’s general welfare. PNA-northboundasia.com