Group bucks privatization of Pampanga hospital

SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga, Philippines – The Anakpawis party-list in Central Luzon opposed plans by the government to privatize the Jose B. Lingad (JBL) Regional Memorial Hospital here, saying this would make the facility accessible only to the rich.

The group said the JBL hospital is among the 26 public hospitals in the country set to be “corporatized” under the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) program of the Aquino administration.

Anakpawis-Central Luzon regional coordinator Joseph Canlas said the plan to privatize the hospital was part of House Bill 6069 or “An Act Creating National Government Hospital Corporations,” filed last year by Bacolod City Rep. Anthony Rolando Golez Jr.

Canlas said the government is confusing the people by claiming the plan is not privatization.

He cited the case of the Philippine Heart Center, Kidney Center, Lung Center and Children’s Medical Center, which he said to serve only the rich.

Canlas urged the people of Central Luzon to oppose the plan to privatize JBL Hospital.