Old and simple

“To reduce the school hour traffic along Katipunan Avenue, Ateneo de Manila University and Miriam College (formerly known as Maryknoll)  should go back to the mandatory policy of the old days where all students are required to ride the school bus.”

I’m not too familiar with the history of Ateneo and Miriam College but a friend of mine claims that there was once a time when both schools allegedly had a mandatory rule that all of their students had to take the official Ateneo or Miriam/Maryknoll school bus. My friend believes that going back to the old rule would instantly reduce the volume of traffic going in and out of Ateneo and Miriam since most cars carry only 1 to 2 passengers while school buses can go from 30, 50 or more students. That would be a 30 to 50 car reduction per bus. The other plus factor is that school buses are more fuel efficient to run and costs less for parents in both time and money. Schools can also organize “pick up” and “drop off” points that are common, safe, and allows parents to park and wait.   

If the Ateneo and Miriam officials find this solution impossible to apply, then the other alternative is build and open up more gates as well as an interconnecting route between Ateneo and Miriam so that vehicles can quickly exit Katipunan Avenue or offer a few meters of their frontage as an additional lane for their students to drive on. I’m sure the DPWH and Quezon City hall won’t have any problems taking care of the paving costs. An additional solution is to create a dedicated pass through lane on Katipunan for vehicles going north.

Solutions such as these are far more realistic, sensible and sane than the suggestion that tricycles be allowed on EDSA. It’s bad enough that tricycles don’t follow any safety and design standard for construction, which begs the question: Who is in control of the production and safety standards for tricycles considering thousands of Filipinos ride these vehicles?

They are either too low, too squat, have very bad suspensions enough to cause potentially harmful back and spinal injury and cause at least 10 to 20% of the vehicle emissions in Metro Manila. If you get into a vehicular accident inside these on EDSA it would be equivalent to putting yourself inside a giant blender!

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After learning my position on the privatization of the Philippine Orthopedic Center, Secretary Enrique Ona of the Department of Health went out of his way to clarify what their plans and intentions are regarding the Public-Private Partnership program of the Department of Health particularly concerning the Philippine Orthopedic Center.

According to Secretary Ona, The Philippine Orthopedic Center is out of place or in a bad location as a specialized hospital and needs to be relocated alongside similar government hospitals such as the Heart Center, NKTI, Lung Center etc. because many patients often require related services and being in the same place would fast track the process. In addition, relocating the POC would also make it more accessible to people who are not familiar with Metro Manila.

Secretary Ona explained that If the government wanted a world-class hospital it would be more efficient to build a new facility in a new location because it would be cheaper than remodeling or reconstructing and would not disrupt operations at the present location. Once the new P5-billion hospital is up and running, the old facility can then be converted into a rehabilitation and therapy center for which there is a very big demand but no big government facility providing affordable services. In effect the DOH will actually end up with two complimenting facilities as a result of the initial PPP. Chances are the rehab center would then be a subsequent or the next PPP program for the DOH.

The PPP project for the Philippine Orthopedic Center is envisioned as a 25-year Build-Operate-Transfer scheme where the government provides the land, the established brand as well as a core of experienced personnel and practitioners. In addition, the “business” actually comes with a captured market fully covered by Philhealth making all investments and operating costs viable since the government foots the bill. In addition, government will continue to subsidize the hospital (as they do so every year) for P400 to 700 million a year for a maximum of only 5 years after which that subsidy will come to a complete end. By then, the hospital has had enough adjustment period for the Philhealth coverage and private patients to kick in.

With enough capitalization as well as coverage from PhilHealth, Ona is confident that the hospital will greatly benefit all orthopedic patients most especially the poor because they are all automatically covered by PhilHealth with their “No Balance billing” policy. As a result poor patients have nothing to pay and nothing to worry about. The coverage will also quickly improve the current 21-day average length of stay down to 4 days because 90% of their patients are poor and often still have to find money from Mayors, Congressmen, PCSO, churches or media to pay for implants and similarly expensive medical implements. By cutting the average stay of patients, the “new” POC can quadruple its patient turn over and help more Filipinos.

Secretary Ona reassured members of the media as well as employees of the POC that the terms of the PPP for the POC will provide for the full integration of all employees without prejudice to their rank and years of service. Employees who are not comfortable with the arrangement will also have the option to request for a transfer to another medical facility where an opening may be available.

Knowing the Secretary, I trust him enough to believe that he will deliver on his claims, granting that the PPP project can actually get off the ground before he and President Noynoy Aquino leave office. On paper, the plan for the Philippine Othropedic Center looks great, but my personal concern is who the government actually ends up partnering with. “The road to hell is paved with good intentions” they say, and the last thing we want is to find the devil as the signatory to the contract.

Finally, I heard that the President himself was wondering why certain sectors were opposed to what looked like a good plan on paper or powerpoint? The answer Mr. President is because many of your leaders are talkers but not good communicators. They don’t speak the language we speak and they don’t talk to us about the ghosts we fear. Like I always say: They need training, not lawyering.

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