PGH workers to barricade hospital over director's ouster

MANILA, Philippines - Doctors and employees at the Philippine General Hospital (PGH) are set to barricade the hospital today to protest what they describe as the unjust ouster of recently appointed director Dr. Jose Gonzales by the University of the Philippines Board of Regents (UP-BOR).

Members of Laban UP-PGH Movement will rally behind Gonzales at 7 a.m. before the new director appointed by the BOR, Dr. Eric Domingo, is expected to be presented by the chancellor of UP Manila during the weekly flag-raising ceremony at the PGH.

Dr. Jonas del Rosario, head of the group, told The STAR in a phone interview that they will demand that Gonzales be retained in his post.

Gonzales was elected by the BOR as PGH director last Dec. 18, 2009 by a vote of 6–5 against Dr. Carmelo Alfiler, a former director.

Gonzales’ appointment, however, was questioned because of a vote cast by a student regent who was supposedly not qualified to vote because of failure to enroll this semester.

This prompted the BOR to again vote for the position without the vote from the said student regent.

In the voting made last Feb. 25, Domingo got six votes while Gonzales and Alfiler both got zero.

But Del Rosario argued that BOR members all agreed to let the student regent vote in a meeting last December.

The BOR appointments was announced last Jan. 4 and Gonzales and the appointed Dean of the College of Dentistry were supposed to have their oath-taking immediately after.

However, UP president Emerlinda Roman allegedly postponed the oath-taking, citing a protest letter and instead called for an urgent meeting.

The UP Sectoral Regents, composed of the faculty, student and staff Regent, then immediately called upon all concerned members of the UP community to express their united condemnation of Roman’s “illegal, undemocratic and unfair refusal to install Gonzales.”