Public outcry grows over slay of volunteer doctor in Lanao

DAVAO CITY – The public outcry over the recent killing of a communitybased volunteer doctor in Kapatagan, Lanao del Norte has spread throughout the country

Sen. Richard J. Gordon joined yesterday his colleagues in the 24member Senate in strongly condemning the murder of Dr. Drefuss Perlas who was gunned down last March 1 by a still unknown assailant.

Perlas, 31, had been deployed to Lanao del Norte under the government’s Doctors to the Barrios (DTB) program.

Expressing his outrage, Gordon said that Perlas’ murder should be solved immediately and his killers brought to justice for their crime.

“I strongly condemn the killing of Dr. Perlas who was a humanitarian worker. I urge the authorities to immediately solve his killing so that the perpetrators would be brought to justice. I am outraged that a doctor who is serving the community is killed like this,” he said.

Sen. Risa Hontiveros had expressed fears that even those who ‘’silently and selflessly’’ serve the Duterte are killed needlessly.

She also assailed the ‘’violenceprone’’ Duterte administration that has sown fear throughout the land.

Gordon commiserated with the slain doctor’s bereaved family, expressing his deepest sympathies for the loss of a dedicated health officer.

An organization of health professionals joined the thousands, who have flooded social media posts, condemning the killing of Perlas.

“Kakaunti na nga lang ang doctor sa barrio, pinapatay pa! Hindi ito katanggap-tanggap,” said Dr. Eleanor A. Jara, executive director of the Council for Heath and Development (CHD), said.

CHD is the national secretariat of over 60 Community-Based Health Programs.

Jara said it was already sad that there was not enough medical personnel in far-flung areas, where the Department of Health (DOH) can only deploy contractual Doctors-to-theBarrios or DTTBs, such as Perlas.

According to the DOH, the DTTB program needs 398 doctors to cover all the far-flung areas in the country, but116 of these positions remain vacant.

“Doctors such as Dr. Perlas, who have stayed despite the end of their contract, are rare and must be lauded,” Jara said.

Meanwhile, various sectors in Lanao del Norte are also demanding justice for the rural volunteer physician.

Residents and the Kapatagan town police described Perlas’ death as a “big loss” to the community.

“He was a good man and a dedicated health officer,” Sr. Insp. Melvin Loquinte, Kapatagan town police chief, said.

Perlas was riding a motorcycle en route to his boarding house in Lala town when an unidentified suspect shot him in the back along dark portion of Barangay Maranding road around 7:30 p.m. last Wednesday

Laquiton said responding residents initially thought the victim was a villager suffering from hypertension, but noticed it was Perlas. They were rushed the victim to the Kapatagan Provincial Hospital where he expired later.

He said police investigators found an empty shell of still unknown type of bullet at the crime scene and were still conducting investigation to determine the motive and identity of the attacker.

Perlas belonged to the 30th batch of the DTTB program of the DOH and was the municipal health officer.