CONGRESS was asked to frontload passage of an enabling law establishing more public hospitals to effectively address critical gaps in health care, especially in underserved areas, amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
In a statement over the weekend, Senator Christopher “Bong” Go reminded lawmakers on the urgency of passing pending remedial legislation enhancing medical treatment by establishing additional, or expanding existing public hospitals open to treat walk-in patients.
The administration lawmaker stressed that “now is the time to act” on enabling legislation “enhancing and establishing public hospitals.”
Go, chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, affirmed the need “to act swiftly when it comes to enhancing public health services,” urging senators to avert “further delays in the passage of local hospital bills aimed at improving and establishing public hospitals in different parts of the country.”
The administration senator drew flak from netizens last week when he moved to end interpellations on his bill, and simply proceed to voting. This, after Minority Leader Franklin M. Drilon posed several questions to him. However, most senators, including some administration allies, said interpellations on pending bills are an indispensable part of legislation.
Go was hard put to defend his advocacy when Drilon raised the issue of the Mandanas ruling, the landmark Supreme Court decision that substantially increased the Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA) share of local government units from the national government.
Drilon said that when the LGUs start getting much heftier shares as the Mandanas ruling is implemented, it seems unreasonable to expect the national government to continue filling the funding gap for them when the Local Government Code had devolved health services.
Go, in a statement on Sunday, deflected this argument and said the debate over the Mandanas ruling implications could be tackled later, but for now, there is urgency in addressing critical problems in health services.
Go said, “Iba po ang kaso natin ngayon. Darating naman po siguro ang panahon na pagdedebatehan natin ‘yung share ng IRA (Internal Revenue Allotment), ng NaTA (National Tax Allotment). Pero ito, habulan tayo ng — buhay po ng bawat Pilipino ang nakataya rito [We have a different case here. Maybe the time will come for a proper debate on the IRA share, of the NaTA. But for now, we are in a race to save lives. The life of every Fil;ipino is at stake].”
Taking the floor at the plenary session last week, Go took the floor to sponsor 15 local hospital bills that, he said, aim “to establish, re-nationalize, or enhance through increased bed capacity, among others, local hospitals in various parts of the country.”
The senator reminded his peers that, ‘“nandiyan na po ‘yung hospitals na approved. Nandiyan na po ‘yung bills na aprubado ng Lower House, nasa kamay natin dito sa Senado. Bakit pa natin papatagalin pa? Kawawa naman ang mga Pilipino [The approved hospitals are there, approved by the House, and now in the Senate’s hands. Why should we prolong this? Let’s pity the Filipinos].”
Drilon had bristled at what he deemed insinuations that he was deliberately delaying Go’s proposed measures, and said he was asking legitimate questions.
Under interpellation in last week’s plenary session, Go recalled his experience traveling to different parts of the country, personally witnessing the state of public healthcare in various regions.
He pressed his appeal to fellow lawmakers to “not deprive Filipinos the right to have quality
healthcare during the pandemic, especially when the measures being deliberated have already passed the House of Representatives and are now pending Senate action.”
“In this crucial time, we need these facilities, we need these upgrades. The local government units are asking for assistance because they cannot take on these burdens,” Go said, adding, in Filipino, “we are just going around in circles here in our discussions. The people know that, we’re just going around. We are deliberately delaying the process. This is a different matter now.”
At the same time, Go said increasing hospital bed capacity of most state hospitals has been a challenge during the public health crisis, prompting authorities to establish modular hospitals. Go noted that while he welcomes the efforts of the Executive to augment bed capacities of health facilities, these are only temporary. The proposed upgrades stated in the proposed measures can be institutionalized if enacted into law.
Among the pending bills he filed included: upgrading government health facilities including: increasing the bed capacity of the Sinait District Hospital in Sinait, Ilocos Sur; lying-in clinic in Rizal, Palawan; the Naguilian District Hospital in La Union; the Rosario District Hospital in Rosario, La Union; the East Avenue Medical Center in Quezon City; and the Mayor Hilarion A. Ramiro Sr. Medical Center in Ozamiz City, Misamis Occidental.
He also sponsored bills converting the Schistosomiasis Control and Research Hospital in Palo, Leyte into the Governor Benjamin T. Romualdez General Hospital and Schistosomiasis Center, and increase its bed capacity; renaming the Eastern Visayas Regional Medical Center in Tacloban City into Eastern Visayas Medical Center, and increasing its bed capacity; converting the Medina Extension Hospital in Medina, Misamis Oriental into a general hospital; upgrading the Lanao del Norte Provincial Hospital into the Lanao del Norte Regional Medical Center; and upgrading the Benguet General Hospital.
Moreover, Go pressed passage of bills establishing “more and improved government hospitals” such as the Eastern Pangasinan Regional Medical and Trauma Center, the Davao Occidental General Hospital, the Neptali Gonzales General Hospital in Mandaluyong City, and the Bacolod City General Hospital.
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