Gordon denies Philippine Red Cross is ‘greedy’
MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Richard “Dick” Gordon denied Friday that the Philippine Red Cross, which he chairs, is “greedy,” after President Rodrigo Duterte remarked that the humanitarian organization is hungry for money.
“We’re not greedy. All I’m saying is let’s be careful with our words because we were able to help. We weren’t the ones who incurred debt. They did, we tested, shouldn’t they pay up?” Gordon said in Filipino over Teleradyo.
But Gordon also believes that Duterte was not pertaining to the PRC when he said, “Mukhang pera (greedy)” during a televised Cabinet briefing on the new coronavirus,
“Maybe he was pertaining to those who took advantage when we were not testing,” Gordon said in Filipino. “I’m giving him the benefit of the doubt, out of respect for the president.”
Duterte said “mukhang pera” after being briefed by Health Secretary Francsico Duque on how the country’s testing capacity dipped following the PRC’s decision to halt coronavirus screenings chargeable to the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. as the state health insurer failed to pay around a billion pesos in testing fees.
“But the PRC has been paid and they’ve reopened so they’re continuing to examine swab specimens,” Duque told Duterte in Filipino, to which the president replied, “Mukhang pera.”
PhilHealth has so far paid P600 million to the PRC, with Gordon saying that the state health insurer still has to settle a balance of P372 million.
The country’s testing capacity slumped to a three-month low after the PRC’s testing halt — reflecting a dearth of public investment in coronavirus screening facilities.
Aside from the PRC, another private institution — pharmaceutical firm Detoxicare Philippines Inc. — leads testing efforts. The government-run Research Institute for Tropical Medicine follows the PRC and Detoxicare in terms of the most number of people tested for coronavirus. — Xave Gregorio
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