BETTER DAYS
Senator Sonny Angara
Christmas is the greatest story of a promise fulfilled. For many Filipinos, it is the embodiment of God’s greatest gift: his only Son becoming mortal, to serve as the instrument of our salvation. By following the example of Jesus Christ, whose life was dedicated to love and service, we all become instruments of salvation as well, for ourselves and others. That is what we should be reminded of during the season—that all of us are called to serve each other, in one way or another.
The past year has been a great challenge. The COVID-19 pandemic forced our country to adopt the strictest of quarantine measures. Many have struggled—and continue to do so. But in the face of such hardship, many have also risen to the occasion to serve those most in need. No other group of people has done this more than our frontline healthcare workers.
It is with their service in mind that we’ve proposed measures that aim to strengthen the healthcare system. The Frontline Health Workers Welfare Act of 2020, for example, seeks to provide our health workers with allowances, continuing education plans, and vaccinations outside of the provisions of the Bayanihan To Recover As One Act (RA 11494). Indeed, not only should they be first in line to be vaccinated, they should also receive ample financial support, sooner rather than later.
Throughout the year, we’ve learned how many healthcare workers have had to take on double, even triple shifts, for lack of relievers. If anything, the pandemic has demonstrated the need for us to deepen our pool of doctors and nurses and expand the venues where they could train.
This is why we filed the Healthcare Facility Augmentation Act (SB 1850), which seeks to establish a hospital in every State University and College (SUC) that offers medical degrees, with each of the hospitals having a 50-bed capacity. These hospitals will serve as training grounds for medical students who are enrolled in the respective SUCs, similar to how it is done with UP-PGH. SUC graduates who availed of government scholarships will then be required to render services in their home campus hospitals.
The subject of scholarships and service is also at the heart of the Doktor Para Sa Bayan Act, which was principally authored by Senate President Tito Sotto, sponsored by Higher Education Committee Chair Senator Joel Villanueva, and is awaiting the President’s signature. The measure mandates that the government provide medical scholarships at SUCs, and their privately owned counterparts if there are none in a given area. These scholarships will be for qualified students who do not have the resources for medical school. In exchange, they will serve in government hospitals and public health offices, ideally in their hometowns or provinces.
Our healthcare workers have also had to make do with less-than-ideal facilities. Hence, to hasten the build-up of our hospitals and healthcare institutions, we co-authored the DOH Hospital Bed Capacity and Service Capability Rationalization Act (SB 1876). This measure seeks to address the lack of bed capacity in public hospitals by removing the need for legislative processes to directly authorize improvements. The DOH will also be mandated to develop a long-term Philippine Health Facility Development Plan to guide modernization and development for all government health facilities.
Meanwhile, the lack of specialized care around the country is addressed through the Satellite Specialty Hospitals Act of 2020 (SB 1873). This seeks to establish regional facilities under the umbrella of institutions such as the National Kidney Institute, Philippine Heart Center, Lung Center of the Philippines, and Philippine Children’s Medical Center. Our people shouldn’t have to travel all the way to Manila to receive top-notch treatment.
Finally, we have the Philippine eHealth Systems and Services Act (SB 1618), which aims to develop the resources and systems that will allow people to meet healthcare providers through telemedicine platforms. This will be particularly advantageous for patients who are unable to physically visit a local medical facility, such as during the pandemic.
Hopefully, all these measures will help create a more robust healthcare system. Enacting them swiftly would be a most decisive way of honoring the sacrifices of our healthcare workers and thanking them for their selfless service in the past year. Indeed, that would be the greatest service we in government could offer them this Christmas.
E-mail: [email protected]| Facebook, Twitter & Instagram: @sonnyangara
Senator Sonny Angara has been in public service for 16 years—9 years as Representative of the Lone District of Aurora, and 7 as Senator. He has authored and sponsoredmore than 200 laws. He is currently serving his second term in the Senate.