By Leonardo Micua
Mayor Belen—P200 million funding for MCH secured
Mayor Belen Fernandez announced that the ₱200 million fund allocated for building the Maternity and Children’s Hospital has been secured after a Stakeholders Meeting on the Health Facility Enhancement Program at Sela Vie Resort in San Ildefonso, Ilocos Sur.
In addition to the funding for the MCH hospital, a separate ₱15 million has been secured to support Phase 2 of the Super Family Health Clinic in Barangay Malued, Fernandez said.
These projects aim to provide safer pregnancies, healthier children, and quicker, more accessible healthcare for every Dagupeño family.
Fernandez was accompanied by Dagupan City Health Officer Dr. Julia de Venecia at the meeting.
Other towns and cities across Pangasinan, Ilocos Sur, Ilocos Norte, and La Union also received funding to establish and improve their existing health facilities, Fernandez added.
Dr. Paula Paz Sydiongco, regional health director of Region 1, led the Stakeholders Meeting on the Health Facility Enhancement Program 2026.
Fernandez stated that the 2026 health facility enhancement program will ensure better and more affordable health services for all Filipinos.
The mayor expressesd her gratitude to Fourth District Rep. Gina de Venecia, Abono Partylisty Rep. Robert Raymund Estrella and Agrarian Reform Secrtary Conrado Estrella for tne inclusion of the funding of P200 million for the constructionof MCH and the P15 million for the Super Family Health Clinic in Malued.
It was the second time that the funding for the MCH was included in the General Appropriations Act. The first time was in 2022, when P150 million was appropriated for the construction of the MCH.
But the P150 million was reverted back to the national treasury for the failure of the past sanggunian, then controlled by the opposition, to pass just a simple resolution authorizing Mayor Fernandez to sign a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA), in behalf of the city, with DOH.
Fernandez said this will not be the case again because she and Vice Mayor Bryan Kua have now a super majority in the Sangguniang Panglunsod.