THE Camotes group of islands is fast turning to be one of Cebu’s tourism hubs, but prosperity has not made the place’s basic services better. A relative whose family business has prospered in San Francisco town died recently of what is suspected to be Covid-19 although the result of the swab test conducted by the staff of the district hospital where he was confined has still to arrive from Cebu City. This reminds me of the death of my cousin’s wife in the same district hospital several years ago.
My cousin and his wife lived in Barangay General in the town of Tudela, some 20 kilometers away. She got pregnant with their first child but suffered health complications when she was about to give birth to the child. She was brought to the hospital in San Francisco town whose inadequate services and primitive equipment could not answer her needs. She was supposed to be ferried to mainland Cebu but died before she and her relatives could sail.
My cousin left for Manila after his wife’s death and we haven’t seen each other since then. That death reminded me of the foresight and the determination to serve not of our government officials but of the late parish priest of Tudela town, Fr. Joseph Wiertz, MSC. Inadequate health services was what prompted the priest to build a clinic with a few beds to treat the sick before they could be transported to the mainland.
The priest was also instrumental in the setting up by the National Grains Authority, later renamed the National Food Authority, of a bodega in Tudela. His thinking was simple: What if something tragic caused the cutting off of the islands from the mainland for days? Where would the islanders get their grains?
The priest also used his connections with the National Government (he even reportedly sought an audience with then dictator Ferdinand Marcos in Malacañang) to improve the town wharf. But poor planning and construction work would often lead to the wharf’s destruction by the elements. He also got a generator that served electricity at night until 10 p.m. to residents in the town center. More importantly, he set up a private high school, which is now being run by the religious.
When I wrote a book on the history of Tudela town years ago, I was amazed at how a priest’s determination and creativity could provide the residents with services that government officials could not. I understand the difficulty in providing the islanders with adequate health services, but that government could not do it only means it lacks the determination and creativity Father Wiertz possessed.
Now the inadequacy seems to be catching up with the government in relation to the Covid pandemic. My cousin’s husband reportedly could not get an adequate supply of oxygen, which is not surprising considering the mainland’s need for it. But the Provincial Government needs to be determined and creative in preparing Camotes for the pandemic’s sweep. If not, tragedy will happen there.