COTABATO CITY - The government of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) is pushing for the intensified implementation of PhilHealth coverage in all its component provinces and cities, especially among their less fortunate constituents. ARMM Executive Secretary Naguib Sinarimbo said the regional Cabinet in its regular meeting here on August 10 passed two resolutions providing for a region-wide coverage of PhilHealth starting on the first day of next year. Sinarimbo said one of the resolutions exhorted local government units in Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi provinces and the cities of Marawi and Lamitan to enrol their constituents in the Philhealth and appropriate parts of their 2011 local fund for the sustenance of the health program coverage. He said the appropriations should cover the most vulnerable residents of the region, the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).
Acting ARMM Governor Ansaruddin Alonto-Adiong ordered the intensification of the PhilHealth coverage program amid reports that only one of every 50 residents in the region are covered by Philhealth services and/or similar programs. ARMM Health Secretary Dr. Kadil Sinolinding Jr. said his agency is targeting at least half a million constituents of the region to have PhilHealth coverage next year. The program needs P44 million to start the implementation and to fund the renewal of the 120,000 beneficiaries whose PhilHealth memberships will expire by the end of this year, Sinolinding said. Under the proposed intensified PhilHealth coverage, Sinolinding said, one member of the family needs to pay only P100 for the entire family to enjoy the benefits for a period of one year. "This is a health insurance for the whole family," Sinolinding said. Sinolinding said that thru PhilHealth, the DoH could sustain the continuity of the delivery of health services among the marginal sectors of the society.
This would also be the means by which constituents could stop going to their elected officials for assistance for medical concerns, Sinolinding said. At the weekly Tapatan sa ARMM media forum Wednesday, Sinolinding said that the national government is supportive of the regional government's health programs. He said the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) has approved 300 plantilla positions for midwives in ARMM for filling up next year. Sinolinding said the 300 midwives positions are a "big boost" to the operations of the DOH-ARMM, which presently has only 387 midwives serving 2,207 barangays in the region. At the media forum, DSWD Acting Secretary Pombaen Kader announced that her agency has submitted for validation 67,000 beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) for Philhealth coverage, which targets 93,000 beneficiaries for the program.
