Leptospirosis surge, another cost of corruption

Ordinary days are hard enough in public hospitals – long queues, not enough medical staff, a shortage of beds and so many other problems here and there. In some cases, patients, unless they’re on their last breath, have to wait as long as necessary before being given medical attention.

So just imagine what happens when Manila and beyond are flooded, and people get sick with leptospirosis.

When the rains come, we commuters and motorists alike find ourselves trapped on the metropolis’ roads – big and small – and every nook and cranny, many of which are flooded. In fact, it’s getting more and more difficult to find roads that don’t get flooded.

And along with this problem is the surge in leptospirosis cases.

Over the past two weeks, government hospitals have reached full capacity because of the increase in the number of people infected with the disease caused by the bacterium Leptospira that can be found in contaminated water or soil.

Without proper treatment, leptospirosis in people can lead to kidney damage, meningitis or inflammation of the membrane around the brain and spinal cord, liver failure, trouble breathing and even death, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Unfortunately, after more than two weeks of incessant rains across several areas in the country and the flooding, the country recorded 845 additional cases of leptospirosis, the Department of Health reported.

The DOH said there were 4,285 leptospirosis patients as of Aug. 22, reflecting an increase of around 25 percent from the earlier record of 3,440 cases from Jan. 4 to Aug. 8.

The DOH said most cases were recorded in the National Capital Region, Region 2 or Cagayan Valley and Region 3 or Central Luzon.

And yet, this is not the end.

The DOH expects cases to rise further, given that leptospirosis has an incubation period of up to 15 days.

The situation is alarming. It may soon be a national emergency if it isn’t already.

We have seen the announcements on the news.

The National Kidney and Transplant Institute said it has reached full bed capacity. Similarly, San Lazaro Hospital in Manila is also way beyond capacity, operating at 300 percent to 500 percent of its emergency room capacity, its medical center chief, David Suplico, told GMA News.

The surge in leptospirosis cases is one of the costs of the massive and unprecedented thievery in flood control projects that unraveled during the Marcos administration.

This is a concrete example of the consequences of the looting done by our lawmakers, executives at the Department of Public Works and Highways and everyone else in cahoots with them.

If the sight of homes, establishments and vehicles submerged in water isn’t enough for them to realize the cost of corruption, I hope the alarming number of people getting sick with leptospirosis would make them realize what they have done.

Once again, our government has failed us big time.

And yet, where are we in the investigation of these cases?

‘Arrested by Sept. 15?’

Among the well-heeled crowd, there are whispers that another big fish will be sent to jail by Sept. 15. That’s a few weeks from now. We don’t know whether or not that will actually happen. We will just have to wait and see.

Authorities have already made several arrests, including high-profile individuals such as Sen. Jinggoy Estrada, who is being held at the New Quezon City Jail in Payatas over the alleged P573 million in illicit payouts from flood-control projects.

And then there’s former DPWH secretary Manuel Bonoan, who is currently on hospital arrest as he faces non-bailable plunder charges related to the flood-control scandal.

There are contractors, too, including Curlee Discaya. But what about the several other contractors?

What about the people behind them?

There are so many more names out there who have been, one way or another, implicated in the massive corruption scheme.

Former DPWH undersecretary Roberto Bernardo, who himself confessed to being “an instrument for evil” has instead become a state witness even if he isn’t the least guilty.

He himself confessed that while serving as DPWH undersecretary, he systematically facilitated and tracked monetary kickbacks, generated from the multibillion-peso flood control project allocations.

The thing is, no ally of the administration has yet been brought to justice.

Former House speaker Martin Romualdez, the President’s cousin, has been tagged by the Office of the Ombudsman as the central figure and purported mastermind of the flood control corruption. He has denied this and has even warned that if he goes down, he will not go down alone.

In a report yesterday, the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism said that Romualdez’s district, Leyte, had the biggest DPWH budget allocation from 2023 to 2025.

PCIJ said Romualdez had replaced Duterte’s son, “Pulong,” as the top recipient of DPWH funds.

Wow. One wonders how much of these allocations were meant for flood control?

It has been more than a year, and if some may find my flood control columns sounding like a broken record, I dare argue that we must never forget this grand heist, especially because every time the rains come, we are reminded how much money has gone down the drain – or, more accurately, been washed away by the mud and filth of the floodwaters.

*      *      *

Email: [email protected]. Follow her on X 
@eyesgonzales. Column archives at EyesWideOpen on FB.