SABANGAN, Mountain Province – The SABATA Inter-Local Health Zone was an inter-LGU cooperation established to better protect the public or collective health of the communities of Sabangan, Bauko and Tadian, assure the constituents’ access to a range of services necessary to meet the health care needs of the populace, and to manage their limited resources for health more efficiently and equitably.
In consonance with the Health Covenant of 1999 and Presidential Executive Order No. 205, s.2000, then municipal mayors Jupiter C. Dominguez of Sabangan, Simon Sr. C. Lacwasan of Bauko, and Constito S. Masweng of Tadian initiated efforts from 2004 to 2007 to integrate their common health priorities into an inter-zonal health plan the two levels of health care, namely: Referral/District hospital; and Identified set of health centers/stations with catchment populations. Eventually, these efforts were institutionalized through memoranda of agreements in 2008 and 2009, respectively.
In 2013, the program was further enhanced and named as “Sabata Health Og-ogbo”. Today, two municipalities namely Barlig, Mountain Province and Tubo, Abra are included as an expansion of the health endeavor.
Thus, the “SABATA-BATU HEALTH OG-OGBO” came into existence as a mutual commitment to help sustain the health conditions of the constituents of the member-municipalities.
The institutionalization of the Sabata inter-local health zone and its eventual expansion only shows that the local officials of the concerned municipalities have put premium on the importance of giving the people quality health care services for them to remain healthy and sustain their productivity that will contribute in eventually uplifting their status in life.
It is a living testament that elected officials should not only concentrate in facilitating the implementation of infrastructure projects but also balance the same with the provision of quality basic services that will have a holistic approach in the growth and development of remote communities where health is important thereby aligning themselves to the proven saying that health is wealth.