The major problem - JAYWALKER by Art A. Borjal

I have been monitoring Ambassador Ernesto Maceda’s analysis of what lies ahead for the Estrada administration in a post-acquittal scenario. The shrewd and wily presidential spokesman talks of the Social Weather Stations survey showing pro-Estrada senatorial bets going up in the popularity ratings game. He also talks glowingly of President Estrada’s ability to survive the current political crisis. And he talks as though there will be a bright or brighter tomorrow for the Filipino people after the Impeachment Trial.

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There is one very important question, though, that Ernie Maceda has failed to take up. This question is: Will investor confidence – let me spell it in capital letters: INVESTOR CONFIDENCE – return as soon as the Impeachment Trial is over and done with, assuming, of course, that President Estrada is going to be acquitted? Investor confidence is the most vital factor that will determine the government’s ability to weather the political and economic crisis now raging in our country.

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Almost all economic analysts of towering stature have expressed doubts about the restoration of investor confidence in our country. Their message is that President Estrada is the major problem. Unless this major problem is resolved, there will hardly be any way by which investor confidence will return in the country.

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What exacerbates the situation is that President Estrada has been on a rampage – against the very investors who are needed to revive the country’s economy. The President’s rich-versus-poor rhetoric has alarmed many investors, and they have thus opted to stay away until the current situation has been dramatically altered. "Dramatically altered" means a major surgery, which could include the President’s stepping down from his post.

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At this stage, there are no indications that the major surgery is going to take place. On the contrary, the consensus is that the economic and political status quo is going to remain. This means that the nation is going to stand still, immobilized and paralyzed. In the meantime, workers, most of whom come from the masa, are getting laid off from their low-paying jobs. Ironically, the first batch of workers’ retrenchment came from the government’s Duty Free Shop, which announced that half of its work force are going to be laid off.

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Readers’ reactions to my column item about toddler Rommel Papa, the unwanted son of a single mother, the baby boy who was born with a cleft palate and who was adopted by a Christian couple, have truly been inspiring. Offers of help and expressions of concern have come far and wide, both here and abroad.

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Jesus "Susing" Perez Cardenas, executive director of the Philippine Band of Mercy, a non-government organization that specializes in helping indigent children with cleft-palate problems, informed me that the PBM is going to handle all requirements for Rommel. Susing‘s staff has already made arrangements with Nicanor Reyes Medical Center (formerly FEU Hospital) at Fairview, Quezon City, through Dr. Mel Cruz.

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Susing Cardenas, who is also the executive director of the Philippine Cancer Society, likewise requested me to convey the message that PBM is ready all the time to handle cleft lip operations, contrary to the practice of waiting for doctors and/or middlemen from overseas to take care of these operations. And the beauty of PBM’s help is that it includes post-operation and follow-through treatment.

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Susing advices respectable civic organizations, such as the Jaycees and Rotarians, to direct their indigent patients to the PBM. He assures that PBM will do everything to bring normalcy back to the lives of cleft palate patients. In the meantime, I have requested businessman Alfred So, the fellow who referred Rommel’s case to me, to coordinate with Susing Cardenas.

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Dr. Miguel Neil C. Bravo, an alumnus of the University of the Philippines, who can be contacted through cellphone 0917-9470848, also reacted, suggesting that I refer Baby Rommel to any of our government hospitals. Dr. Bravo said that he has already spoken to Dr. Celso Ureta, head of the ENT-Head and Neck Department of Veterans Memorial Medical Center, and that Dr. Ureta has agreed to accommodate Rommel at minimal cost.

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Dr. Bravo took the opportunity to articulate some thoughts on the so-called "surgical missions." Many of these serve as publicity gimmicks more than anything else, he opined. Dr. Bravo explained that many of our local hospitals actually have competent doctors to handle medical cases. What are lacking are "operative materials" for charity patients, like sutures, implants, antibiotics, etc. While these are available in the pharmacy, these are not free to all charity patients.

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Dr. Bravo suggested that the surgical missions concentrate on really poor communities in the provinces where hospitals are very far away. Even then, he questioned the wisdom of "one-shot" surgical procedures on the young cleft-palate patients. After the complete clefts are closed and the travelling doctors fail to return, the patients end up years later with underdeveloped upper jaws, improper alignment of the teeth, and with many other adverse effects.

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Alex Gaston, my former schoolmate at the Ateneo de Manila, who is the charter president of the Rotary Club of Ayala Heights, also offered to arrange for Toddler Rommel’s cleft-palate operation. Alex’s offer is in conjunction with his club’s "Free Harelip Operations to Filipino Children" project. Alex said that this major project is in addition to the Rotary Club of Ayala Heights’ free circumcision project, which has, for the past eight years, been conducted in Barangay Old Balara in Quezon City.

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Another schoolmate from the Ateneo de Manila, Leandro "Centee" Centenera, who is now based in New Jersey, USA, also sent an e-mail, saying that a Fil-Am group headed by Danny Tabao, which comes to the Philippines in February every year to handle medical problems for free, is interested in Baby Rommel’s case. For the info of friends and schoolmates of Centee Centenera, he and his wife will be in Manila on January 16. His e-mail address is . Finally, Dr. Rene Encarnacion, chief of section of the Plastic Surgery Section of Veterans Memorial Medical Center, wrote to volunteer his services, gratis et amore, for the operation of Rommel. Dr. Encarnacion is a volunteer doctor at the Philippine Band of Mercy, and he specializes in operating on patients with cleft lip and palate deformities. And from Ohio, USA, Dr. Conrad Javier expressed interest in helping Baby Rommel. Thanks to Dr. Encarnacion and Dr. Javier, and to all the other thoughtful and caring individuals who responded to my appeal for help for Baby Rommel. God bless!

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My e-mail addres: <[email protected]>