FILE PHOTO: Tingog Party-list Rep. Jude Acidre explains that his organization’s role in the new program of the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) and Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) is to just help and empower local government units (LGUs) in efforts to make healthcare accessible to more people. INQUIRER FILES
MANILA, Philippines — Tingog Party-list Rep. Jude Acidre said his organization’s role in the new program of the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) and Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) is to just help and empower local government units (LGUs) in efforts to make healthcare accessible to more people.
Acidre explained in a statement Wednesday Tingog’s involvement in the Maalagang Republika: Rural Financing Health Development Program amid concerns raised about the group’s recently signed agreement with PhilHealth and DBP on the construction of hospitals and health clinics nationwide.
He stressed that the Tingog Party-list will not lead the implementation of the project.
“It’s not a Tingog-led project. Tingog Party-list will only complement the efforts of PhilHealth and DBP by assisting [LGUs] in navigating the program through advocacy, capacity building initiatives, and other forms of support,” Acidre said.
“Ang nakakalungkot lang kasi, na-reduce siya into a political issue na hindi naman. Project ‘yan ng LGU, hindi ‘yan project ng Tingog. Ang Tingog nag-capacitate lang. So it’s really a lot of effort on many fronts,” he added.
(What’s saddening is that it is being reduced to a political issue, which is not the case. That’s an LGU project, not Tingog’s project. Tingog only capacitates. So it’s really a lot of effort on many fronts.)
READ: Dela Rosa questions PhilHealth-DBP-Tingog agreement
According to Acidre, Tingog will not withdraw from the project despite questions about its involvement.
“What we believe [in] is this: bahala na kung ano ang sasabihin ng mga taong hindi naman kasama doon sa pag-plano at paghanap ng solution. Gagawin natin ito. Gagawin natin ng maayos kasi kailangan ng tao,” he said.
(What we believe in is this: we won’t care about what people not involved in the planning and in finding solution would say. We will do this. We will do this properly because the people need it.)
“Hindi naman po kaila sa lahat na ang isa sa pinakamalaking problema ng ating healthcare system ang kakulangan ng hospital,” he said. “Kailangan pati ‘yung maliliit na hospital ma-pondohan din.”
(It is not a secret that one of the country’s biggest problems in our healthcare system is the shortage of hospitals. Small hospitals also need to be funded.)
In a privilege speech during the Senate’s plenary session Wednesday, Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa raised questions on the legality of the PhilHealth-DBP-Tingog agreement for the Maalagang Republika: Rural Financing Health Development Program.
For him, Tingog’s involvement is doubtful since it is the Department of Health (DOH) that has the mandate to provide technical assistance, consultation, and advisory services to stakeholders regarding health facilities regulation.
He added that he also finds it questionable that PhilHealth and DBP did not choose to involve the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) in the project when the agency has the mandate to exercise general supervision over local government units.
READ: Speaker Romualdez, Tingog Party-list provide P33 million aid to Albay
Dela Rosa likewise expressed doubts whether Tingog Partylist can assist and coordinate with local government units in ensuring their participation in the program intended to rehabilitate, expand, or construct hospitals – more than the DOH and DILG can.
He thought that the health of Filipinos is being made to depend on politics.
Acidre, however, stressed that Tingog has been committed to addressing gaps in the country’s healthcare system — like pushing for the enactment of Republic Act No. 11567, which increased the bed capacity of Eastern Visayas Medical Center from 500 to 1,500 beds, and RA 11703, which established the Samar Island Medical Center.
Acidre also noted that through working with Speaker Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez and President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., they have secured the first-ever full funding of the Cancer Assistance Fund under the National Integrated Cancer Control Act.
“For the first time, talagang pinush natin sa Kongreso na mapaabot ‘to, hindi lang P1 billion, but naging P1.25 billion po ito for 2024,” Acidre said. “Malakas po ito sa Tingog kasi tinitignan natin na in the coming years, malaking bagay ang level of investment natin in terms of research and development, lalong-lalo na sa health care.”
(For the first time, we really pushed in Congress that we have not only P1 billion, but up to P1.25 billion for 2024. We feel strongly about this in Tingog because in the coming years, we would have a huge level of investment in terms of research and development, especially regarding health care.)