Guv opposes Hospital Corporatization Bill

BACOLOD CITY, Philippines  — Governor Alfredo Marañon Jr. has opposed the proposed Hospital Corporatization Bill, which was authored by Bacolod Rep. Anthony Golez and, unknown to the governor earlier, his own son, 2nd District Rep. Alfredo Marañon III.

Golez said House Bill 6069, or an “An Act Creating National Government Hospital Corporations,” that seeks to convert hospitals into government-owned and controlled corporations (GOCCs), was passed last May by the House committee on health, chaired by Rep. Marañon himself.

In the Senate, Senator Franklin Drilon filed Senate Bill 3130 or the National Government Hospital Corporate Restructuring Act.

Governor Marañon, who said he did not think his son will author such bill, said corporatization seemed similar to privatization, and privatizing government hospitals would greatly affect the poor because they can even hardly pay for their bills in public hospitals.

He said private hospitals would likely charge higher fees than government hospitals. The poor would surely make a riot in the streets once public hospitals are privatized.

The governor said Bacolod should work on having its own public hospital. As of now, it only relies on the Corazon Locsin Montelibano Memorial Regional Hospital (CLMMRH), which is not its own, he said, adding that smaller cities like Silay, Sagay, and San Carlos in Negros Occidental have their own hospitals.

For his part, Golez defended his bill saying, “The corporatization of government hospitals will lead to better management of funds that in turn will result in more services for poor patients,” he said as he assured critics that the bill is not for privatization but for conversion of the 25 state hospitals in the country to GOCCs.

“The conversion of the hospitals into corporations shall promote hospitals to be better managed and have more opportunities to expand their income and ultimately more and better services and facilities will be provided to indigent patients,” Golez said.

Representative Janette Garin (1st dist., Iloilo) said it would be better to corporatize these hospitals for better management and to allow them to have more funding to expand their services and reach out to the poor.

Garin and Golez both stressed that employees of the hospitals will greatly benefit from the proposed measure since there is a provision that allows such hospitals to also give bonuses to their staff.

Health Secretary Enrique Ona, who was present during the approval of the bill, expressed his support for it, saying that when passed into law it will maximize efficiency in the hospitals.

Among those who opposed the bill was Bacolod City Mayor Evelio Leonardia who said he is against it because this will deprive the poor access to free hospital services. “If government-owned hospitals will be privatized, they will lose their sense of social responsibility.” Leonardia said while accusing Golez of thinking only of business and not the welfare of the people.

Bayan Muna Rep. Teddy Casiño also opposed HB 6069, and called on his colleagues in Congress to withdraw their support for this bill because this is a grand disguised privatization scheme that frees the government from the responsibility of providing health care to the people.

Members of the Gabriela-Negros had staged a rally in front of the hospital in Bacolod last week to oppose the bill. They also appealed to Golez and Rep. Marañon to stop the deliberations on the bill.