The mayor says no

Manila Mayor Fred Lim told Bulong Pulungan sa Sofitel that he is not going to Hong Kong to be investigated for the August 23 hostage-taking at the Luneta. Investigation of a crime must be conducted at the scene of the crime, he said, not in Hong Kong. He is advising any of his officers, who are among the 16 implicated in the incident either. 

If he is being investigated for not directly getting the hijacker to surrender and not go on a killing spree, Lim said there were police officers at the scene, and as mayor, he had no power or control over those officers.

The mayor’s biography, written by no less than the late Nick Joaquin, told of his investigative skills, and of his thwarting of hostage-taking activities. I’m sure that if he had jurisdiction over the Luneta situation, things would have been different.

In nixing the invitation to go to Hong Kong — with free airline tickets and hotel accommodations, he said, “Give me those tickets another time.” Perhaps on a holiday, or a second honeymoon with his young wife? Yes, the mayor, 80 years old but strong and healthy (thanks to clean living, he said), is married again, girls.

When asked about his plans for Manila during the Year of the Rabbit, the mayor said he is proud of the city’s services for its constituents, which practically cover their needs “from womb to tomb.” He spoke proudly of the success of the city’s ten hospitals, the multi-storied one in Santa Ana being the latest to be completed, with centralized airconditioning, free hospitalization and medical expenses. The health centers are where women can have family planning advise (this columnist, though, wishes he would allow free artificial contraceptives), deliver at the hospitals, have free burial services, including cremation. There are day care centers. In addition, education is free, from the grades to college at the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila for bright students. Couples can be married by him, for free, too. But he won’t marry gays, he added.

The Bulong Pulungan girls sighed about not being Manila residents to enjoy free services. Quickly, the mayor said, you don’t have to be residents; just show up at the hospitals and prove that you’re sick, and you’ll be given VIP treatment.

*      *      *

For the past few weeks, Singapore’s Ministry of Health (MOH) has been reporting about a flu epidemic that has hit the Southeast Asian metropolis. According to MOH, flu cases in the third week of the year have crossed the epidemic threshold of 17,032. 

The ministry said the Influenza A-H1N1 strain is the predominant virus making its rounds, followed by the Influenza A H3N2, and Influenza B strains. 

Perhaps in an effort to appease the public, MOH reiterated that the spike in cases is common during this time of year, which coincides with the winter season in the northern hemisphere. Still, the ministry has advised the public to be vigilant and practice good hygiene. Those in the vulnerable group, such as children and the elderly, should get vaccinated, added the MOH. Here in the Philippines, are we prepared to deal with a similar situation if the epidemic hits our shores? The news from Singapore is particularly alarming, because we have very similar climates. We could very well find ourselves in the same situation. 

Even more disturbing are medical reports that individuals over the age of 74 are more likely to die from flu related complications. Are we doing anything to prevent the occurrence of a flu outbreak?

For a while I was confident that our elderly population, particularly those who cannot afford proper medical treatment, would be safe since R.A. 9994 or the Expanded Senior Citizens Act is already in force.

It is a given that the sector of our population most vulnerable to the onslaught of influenza and pneumococcal diseases are the elderly, primarily because of their weakened constitution and poor resistance to infection. This is precisely why, in enacting R. A. 9994 last year, Congress specifically mandated that indigent senior citizens be given free flu vaccinations.

Sadly, Department of Health (DOH) insiders have shared that while the funds are already available for the free vaccination program for indigent senior citizens, DOH has, for one reason or another, put the project on hold.

Is it true that Secretary Enrique Ona is postponing the release of this senior citizens’ benefit for next year? The question is, why wait if the threat of an epidemic is already looming over our heads?

We fail to see the wisdom of delaying the release of this benefit, when the intended recipients are at serious risk.

Here we have a law that is already in place to protect our elderly indigents, and the DOH purportedly has the implementing budget, yet senior citizens in the C, D & E segments are left standing in the proverbial rain.

From my stand, DOH should get the ball rolling immediately. We are all well aware that it takes time for projects of this magnitude to get off the ground.

 The process of bidding, procurement and rollout will take several months at best.

Knowing how quickly viruses spread, if the DOH does not act now, the free vaccines may come too late.

When Noel Pagsuberon, a well-respected Foreign Affairs officer whose acquaintance I made in Chicago, and who is now retired in La Carlota, Negros Occidental, read about the passage of the senior citizens act, he was happy in that it may help him get discounts at business establishments. But to his dismay, he discovered that not all establishments were complying with the law.

 Last Nov. 5-16, he was confined at the Adventist Medical Center in Bacolod City. His bill was P86,000. After paying 40 percent of the hospital and medical bill, that left him a balance of P14,000. To Noel’s disappointment the hospital billing department gave him only about P4,000 in deduction which is less than 10 percent of his bill instead of the 20 percent discount as provided by law. He talked to the billing department personnel but they could not give any plausible explanation except saying that that was the only amount they could give him as discount.

“This is indeed a clear violation of the Senior Citizens Act,” writes Noel. I could not believe that they refuse to give me my 20 percent discount as allowed by law. If you know the proper government agency that enforces this law I would appreciate very much if you can refer me to it so I can file my complaint.”

I hope the proper agency handling senior citizen discounts will do something about this case. I believe violations of this nature are being committed by many establishments.

*      *      *

My e-mail:[email protected]