Lagman says DOH must ‘fully tap’ military hospitals amid COVID-19 crisis

MANILA, Philippines — “Where are the military hospitals in our war against the COVID-19 pandemic?”

That was the question posed by Albay 1st District Rep. Edcel Lagman on Friday as he called on the Department of Health (DOH) to “fully tap” military hospitals as the country fights the coronavirus pandemic.

“While government civilian hospitals and private medical facilities are in round-the-clock operations to address the infectious menace, little is heard of the involvement of the various major military hospitals under the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Veterans Memorial Hospital under the Department of National Defense (DND),” Lagman said in a statement.

According to Lagman, major military hospitals in the county have a combined bed capacity of 2,451.

-AFP Medical Center or the V. Luna Medical Center: 1,200-bed capacity;
-Army General Hospital: 200-bed capacity;
-Air Force General Hospital: 100-bed capacity;
-Navy General Hospital and Cavite Naval Hospital: 185-bed capacity;
-Veterans Memorial Medical Center: 766-bed capacity

Lagman added that the AFP also has other hospitals with a composite bed capacity of no less than 556 beds.

“These hospitals are fully funded under the 2020 General Appropriations Act with the Veterans Memorial Medical Center and the V. Luna Medical Center having almost identical total appropriations of P1.8-billion each,” Lagman said.

“With the exception of the Veterans Memorial Medical Center and the V. Luna Medical Center with 5 and 1 COVID-19 positive patients, respectively, as of April 2, 2020, the other military hospitals have no record of confinement yet,” the lawmaker added.

Lagman made the call as private hospitals begin to report that they have reached their maximum capacity and could no longer admit COVID-19 patients.

As of April 3, the health department said there are 3,018 COVID-19 cases in the country, with the death toll reaching 136.