The Ateneo School of Government (ASoG), through its public policy think tank Ateneo Policy Center, paid a courtesy call to Mayor Sitti Djalia Turabin-Hataman as the city was chosen as one of the pilot sites for the initiative Maximizing Local Government Fiscal Performance of Health Budget.
The project, supported by the Unilab Center for Health Policy and endorsed by the Department of Budget and Management, seeks to strengthen local government units’ capacity to strategically plan, allocate, and utilize health budgets in ways that are responsive to community needs.
Leading the ASoG delegation was Senior Research Fellow and Team Leader Dr. Marie Eufemia Yap, together with Deputy Team Lead and Funds Flow Mapping Expert Dr. Kristine de Ramos-Afuang, Co-Creation and Design Training Specialist Imee Jane Manalili, Research and Training Assistant Alfred Antoni Andrius Armada, Research Assistant and program Coordinator Melissa Louise Prieto and Local Consultant Omaima Eseng. Also present during the engagement were Vice Mayor Ar-Jhemar Ajibon and Councilor Al-Ameen Camlian, City Health Officer Dr. Mohrein Ismael VI as well as SAO Robert Arseña, who joined Mayor Turabin-Hataman in welcoming the ASoG team and expressing the city government’s support for the initiative.
During the meeting, the team introduced the project’s framework, highlighting its focus on design thinking workshops that will bring together stakeholders from health, budget, and planning offices. These workshops aim to co-create practical and context-specific solutions to persistent fiscal management challenges, ultimately improving health service delivery and outcomes for the people of Isabela City.
Mayor Turabin-Hataman welcomed the initiative, recognizing it as an opportunity to further strengthen the city’s health systems and ensure that public funds are efficiently utilized for the benefit of her constituents. (Words by SJ Asakil/Photos by M. Santos, CIO)
