Team Botika’s Pro-Poor Program for Hospitals and Health Services
amidst various developmental challenges facing Romblon province
by Jose Rizal M. Reyes / July 4, 2019 as updated seven days after
I’m extremely bullish for Romblon. I believe that the coalition of leaders gathered around the returning congressman Eleandro Jesus “Budoy” F. Madrona and the newly elected governor Jose “Otik” R. Riano comprise the best and most dynamic provincial leadership we ever had. We may expect earth-shaking changes in the coming months and years. But let’s focus first with hospitals and health services because that was the centerpiece of their coalition’s platform of government. Collaterally, we can touch other issues and concerns along the way.
Last July 1, on his very first day in office, Gov. Riano issued an executive order mandating free hospitalization for indigents, senior citizens and persons with disabilities at 8 government hospitals in the province.
Effective that day, the governor prohibited the charging or collecting of professional fees for the operation of the aforesaid three classes of patients in Romblon District Hospital (RDH / Romblon town), Romblon Provincial Hospital (RPH / Odiongan), Don Modesto Formilleza Sr. Memorial Hospital (DMFSMH / Looc), Sibuyan District Hospital (SDH / Cajidiocan), San Jose District Hospital (SJDH / San Jose), Malipayon District Hospital (MDH / Corcuera), Tablas Island District Hospital (TIDH / San Agustin) and San Andres Municipal Hospital (SAMH / San Andres).
The issuance of this executive order, his first ever, was announced by Gov. Riano during Team Botika’s blowout in Odiongan last July 2. He also announced the same thing the following day during Team Botika’s triple blowout held in Brgy. Agnipa, Brgy. Macalas and the town plaza of Romblon.
However, the public is hereby requested to wait for a while because Romblon hospitals are totally devoid of medicines when the Riano administration took over last July 1. So let us give them enough time to procure medicines and other medical supplies. And let us always bear in mind that he cannot be blamed for past neglect because he wasn’t the governor in previous years.
Sourcing of funds for hospital and health expenditures might also prove to be more challenging than expected. The P1.3 billion that former governor Eduardo “Lolong” Firmalo is supposed to be leaving behind — as loudly and repeatedly trumpeted by Lolong-cum-Trina’s social media group — turns out to be illusory and nonexistent. Not that Team Botika socmed volunteers believed them — no, not for a moment. But it is best to clarify what it is all about lest people might be wondering what Gov. Riano did with the P1.3 billion surplus kuno. Below are some examples of the propaganda barrage that Team LongBongDong’ s online warriors unleashed regarding the P1.3 billion ghost money (rendered P1.2 billion in one post) that Gov. Riano’s predecessor was supposed to have left behind.
(By the way, by Team Botika — also sometimes referred to as Team Madrona — we mean of course the local coalition of PDP-Laban, Nationalista Party and Hugpong ng Pagbabago. By Team LongBongDong or Team Firmalo, we mean the local provincial branch of the Liberal Party.)
Upon investigation, it was found out that what the Firmalo camp has been touting as P1.3 billion leftover money from the former governor might actually be the P1,292,516,173.00 Annual Investment Program passed by the Sangguaniang Panlalawigan for 2019. Although the SP allocated the almost P1.3 billion sum, it isn’t clear until now how the money would be sourced out. It’s just an allocation, pure and simple. It’s just like you decide to buy a brand new car worth P1 million but you don’t have yet the full amount to buy it. Again, it’s just like computing the monthly budget for the household — say, you decide that P50,000 is ideal — but you don’t have an idea where all the money will be coming from.
There’s another “bad news”. According to former Vice Mayor Mark Anthony “Cocoy” Reyes of Odiongan, the sum of P24 million will be deducted from Romblon’s 2019 internal revenue allotment due to a mistake in computation made by the national government. Well, it appears we are not supposed to get the extra P24 million in the first place. It was credited to us only because of the mistake in computation. So actually we lose nothing.
We can only hope the Riano administration will be able to settle down as soon as possible, set the provincial finance in order, and fund what ought to be funded.
Last June 30 — during the oath taking ceremonies for the newly elected congressman, provincial officials and municipal officials held at the capital town — the governor laid down 8 priority concerns of his administration. Aside from health, he also mentioned tourism, education, water supply, agriculture, restoration of the the drug-free status of Romblon, disaster preparedness, and sports.
Before the new governor took his oath of office and delivered his speech, Mayor Gerard “Gard” Montojo of Romblon, Romblon did the same. He asked the national government agencies to establish a sub-office in the capital town so that whatever could be transacted in Odiongan could also be transacted in Romblon. (Such an arrangement would be favorable not only for Romblon but also for Sibuyan and Tres Islas inasmuch as Romblon is nearer to them than Odiongan.) Apparently buoyed and emboldened by the victory of Riano, who is said to be the first-ever Romblomanon governor (although Sibuyanons also claim him as their own), and the more than 12,000-vote lead posted by Madrona in his town (almost half of Madrona’s 25,000+ overall winning margin against his rival), Mayor Montojo warned that if the national government agencies wouldn’t grant their request, then it would be time to force them to relocate to Romblon.
During the same occasion, Cong. Madrona expressed the desire to restore downgraded hospitals in the province to their former Level 1 status. As of now, only Romblon Provincial Hospital is classified as Level 1 where surgical operations may be conducted. The rest are classified as infirmaries where surgical operations are prohibited by law from being performed (except circumcision and cesarian section, it seems, correct me if I’m wrong). According to Madrona, the restoration of Sibuyan District Hospital to Level 1 status will be done immediately. That of Romblon District Hospital will be next in line. Insofar as elevation to Level 1 status is concerned, no firm commitment was made for the other hospitals.
Madrona also said that he will be focusing in tourism because it is the one area which offers hope for the province. This is an interesting statement — reflective I believe of the ongoing debate or discussion regarding development and economics that has been going on in our province for the past two decades or so.
I have actively participated in the said provincial debate in the past, many years ago — as an information officer of the national government, as a cooperative and NGO leader, as a columnist in a local tabloid, and as an occasional radio commentator. I argued that we could not focus and rely on agriculture to provide jobs and abundance for our people because our land area is limited and farm sizes in Romblon are small. It wasn’t viable or advisable to mechanize our farm operations due to the lack of economy of scale. And if we wanted a bigger market, we would need to cross the seas thus adding to our expense. Nevertheless, I advocated for the planting of cash crops. I also wanted subsidy for the agricultural sector (which incidentally, by definition and practice, includes fisheries) and the perpetual devotion to agriculture of certain parcels of land. Where do we get the money to subsidize our farms and farmers? The answer is: By making other industries profitable — and that is a huge challenge by itself.
The debate on development strategies and economic issues is a long and complicated one. So let us set that aside for a while. It would just pop up again everywhere unbidden.
Based on my first-ever conversation with Cong. Madrona last June 30 at Casa Joebelle — the building owned by the governor’s family — the problem appears to be the requirement that a hospital should have at least 5 doctors to be eligible to Level 1 status. (We never had the chance to converse before, ever, although I had conversed with ex-Cong. Toto Madrona at least once many years ago. Same with the late congressman Jun Beltran, I talked with him only once in my life. As for ex-congressman cum ex-governor Lolong Firmalo, we have exchanged a few words a few times. Then there was former mayor, governor and congressman Totoy Ylagan: there had been more occasions when I personally communicated with him, primarily because we live in the same town.)
So attention people of Looc (DMFSMH), San Jose (SJDH), Corcuera (MDH), San Agustin (TIDH) and San Andres (SAMH). Let’s also call the attention of Sibuyanons (SDH) and Romblomanons (RDH). If you want your hospitals to be elevated to Level 1 status, I advise you — nay, I strongly urge you — to discuss with your town mates and the neighboring towns how you could gather 5 doctors willing to serve in your hospital. Once that puzzle has been solved, you may then approach Cong. Madrona and Gov. Riano and ask their help in elevating your hospital to Level 1 status. Don’t just sit on your arses and wait for the congressman and the governor to deliver what you need on a silver platter. Move! Do something! Be a problem solver, everyone!
One thing the ruling coalition or the provincial government can do is to undertake a systematic listing of all doctors residing in Romblon as well as all doctors with Romblomanon roots residing elsewhere. They may add to the list all other doctors who are willing to help in elevating our seven hospitals to Level 1 status. Inasmuch as RPH is already Level 1, that leaves 7 hospitals to worry about. Now, 7 hospitals X 5 doctors = 35 doctors needed to elevate our hospitals to Level 1 status. It seems that number is achievable, don’t you think so? Of course, there are other requirements to fulfill but that’s another story.
Wait, if you come across those other requirements, find a way to fulfill them too. That’s the short and long of it. As the Tagalog saying goes: “Kung gusto, may paraan; kung ayaw, may dahilan.” (If there’s a will, there’s a way; if you don’t want to, you can find excuses.”)
Actually, during my conversation with the congressman, he rattled off at one point the names of some doctors whose help could be tapped to help fulfill the 5-doctor requirement for a Level 1 hospital. If I remember it right and understand him right, he mentioned “Dr. (Edmund) Reloj, Dr. (Leila) Arboleda and Dr. (Niño) Fondevilla”. This is an indication that the congressman had already devoted time to think about the matter and find a solution to the problem.
I just hope Gov. Riano will also enlist the assistance of the three aforementioned physicians — as well as others who are not tainted by the maladministration of the previous administration — in reforming the hospitals and health services in our province. It’s difficult to reform a failed, denounced and rejected health-and-hospital management system if the reform effort is to be undertaken by the same medical mandarins of the old order. There would be this natural human tendency to cover up for past errors and misdeeds. And there is also the strong possibility of resistance, disloyalty, controversy, factionalism, sabotage, demoralization and business as usual.
We may add to the names quickly ticked off by Cong. Madrona the kind and amiable Dr. Jesse Morgado of Odiongan and Magdiwang. We also have Dr. Venizar Maravilla of Odiongan and Dr. Fernando Robillos of San Andres (though some legal complication might arise because each of them owns a private hospital). There is also Dr. Erwin Tangonan who, although an SB member of San Andres, is allowed by law to practice his profession. (Insofar as physicians are concerned, all SB and SP members as well as vice mayors and vice governors are allowed to practice their profession even during official hours in case of emergency provided they are not compensated for it … but not mayors and governors because they are chief executives who are supposed to work full time.) Then there is Dr. Ernesto Pedroso Panes of Looc, an active citizen of cyberspace. Fidel Meñez, a staunch supporter of Team Botika in Odiongan, has a son or daughter who is also willing to serve as physician in our province. (He used the gender-neutral word “anak” so it could be male or female.) I understand that Dr. IC Festin(daughter of Arman and Edith)is already serving in some way in Romblon hospitals. I just don’t know if Dianne — daughter of Engr. Diego dela Cruz of DPWH and his wife Love (Fesarit) — is ready and willing to serve as physician in her home province. There was also this Bantoanon doctor who had a lengthy and intelligent debate with May Lyn Tibio at the FB group Banton, Romblon, Philippines during the campaign period. He seemed to be concerned about the status of hospitals in our province. There are many other physicians out there whose help and cooperation we may tap, I feel certain about it.
Some of you might wonder why I bothered to include Dr. Panes among those who might be willing to help fulfill the 5-doctor requirement for Level 1 hospitals. Dr. Panes is a certified non-fan of Budoy Madrona although during the last election season, he famously quarreled with the leading keyboard warriors of Team LongBongDong — including May Lyn Tibio, Mylene Otis and Gingging Fradejas — as well as with the radio commentator Awe Eranes. Well, if he is willing to help out, why not? Cong. Madrona has a long track record of open-heartedness. Over the years, he has been entertaining all those who visit him in Bachawan, be political ally or political adversary. As for Gov. Riano, he is a believer in “constructive cooperation”, to borrow his own words. So there.
There are indications, however, that Cong. Madrona has been deeply hurt by the vicious attacks against him during the last election season. If that were true, that might turn out to be not much of a problem really and might in fact be a means to achieve justice and fairness. For the sake of the loyal supporters of Team Botika, maybe we should let Cong. Madrona remain “mad” or “angry” for a period of one year, or at least six months. After that, after the dust has settled down in our province and things have been placed in their proper order, we may merrily allow him to revert to his good old self, friendly to both friends and foes alike.
There is something like war in elections. It is an old adage in Philippine politics — even in other countries — that to the victors belong the spoils. Before the start of the campaign period, when Trina’s social media warriors reigned uncontested in FB groups, they vehemently protested when I described them matter-of-factly as “a gang of flamers” and “keyboard warriors”. Yet every so often, they would merrily claim that they were able to toast or roast (“tubor” or “sunog”) politicians and supporters of the opposite camp. And to my surprise, a relative of mine who was their ally casually referred to them as “warriors” when I crossed swords with him one time in the FB group Romblon Insider, indicating that their camp regarded them as such.
The point is: In war, the losing soldiers share the vanquished fate of the losing general. Similarly, the winning soldiers may also be expected to share the victorious fate of the winning general. I am not advocating the observance of this twin principles or policies. I won’t even endeavor to name those who might be holding that kind of thinking. Instead, I will content myself in asking this question: Aren’t those twin principles (or policies) fair, smart, logical and necessary?
Let’s speak of gambling. Should we let the losing bettors partake of the winnings while the winning bettors are deprived of getting anything? Where is fairness or justice in that? And don’t tell me that gambling is an ignoble analogy. The holy and noble warriors of ancient India — the kshatriyas — were allowed by custom and tradition to gamble whole cities and kingdoms. Is that insane? Oh, maybe not so. Which would you prefer — decide the fate of a city or kingdom through war … or through a game of card or dice or whatever? The first method will cause the death of many, the second method need not result to the death of anyone.
Anyway, after a party or coalition achieved a victory, some winning colonel or camp follower should not be allowed — and should feel ashamed — to recruit and reward enemy warriors and sympathizers because that would cause demoralization among the loyal but unrewarded soldiers of the winning army. Especially if the colonel and camp follower haven’t done much to achieve the army’s victory but work only for themselves. This is just a theoretical musing which I hope would be taken as theoretically amusing.
But inasmuch as health is a life-and-death issue that should be beyond the pale of petty politicking and personal animosities, and inasmuch as there may not be that many doctors around whom we can recruit to man our hospitals and clinics, the policy of hiring rare medical personnel should be different from the policy of hiring personnel in other fields where the available positions are usually reserved for supporters of the victorious candidates.
Talking about the hiring of government personnel, that’s the area of intense activity, maneuvering and even struggle right now. (I suppose not just in our province but in the rest of the country.) Just as I have intimated a while ago when I briefly mentioned such things as war, spoils, army, victory, defeat, fairness, justice, demoralization, gambling, bettors, reward and winnings.
Okay, let’s resume our discussion about health concerns. According to Dr. Tangonan — an independent candidate who topped the recent Sangguniang Bayan elections in San Andres — the difference between Level 1 and Level 2 hospitals consists of the level of services being offered plus the number of personnel. (“Actually yung level of services lang naman na pwedeng ibigay ang pinagkaiba ng level 1 at level 2 plus of course the number of personnel.”) He also said that a Level 1 hospital lacks training and equipment. (“Yung sinasabi kasi nila ang sa Level 1 Hospital ay walang masyadong training at equipment na available to cater to patients requiring surgical procedures”.)
I tried to research the requirements for each hospital level so we may know and understand what they are. Here’s what Public Health Resources blog spot says — but be warned that it might not be the complete picture:
Classification of hospital shall be based on Administrative Order №2012–0012, dated July 18, 2012, “Rules and Regulations Governing the New Classification of Hospitals and Other Health Facilities in the Philippines”
According to functional capacity
Level 1 General Hospital
A level 1 General Hospital shall have as minimum:
1. A staff of qualified, medical, allied medical and administrative personnel headed by a physician duly licensed by the PRC
2. Bed space for its authorized bed capacity, in accordance with DOH Guidelines in the Planning and Design of Hospitals
3. An operating room with standard equipment and provisions for sterilization of equipment and supplies in accordance with:
* DOH Reference Plan in the Planning and Design of an Operating Room or Theater
* DOH Guidelines on Cleaning, Disinfection, and Sterilization of Reusable Medical Devices in Hospital Facilities in the Philippines4. A post-operative Recovery Room
5. Maternity Facilities consisting of Ward(s), Room(s), a Delivery Room, exclusively for maternity patients and newborns
6. Isolation facilities with proper procedures for the care and control of infection and communicable diseases as well as for the prevention of cross infection
7. A separate dental section/ clinic
8. Provision for blood donation
9. A DOH-licensed secondary clinical laboratory with the services of a consulting pathologist
10. A DOH licensed Level 1 imaging facility with the services of a consulting radiologist
11. A DOH licensed pharmacy
Level 2 General Hospital
As minimum, all of Level 1 capacity, including but not limited to:
1. An organized staff of qualified and competent personnel with Chief of Hospital/Medical Director and appropriate board certified Clinical Department Heads
2. Departmentalized and equipped with the service capabilities needed to support board certified/ eligible medical specialties and other licensed physicians rendering services in the specialties of Medicine, Pediatrics, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Surgery, their subspecialties, and other ancillary services
3. Provision for general ICU for critically ill patients
4. Provision for NICU
5. Provision for HRPU
6. Provision for Respiratory Therapy Services
7. A DOH licensed tertiary clinical laboratory
8. A DOH licensed level 2 imaging facility with mobile X-ray inside the institution and with capability for contrast examinations
Level 3 General Hospital
As minimum, all of Level 2, including but not limited to:
Teaching and/or Training Hospital with accredited residency training program for physicians in the four major specialties namely: Medicine, Pediatrics, Obstetrics and Gynecology, and Surgery
Provision for physical medicine and rehabilitation unit
Provision for ambulatory surgical clinic
Provision for dialysis facility
Provision for blood bank
A DOH licensed level 3 imaging facility with interventional radiology
My old pal and lifetime tocayo Jose Luis “Joy” Morales — Sangguniang Bayan Member of Alcantara — is one big winner in this election. His advocacy to have a dialysis center in the province will finally come true. This is very important to him personally because aside from suffering from the pertinent disease, he is also being greatly inconvenienced by the dialysis treatment having to be done in Metro Manila. No less than Gov. Riano made the assurance about the dialysis center during Team Botika’s miting de avanci in Odiongan last May 10. And there is no indication that the ruling coalition will renege on that promise, on that commitment. On the contrary, Team Botika is planning to purchase other kinds of medical equipment to make them available in our hospitals.
Establishing a dialysis center and procuring other vital hospital equipment right on his first year in office would elicit comparison between the current governor and his predecessor. People would say, “What Lolong failed to do in nine years, Otik achieved in less than a year.” Of course, the other camp’s large, powerful and talented army of keyboard warriors, trolls, dummies, allies and sympathizers would give emerging developments a clever twist or spin favorable to their camp. They would say, “Firmalo laid the groundwork…” and things like that. So Team Botika’s social media volunteers should be alert lest their online adversaries would have a field day pursuing their usual fact-twisting, fault-finding and credit-grabbing ways.
In fairness to the social media troopers of the other side, they can serve as fiscalizers vis-a-vis the ruling coalition to keep the latter on their toes always. Fiscalizing is traditionally a respected and accepted role in our culture. I just hope they would do it honestly and responsibly. As much as possible, please let us avoid flaming, untruthful propagandizing and habitual lying because they are counterproductive. Let’s argue with reason, logic, truth, goodwill and courtesy. Let us apply the same yardstick to both our allies and adversaries. We owe it to our people. Whatever we do as Romblon citizens, let us do it with the best interest of our province in mind and heart.
But fiscalizing is not a one-way street. After all, we have practically in Romblon a two-party system. And the provincial government was headed by someone from the other camp for the past nine years. Furthermore, they got today the vice governorship plus two seats in the Sanguniang Panlalawigan. They are also the current ruling party in Calatrava, San Andres, Odiongan, Alcantara and fast-rising San Jose, all in District 2.
The ruling coalition and its supporters should undertake a full investigation of alleged rackets and anomalies that have been perpetrated by the past administration — especially at the Capitol as well as at the Romblon Provincial Hospital and other government hospitals in the province. This is to protect the public interest. This is also to protect Gov. Riano’s administration which might be blamed if the ill effects of wrongdoings in the past would later explode in the course of his term. One of the things that should be investigated thoroughly is the alleged previous mishandling of PhilHealth funds or payments or reimbursements, whatever, as exposed or criticized by SP member Narciso R. Bernardo during the campaign period.
Our people must be alert and vigilant. Because if there were indeed rackets or anomalies — especially at the provincial capitol and at our hospitals — racketeers may join forces with some elements of the new provincial government to perpetuate the same rackets they have been doing all these years.
The socmed army of the other camp is alert and vigilant … but one can only wonder for what purpose. This is evident in the way they reacted to the news regarding the governor’s executive order prohibiting the charging of professional fees for medical operations performed at public hospitals in the province. Instead of rejoicing and giving the new administration enough time to settle down, they resorted to taunting and nitpicking — making much of the fact that an earlier unofficial one-page version of the EO leaked out (despite the fact that its content is regarded as basically the same as the two-page official version that was reportedly sent to the hospitals).
Thus, I issued a statement in the Facebook group Padayon, Romblon! Said I:
Traditionally, new administrations are given a 100-day honeymoon period, be it at the national or local level. So let’s give the Riano-Mortel provincial administration enough time to adjust to their new roles. Let’s give them a helping hand if we can rather than obstruct, castigate or undermine them.
To critics and detractors: it’s too early to pass judgment on the new administration’s competence. It’s just a week old today, July 7.
To provincial government employees: the new bosses deserve your loyalty by virtue of the offices they hold. Those who behave queerly, if any, will eventually find themselves in hot water.
Specifically on the matter of the wording and format of the governor’s first executive order, I am not bothered at all by the little confusion that attended it. I perceive that the preparation process can be readily improved, if not perfected, in succeeding EOs. Rather than be disappointed, I rejoice in the fact that the new governor is eager to make good his campaign promise right on his first day in office. It’s a sure sign of sincerity and intent to fulfill what has been pledged. I would rather have such an eager-beaver governor than one who, once elected, would be preoccupied with how to renege on a verbalized commitment to the public.
Here’s an online discussion about the said executive order:
The brouhaha about the governor’s wonderfully pro-poor and compassionate executive order is an eye opener of sort. It demonstrates beyond the shadow of a doubt that the social media army of the other partisan camp is alive and kicking, as potent and as petty as ever. Hence the need to also maintain intact the Team Botika’s social media volunteers — keyboard warriors in their own right. But I don’t believe in Goebbels-style propaganda. As I have already stated in the past, I am not a flamer but a counter-flamer. To me, basing my belief from actual personal experience, Truth is stronger than fiction.
At any rate, it is my well-considered assessment that one thing is certain: free hospitalization for indigents, senior citizens and persons with disabilities is as good as a done deal, a fait accompli, an established fact. It’s make or break for the new governor — his political career hangs in the balance upon it more than upon any other issue or concern. He promised it before, during and after the election. It is a major plank of the health-centered platform of government of his coalition. Thus, there can be no turning back. Given his promptness in issuing an executive order, a clear indication of his intent to deliver on his promise, I believe it’s just a matter of time before it can be implemented as intended.
Cong. Madrona will be there to help him any which way he can — not only with regards to hospitals and health services but also in other areas of public service and good governance. Publicly, the congressman declared that he is subservient to the needs of the governor, and also of the mayors. He also stated the same intention to me in private, explaining that if the governor wouldn’t perform well, it would reflect badly on the congressman’s leadership.
I vaguely remember that “sea ambulance” was among the topics discussed in social media during the campaign period. It was seldom discussed around, however, and I am not familiar with how the discussion went. I never heard Team Botika candidates mention it. But Cong. Madrona showed me something akin to it — actually just photos in his cellphone, photos of things to be placed in something interesting that is now being, uhm, shall we say looked upon. No, it can’t float but it can cure. Unfortunately, I can’t tell you exactly what it is for the reason that the good congressman asked me not to reveal it yet because he preferred that a report should be about something that is already visible.
It shouldn’t surprise anyone that Team Botika will go strong in health services because that was their commitment during the campaign period. The very name of Team Botika speaks for itself. This is especially true in Odiongan where Team Botika’s mayoral candidate was SP member Venizar Maravilla, a physician by profession and author of the provincial ordinance titled Romblon Integrated Hospital and Socialized Health System — a law that fellow physician Eduardo “Lolong” Firmalo, who exited the governorship last June 30, never implemented.
I remember what my younger brother, the then vice mayor Cocoy Reyes of Odiongan, told me during the pre-campaign period when their coalition was going around the province to undertake free medical mission and gift giving. He said that then vice governor Riano was talking about free hospitalization in the places they visited. My brother and I wondered how it could be fulfilled. Then later on, the story about the unimplemented provincial ordinance of Dr. Maravilla came out. So eventually we got to understand the mechanics of free hospital services and became convinced that it is indeed feasible.
The previous administration was also strong in health services — but it was all words. They claim that there were 40 doctors assigned in RPH. A netizen who looked very much like Ms. T said that if the doctors in other hospitals were included, the total would be around 65 — if I remember the figure right. The problem is that this extravagant claim went against the actual experiences of families who needed medical attention and couldn’t find doctors in the hospital and had to spend for medicine, gauze, cotton, bandage and everything else. And the hospital services were so lousy from food to room assignment to patient care. An IT graduate was even assigned to take off a dextrose from a patient who happened to be a retired nurse. When she found out what the hospital staffer studied for, naturally she objected.
During the election period, with all the complaints and exposes and debates going around, I asked at one point: What does RPH means — Romblon Provincial Halloween? or Romblon Potemkin Hospital? Halloween because many died unnecessarily. And Potemkin after the Potemkin Village in tsarist Russia which you may research about if you want to.
There are many sad and outrageous stories concerning the RPH and other hospitals. Let us post some examples here from other people so we can have a good picture and perspective of the conditions in the ground at the beginning of the Riano administration as well as during the period before it. I can post a story from my own family, my sister did so in Facebook, but that should be enough.
And yet up to the end and even beyond it, the propagandists of the previous administration keep on peddling the myth about the 40 doctors in the RPH and the many other doctors in other hospitals. During the waning days of the old order — on May 20, 2019 to be exact — the following poster was released together with a textual component which I fully quote below:
#ConsequenceNo1
MABABAWASAN TAYO NG 29 NA DOKTOR SA RPH.Merong 40 doctors sa RPH, labing-isa (11) sa kanila ay nasa plantilya at 29 naman ay na-hire as Governor’s Consultants. Ito ay paraan para magkaroon ng mas maraming doktor sa RPH.
Ngayon dahil hanggang June 30, 2019 na lamang si Gov. Firmalo, yan din ang huling araw para sa 29 na Doctors sa RPH. Unless marenew ang mga kontrata nila at pumayag sila na manatili na pagsilbihan ang mga Romblomanon.
Yan ay ayon sa panayam namin kay Gov. Firmalo kaninang umaga.
Para maiwasan ang kakulangan sa mga doktor, ito ay dapat pangunahing bigyan ng pansin ng susunod na gobernador. Kailangang galingan nila ang recruitment drive sa mga doctor na sa halip mabawasan ay madagdagan pa ang mga ito. Hindi lang iyan, posible ring may ibang medical staff na magresign kagaya ng nurse at iba pa.
Narito ang mga nagpapakita ng interes na magmanage ng RPH:
1. Dr. Maravilla (May ari ng Private Hospital at Punerarya)
2. Dr. Rovillos (May ari ng Private Hospital)
3. Dr. Reloj (Dating Chief ng RPH)
To this and other posts from the other camp, I replied:
@May Lyn Tibio: It’s nonsense to reproach Romblomanons that they are going to lose doctors because they voted for Budoy Madrona and Otik Riano.
People hardly saw them anyway, if ever. They are just paper doctors, not doctors available when needed. For all practical intents and purposes, Romblon never had those doctors. And Romblon cannot lose what it never had.
Furthermore, the salaries or remunerations of those ghost doctors together with those of numerous casuals ate up almost all of the budget for RPH thus leaving little for purchasing basic items like medicine, gauze, plaster, cotton and the like.
The poor condition of our hospitals and health services is a strong and solid proof of the outgoing administration’s gross management incompetence and its shameless and heartless politicization of our hospitals and health services.
I feel confident that in due time, the Riano administration will be able to find a satisfactory solution to our problems with our hospitals and health services as well as in other fields of governance. After all, the previous administration was so awfully ran that it is easy to surpass its behavior and performance.
Besides, Gov. Riano (and Romblon province as a whole) has an ace up his sleeve — and that is Cong. Madrona. The best asset of our province is our human and natural resources. And our next best asset is Cong. Madrona who is at the peak of his influence at the national level and at the pinnacle of his ability to procure needed funds for our province. A Rappler report last November quoted Sen. Panfilo Lacson and Cong. Rolando Andaya as having said that each congressional district would be given an allotment of around P60 million for 2019 to be used by the congressmen for their pet projects. That means if it was Lolong Firmalo who won the last congressional election, about P60 million is all that Romblon might be getting this year through congressional allocation. And yet there are reports that say Romblon got P8 billion in 2018 and is supposed to get more than P5 billion in 2019 (although the change in house leadership complicated the latter).
That’s unbelievably huge money by any standard. And Cong. Madrona was out of office when those reported sums were secured. So how did he pull it off considering that Romblon has very few voters (compared with big provinces) that can be used as bargaining chips during negotiations among lawmakers? That’s his anting anting that can only be envied by fellow lawmakers. Don’t ask me how he was able to do that because I won’t reveal my own guesses. Suffice to say that only a handful of blessed mammals in Congress (usually top legislative officials of the ruling coalition at the national level) can get funding that runs to billions of pesos.
The sublime significance of Cong. Madrona’s fund-sourcing skills is that the provincial government — or any municipal government for that matter — can request the good congressman to provide funding for its infrastructure projects so that the bulk of the LGU’s limited resources can be allocated for health and social services. That’s the happy vision that Dr. Maravilla wanted to pursue for Odiongan if he would win the mayoralty contest. But other municipalities — as well as the provincial government itself — can also adopt the same budgeting strategy.
I myself am contemplating to request Cong. Madrona to fund a provincewide-cum-nationwide project that I have been tossing in my mind for many years now. It got something to do with how we can market marble and other Romblon products in a big way all around the country. That can be done by establishing Romblon Marble House outlets in major malls and business districts — first in Metro Manila, and later in other parts of our blessed archipelago. (If all goes well, we can aspire to put up at some happy point of time in the future RMH outlets in the US and other countries!) Each Romblon Marble House will be owned and operated by a different Romblomanon entrepreneur or family but fully assisted by the government, at least for the first 5 years — preferably with an initial subsidy for rent and soft loan for capital. I want to write a blog article on this proposed project within the next few weeks so I can present the concept more fully and flesh out the mechanics.
Our traditional approach to marketing may be described as the Spider Strategy — the strategy of the spider waiting for the flies to visit its parlor. As the misquoted version of a famous poem goes, “Come into my parlour, said a Spider to a Fly.” That is to say, we wait for visitors to come to our province hoping they would purchase some marble souvenir items and other local products. With few buyers and many sellers, there have been murmurs of undercutting of prices among vendors of marble items.
Under the RMH concept, we bring Romblon products right where the buyers are — starting with big cities, particularly Metro Manila. To paraphrase what might be an apocryphal anecdote about Mohammed and the mountain (as retold by the noble Sir Francis Bacon of Great Britain): If the Fly will not come to the Spider’s parlor, then the Spider’s parlor must go the Fly. If we can dramatically increase the sales of our local products through pro-active and creative marketing strategy, there will be this tendency for a corresponding increase in production because of the rising demand. Increased production — as well as increased marketing activity — essentially means creating more jobs.
The RMH outlets, in line with a signed memorandum of agreement, can double as tourism information centers for Romblon where tourism displays may be viewed and tourism brochures may be obtained. It can also triple as something else: we may study the possibility of utilizing them as Romblon’s seasonal extension offices for filing tax returns by those with Romblomanon roots.
While other products from our province will be sold in Romblon Marble Houses, marble products by necessity will be the centerpiece. Why so? Because marble is what our province is known for for centuries. Marble products are also unique for Romblon — no other provinces produce the same. Our people too are producing marble products in great quantities unlike other types of locally produced products. In the little market niche that Romblon marble products occupy, we got a competitive edge. If this is a basketball game, marble products will play the role of center. Other Romblon products would have to make good account of themselves by doing heroics as guards and forwards.
The Romblon Marble House concept is one way to perk up — or even revolutionize — our provincial economy. Another way is through tourism development (a lethargic and turtle-paced sector that hopefully will be provided with a strong and dynamic leadership by the First Lady of Romblon). Still another way is to through the installation of a fast Internet service provincewide and the attraction of investors to our province (a tough challenge that I believe can best be tackled by former SP member Arming Gutierrez considering his professional background as well as his lofty stature within the ruling coalition).
The role of the First Lady — be at the national, provincial or municipal level — is not spelled out in any Constitution or statute or ordinance that I know of anywhere in the world. Nevertheless, by tradition, First Ladies around the world usually play a prominent role during official social functions and are oftentimes tasked to take charge of beautification projects and ribbon cutting. But at this period of Romblon’s history, it is my humble opinion that the best way to utilize the First Lady for the good of the province is to assign her to take charge of our tourism program.
Aside from commanding the cooperation of everyone concerned, including the governor himself, there are other practical considerations that point to the first lady as the best person to lead the charge in tourism matters. Just imagine if there are VIPs coming over. Without kuskos balungos, she can decide there and then to entertain them or not. After all, she has Casa Joebelle at her disposal for accommodating visitors. But put someone else in charge who has no sufficient personal resources nor influence over the governor. It would take syam syam before such a person could make things happen. (The only exception I can think of is Arming Gutierrez. He also has sufficient personal resources and influence over the governor.)
Joy Morales — the town councilor of Alcantara whose talent borders on genius — brought up elsewhere the matter of nepotism and I appreciate it very much. It gives us the opportunity to clarify this legal point. What I can say is that we need to review all pertinent laws. The law on nepotism is neither absolute nor universal. I understand it’s a case to case basis. I know of elected officials in our country — of Romblomanon officials in particular — who hired their close relatives as members of their staff. Even Pres. Cory Aquino appointed her daughter Balsy as her office secretary. Then, much earlier, there was the celebrated case of US Pres. John F. Kennedy who hired his brother Robert as US Attorney General.
If the governor will grant our request to appoint the First Lady to provide leadership to the tourism sector, she would need many people to work with her — either as provincial employees or as program partners. She can hire Deo Fajardo, who already got experience in tour guiding and knows his way around in tourism circles. (He just recently tour-guided the 2017 Bb. Pilipinas Universe Rachel Peters who did some shooting in Romblon town for her TV show. According to Deo, she will be coming back to Romblon in December, bringing with her her boyfriend, Gov. Miguel Luis “Migz” Reyes Villafuerte of Camarines Sur.) Then there is US-based Vince Fopalan who can send American tourists to visit our province, preferably in coordination with LGUs. There is also this supervising guy in DC Munting Paraiso in Romblon town who can do sideline as tour guide whenever needed. Many years ago, the town of Magdiwang had this home-stay program wherein tourists (for a fee) stay in private homes instead of staying in hotels or lodging houses. We should keep a sharp eye on tourism developments in Carabao Island — both for the purpose of lending a helping hand if needed and sounding the alarm if the direction it is taking is not to the best interest of our people. Well, that’s about all the local tourism inventory that I can do. I hope that helps.
After I posted on Facebook a shoutout calling for Mrs. Riano to be designated in charge of tourism affairs, my sister Cecille and later my brother Cocoy both PMed me and reminded me that the governor publicly announced during his inauguration that he will give his vice gubernatorial running mate many tasks to do, specifically mentioning tourism. My brother said it might not be taken well by Arming’s people. Not bothered in the least, I posted the following day another shoutout on my Facebook wall, this time requesting the governor to assign Mr. Gutierrez to take charge of Internet and Investment which in my view is as important as Tourism, if not more so.
There will be cases when Tourism and Investment will intersect. That’s the time when those in charge of these two areas should join forces and maul together into submission the problems and obstacles that are encountered along the way.
I cannot over-emphasize the importance of a fast Internet. It’s a powerful game changer. It would make attracting investors so much easier, almost with no sweat on our part. Personally, I know of at least two local sons who have a strong likelihood of relocating to our province if our Internet service at home is fast and reliable. One of them is Singapore-based Jimmy Maulion, son of former PCL president Virgilio Maulion. Another is the IT-graduate brother of Dr. IC Festin (per my conversation with their mother about a year ago). My cousin Merna Falogme Smith is regularly making the payroll of a company owned by a former officemate in the US and she is doing it through the Net while based in Odiongan. There is a small number of bloggers and at least one artist in our province who are making good money in cyberspace. Many individuals and companies will be lured to put down roots in our islands if we have a fast, reliable Internet. If we can convince two or three call center companies to establish a branch in our province — by offering them a 5-year or 10-year tax holiday and other incentives — then our provincial economy is made.
With Cong. Madrona around who got extraordinary skills in fund-sourcing, Romblon is provided with an excellent window of opportunity to build up and bulk up our provincial economy, aside from elevating our hospitals and health services to a very satisfactory level. Local government units can concentrate most of their budget on health, social service and economic development because they have the BM Option to resort to — that is to say, they can request the congressman of the lone district of Romblon to provide for the oftentimes expensive infrastructure needs within their respective territories.
But Cong. Madrona won’t stay on Earth forever — just like each and everyone of us. So it is imperative that we level up our provincial economy against that day when nobody would be there to take care of our infrastructure needs. When that time comes, we would be forced to allocate sufficient budgets for health and social services on one hand and infra projects on the other hand using our IRA allotment and locally-generated government money. There is therefore the need to create conditions that are conducive to the opening of new businesses and the multiplication of job opportunities. This would result to the expansion of our tax base — which is the right way to increase our tax revenues to fund our health-and-social services, and infrastructure projects if need be, among others governmental activities that need funding.
The other way of increasing tax revenue is to impose more and more taxes on our impoverished people. And this is the wrong and heartless approach to governance. This is Serbisyong Walang Puso. It can cause small businesses to close (say, tiny sarisari stores in remote sitios and barangays) and can bring hardship to our small producers and small-time fishermen (both of whom are supposed to be exempted from all taxes and fees according to the local government code). If this sounds familiar to you, don’t wonder why. I know the situation in my town and my province. Incidentally, down the centuries, overtaxation has triggered revolts and revolutions in various parts of the world.
Be that as it may, until whenever his political leadership might last, I foresee Romblon’s window of opportunity will extend far beyond the BM era (though not as comfortably or as reassuringly as with him around). Why so? Because with the frenetic way — the fast and furious way — he is constructing roads, bridges, flood controls, school buildings, covered courts, daycare centers, seaports and whatever else, the post-BM era would likely require more of maintenance and repair funds than funding for new constructions. And that I suppose is much less expensive, thus allowing us to allocate available money for other public necessities. Indeed, someday, there will be what we may call the “BM afterglow” — a long period of time post-Budoy Madrona when Romblomanons would still be enjoying the fruits of his fund-sourcing efforts even if he would be already gone from the political scene.
The construction spree going on all over the province, thanks to the efforts of the Madrona brothers, has created a great impact on the lives of our people. Residents of Brgy. Panique in Odiongan narrated that before the onslaught of construction projects, the incidents of thievery in their community was high. But nowadays, they can leave their chickens at night without having to keep them in a coop and they wouldn’t be stolen. It’s difficult nowadays for homes and businesses to hire a carpenter or worker because the construction firms have contracted them. My elementary classmate Dan Castillo had to hire laborers from Batangas to do some construction work in his restaurant. This is classic economics at work. The more jobs available, the better for workers and employees. Businessmen like Dan might be inconvenienced; but more money in the hands of the people has this tendency to perk up business activities in town. So overall, the upside is greater than the downside.
We have to play our cards right and make the right moves. If the present generations of Romblomanons would act properly and responsibly, our province in due time will become so prosperous that we will have the self-generated wherewithal to fund not only our health- and social-service programs as well as infrastructure projects but many other worthy and noble undertakings beside. But we have to act now. And we have to act fast. No matter how optimistic we might be, progress might come much later than we think. Achieving economic development and general prosperity is a tough undertaking. So we better start as early as we can and patiently or painstakingly hurdle each obstacle we meet along the way.
Aside from the funding bonanza courtesy of Cong. Madrona, it might be helpful if we take a pause for a while and make a quick inventory of our other assets as a province. In terms of trade, we only export a few items of marble, a few sacks of copra, a few styrofoams of tulingan, a few heads of native pigs, and not much else. But we import so many things from Luzon, Mindoro, Panay and elsewhere including cars, motorcycles, gasoline, school and office supplies, cement and other construction materials, grocery items, hardware items, perya items, medicines, toys, clothes and agricultural products. The balance of trade is so lopsided. Money is coming out and products are coming in. If trade is the only factor that determines the flow of money, Romblon province should have long been bereft of cash.
So how do we get by? Where do we get the money to keep importing the things we need? How come money keeps on circulating in our towns and islands? One big source of cash is the national government which flow down to our province in the form of congressional allocation, IRAs of LGUs, salaries of government employees, and project funds of various national government agencies. Then we have the overseas Filipino workers (OFWs)as well as the out-of-the-province Romblomanons (OPRs) both of whom send money to their families and function like tourists when they go back home. (This is widely regarded as export of labor.) The construction of big private houses and buildings in our towns and barangays is oftentimes made possible by money earned outside Romblon, not within it.
Romblon has one of the most successful cooperative movements in the country. Fifteen years ago — before I hied off to Olongapo to write thousands of sonnets, haikus and other types of poems under the patronage of my eldest brother Vicente Apolinar — there were already twenty millionaire cooperatives in our province, each one having at least one million pesos in total asset. In fact, Saint Vincent Ferrer Parish Cooperative — the biggest and most multi-awarded cooperative in the province — has more than P250 million in total asset the last time I checked. I am deeply proud of this coop because I was one of its five founding directors together with Electo Faigao, Nelson Fedelin, Fr. Agustin Gialogo and Artemio Ylagan. I don’t know how many millionaire coops we have in the province today but it could just have increased in number, not decreased. Our local cooperatives have employed many people and assisted thousands of Romblomanons in their economic undertakings and financial needs.
Other major players in our provincial economy are private businesses, market vendors and stall holders, professionals, local producers and manufacturers (mostly small-scale), and the farming and fishing sector (most of them in subsistence mode). As of now, the contribution of tourists and visitors to our provincial economy is negligible because we don’t see so many of them around, do we?
During my previous stay in our province from 1989–2004, there were some things that made me unhappy with our political leaders. But what I was grateful of them is that they kept our politics peaceful and civilized, as compared to less fortunate parts of our country, especially the so-called trouble spots. Another thing I appreciated much, and still do, is the establishment of fish sanctuaries in various municipalities. The most successful of these are the two fish sanctuaries of Looc which has been drawing both local and foreign tourists. Giant clams and fish galore, you can find it there. When the first of the two areas designated as fish sanctuary in Looc was established more than 15 years ago, with the assistance of some Peace Corps Volunteers, dolphins in due time returned to the town after the absence of about 80 years.
Several tourist resorts and other tourist-related establishments have been built over the years. From Tres Islas to Carabao Island, our little archipelago are dotted with many beaches, waterfalls, rivers and beautiful scenery. We also have the majestic Mount Guiting Guiting, that should be given special mention. We may even market the enchanted Calatong hills and the equally enchanted Cantingas river as tourist spots, in a category all their own (at least at the start). You know, according to the Department of Tourism, there are two types of tourist spots — natural and man-made. Let’s try to market Calatong and Cantingas as belonging to the third category of tourist spots — supernatural!
Most of all, we have our happy and hospitable people. You may easily agree that we are hospitable. But happy? Well, just look at the way the keyboard warriors quarrel in Facebook — are they not happy in both sides? That’s one proof of it.
In all our efforts to develop our local tourism industry and establish businesses in our islands, we should not forget to take good care of our environment because it is a very precious resource. That is one reason why I am very supportive of having call centers in our province … whenever they might come around. It’s because aside from giving many well-paying jobs, they can be housed in a small space and wouldn’t be too much of a disturbance to our ecology.
To assist our LGUs, private enterprises, NGOs and community organizations in their socio-economic endeavors, I want to see the revival of the Romblon Association of National Government Executives (RANGE). This is an association of national government agencies(NGAs) in the province. Each agency is represented by the head of office and a senior officer. Bilshan Servañez of DOST, Paulino Mipalar of TESDA and myself (PIA) organized RANGE in the 1990s. Among the core group were Jay Garcia of NCIP, Edel Sager of CDA and Boyet Agbay of DTI. The favorite buzz words of RANGE members were “convergence” and “synergy”. We had happy and funny memories, both while doing our official functions and while bar hopping from one karaoke bar to another (karaoke bars being the rage at that time). Before RANGE was organized, NGAs stayed away from communities where an NGA was already operating, to avoid trouble. But after it was organized, NGAs preferred to operate in communities where other NGAs were already operating, oftentimes without informing those who were ahead. And that made socio-economic projects more viable to succeed or at least to be more long-lasting.
The leadership of Team Botika should enlist the help of local journalists and writers to report to our people what is happening in our province, primarily projects being undertaken by the government. Ideally, activities and developments taking place should be with the full knowledge — and active participation, whenever appropriate — of the Romblomanon populace. During the past election, most local journalists sided with or were sympathetic of the Firmalo camp. Nevertheless, there were local journalists more friendly or otherwise supportive of Team Botika’s vision like Suico Romero (Romblon Sun editor-in-chief), Elmer Fortunato, Jee Rafael, Nora Divina, Nikki Taupo, Joy Morales and myself. Inasmuch as the elections are over, there should be an attempt to reunite the divided house of local journalists and enlist this so-called Fourth Estate in our concerted effort to raise Romblon to a lofty standing among Philippine provinces.
One interesting feature of Team Botika’s program for hospitals and health services drew much applause from grassroots leaders and coalition supporters when Cong. Madrona uttered it in Odiongan last July 2. He declared that when people go to hospitals for treatment, they wouldn’t be asked who were the candidates they voted for during the last election. He said everyone will be served regardless of their political affiliation.
There is this story circulating widely that the health and social-service policy of the other party has been partisan, that a list is being consulted first before help is extended to supplicants, and that hospitals themselves have been shamelessly and heartlessly politicized because they were used as dumping sites for the other camp’s political supporters whose hiring in big numbers deprived the hospitals of funds for purchasing medicines and other medical items. But the Team Botika leadership will have none of that. It seems beneath their dignity to stoop to that dastardly level.
I expect that the Madrona-Riano tandem will prove to be a dynamic and explosive partnership. They have a wonderful chemistry that should be protected from intrigue, division, misunderstanding and bitterness for the sake of our province. Their program for hospitals and health services is superb. We should help them think up, flesh out and fine tune their programs in other fields. If all goes well, we might be seeing in Cong. Budoy Madrona and Gov. Otik Riano the joint leadership of Romblon province not only for a three-year term but for the next nine long progressive years.
(Published July 4, 2019 as updated on July 11. Edited on July 17 to replace the phrase “floating hospital” with “sea ambulance” for the sake of accuracy.)
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