Kalinga Gov. Edduba completes UP Fellowship Program on public health and governance

Tabuk City, Kalinga – Displaying exceptional dedication to strengthening public health and governance, Governor James Edduba is among the few governors in the Philippines who recently completed the two-year Roberto R. Romulo Fellowship Program for Public Health Leadership and Governance.

The fellowship is a two-year program of the University of the Philippines which includes ‘intensive workshops, lectures, coaching, mentoring, and deep dives.’

On March 14, Edduba completed the course along with Kalinga Provincial Health Officer, Dr. Ed Tandingan. The governor, together with the other inaugural fellows, was honored at the event. During the open forum, Edduba emphasized the importance of small interventions – prenatal check-ups, vaccination, and efficient referral, in saving lives and creating lasting transformation in the communities in Kalinga. 

During his talk, Edduba also mentioned some of the health programs initiated by the Kalinga PLGU such as the CHAT or the Community Health Action Team at the barangay level and the health facilities and programs brought down to the communities through the ELCAC program of the government and the DSWD.

The governor further shared that 33% of the budget of the Kalinga PLGU is going to health programs, citing it is beyond the 21-22% being allotted by other provinces in the country to their health initiatives. It is for this reason that the provincial government is pushing for the re-nationalization of the Kalinga Provincial Hospital to save resources for the other district hospitals across the province.

“Kung sana ma-renationalize itong KPH, malaki yung ma-save namin, about P250 – 300 million, and we can use this to improve yung district hospitals na anim. I say this because I think nationally, all the other provinces spend about an average of 21 – 22%, but for us we are spending about 33% of our budget to health. It would be a big help talaga sa amin kung sana ma-renationalize ito,” he expressed.

After having completed the two-year program, meantime, Governor Edduba thanked the UP College of Public Health for the learning and the chance to meet well-known advocates of public health. He emphasized that: “Nu nasalun-at ti maysa a probinsiya, naprogreso met ti tattao na.”