Juan Flavier

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Juan Martin Flavier (June 23, 1935 – October 30, 2014) was a Filipino doctor and public servant. He served as Secretary of Health from 1992 to 1995 under President Fidel V. Ramos, and then as a senator from 1995 to 2007.

Born in Tondo, Manila, Flavier came from a very poor family. He moved to Baguio, finished high school there, and trained as a doctor. He earned his Doctor of Medicine from the University of the Philippines Manila in 1960 and a Master of Public Health from Johns Hopkins University in 1969. He spent 30 years as a rural doctor, working in Nueva Ecija and Cavite, earning the nickname “doctor to the barrios.”

Flavier led the Philippine Rural Reconstruction Movement starting in 1967 and later headed the International Institute of Rural Reconstruction from 1978 to 1992.

As Health Secretary, he launched several health programs, including Lets DOH it, Yosi Kadiri (smoking control), Oplan Alís Disease, Kontra Kolera, Stop TB, Araw ng Sangkáp Pinoy, Family Planning, and the Doctor to the Barrios program. He helped organize barangay health workers and was widely popular for improving health care.

As a senator, Flavier helped pass many important laws: Traditional Medicine Law, Social Reform and Poverty Alleviation Act, Philippine Clean Air Act, Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Act, Anti-money Laundering Act, Barangay Micro-Business Enterprise, National Service Training Program for college students, Dangerous Drugs Act, Plant Variety Protection Act, Philippine Nursing Act, Tobacco Regulation Act, and a law making Eid’l Fitr a national holiday. He had a perfect attendance record in the Senate and was known for his dedication to public health. In 2005, his net worth was listed at 3.49 million pesos, making him one of the less wealthy senators.

Flavier also hosted a TV public service program, Kapwa Ko Mahal Ko, and was portrayed in Magpakailanman by Ogie Alcasid. He wrote a regular newspaper column about his experiences as a doctor serving the countryside.

He died on October 30, 2014, at age 79 from pneumonia-related sepsis and organ failure, after being treated at the National Kidney and Transplant Institute in Quezon City.