In pursuit of the objectives of Universal Health Care or "Kalusugang Pangkalahatan (KP)", as defined in Administrative Order No. 2010-0036 (The Aquino Health Agenda: Achieving Universal Health Care for All Filipino), the Department has committed to engage in more Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) specifically to enable physical improvements in government health facilities. PPPs have also been looked upon by no less than the President of the Republic as a key national development instrument, the furtherance of which is therefore a priority of all government agencies, including the Department of Health.
The private sector is deemed to have intrinsically better capabilities in some areas, such as more timely financing operational efficiency, highly-responsive services, and even dominant market presence. If optimally harnessed, more cooperative undertakings with the private sector may help significantly address some of the constraints and inefficiencies inherent in public-only prevision of health services.
The Philippine government has long recognized the advantage of adopting PPPs in public sector undertakings, especially for large-stale priority infrastructure developments. The mechanisms for the latter had been kid out in the Republic Act 7718, otherwise known as the Amended BOT Law. While the latter account for several possible variants of PPPs, the included listing is still not exhaustive-Separate guidelines for Joint Ventures, another PPP modality, have been drawn up by the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA).
The local PPP experiences in the health sector have thus far been varied. While many such endeavors have been documented, most of these have been found to be non-contractual in nature (with consequent minimal accountabilities and performance references), and many have been unsustainable. It also remains to be determined if existing and upcoming PPPs in health substantially address the fundamental UHC goal of enhanced access to health care for the country's poor. All these assume greater significance in the light of the reported United Nation's consideration of the Philippines as the Center of Excellence for PPPs in Health.
It is apparent from the foregoing that while the national policy on PPPs has been set, much remains to be clearly delineated and effectively adapted for health services. This Administrative Order has therefore been crafted in order to better define the applicability and prioritization of the relevant policies, streamline their implementation, and enable the continuing evaluation of PPPs in the health sector.