FIRST PERSON Unprepared
This is sad. The Philippines ranks first in child bullying among the Asia-Pacific countries and among the lowest in cancer preparedness.
According to a study conducted by The Economist Intelligence Unit, the Philippines sunk to a “very low” rating of 42.6. This is less than half Australia’s rating of 92.4.
The report details this. On anti-cancer policy and planning, the Philippines notched 54.9 in the comparative index. On care delivery, the Philippines rated 35.5. Only Vietnam rated lower than us in this category.
Among the other countries included in the study, South Korea scored 83.4, Malaysia 80.3, Japan 78.1, China 69.7, Thailand 65.2, Indonesia 57.4, India 51.6 and Vietnam 44.5.
In 2017, cancer ranked third among the killer diseases in the Philippines. Breast cancer remains the most fatal, followed by cancer of the lungs, liver and colorectum.
The study observes that the upper middle-income countries are refining their universal health coverage to close access gaps and ensure financial sustainability. Lower middle-income countries are setting up the foundations to meet the cancer challenge. Despite some progress in building a policy and institutional foundation for cancer response, the study concludes, “excess cancer mortality remains a concern for lowerand middle-income countries.”
The study further observes that while the Philippines ranks above average in planning a cancer response, the country’s delivery of cancer care services lags. The challenge for us is to translate policy and planning into mechanisms for actually delivering cancer care.
The good news, according to Dr. Marvin Mendoza, is that because of medical advances and innovations, cancer is now treatable. Medicines for many different kinds of cancer are now available locally. Dr. Mendoza heads the section of Medical Oncology of the National Kidney and Transplant Institute.
The bad news is that there is not enough resources to make treatment available for all those who need them. Our budgeting has not adjusted to the actual costs of medication and treatment.
For instance, while government provides targeted therapies for breast and lymphoma cancers, the programs are seriously underfunded. Patients needing to go through the required 18 treatment cycles need P300,000 to P450,000. Those who cannot afford the cost may go to at least 23 public hospitals for free treatment.
However, only about 200 or so indigent patients may benefit from the measly P1 billion provided for this program. There are about 27,000 new cases of breast cancer alone in the country.
Furthermore, the publicly funded cancer program needs funds for more testing. This will enable our health institutions to spot cases in the early stages when they are more treatable. The DOH has acquired medicines for treating breast cancer and lymphoma. But we do not have enough institutional capacity to deliver the care.
Charged
Should the ombudsman act with the speed it has shown in other cases, Parañaque City Mayor Eric Olivarez and 13 other ranking city officials could be subject to preventive suspension.
Preventive suspension is precisely the plea of Genaro Clemente Jr. of Camella Homes, Barangay San Antonio in his 25-page complaint filed with the Office of the Ombudsman. “Pending investigation,” the complaint reads, “it is respectfully requesting that the respondents be placed under preventive suspension to avoid the destruction or manufacture of evidence and to prevent (the officials) from threatening and harassing employees of the local government…”
The complaint concerns the midnight decision of the mayor and his officials last Dec. 27 to terminate the services of the previous waste management contractor and award a larger contract to an untested garbage collector.
In the face of citizen outrage over uncollected trash piling up in the streets, the Parañaque City council conducted an inquiry into the contract awarded by the mayor to Metrowaste Corporation without the council’s knowledge and consent. The council found the contract irregular. Not only were bidding rules not observed, the fat contract was awarded to a company that was, at that time, not a registered business in the city.
The Local Government Code specifies that a contract like this one requires the endorsement of the Sanggunian Panglunsod (City Council). The mayor did not comply with this.
Building on the findings of the city council, Clemente filed charges against the mayor, bids and awards committee (BAC) chairman Voltaire de la Cruz, BAC vice-chairman Johnson Ong and BAC members Rosa Rebecca Vinas and Josephine Mary Centena. All the members of the technical working group of the BAC were included in the complaint.
The complaint claims that Olivarez and his officials violated the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, especially the provision against “causing any undue injury to any party, including the Government, or giving any private party any unwarranted benefits, advantage or preference in the discharge of his official administrative and judicial functions through manifest partiality, evident bad faith or gross inexcusable negligence.”
The complaint claims the mayor ought to have disqualified Metrowaste at the outset because it failed the eligibility requirement. There was evident bad faith in concluding the new contract on the basis of a less stringent terms of reference than the one governing the previous contractor.
According to the three-fold liability rule, a wrongful or negligent act by a public official translates into civil, criminal and administrative liabilities. An action for each can proceed independently of the others.
Mayor Olivarez and his cohorts are in serious trouble. Should the ombudsman take in the complaint, a slew of cases will result that could end in, among other penalties, the mayor’s removal.