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Thursday, February 03, 2005
Wenceslao: Alix’s swagger
By Bong O. Wenceslao
I now think the saying that, “birds of the same feather flock together,” is only partly true, and that the other part of the truth is the reverse: birds that flock together eventually acquire the same feather. Consider the case of Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña and Councilor Cristopher Alix, whose association already spans years.
I heard Alix being interviewed on radio on the resignation of four Cebu City Medical Center (CCMC) surgeons and his swagger amazed me. I thought the character of his boss has rubbed off on him. He is now echoing the mayor’s long abandoned stance to close the said hospital, with words like “Dili man ko mahadlok sirhan ang CCMC ba…”
Of course, the worst thing to happen in Cebu City is when a very important facility closes partly because of the incompetence of its administrators, and that includes Alix, chairman of the council’s committee on hospital services. So Alix has all the reason to fear, at least his conscience, if CCMC closes. Its effect on the poor would be disturbing.
Alix talked about the Cebu City Government acquiring some savings by closing CCMC and paying instead private hospitals to attend to displaced patients. Yeah right. So to whose pocket will the savings go? Besides, there’s the feasibility of the proposal. If you ask me, there is no substitute to the CCMC in helping the city’s indigents.
Anyway, a government official who thinks of closing a facility because of problems that cropped up is clearly bankrupt of ideas (read, incompetent). You do not burn a house down because you cannot eradicate the rats there. The problem with CCMC is not the attitude of the doctors but the attitude of its City Hall supervisors.
For starters, why won’t these officials take a hands-off policy over CCMC and allow medical practitioners there to do their job sans sniping from the sidelines? Or why won’t Alix give up the post of chairman of the committee on hospital services and give it to someone competent and with less swagger? Yeah, right!
TEXTREAX. From Panfilo R. Barcenas of Carcar, Cebu: “Lawmakers who voted for the approval of the two percent increase in the Value Added Tax (VAT) are either stupid or sick with amnesia. Kahibawo baya sila nga makapobre og samot ang VAT sa katawhan.”
From an unidentified texter: “Bisan asa ko nga jeep mosakay, makabantay gyud ko nga wa mapatuman ang student fare discount. P4 man lang unta ang pliti kun estudyante.”
(e-mail: khanwens@yahoo.com/text 0927-2055064)
(February 3, 2005 issue)
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