EDITORIAL - Bad for the health

Being the secretary of health must be bad for the health.

Last month, President Marcos’ first regular Department of Health secretary Teodoro Herbosa resigned amid various issues raised against him. Herbosa cited health reasons for his resignation, which was quickly accepted.

On July 13, President Marcos named top orthopedic surgeon Jose “Brix” Pujalte Jr. as the new DOH secretary. Pujalte was plucked from his post as medical center chief of the Philippine Orthopedic Center, an institution that his father Jose Senior also headed during the first Marcos administration.

With a master’s degree in hospital administration, Pujalte’s selection as the replacement for Herbosa was widely hailed.

But the praise was short-lived. Just days later, a complaint was filed against him before the Presidential Complaint Center at Malacañang, allegedly for gambling on July 20 at Okada Manila and Solaire Resort & Casino under the aliases “Louis Santos” and “Louiss Santos.”

Pujalte explained that he merely met with local officials of Masbate and Sorsogon at the hotels to discuss possible assistance to public hospitals in the Bicol region.

The complainants, however, said Pujalte violated civil service rules and laws prohibiting public officials from gambling in casinos and using aliases.

On Aug. 5, an anonymous complaint was filed before the Office of the Ombudsman against Pujalte, alleging that he delayed the public bidding for the procurement of tuberculosis medicines ostensibly to buy time for a supplier he favored.

Yesterday, Malacañang announced that Pujalte had “voluntarily resigned” for unspecified health reasons, and would be replaced by another orthopedic surgeon, acting Philippine Health Insurance Corp. president and CEO Edwin Mercado. Beverly Lorraine Ho, chief health officer of Ayala Healthcare Holdings Inc. and a former DOH official, replaces Mercado as PhilHealth chief.

In the past years, PhilHealth itself has had its share of controversies involving corruption and mismanagement. Beverly Ho has her work cut out for her.

And so does Edwin Mercado.

Like public education, healthcare in this country is in crisis. Inadequate resources, manpower shortages and institutional weaknesses are aggravated by political intervention in the delivery of medical services, corruption scandals and other controversies that take forever to resolve.

It’s enough to make a DOH secretary sick of the job. But perhaps Mercado can hold the post long enough for him to make a dent in addressing that multitude of problems.