News & Updates

Guidance and standards for the creation, promotion, use and management of public open spaces for health and well-being were issued jointly by eight national government agencies with the lead of the Department of Health. The policy aligns with the settings approach of the DOH's Health Promotion Framework Strategy 2030.

Titled as Joint Administrative Order (JAO) No. 2023-0001, the policy adopted equity and inclusivity as principles, which recognized the needs of individuals of the community, especially the more vulnerable, regardless of age, ability, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, and socio-economic status.  Its guidelines included equitable access of open spaces for all people, and development of the spaces to maximize their physical, psychological, social, cultural, and environmental benefits. The minimum standards set for open spaces also included children-, elderly-, and PWD-friendly, and safe space for all SOGIESC, in addition to compliance with relevant laws, rules and regulations.

The JAO was issued by the DOH together with the Department of the Interior and Local Government, Department of Tourism, Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development, Department of Public Works and Highways, Philippine Commission on Women, and National Commission for Culture and the Arts. The policy covers the administrators, users, and other stakeholders in development, operations, and use of parks and other public open spaces characterized as either green, blue or urban spaces, and as either active or passive open spaces.

Download PDF copy of DOH-DILG-DOT-DENR-DHSUD-DPWH-PCW-NCCA JAO No. 2023-0001 dated August 14, 2023. The policy is also archived under TLF Share's RESOURCES section.