In-person workshops and meetings have been integral to Las Piñas’ success.
Once a quiet fishing village, Las Piñas City in the Philippines has grown into a vibrant urban hub in southern Metro Manila, with expanding residential communities, commercial centers, and industrial zones. By 2025, its population had reached 628,652, prompting the city to strengthen services in healthcare, education, housing, and employment. Among its residents, 107,113 adolescents aged 10-19 represent both a significant opportunity and a critical challenge.
Despite strong infrastructure – Las Piñas has 30 health centers across 20 barangays accredited as Level 1 Adolescent Friendly Health Facilities, along with three teen centers, a social hygiene clinic, and a Local Government Unit (LGU) birthing clinic – a major gap remained. Stakeholders working on adolescent health operated in isolation, resulting in overlapping services, inefficiencies, and a disjointed system. Adolescents were left navigating a maze of programs with no clear access to comprehensive care.
City reports revealed a concerning trend: the adolescent birth rate (ABR) increased from 16 per 1,000 in 2021 to 18 in 2022. Reported pregnancies consistently outnumbered live births, suggesting many adolescents gave birth elsewhere or avoided formal care. This not only skewed the data but highlighted the lack of safe, supportive environments for young mothers. Dr. Justine Hernandez of the city’s Adolescent Health and Development Program shared:
Many pregnant adolescents, fearing stigma and judgment, sought to give birth outside the city or concealed their pregnancies entirely, often delivering in distant provinces.”
The modern contraceptive prevalence rate (mCPR) in 2022 was only 12%, far below the national target of 30%. Without a unified system, young people remained at risk for preventable health and social issues.
Three major gaps demanded attention:
- Lack of a Unifying Policy: Without a formal framework, diverse agencies worked without shared direction or priorities for adolescent health.
- Absence of Leadership: There was no single advocate responsible for driving coordinated efforts, leaving the system adrift.
- No Referral Mechanism: Services across health, education, and social welfare were disconnected, making it hard for adolescents to receive holistic support.
Addressing these issues was essential to securing the city’s future.
TCI Partnership Sparks Change
A joint hearing with the KADA Network.
In 2023, Las Piñas joined The Challenge Initiative (TCI), which provided the tools and technical assistance needed to scale high-impact interventions and create lasting change.
Under the leadership of Mayor Imelda Aguilar and City Health Officer Dr. Juliana Gonzalez, the city formed a City Leadership Team (CLT). This multisectoral coalition included the City Health Office, Department of Education, City Social Welfare and Development, Philippine National Police, Local Youth Development Office, Public Employment Service Office, and Sangguniang Kabataan. These agencies united around the shared understanding that adolescent health touches every sector, laying the foundation for systemic transformation.
Launching the ISDN
With this momentum, Las Piñas introduced a game-changing strategy: the creation of the Information and Service Delivery Network (ISDN) for adolescents. More than a directory, ISDN aimed to weave fragmented services into a coordinated care system.
By 2024, the city sought to standardize service protocols and develop a referral algorithm linking institutions into a single, functional network. This framework enabled seamless collaboration between health, education, social welfare, and security sectors. Empowering network members through training ensured frontline workers could effectively screen cases and refer adolescents to appropriate services.
The development of the ISDN unfolded through a design aimed at building a robust and responsive system from the ground up:
An Adolescent Case Management Conference was held to address issues identified at the community level.
- Building the Foundation for Integration: The city began by mapping all adolescent-serving organizations and assessing service delivery points to identify gaps, breakdowns, and referral patterns, creating a data-informed basis for coordination.
- Aligning for Adolescent-Centered Systems: A December 2023 workshop facilitated by the Commission on Population and Development brought together all sectors. Partners co-developed standardized referral processes and data-sharing mechanisms, creating a common language for action.
- Equipping the First Line of Support: Key staff were trained on standardized tools and a functional referral algorithm. Data systems were also introduced to track referrals and ensure accountability across sectors.
- Strengthening Synergy for Adolescent Care: To institutionalize these efforts, Las Piñas partnered with the Department of Health’s Key Assistance for Developing Adolescents (KADA) Network. A local ordinance to establish the KADA Network was passed in September 2024, ensuring alignment between ISDN and national mandates. The official launch of both ISDN and KADA in December 2024 marked the culmination of this work. The networks now function as a unified service catalog, referral guide, and resource map that streamlines adolescent care across the city.
- Demand Generation and Monitoring: Las Piñas also launched regular Adolescent Case Management Conferences to address complex cases such as cyberbullying and abuse. These forums encouraged learning, collaboration, and adaptive programming.
Expanding Reach and Sustaining Impact
The city adopted an enhanced version of Usapan, a local counseling model that improved access to family planning and raised the mCPR. According to Dr. Hernandez, this translated into more families accessing their preferred methods when needed. This community-based approach helped ensure no barangay was left out.
To further strengthen service delivery, the city deployed dedicated family planning implementers who played a vital role in systematically mapping potential users across communities.”
Adolescent birth rate per 1,000 births for 15 to 19 year olds.
Now officially graduated from TCI, Las Piñas’ progress rests on strong leadership, sustained investment, and multi-sector collaboration. Updated family planning and adolescent health policies and dedicated budgets protect these efforts from political shifts.
At the heart of it all is the multisectoral referral system, linking services across sectors and simplifying workflows. Now, whether an adolescent pregnancy is discovered in school, at a clinic, or in a youth center, the referral pathway is clear.
Ongoing improvements continue. The Health Promotion Unit now monitors trainings and workshops, while the CLT holds regular meetings to review and align activities. These sessions also welcome youth voices to inform and improve services.
Through this integrated system, Las Piñas has built more than a network. It has created a replicable model for how communities can come together to protect and uplift one of their most important resources: their young people.
