Metropolitan Arrangements - Philippine Institute for Development ...

Case Study 8
Butuan City: A Consistent
Regional Outstanding
Winner in Nutrition
Virginia S. Pineda andJazmin
D. Berido
uman City is located at the central portion of the province o:
Agusan del Norte in northern Mindanao. It is bounded oi
the north by the Butuan Bay and the municipality o
Cabadbaran, on the east by the municipality of Sibagat, on the wes
by Buenavista and on the south by Las Nieves.
The city has a total land area of 526.3 square kilometers. It i..
composed of 86 barangays, of which 27 are urban and 59 are rural. P_
of 1995, it has about 46,596 households.
In 1990, the city population was estimated at 227,829 persons
Of these, 40 percent live in the urban areas while 60 percent resid_
in the rural barangays. By 1995, the population increased to 247,07_
persons orby 8 percent (National Statistics Office Census). Populatioi
density per square kilometer also went up from 433 in 1990 to 470 il
1995. The proportion of population living in urban areas decreasec
slightly to 38 percent while that in rural areas rose to 62 percent.
Health Facilities and Expenditure/Budget
Butuan City has three main health centers, 27 urban baranga,
health stations (BHSs) and 59 rural BHSs. It has two governmen
hospitals and six private hospitals. The city owns and operates thq
City General Hospital and Medical Center, which has a capacity o
150 beds. The other government hospital, the Provincial Hospital o
Agusan del Norte, has a capacity of 100 beds. In addition, the city'..
six private hospitals have a combined capacity of 521 beds. Th_
hospitals serve not only patients from Butuan City but also those fron
other municipalities.
In 1991, prior to devolution, Butuan City's health expenditure_
amounted to P12.3 million, which constituted 10 percent of its tom
expenditures. Of this, about 34 percent was spent for basic healtt