Research Agenda Program

The Philippine Council for Health Research and Development (DOST-PCHRD) and Department of Health (DOH) invite interested Filipino researchers to submit proposals for the project entitled “Gains, Pitfalls, and Ways Forward: LGU Health Service Delivery in the Context of the Mandanas-Garcia Ruling Implementation” under the 2023 Advancing Health Through Evidence Assisted Decision with Health Policy and System Research (AHEAD-HPSR) Program.

I. Background and Rationale

The Supreme Court of the Philippines, through its Mandanas Ruling in July 2018, declared that local government units are entitled to get more revenues coming from national taxes apart from those they regularly receive from Bureau of Internal Revenue collections. With this development, it is expected that LGUs will have a 55% increase in their budget beginning 2022. The Mandanas Ruling is hoped to “provide more opportunities for improving service delivery through enhanced decentralization”. This also allows equitable allocation of financial resources among LGUs, especially those in geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas.

However, the opportunities presented by the Mandanas Ruling in improving service delivery provision, which includes the health sector, can only be enjoyed when LGUs prioritize the health of the people. A bill was passed in the House of Congress in June 2021 which will mandate LGUs (from barangays to provinces) to allocate at least 10% of IRA for health services.

The World Bank has provided recommendations in order for LGUs to be able to reap the benefits of the said ruling, namely, an increase in the LGU budget for COVID-19 response, capacity building support to improve service delivery, support to poor local governments that have limited capacity and resources, and encouragement to the public to participate in LGUs’ budgeting process and to be cognizant of the LGUs’ service delivery provision.

This study intends to look into the early implementation of the Mandanas Ruling in a few selected municipalities in the Philippines. The purpose for this is to understand the challenges and opportunities that poorer LGUs experience as a result of the implementation of the ruling.

II. Objectives

• To assess the health care service provisions in the context of the Mandanas Ruling Implementation. Specifically:
• To determine the effects on health care service delivery from 2020 to 2023.
• To determine the challenges experienced by healthcare providers that are attributable to the increase in budget allocation for health.

To determine changes that were made as a result of the increase in health budget in terms of the following building blocks of health:

• Service delivery
• Health workforce
• Health information system
• Access to essential medicines
• Financing
• Leadership/Governance

To determine improvement in health service provision between year and 2023 in terms of the following indicators (DOH Scorecard for LGUs):

• Percentage of the LGU budget allocated for health
• Presence of an integrated health system
• Complete local investment plan for health
• Functional local health board
• Rural Health Unit to population ratio
• Percentage of national health policies translated into local ordinances
• Modern Contraceptive Prevalence Rate
• Adolescent Birth Rate
• Percentage of Fully Immunized Children
• Percentage of adults 20 years and above who were risk assessed using PhilPen protocols
• TB Case Notification Rate
• TB Treatment Success Rate
• Prevalence of stunting among under 5 children

III. Suggested Methodology

The research team shall undertake the minimum methodological approach needed for the conduct of this study. Both qualitative and quantitative methods may be implemented as deemed appropriate and necessary by the project team. They shall also determine the appropriate study sites, for final approval of the end-users.

IV. Project Duration

The maximum project duration is five (5) months from the signing of the Memorandum of Agreement.

Interested Institutions, organizations, and researchers are invited to submit a full proposal until 28 JUNE 2024. Kindly register as a proponent @ http://projects.pchrd.dost.gov.ph/index.php/register and attach the following requirements:

Main Proposal
Letter of Intent
Curriculum Vitae of Lead Proponent (Principal Investigator/Project Leader)
Profile of the Institution
For queries, contact Ms. Claridel H. Sanchez of the Philippine Council for Health Research and Development (PCHRD) at chsanchez@pchrd.dost.gov.ph.