After being chosen as one of the areas for the implementation of the Healthy Cities Initiative (HCI) of the Department of Health, the next step was to gain insights on how best to implement this project. Catbalogan City's HCI Technical Working Group (HCI-TWG) went to the City of Maasin for this particular purpose.
City Mayor Coefredo Uy led the Catbalogan TWG in the three-day trip which included a series of site visits to the places in Maasin which have already received praises by way of the DOH-initiated project. The visits were meant to give Catbalogan a typical picture of what a healthy city would look like.
The Catbalogan TWG's itinerary included a visit to Brgy. San Jose, the 2007 1st placer in the healthy barangay category, which boasts of a low malnutrition rate, a toilet sanitation rate of about 90-100% and a proper waste disposal system. They also visited the residence of the Gotardo family in Mantahan, Maasin City, which was the 2007 winner for the healthy home category; Villa Romana, the 2007 winner for healthy penssione category. Coconut Beach Resort in Brgy. Ibarra, the 2006 winner for the Healthy Beach Resort Category and St. Joseph College, the 2005 Healthy School winner were also among the sites that were visited. Another site that was visited was the 2005 Healthy School winner St. Joseph College, which features is the Botika ng Barangay right inside its own campus.
Each of the places that were visited were meant to embody the World Health Organization's concept of health as pertaining to the combined well-being of the social, economic and physical environments. The site visits were complimented with a briefing/workshop on the necessary procedures to lay the groundwork for the full implementation of HCI. Among those tackled in the session were the composition, duties and responsibilities of the TWG as well as the legislative and administrative aspect of the project implementation.
While Maasin City is a veteran of the HCI, having received awards as early as 2005, Catbalogan is a newcomer. One of the initial steps that it has taken as a project site was to choose 4 barangays that will serve as its pilot areas. These barangays are Cabugawan, Payao, Silanga and Socorro. Although these four mentioned barangays will serve as models, programs and projects to be implemented as part of the project will not be limited to them.
For his part, Maasin City Mayor Maloney Samaco praised Mayor Uy for his active involvement even in the starting phase of the project. According to Samaco, the Mayor Tekwa's presence is a positive indicator that the project will push through and succeed.
At present, the TWG would still have to discuss among themselves which of the Maasin best practices can be replicated in Catbalogan City. Budget allocations, trainings and ammendment of local ordinances are among the things that the group has to consider in doing this.