Thursday, August 09, 2007 Gwen may seek RDC chief post
DUMAGUETE CITY—Nothing is final yet, but Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia may vie for the position of Regional Development Council (RDC) chairman when the body convenes tomorrow for the first time this term.
“If nominated I’ll run, if elected I’ll serve,” said Garcia.
She gave this statement when asked yesterday about Negros Oriental Gov. Emilio Macias’ declaration that he will not run for the position and will instead vote for her.
Macias and Garcia were together the whole day yesterday, as Garcia accepted Macias’ invitation to tour the Negros Oriental Provincial Hospital in Dumaguete City and the Laka Balanan in Siaton town.
The gathering also saw members of the legislative bodies of the two provinces making acquaintances in what Macias described as the start of a new friendship.
Macias admitted that he was not popular in Cebu during the previous term, when he headed the House committee on local governments that approved the bills for Cebu del Sur, Cebu del Norte and Cebu Occidental.
But he said he and Garcia talked during the first general assembly of the governors’ league. They found a cause for common direction: the devolution of primary and secondary services at the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center.
‘Friendly’
“This is the beginning of wonderful relations between the Province of Cebu and Negros Oriental… I will be very visible in Cebu,” said Macias, who at one time traded harsh words through the media with Garcia’s brother, former Capitol consultant and now Rep. Pablo John Garcia.
When asked about the suddenly friendly atmosphere between him and Garcia, Macias said, “I have always been friendly.”
He said that among the members of the new RDC, it is he that is in the position to oppose Garcia if ever she goes for the chairmanship.
“Wa ko’y ambition ana. Dili man ko kuyog sa presidente so I have to be practical. (I’m not aspiring for it. I am not allied with the President, so I have to be practical. I am voting for Garcia),” said Macias.
Macias believes, however, that money the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center (VSMMC) spends for primary and secondary services must be spent on establishing a lung, heart and other organ-specific special centers to serve Central Visayas.
The DOH, he added, should have devolved primary, secondary and tertiary level one services of the VSMMC to the Cebu Provincial Government in 1992 yet, if the law was followed.
‘Transfer it’
With that, Macias, a physician, joins the call for the VSMMC to give to the Cebu Province the responsibility over primary and secondary services.
“Because the DOH spends its regional allocations on services already devolved, thereby duplicating functions that the law had assigned to LGUs, it cannot provide adequate necessary state-of-the-art equipment and trained personnel for the tertiary hospital services at the regional level as mandated by law,” Macias said in a presentation before Garcia and members of the Provincial Boards of Cebu and Negros Oriental.
“I am told that there are no working CT scans, no angiogram equipment and other necessary apparatus for delivering efficient and effective tertiary hospital services. If we continue the status quo, there is no end in sight through our inadequate hospital care services. We must move on and comply with the law,” he added.
Garcia, Macias, Bohol Gov. Erico Aumentado and Siquijor Gov. Orlando Fua Jr. are expected to give their united position on the VSMMC issue.
Can afford
Their voices may be joined by all 1,099 barangays in Cebu. Association of Barangay Councils President Teresita Celis said she will call on them to help rally behind the move by passing resolutions.
“The patients usually ask for help from the barangay captains, and it would be easier for us to help them if it is the Capitol that’s handling the services,” said Celis.
Provincial Board Member Wenceslao Gakit, chairman of the committee on budget and appropriations, said Cebu Province can afford to equip the hospital.
“We have enough funds to finance that, and the equipment needed such as CT scan are self-liquidating if we impose minimal fees,” said Gakit.
It was President Arroyo who instructed Health Secretary Francisco Duque to facilitate the devolution last year. But it was met with fierce opposition from VSMMC employees. (JPM)
