Wednesday, September 03, 2008 Speak out: Closing CCMC By Jose Aaron Pedrosa Jr. Vice President External, Sanlakas Sugbo
A recent study by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) reveals that for every four Filipinos, one is said to be poor.
This translates to 23 million Filipinos.
In a time where prices of goods and commodities have reached all-time-high levels, government must step in to ease the misery of the people.
Delivery of basic social services must be of paramount priority as a measure to ease the worsening poverty situation in the country.
Apparently, Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña has other things in mind.
The mayor again revived his plan to turn over Cebu City's ownership of the Cebu City Medical Center (CCMC) to the private sector thereby abandoning its basic role of providing needed health services to the poor.
Like the National Government, the City Government seems to consider privatization as panacea for all the mess public-owned facilities are facing.
But the similarity doesn't end there.
Per capita spending under the Arroyo administration from 2001 to 2004 based on 2000 prices amounted only to P184.
Government spending for 2008 for the health sector has been pegged at P22 billion only while debt payments totaled to a staggering P624.09 billion.
Saddled by huge debt obligations, particularly from the South Road
Properties (SRP), the Cebu City's plan indicates intent to spend less on health care to address its increasing debt payments.
If CCMC passes on to private hands, the poor in Cebu City would have nowhere to run to.
Private sector's interest is profit, service is a consequence.
Government on the other hand is duty-bound to provide for the needs of the people, health care included.
There lies the rub.
The solution should be in investing more on CCMC so it may live up to the mayor's standards.
Not only will more people be left jobless, there will be more people bleeding to death as they find themselves left without medical help from the city.
With the sale of CCMC, no less than the mayor locks out indigent patients from the hospital.
