The cats of the Southern Philippines Medical Center

TALKING about the so-called Civilian Supremacy and supposed government SERVANTS, one would think these are real and not just virtual reality. So much have been written about how the citizens of this rich and wretched but nonetheless still beautiful country are being treated by its supposed servants, who are of course “feeling richer” than their masters.

One way of finding out swiftly and understand the truthfulness of this observation is through a quick visit to one of its hi-tech public hospital in Davao City, the Southern Philippines Medical Center, (SPMC) which is still undergoing major structural pump-priming.

Time and again, this government health facility has been noted for its snailpaced service. For instance, when a patient arrives at the emergency room of SPMC expecting to be attended to immediately upon arrival, she or he is in for a disappointment. If you reached the hospital late in the afternoon, expect that you would be attended to only after not less than 10 hours or more.

It’s because the ER is already flooded with patients waiting to be attended to several hours earlier. It’s because of the dearth of medical practitioners who are moving around, already overwhelmed by the ever flowing stream of medical cases pouring in with various degree of severity. Naturally, they would have to prioritize those who are in the throes of death, dying or barely breathing.

Does government sees this? Did it not occur to government authorities that the ER should be afforded the kind of attention that it stands for, as emergency? Just waiting inside the ER could worsen a patient’s condition. But, sorry, nobody among government authorities or policy-makers ever saw the severity of the situations in the ER, mainly because if any of the people’s servants gets sick, they are not brought to the public hospitals but to expensive private medical facilities where the “state-of-the-art” medical care and attention are at their finger tips.

Naturally, no public officials would want to be placed on cramped public hospital wards, where the crowd is as unhealthy as the P-Noy’s BOSSES, who have to stick it out there because there is still a semblance of “public service”, even if the kind of public service is grudgingly provided by exhausted and already grouchy medical staff who has to serve over a hundred or more patients per duty.

No, government officials, if ever they are eversick, will easily find comfort and prompt medical attention in a private hospitals, where every move is paid for by people’s money, where they don’t have to fall in line to get the food rations paid for by the taxes that citizens pay for.

That is why, they will never understand why the citizens are constantly complaining about public service, because they need not demand for it having at their fingertips and their whims the service that people’s money pay.

The public hospital ward is the picture that paints a thousand realities that public officials will never see because they will never get near one, for the simple reason that it does not only have the undesirable human stench brought about by sickness, they would never want to see the suffering brought about by neglect of government service.

When most of the patients and their watchers are asleep, albeit uncomfortably each night, it’s the cats’ turn to roam around. They come in droves, stealthily sneaking under patient’s beds where most of the watchers have no choice but lay and try to get some rest. The cats were very quite, as

they munch and feasted on left-overs that watchers have kept hopefully for the next morning’s meal. They come in different sizes and colors, watching the people sleep, keeping their eyes on slight movements from those who are sleeping.

Perhaps they think it’s their rightful place. But who cares. Servants in government office do not even care at all, whatever happens to its masters in this wretched place they call “public hospital”!