“BARYA na nga lang ang hinihingi, hindi pa masuklian ang sakripisyo ng PGH”.
Ito ang sinabi ni Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto kasabay ng panawagan sa Department of Budget and Management (DBM) na ibigay ang nararapat na benepisyo sa mga doktor at empleyado ng Philippine General Hospital (PGH) na takbuhan ng maraming mahihirap.
“PGH is a showcase of excellence. But if its personnel will be forced to beg for what is theirs, it will be seen as an example of the national government’s neglect of our pandemic frontliners,” ani Recto.
Inihalimbawa pa nito ang kaso ni Dr. Gap Legaspi, PGH director, na isang expert neurosurgeon na sa kabila ng maliit na pondo ng nasabing pagamutan ay maraming pasyente ang nasasagip ng mga doktor nito.
“Juggling many duties, he treats and teaches, mentoring future doctors in the hospital he manages. PGH performs hundreds of complex surgeries a week, on top of being a COVID-19 referral center,” ayon pa sa senador.
“The government’s problem with PGH’s demand that its frontliners be paid their hazard pay is far less complicated than a brain surgery. Because of the small amount involved, this funding problem is the medical equivalent of treating a bruise,” dagdag pa nito.
Umaasa ang mambabatas na makahahanap ng sapat na pondo ang DBM para maibigay sa frontliners.
“I am confident that the DBM can find a source for funds, as well as the legal justification from its thick almanac of precedents. If it requires a clearance from the Office of the President, then the latter should grant it, and even offer funds which the President can tap. After all, he has been given broad powers to realign expenditures under the Bayanihan I and II Laws,” paliwanag pa ni Recto. (NOEL ABUEL)
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