Mayors threaten to file TRO vs Universal Health Care

MANILA, Philippines — City and municipal mayors have threatened to seek a temporary restraining order (TRO) against the implementation of the Universal Health Care (UHC) program due to misgivings on turning over health workers and facilities to provincial governments, the Department of Health (DOH) said.

Mar Wynn Bello, acting director of the DOH’s Bureau of International Cooperation, said a study conducted by his agency showed 63 percent of mayors are opposing a provision in the UHC Act that requires the integration of local health systems into a province-wide and city-wide health system.

“Not all local government units will be willing to give up their health workers and health facilities to the provincial level. They are resisting the integration. Baka ma-TRO ang batas,” Bello said in a media forum.

He is referring to Chapter 5, Section 19 of Republic Act 11223 or the UHC Act which states that the Provincial and City Health Boards shall oversee and coordinate the “integration of health services for province-wide and city-wide health systems, to be composed of municipal and component city health systems, city-wide health systems in highly urbanized and independent component cities, respectively.”

This also provides that the Provincial and City Health Boards shall manage the Special Health Fund and exercise administrative and technical supervision over health facilities and human resources within their territorial jurisdiction.

This came as the DOH announced that the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) of the UHC law may come out in early October as the consultations are now on the final stretch.

Bello said the formulation of the IRR is almost complete and they hope to release it next week.  

The health official explained that the mayors opposed to the integration are invoking the Local Government Code of 1991, which provides for the devolution of health services to local government units. 

Local officials are opposing the move mainly due to the possibility of losing direct supervision over health facilities.

“It’s really political. Properties and people are sources of power, if you will be losing them, you will be losing power,” he added.