DOH holds ‘Black Monday’ protest for slain doctor

MANILA, Philippines - Officials and employees of the Department of Health (DOH) wore black armbands yesterday to demand justice for slain municipal health officer Dreyfuss Perlas.

As the “Black Monday” protest was staged, Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II ordered the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to conduct a parallel probe on the murder of Perlas in Kapatagan, Lanao del Norte last week.

In Department Order 141, Aguirre directed the NBI to identify the killers and determine the motive for the killing of Perlas, a former volunteer of the Doctors to the Barrios (DTTB) program.

Perlas was declared dead on arrival at the Lanao del Norte Provincial Hospital in Kapatagan.

Perlas was driving a motorcycle in Barangay Maranding Annex in Kapatagan when two motorcycle-riding men shot him on March 1. He was on his way home in Barangay Maranding in nearby Lala town.

Probers recovered a bullet shell for a .45 caliber pistol at the crime scene.

Police are looking into reports that Perlas had figured in a quarrel with a relative of a patient at the Bontilao Country Hospital located in Barangay Maranding.

Perlas, a native of Aklan, was first deployed as a volunteer doctor in Lanao del Norte in 2012. He was later hired as municipal health officer of Sapad.

Perlas was nominated to the Bayani ng Kalusugan award and hailed as one of the top health heroes in Northern Mindanao region. 

Lanao del Norte Gov. Imelda Quibranza-Dimaporo ordered the provincial police to create a special task group that will investigate the killing of Perlas.

The task group will include the police chiefs of Kapatagan, Lala and Sapad, who will focus on finding out the identities of the assailants, Dimaporo said.

Mourning

Health Secretary Paulyn Ubial said the DOH and all health workers nationwide are mourning the death of Perlas.

“He was a true ‘Bayani ng Kalusugan’ who embodies the passion, idealism, humility and selfless service for the poor and marginalized communities,” Ubial said.

She described Perlas as a “rarity now in public health” and that his death is a major loss for the health sector and the thousands of patients he could have continued to serve.

Some of Perlas’ fellow DTTB volunteers also wore black armbands and condemned the killing.

Ubial said when Perlas went home to Aklan in December, he told his family that he was receiving death threats. – With Gerry Lee Gorit