Placing the JR Borja Memorial General Hospital under the national government would mean ridding city hall of a major source of corruption, two lawyers and a former PaDayon Pilipino ally said.
This explains why there was strong opposition to House Bill 239 because the proposed measure supposedly threatens to cut off a big source of kickbacks from hospital supplies, medicines and equipment, according to lawyers Manuel Ravanera and Rogelio Bagabuyo and Gusa barangay chairperson Enrico Salcedo.
Ravanera, a vocal critic of the ruling PaDayon Pilipino, alleged that corruption in the city hospital has been documented. he also alleged that supplies – from powdered soap to bond papers and medicines – were found to be overpriced.
Ravanera said the evidence include vouchers, invoices, logbook photocopies and delivery receipts. These, he said, were kept by a group of city hospital staff members “who could no longer stand the graft practices.”
Ravanera has used the documents as bases for 32 counts of graft charges against Dr. Jerie Calingasan, a former chief of the hospital, division heads and Vice Mayor Vicente Emano.
The amount, according to Ravanera, involved some P18 million. He said members of the hospital staff are standing as the complainants.
He said invoices showed the purchase of eight kilos of Zoom Detergent Powder costing P11,500 or at P1,437.00 per kilo and another for the purchase of a food conveyor with 36 trays for P119,500.
“What kind of a detergent powder costs P1,437 per kilo? A food conveyor used to deliver food around the hospital at almost P120,000? Why not just buy a small truck?” Ravanera asked rhetorically.
Salcedo, Gusa’s village chief, said there were signs that the city hospital, including its staff, would be used by politicians for the 2010 elections.
This early, he said, city hall has prevented city hospital workers in helping in medical outreaches initiated by officials perveived to be political enemies of the PaDayon Pilipino.
Bagabuyo, meanwhile, cited a report from the Commission on Audit (COA) which questioned transactions involving the city hospital.
In the 2007 COA report, Bagabuyo said there were two violations pointed out by the Commission. These, he said, were the distribution of P15 million worth of medicines without complete inventory documents and the “receipt mess” involving P4 million.
Bagabuyo also cited COA’s 2006 report that showed that over P26 million in medicines, dental and other supplies were “erroneously accounted” by the Emano administration.
“Of course, these are deliberate errors. The city hospital needs a new management. Therefore, there is the need to support HB 239.” he said.
HB 239 seeks the “upgrade and modernization of the JR Borja City Memorial hospital as an extension hospital of the Northern Mindanao medical Center (NMMC) in Cagayan de oro…”
The bill would mean an allocation of around P127 million for the 100-bed hospital which was assessed by the Department of Health as a mere secondary hospital as of August last year.
The proposal is now pending for third and final hearing at the Senate.
By LIZANILLA AMARGA
Correspondent Gold Star Daily
Published Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Editor: Herbie Gomez
