Just answer the charges

Caloocan City Rep. Oscar Malapitan began with the right words. With his son and brother accused of gang-raping two minors, he declared: “If any of my constituents are unjustly treated, I will fight for them. If any of my kin are guilty, I will let them rot in jail.”

People thought Malapitan had the makings of a statesman. But then he just had to add, “Those rape charges are politically motivated, I’m sure.”

Gosh! The police conducted the investigation very quietly precisely because a congressman’s close kin were involved. The girls, aged 14 and 16, at first were afraid to complain. A certain Larry had tried to buy the silence of the victims’ families for P20,000. In the end, the girls decided to go to court. They took the requisite medical checks, recounted the events to the police, then identified from file photos the eight barangay officers who on Apr. 12 had arrested them for curfew violation then abused them in a hotel. Only then did the cops announce readiness to file court charges. It is this two-week silence between crime commission and complaint filing that Malapitan cites as proof of political machination.

Told by reporters he was the political rival Malapitan was referring to, Mayor Enrico Echiverri could only shake his head: “How can I induce two young teenagers I don’t know to get themselves arrested and raped?”

By imputing partisan politics, Malapitan is trying to either spread the guilt around or soften the public blow of his son and brother’s involvement. Either way, it’s unfair to the two. Rape is a no-bail heinous offense. They need to put up a good legal defense fast, with family help. Shouting politics can lull them into complacency.

Besides, ascribing political motives is a worn-out excuse. One who does it looks guiltier than ever. That too is unfair to the presumably innocent accused.

It’s best for Malapitan to follow the example of Manila Mayor Fred Lim. Lim’s son was nabbed recently for pushing shabu to undercover cops. The mayor praised the narcs for a good job, told his son to face the music, and let the justice system move uninfluenced.

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Dir. Carmelo Alfiler replies to my piece Monday on x-ray shortage at the Philippine General Hospital:

“Your article comes in the midst of our aggressive efforts to modernize, upgrade and rehabilitate 20- to 100-year-old PGH facilities, including infrastructure and equipment, to be able to deliver quality health services. PGH needs a lot of funds for repair and preventive maintenance of serviceable units, especially big-ticket items. It needs more to purchase new state-of-the-art hospital and medical machines. We thank the National Government’s executive and legislative branches and attached agencies for assisting us greatly, especially in the last three to four years, with increased budgetary allocation for maintenance and operating expenses and capital outlay. We are also thankful to the private sector for providing additional support in areas where government subsidy is lacking.

“This is the status of our x-ray machines: 12 are functional (three bucky and two fluoroscopy units at the outpatient department, one digital machine at the radiology department, five portable units — one each for the Central Block, Medical ICU, Central ICU, OR-Surgical ICU and Neurosurgical ICU — and two C-arms at the OR). Two high-end portable x-ray machines will be arriving soon. Eleven need repair; spare parts are costly and are being imported. We have been looking into repairing them at reasonable cost and satisfactory after-service guarantees.

“While it is true that we have had problems with the Central Block’s air-conditioning, now significantly solved, which caused our sensitive x-ray equipment to malfunction, we have instituted contingency measures in the exigency of service. The rest of our radio-diagnostic equipment, CT scans, MRI and ultrasound machines, are functioning.”

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I hope the reply doesn’t come across as glossing over my report on emergency and inpatients sharing Radiology’s one remaining x-ray unit. Because if so, people will not see the gravity of PGH’s need for funds. A local Rotary Club chapter, with strong international contacts, wrote about its willingness to help, as it already has for other public hospitals. I can relay the contact details if PGH is interested.

My piece aimed only to show the government’s muddled priorities. While the poor are in dire need of health services, it enters into a $330-million overpriced, unnecessary telecom deal that it refuses to explain. Not only PGH but all government hospitals are struggling to make ends meet, pay staff salaries and have running water in toilets. Thieves in high places do not seem to care.

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