THE Department of Health (DOH) will launch the “Bantay Super Health” mechanism on Monday, October 20, 2025, and said it will welcome anonymous reports on non-operational health centers.
In a radio interview, DOH Spokesperson Albert Domingo said even anonymous reports from citizens regarding “ghost” health centers will be accepted.
“It will be helpful if those passing by don’t know that the super health center is already being photographed,” Domingo said.
“That’s important because we can act on it officially once it’s sent to us anonymously,” he added.
On Monday, the DOH is set to launch “Bantay Super Health,” a mechanism similar to the “Sumbong sa Pangulo” initiative.
“We’re very specific... That’s why it’s called Bantay Super Health,” Domingo said.
The health official said the department will create an email address specifically for reports on non-operational health centers.
Domingo added that the DOH will also open a social media channel that will allow the public to help locate non-operational health centers.
300 ‘ghost’ health centers
In its report to the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI), the DOH said there have been 878 super health centers funded by the agency’s Health Facility Enhancement Program (HFEP) since 2021.
Of the total, 300 were found to be non-operational, while 196 are operational.
Seventeen are partially operational, while 365 are still in various stages of construction.
Among the non-operational health centers, Domingo said most were projects implemented by local government units (LGUs) or the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).
This is in contrast to those that were fully implemented by the DOH, he said.
“In our preliminary analysis, if the DOH is the implementing agency, chances are the facility is operational because execution is bottom-up. It’s planned with the LGU, and we ensure the land title is clean and under the government’s name. From the moment the foundation is laid until completion, it’s properly staffed,” Domingo said.
“We observed that many of the non-operational facilities were implemented either by the DPWH or the LGUs. Our hypothesis is that the lack of or poor planning leads to non-operational centers,” he added. (Anton Banal/SunStar Philippines)