Health services should not be politicized – Marcos

MANILA, Philippines — Health services should not be politicized and should be accessible to everyone regardless of alliances, President Marcos said yesterday.

Speaking during the turnover of 129 ambulances to local governments in Manila, Marcos emphasized he has directed the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) to ensure that politics would not affect health care because human lives are involved.

“I know the system. When I was governor, if you’re favored by the one in power, you would get an ambulance. If not, you are at the bottom of the list. Our health care system should not be politicized,” the President said.

“The big change here is you do not need to go to the PCSO or to me or to your governor or to a senator who is your friend or your congressman to say, ‘Please, we do not have an ambulance.’ Just wait for the ambulance. I keep on saying that I came from the LGU (local government unit), so I understand this,” he added.

For Marcos, patient transport vehicles are vital resources in supporting first responders and local governments and make the difference between life and death.

“No matter how many hospitals and health centers we build, no matter how many medical health professionals we employ and no matter how much equipment we acquire, it would all be devoid of meaning and purpose if patients cannot reach them in moments of need,” Marcos said.

The distribution of ambulances benefited 87 local governments in Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, Quezon), 25 in Bicol, eight in Central Luzon, six in the Cordillera Administrative Region and three in Cagayan Valley.

The patient transport vehicles were turned over to beneficiaries from Abra, Apayao, Ifugao, Mountain Province, Isabela, Bulacan. Pampanga, Tarlac, Batangas, Cavite, Laguna, Oriental Mindoro, Palawan, Quezon, Rizal, Camarines Sur and Sorsogon.

Each ambulance costs about P2.1 million and is equipped with essential medical tools like a stretcher, oxygen tank, blood pressure monitor and wheelchair.