Benhur opposes VSMMC privatization

 CEBU, Philippines - Cebu Fourth District Representative Benhur Salimbangon vowed to lobby before the members of the Senate to reject the bill that seeks to privatize 26 government-owned hospitals nationwide, including the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center.

Salimbangon, a member of the House committee on health, said he strongly opposed the bill during the deliberation in the House last week but he was allegedly outvoted.

“I will lobby at the Senate nga dili gyud na ma approved ang maong bill (I will lobby at the Senate that the bill will not be approved),” Salimbangon said.

He said that once a government-owned hospital is privatized, public service will no longer be the motivation. Salimbangon said that from public service it will become profit-oriented.

Salimbangon said that VSMMC is a sanctuary for poor people who need medical attention.

“Dangpanan kana sa mga kabus ug indigent. Dili gyud maayo nga e -privatized ang VSMMC, (that is where the poor and the indigent seek medical treatment. That should not be privatized)” Salimbangon said.

Salimbangon himself has allocated at least P30 million from his Priority Development Assistance Fund to the said hospital for his constituents. This month alone Salimbangon has released a total of P5 million from his PDAF for his indigent constituents in the fourth district.

Former Cebu City North District Rep. Raul del Mar on the other hand said there is a need to examine the justifications and specific terms and conditions to privatize the VSMMC to ensure that it will be for the benefit of the government and the people.

Del Mar is the father of Rep. Rachel “Cutie” del Mar who is among those Cebu legislators who put up funds for hospitalization program of their constituents.

House Bill 6099, principally authored by  Negros Occidental Rep. Alfredo Marañon III and Bacolod City Rep. Anthony Golez  aims to privatize the 26 hospitals currently run by the government to earn income.

House Deputy Majority Leader and Iloilo First District Rep. Janette Garin, in an interview with The Freeman, said that the conversion of government hospitals would mean better service for the poor.

“In effect, paying patients would be subsidizing the poor patients. Converting these hospitals would mean better hospital facilities, more medicines and better services,” Garin said.

Garin, who principally authored the conversion of Western Visayas Medical Center in Iloilo, said they had a one year study before this bill was approved. (FREEMAN)