Group photo with the Governor and Vice Mayor of Occidental Mindoro and staff from the Heart-Heart Foundation Philippines Branch
The Heart-Heart Foundation Philippines Branch has consistently worked to
guarantee the health rights of the Mangyan people and create a safe environment for Mangyan women to give birth.
Resolution officially designating the ‘IP-Friendly Hospitals
As a result of these efforts, in 2025, seven government hospitals
within the province, including the Abra de Ilog Municipal Hospital, were officially designated as ‘IP-Friendly Hospitals’
(Indigenous Peoples-Friendly Hospitals) by the Provincial Government of Occidental Mindoro.
This designation is profoundly significant, as it marks the institutionalization
of the Mangyan-friendly medical environment—established through this project—
across the entire public healthcare system of the provincial government, moving beyond the level of individual hospitals.
In the past, Mangyan women in the Abra de Ilog region avoided visiting hospitals,
not only due to geographical challenges but also because of the
cultural barriers and feelings of isolation they experienced in hospital environments centered around the Tagalog people.
Consequently, they remained in a blind spot for healthcare, often resorting to repeated home births in unsanitary conditions.
However, this designation has laid the foundation for the Mangyan people
to be officially integrated into the public healthcare system.
This will serve as a crucial base for enhancing health equity and fostering the inclusion of vulnerable groups who previously
faced difficulties accessing medical services due to geographical and cultural constraints.
View of the Mangyan-specialized delivery room and halfway house
In the first year of the project (2024),
the Heart-Heart Foundation Philippines Branch successfully established a Mangyan-specialized delivery room capable
of providing Basic Emergency Obstetric and Newborn Care (BEmONC) services,
along with a halfway house to ensure a safe stay for expectant mothers.
In the second year (2025), the focus shifted toward activating these facilities
to ensure that this infrastructure translates into tangible benefits,
creating an environment where more Mangyan mothers can access maternal and child health services.
With this official designation as an "IP-Friendly Hospital," the Heart-Heart Foundation
hopes that hospital directors, local medical staff, and Barangay Health Workers (BHWs)
will develop a deeper sense of responsibility and ownership in providing services tailored to the Mangyan people.
Moving forward, the ‘IP-Friendly Hospitals’ will implement concrete operational plans
to substantially improve medical accessibility for the Mangyan people.
First, we plan to gradually expand the ‘Mangyan Prenatal Priority Days,’ currently held once a month, to one or two days a week.
This will create an environment where expectant mothers can receive prompt and comfortable medical care without long waiting times.
In addition, we will actively participate in hospital budget planning meetings to continue providing policy recommendations.
Our goal is to ensure stable provincial budget allocations for essential needs,
such as additional manpower and the operating costs of the halfway houses.
To ensure that the Mangyan community can enjoy safe medical services
without discrimination as members of society and protect their own health rights,
the Heart-Heart Foundation Philippines Branch will continue to move forward
with local partners, dreaming of a sustainable health ecosystem.
<"Project for Promoting the Rights of the Mangyan People through Enhanced Maternal and Child Health
in Abra de Ilog, Occidental Mindoro, Philippines (2024–2026)," as part of the Civil Society Partnership Program of the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA).>
