Hospital workers: too much "pork" is unhealthy; abolish pork barrel system, re-channel funds to public health services

Press Release
September 6, 2013

References:

Mr. Eliazar Sobinsky
President, LCPEA-AHW
Contact No: 0932-859-7665
Mr. Bonifacio Carmona
President, PHCEA-AHW
Contact No: 0908-896-0094
Mr. Joey Espanillo
President, NKTIEA-AHW
Contact No: 0917-552-3490

Reminding the public that too much "pork" is unhealthy, hospital workers from Philippine Heart Center (PHC), Lung Center of the Philippines (LCP) and National Kidney and Transplant Institute (NKTI) called for the abolition of pork barrel system including the presidential "pork" in favor of people's health.

"Enough of the pork barrel system! We have had enough of the Aquino government's and Department of Health's lies that there is not enough funds for services!" said Eliazar Sobinsky, president of LCP Employees' Association - Alliance of Health Workers (LCPEA-AHW), in a protest action by hospital workers in front of LCP in Quezon City. 

Sobinksy claimed that the P10B-worth pork barrel scam could have covered the operation of 50,000 service or indigent patients with lung problems, at P200,000 cost per operation. Yet the government is only allotting P173.4M as subsidy for LCP 's indigent patients - an amount even less than a senator's pork barrel in a year. Worse, LCP will be given the same measly amount or no increase at all in the proposed health budget for 2014.

"For heart's sake, President Aquino should truly stand against "pork"! He should start abolishing his own pork and rechannel this to public hospitals. President Aquino should see the poor cardiac patients of PHC who are dying because they do not have money for the operation," said Bonifacio Carmona, president of Philippine Heart Center Employees' Association - Alliance of Health Workers (PHCEA-AHW), and member of AHW national council.

Poor patients in PHC are required to raise tens of thousands to about a hundred thousand as "patient's share" for the operation. Each heart operation costs P350,000 - 600,000.

National Kidney and Transplant Institute Employees' Association (NKTIEA-AHW) president Joey Espanillo said, "we call for the immediate abolition of "pork" barrel system, so we can save more patients' lives, especially those of poor patients with end kidney diseases." 

Espanillo said that dialysis for charity kidney patients are charged P5,000-10,000 per week, or P480,000 per year. Directly funding NKTI poor patients from just a portion of the P24B pork barrel allotment in 2014 can already pay for the dialysis of thousands of patients. Sadly, NKTI subsidy for indigent patients will be cut by 6.8% on 2014, from P202.865M this year to P189M.

"The fight against pork barrel system is a fight for our patients' health and lives. As frontliners in health services, we stand with our poor patients and the Filipino people in the fight against pork barrel system and for adequate budget for public health services," concluded Carmona.#