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Tuesday, September 09, 2008

Employees of Biggest State Hospital Pickets Over Non-Payment of Salary Increase

More than a hundred employees of the Philippine General Hospital (PGH) picketed in front of the hospital main lobby today at around 12:00 - 1:00 PM to dramatize their discontent over the continued non-payment of the 10% salary increase being trumpeted by the National Government since last year but was only given to almost all government agencies starting July 2008. Said salary increase was mandated under the 2008 National Budget but was enacted by Congress only on February 2008.

According to officials of the University of the Philippines (the mother unit of PGH) led by President Emerlinda Roman, they could not give the increase because the Department of Budget and Management have not yet released the money for the said increase, justifying that the University is no longer covered by Salary Standardization Law under its new charter (RA 9500).

However, Mr. Benjamin Santos, Manila Chapter President of the All U.P. Workers Union, the group that leads the picket contend that: "No matter how you would read and interprete the new university charter, there's nothing in the law that disenfranchise the university employees from the 10% salary increase to all national government employees. As a matter of fact, the law even mandates that all the requirements of the university for this year and the years to come, shall be included in the national budget."

The employees promised that should their call for the implementation of the 10% salary increase starting July 2008 as mandated by law remained unheeded, they will bring the matter up to the doorsteps of Malacanang (the Official Residence of the President of the Republic).

Monday, August 18, 2008

A Shortage amid the Glut in Nursing Graduates

The Philippines has an oversupply of nursing graduates especially with the visa retrogression in the US. But ironically, many government hospitals lack nurses and other health professionals. With low pay and poor working conditions in government hospitals, nursing graduates opt to work abroad even as volunteers with no pay and allowance.

BY RITCHE T. SALGADO
Contributed to Bulatlat
Volume VIII, Number 28, August 17-23, 2008

Jay-R Manzano, 21, is all set for his review. He made sure to wake up early so that he could still go through his notes and not forget the discussion his class had the day before.

Jay-R and his friends, sisters Grethel Ann and Gretchen Mae Tubo, are reviewing for the licensure examination for nurses come late November. Like most of their friends and classmates, they have started their preparation early, the usual being a month before the scheduled exam. They have enrolled at a commercial review center, but by late October they will be undergoing a more intensive review in their school, the University of Cebu.

Despite the effort that they are making, they have already accepted the fact that they may not be able to get their dream job as nurses in the United States of America as soon as they hoped. But they are willing to work as volunteers abroad or even in private hospitals here, with no pay and no allowance.

“Just so we will gain the experience that we will need once the US will start accepting Filipino nurses again,” said Jay-R.

“We know that right now the US is not accepting Filipino nurses because of the (visa) retrogression, but then I am still optimistic that after the elections (in the US) this little obstacle will be lifted, and again they will open their doors for us,” Grethel said.

In order to protect American nurses and other health professionals, the US has set a limit on the number of foreign nurses that will be given access to the US. This created a shortage of nurses and physical therapists in the States and so the US Congress passed H.R. 5924 or the Emergency Nursing Supply Relief Act. However, the Hispanic block in the US Congress sets as a condition to passing the bill, the granting of amnesty to Mexican illegal settlers in the US. This created a deadlock in the progress of the bill and in the process, the hiring of foreign-trained nurses decreased, if not stopped.

In an article in The FREEMAN (August 11, 2008), Oscar A. Tuason, administrator of the Cebu Doctors University Hospital, expressed alarm over the decrease in the demand for Filipino nurses in the US. He said that this has a direct effect on the number of enrollees in the nursing program of schools, elaborating that at present most nursing schools are losing students at the rate of five to eight percent.

Tuason cited five reasons for the decrease in demand for Filipino nurses: the worsening quality of graduates, unskilled and inexperienced nurses, attitude problems that include lack of motivation and lack of commitment, signing up with more than one agency, and poor ability in conversational English due to the decline in the standard of education.

Judy Aragones, R.N., PhD., spokesperson of the Cebu chapter of the Health Alliance for Democracy (HEAD) and a professor at the University of San Carlos, however, expressed disagreement with Tuason regarding the trend in nursing enrollees.

“It is obvious that more and more of our young people are taking up nursing,” Aragones claimed. “There are those whose heart may not be in the profession but they see it as their way out of poverty. Even if the US is closing its doors, there are alternate destinations for our nurses like the Middle East, Singapore, Japan and European countries.”

Aragones, however, maintained that going out of the country for work is not the solution to the country’s economic problems. “I strongly disagree with our government encouraging our people to work abroad. It is the responsibility of our government to take care of our graduates. We are losing skilled and hard working people,” she lamented.

Aragones admitted that the main reason for the decrease, if not stop, in the hiring of foreign-trained nurses is mainly because of the visa retrogression policy of the US. As a consequence, many graduates have found themselves unemployed or under employed; and with schools producing more nursing graduates each year, the health sector in the country is now facing a dilemma in the oversupply of nurses.

“Some of them have to make do with being volunteers, receiving no pay or allowance. Their only consolation is that they would be able to use the certification that they would get from hospitals for possible employment in other countries,” Aragones said.

She admitted that hospitals in Cebu are understaffed. Because they could not afford to hire new nurses, they are forced to accept only volunteers.

“It is the government’s responsibility to ensure that our nurses are employed. To encourage them to stay and serve the country, the government should come up with a good socio-economic package that would include non-monetary compensations,” Aragones said.

She said the government must provide good working conditions, skills development, and such other non-economic benefits, saying that salary-wise the Philippines would not be able to compete.

“The starting pay of our nurses right now, on average, is at P15, 000 ($331) per month. Compare that to the salary they will be getting in the US and other countries (an average of US$20 per hour). This is very small,” she explained.

Jay-R, Grethel and Gretchen are now making efforts to pass the local licensure exam. Soon they will start to process their papers for the US, despite the retrogression. “We know that right now it seems impossible to get a job in the US, but then again, it does not mean that we should also stop trying,” Gretchen said.

Aragones explained that unless the government would do something to encourage health workers to stay in the country, more young people like Jay-R, Grethel and Gretchen would still desire to work in foreign countries like the US. Contributed to Bulatlat

Thursday, August 14, 2008

Arroyo wants lasting reign, not lasting peace in Mindanao

InPeace Mindanao
Press Release

August 14, 2008


The Initiatives for Peace in Mindanao (InPeace) questions and condemns in the strongest terms President Arroyo's proposal for charter change which is meant to extend her stay in power beyond 2010, rather than solve the Moro problem in Mindanao.

The group questions the sincerity of Mrs. Arroyo who said that charter change will solve the issue of Muslim autonomy in Mindanao. We are rather persuaded that with Arroyo's past conducts in pushing for cha-cha, that she is just exploiting this issue to justify its own interest, which is to create a federal form of government and have Arroyo elected as prime minister or as head of state.

She wants lasting reign and lasting power, not lasting peace. Arroyo has clearly used the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD) as a trojan horse to subvert the Senate as a stronghold of the political opposition and open the floodgates for charter change. Arroyo's peace rhetorics have been unmasked anew. She has employed duplicity in the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP)'s negotiations with the MILF to cater to her own desire for political perpetuation.

This proposal for cha-cha would never bring peace in Mindanao. This is peddled by this same government that fails its negotiations with the MILF. This would be the same government that has been engaged in an all-out war policy against the Moro people. Ultimately, this will be the same government responsible for aggravating the country into critical level of poverty, economic and political hardship, due to corruption and repression.

It is a big shame that Arroyo and her cohorts are trampling the noble aspirations of the Mindanao peoples for just and lasting peace in order to further her self-interest. We deplore this move by Arroyo, and we call on our Mindanao legislators to hear the voice of the people in Mindanao: We want authentic peace, not charter change.

We continue to support the right to self determination of the Bangsamoro people. The political maneuverings of the Arroyo government has shown that it will not be the Bangsamoro who will benefit from the windfall of gains from the peace negotiations. Arroyo has once more trampled upon the Bangsamoro people's aspiration for genuine autonomy. She will go down in history as the President who is caught red-handed for undermining the GRP-MILF peace process to pursue her interest. #


for Reference: Atty.Beverly Selim Musnia

Monday, July 28, 2008

Public Health Providers Tired of GMA’s Promises

A meager P18.65 ($0.42) per day is the equivalent of the ten percent increase to Salary Grade I government employees, which includes health workers in public hospitals.

BY RONALYN V. OLEA
Bulatlat
Volume VIII, Number 25, July 27-August 2, 2008

Jamil Dionisio has been working as nursing attendant for 15 years at the Lung Center of the Philippines (LCP). His take home pay is only P3,000 ($67.827 at an exchange rate of $1=P44.23)a ) per month.

A big chunk of his salary is gobbled up by payments for Government Security and Insurance System (GSIS) and Pag-ibig loans, personal loans and taxes.

Even though his wife is working abroad, Dionisio still finds it hard to make both ends meet.

His three children have transferred from private to public schools due higher tuition and other fees. To cut expenses on transportation, he acquired a motorcycle and still pays for it on an installment basis.

Asked about the ten percent salary increase for government employees, he said, “Hindi namin naramdaman.” (We never felt it.)

Dionisio is one of the thousands of health workers nationwide who grapple with low salary and limited benefits.

According to the Alliance of Health Workers (AHW), the ten percent salary increase is only P18.65 ($0.42) per day for Salary Grade I workers.

Entry level for rank-and-file employees in hospitals categorized as government owned and controlled corporations (GOCCs) is Salary Grade IV with a P7,000 ($158.26) salary. Utility workers receive less, with Salary Grade III entry level receiving only a little more than P5,000 ($113.045) per month.

As of March 2008, the National Wages and Productivity Commission placed the daily cost of living for a family of six in the National Capital Region at P858 ($19.15). It means that to be able to live decently, a family needs to earn P25, 740 ($574.68) per month.

An insult

Emma Manuel, AHW chairperson warned Mrs. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo against taking pride in the ten-percent salary increase for government employees.

Pagod na kami sa mga pangakong walang katotohanan,” (We are tired of empty promises.) Manuel said.

She said that Arroyo’s tarpaulins with the slogan “Ramdam ang Kaunlaran” (Progress is felt) is a big insult to government workers.

She described their condition, “Butas na ang bulsa, hikahos na.” (Pockets empty, struggling to survive). She added, “Our present take home pay even with the measly ten percent hike could not even take us home.”

Manuel also said that the long-awaited benefits accorded by law such as the subsistence allowance, cost of living allowance (COLA) backpay, increase in hazard pay “remain only as dreams” as these are subject to the availability of funds.

She also criticized Arroyo for not allocating funds for the implementation of the Nursing Law. The law mandates the increase of entry salary grade for nurses to Salary Grade 15 or P16,000 ($361.745) per month. Most nurses are classified under Salary Grade 10.

The AHW reiterated their demand for a P3,000 ($67.827) salary increase for government employees.

Doctors

Meanwhile, Dr. Julie Caguiat, executive director of the Community Medicine Development Foundation (COMMED) decried the Arroyo government’s neglect of doctors and health workers.

Caguiat said that while there are many well-meaning doctors who would want to serve the poor in rural areas, the economic conditions and lack of support from government compel them to work abroad. Caguiat said that 80 to 90 percent of municipal health officers in the country are taking up nursing.

The HEAD said that resident doctors in public hospitals receive only P18,000 ($406.96) per month.

“The conditions are not inviting,” Caguiat said. She deplored that those who go to far-flung areas are even branded as rebels.

“We ask Arroyo, where have the doctors gone? If we are losing our doctors, who will be the ones to look into the people’s health?”

Caguiat also called on the Arroyo government to address the plight of the poor. Caguiat said, “It is frustrating for us to treat them and then send them back to their abject conditions.” Bulatlat

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

The 2008 UP Charter: Forging the Transition from Premier State University to Corporate Enterprise

Published on Bulatlat (http://bulatlat.com)

The first thing which would probably strike a casual reader of the "Centennial Charter" (RA 9500) is the replacement of the conventional label of "state university" by the term "national university." The current nomenclature rests on the crucial distinction between Private Higher Educational Institutions (PHEIs) and State Universities and Colleges (SUCs). Indeed, the yearly General Appropriations Act (GAA) only mentions SUCs as recipients of government subsidy. The studious elimination of all mention of the term "state university" in the Charter sends a message that this distinction no longer holds for the University of the Philippines. This suspicion is confirmed by the contents of the Charter itself.

BY CONTEND-UP*
Posted by Bulatlat
Vol. VIII, No. 20, June 22-28, 2008


The first thing which would probably strike a casual reader of the "Centennial Charter" (RA 9500) is the replacement of the conventional label of "state university" by the term "national university." The current nomenclature rests on the crucial distinction between Private Higher Educational Institutions (PHEIs) and State Universities and Colleges (SUCs). Indeed, the yearly General Appropriations Act (GAA) only mentions SUCs as recipients of government subsidy. The studious elimination of all mention of the term "state university" in the Charter sends a message that this distinction no longer holds for the University of the Philippines. This suspicion is confirmed by the contents of the Charter itself.

UP and the Rise of a New Managerial Stratum

One salient characteristic of the Charter is the creation of a managerial stratum distinct from the existing governance structures of the University. The UP President, aside from being referred to as the "chief academic officer," is also labelled in the text of the Charter as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), which means no less than that she/he shall henceforth serve as the highest ranking officer of the corporate entity which is the "national university." Since the President shall be appointed in this capacity as the head of a corporation and since good CEOs don't come cheap, she/he shall also receive a salary befitting a CEO. In 2007, CEOs in the Philippines received an average base salary of $44,496 and $51,519 in annual cash or PhP4,271,899 or PhP355,991 a month (www.mercer.com [1]). Bear in mind that this is only the average. The Charter consequently states that the Board shall deem it within its powers to "determine the compensation of the President of the University" (Sec. 14). Despite the efforts of the promoters of the Charter to allow the UP President to have an unprecedented two terms, this proposal was eventually withdrawn because of strong opposition. Quite disturbing, however, is the fact that the Chancellor of each constituent unit will not only receive an unspecified amount to be determined by the Board but will also serve an unspecified term likewise to be determined by the Board (Sec. 18: "The Board shall determine [both] the term and compensation of the Chancellor").

Combining managerial and governance roles, the President shall serve simultaneously as the co-Chairperson of the Board of Regents (with the Chairperson of the Commission on Higher Education or CHED) and as the Chairperson of an Independent Trust Committee (ITC) to be made up of representatives nominated by the following private entities explicitly specified by the Charter: Bankers Association of the Philippines (BAP), Investment Houses Association of the Philippines (IHAP), Trust Officers Association of the Philippines (TOAP) and the Financial Executive Institute of the Philippines (FINEX). Furthermore, in case of two failed biddings these same private entities shall nominate representatives who shall make up the majority of a "third-party body" tasked with making a "fairness opinion report" (Sec. 23). The individuals making up the ITC and the "third-party body" shall be "entitled to a reasonable per diem as the Board may specify" (Sec. 23 & 24). Some information about these private entities is in order. The BAP was founded in 1964 and aims to provide "a necessary avenue for member banks to raise and discuss issues that affect the commercial banking industry." It counts among its members, 40 commercial banking institutions covering 26 local banks and 14 foreign bank branches (http://www.bap.org.ph/ [2]). The IHAP was founded in 1974 and its current membership consists of "fifty-five (55) member houses, which include the top players in the investment banking industry" (http://www.ihap.org/ [3]). Established in 1964, the TOAP's aim is to unite, professionalize and promote the Philippine Trust and Investment Management Industry http://www.toap.org.ph/ [4]). Lastly, the FINEX, founded in 1968 is said to be an "organization devoted to the continuing development and improvement of financial management techniques and the promotion of efficiency in business enterprises" (http://www.finex.org.ph/ [5]).

There is no good reason why these entities should have their names inscribed in such a solemn document such as the UP Charter. These are plainly transitory private entities, which do not sit well in a national public document drawn up with claims to perenniality such as the UP Charter. They could always be hired if and when consultants are needed and paid their "reasonable compensation." As it is, they could just fold up in a couple of years and leave embarrassing blank spaces on the Charter. This is almost equivalent to putting the names of private businesses in the Philippine Constitution. Being in the UP Charter lends these private entities more prestige than they are worth.

The function of the ITC, befitting its "independent" nature, is to recommend to the Board five banks aside from providing the "Board with direction on appropriate investment objectives and permissible investments with the view to preserving the value of the funds while allowing the University to earn a reasonable return thereon" (Sec. 24). Emphasis should be placed on the words "appropriate" and "permissible" in the above sentence in order to stress the actual managerial power of the ITC. These individuals, the President, the Chancellor, and these representatives from the BAP, IHAP, TOAP and FINEX shall henceforth constitute a distinct stratum of managerial technocrats whose "compensations" and privileges shall be at a qualitatively differently level than the ordinary faculty, REPS and administrative personnel making up the university community. It seems that such gains as the Staff Regent who shall represent the administrative personnel and the research, extension and professional staff was conceded by the framers of the Charter with the foresight that the BOR itself shall eventually no longer carry much weight in the scheme of things to come.

UP as a Commercial Area with an “Academic Core Zone”

The scope of the income generating activities that these individuals shall plan and undertake shall only be limited by the size of what is termed in the Charter as the "academic core zone." According to Section 22 of the Charter, "The Board may plan, design, approve and/or cause the implementation of land leases: Provided, That such mechanisms and arrangements shall … be exclusive of the academic core zone of the campuses of the University of the Philippines." The whole territory of the University lying outside of this so-called "academic core zone," which is as of yet unspecified, is therefore declared as a commercial zone. Furthermore, lands donated to the University from hereon may simply be sold if the terms of donation allow for it.

Profiting from the Pursuit of Truth

It is hard to see, given the power enshrined in the new Charter which now gives private business interests a preponderant role in shaping the future of the University, how such half-hearted provisos in the Charter itself, such as one stating that "such mechanisms and arrangements shall not conflict with the academic mission of the national university" or that "any plan to generate revenues and other sources from land grants and other real properties entrusted to the national university shall be consistent with the academic mission and orientation of the national university as well as protect it from undue influence and control of commercial interests" (Sec. 22) can realistically be adhered to. Instead of protecting it, the Charter actually renders the University extremely vulnerable to the "undue influence and control of commercial interests" as never before. For example, Sec. 3 on the "Purpose of the University," states that the University is "a community of scholars dedicated to the search for truth and knowledge." However Sec. 13 specifies without irony "that research and other activities funded by the University shall likewise undertake research in fields of topics that have promising commercial applications." ("Likewise" here means "also" and cannot be read as meaning "optional.") The message is clear: the scholars of the University shall be dedicated to the "search for truth and knowledge" only as long as these have "promising commercial applications."

The Price of Higher Wages

The thoroughgoing commercialization of the campus, and of the research and academic mission of the University together with projected substantial tuition fee increases are being sold to the faculty with the promise of higher salaries. This is the proverbial carrot. Indeed, Sec. 13 states that "any law to the contrary notwithstanding, to fix and adjust salaries and benefits of the faculty members and other employees: Provided, That salaries and other benefits of the faculty shall be equivalent to those being received by their counterparts in the private sector." Aside from the fact that a great part of these promised higher wages shall come from rising tuition fees and rampant commercialization, it is also more than likely that these salary increases shall come at the cost of undermining existing rights to tenure in the longer term and lead to a rising percentage of part-time and full-time non-tenure track teaching staff. This is already a problem in the US where according to the American Association of University Professors (AAUP), 68 percent of all university and college level teaching personnel comprise these so-called "contingent faculty," thus seriously undermining academic freedom, academic quality and professional standards (www.aaup.org [6]).

This Charter marks the next 100 years of UP. What has been dangled to clinch faculty support—exemption from the SSL and salaries competitive with the private sector—is neither forthcoming nor will it be within the range of the compensation package of the UP President as CEO. This Charter legitimizes the neoliberal turn to greater commercialization, privatization, deregulation of UP and of higher education in general.

A Charter Against the University of the People

This blatantly neoliberal charter accepts the conventional and deadly wisdom of aspiring to be "globally competitive" at the cost of erasing all traces of the University of the People. It accepts the assumption that the government cannot and will not provide sufficient budget for UP. Its main direction is to forge the transition from being a service-oriented public entity towards being a privately run corporate enterprise with its own CEO and an independent trust committee driven primarily, if not solely, by the search for profit. This Charter is nothing but the tragedy of the UP Centennial.

As the UP administration advances its neoliberal agenda in the transformation of higher education, CONTEND calls on the various sectors of the university to be militant and continue to struggle for a UP which may be called an exemplary university of the people.

Education is not a commodity!

Continue the Fight for a genuine University of the People!

*The Congress of Teachers/Educators for Nationalism and Democracy or CONTEND is a progressive organization of academics based in the University of the Philippines-Diliman. Please email your comments to upcontend@yahoo.com [7].


Health Groups Doubt New Law Would Make Medicines Cheaper

Published on Bulatlat (http://bulatlat.com)

Health groups expressed doubt that the Universally Accessible Cheaper and Quality Medicines Act of 2008 or Republic Act no. 9502 would bring down the prices of medicines in the country. They said that this is because the law failed to dismantle foreign control over the country’s drug industry.


By RONALYN V. OLEA
Bulatlat
Vol. VIII, No. 20, June 22-28, 2008

Mrs. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo signed Republic Act 9502 or the Universally Accessible Cheaper and Quality Medicines Act of 2008 on June 6.

The law aims to bring down the prices of medicines in the country. The Philippines is one of the countries where medicines are the most expensive.

According to the World Drug Situation of the World Health Organization in 2000, cheaper medicinethe Philippines is classified as among countries where less than 30 percent of the population have regular access to essential drugs. Moreover, the Department of Health, in its Rational Drug Use paper in 1999 revealed that those who cannot afford the drugs they need resort to under-medication of essential drugs (such as antibiotics) and over-medication of cheaper symptomatic preparations. Symptomatic preparations are medicines that address the symptoms of a disease, like paracetamol for headache.

Regulation?

The Council for Health and Development (CHD), a national organization of community-based health programs, cited several reasons for believing that the new law would not deliver on its promise of reducing the cost of medicines in the country.

In a statement, Eleanor Jara, medical doctor and CHD executive director, criticized the omission of a Drug Price Regulatory Board.

The Lower House version, House Bill 2844 proposed the establishment of a Drug Price Regulatory Board. Iloilo Rep. Ferjenel Biron, principal author of the Bill, asserted that state intervention in the form of a Drug Price Regulatory Board is needed to significantly reduce the prices of medicine.

However, Section 17 of the enacted law gives the President, upon the recommendation of the Secretary of the Department of Health (DoH), the power to impose maximum retail prices over drugs and medicines.

Jara said, “Failure to create a regulatory body for drug prices would only strengthen monopoly trade among big players in the drug industry and would further banish local manufacturers into oblivion. Thus, the Filipino people’s access to essential medicines is at the mercy of profit-greedy transnational drug corporations.”

She added, “We do not understand why our legislators decided to give the authority to regulate the prices of medicines to the President when Mrs. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo herself is tainted with corruption and other anomalies. Besides, she has no record of going against the profiteering acts of transnational drug corporations. She has allowed it for seven years. What can she do in the next 120 days?”

Under the new law, the health secretary is mandated to establish and initiate a price monitoring and regulation system for drugs and medicines within 120 days after enactment of the said law. The health secretary’s recommendations would later be approved by the President.

In an interview with Bulatlat, Dr. Geneve Rivera, secretary general of Health Alliance for Democracy (HEAD) branded the new law as a mere palliative. She said, “Walang ipinatutupad ang gobyerno na permanente at epektibong patakaran sa pagkontrol ng presyo.” (The government does not implement a permanent and effective policy of price control.)

TNC control

Rivera said that the Arroyo government does not recognize that foreign control over the country’s drug industry is the main reason for the prohibitive cost of medicines.

The CHD asserted that the Cheaper Medicine Act is silent about the control of transnational corporations (TNCs) in the marketing, distribution and pricing of medicines.

According to the CHD Primer on Cheaper Medicines, 72 percent of the country’s drug industry is controlled by TNCs. In 2006, TNCs cornered 70 percent of the P9.11-billion ($205,411,499 at an exchange rate of $1=P44.35) worth of medicines sold in the country.

In its position paper, KilosBayan Para sa Kalusugan (KBK) said, “TNCs control the pricing of essential medicine through international trade impositions like the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) of the World Trade Organization. This agreement further aggravates the escalating drug prices by granting exclusive license to TNC-dominated patent holders to produce certain drugs and dictate its price in the market.”

The Philippine International Trading Corporation (PITC) said that 80 percent of toll manufacturing of drugs for multinational corporations is done by one company. About 65-70 percent of wholesale distribution is handled by a sister company. In the end, more than 60 percent of the retailing of finished products is sold through Mercury Drug, which has more than 600 outlets nationwide.

Parallel importation

Moreover, Rivera said that provisions on parallel importation would bear no significant impact on the prices of medicines. She noted that even before the passage of the law, parallel importation is utilized by the government in its Botika ng Barangay (Village Drug Strores) program.

Third World countries use parallel importation to buy cheaper medicines from other countries. The Philippines buys medicines from Pakistan and India.

CHD’s Jara said that parallel importation would only further aggravate the country’s import-dependence and stunt the development of the local drug industry. She said, “Instead of being dependent on imports, why not develop our own drug industry and grant tax holidays for local manufacturers?”

The KBK’s position paper stated that developing a national drug industry is one of the most decisive steps in lowering the prices of medicines. It cited that India and Pakistan have done this during the last ten years.

The CHD primer revealed that there are about 600 drugs in the country that are considered essential. Of these, only 200 drugs are made by local companies. The other 400 off-patent drugs do not have local generic counterparts and are thus dependent on importation.

Alternatives

The KBK and CHD proposed as an alternative the creation of a transitory drug price regulatory board composed of representatives from the academe, consumers and health professionals. The drug price board would regulate prices of essential medicines based on production costs and a reasonable profit.

The health groups said parallel importation of essential medicines should be selective and subject to extensive government testing for safety and efficacy.

They are also pushing for the implementation of the Generics Law. The CHD noted that while the law has been in effect for 19 years, many are still not aware that generic equivalents are as safe and effective as branded, expensive drugs. As of 2006, generic drugs account for a measly four to five percent of medicines being sold in the Philippines.

Long-term solutions recommended by the health groups include the development of a self-reliant national drug industry that is responsive to the medical and health needs of the people; development of the technology to refine and extract raw materials and chemicals; tapping of the medicinal potential of indigenous and herbal plants in the Philippines through government-sponsored research and development, among others.

Palliative

Jara said, “The Arroyo government is merely preoccupied with populist rhetoric. In reality, it falls short of medium-and long-term solutions to the Filipino people’s problems.”

Rivera said the Arroyo government would not implement measures that contradict its own policy framework. The deregulation of the drug industry and liberalization of imports of medicines, she said, form part of the neoliberal policies being undertaken by the Arroyo government. Bulatlat



Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Ang Lihim ni Winston Garcia

Pinoy Weekly Online
Saturday, June 7, 2008
in

Ilang-Ilang D. Quijano/ Tarik Garcia

Hindi matapat sa publiko.

Ito ang ibinibintang ni Winston Garcia, general manager ng GSIS (Government Service Insurance System), sa pamilya Lopez na namumuno ng Meralco (Manila Electric Company). Tinatangka ng GSIS na makontrol ang Meralco, pinakamalaking distribyutor ng kuryente sa bansa, para mapababa umano ang labis-labis na singil nito sa kuryente.

Pero kung inililihim man ng mga Lopez ang abusadong paniningil nito, inililihim din naman ni Winston ang kanyang posibleng tunay na interes sa Meralco.

May koneskiyon ang pamilya Garcia sa Veco (Visayan Electric Company), pangalawang pinakamalaking distribyutor ng kuryente sa bansa. Malapit na alyado ni Pangulong Arroyo si Winston na tubong Cebu ang pamilya.

Nakadikit ang prominenteng mga miyembro ng pamilya Garcia sa Veco, na pag-aari ng pamilya Aboitiz. Nakabase rin sa Cebu ang mga Aboitiz, at tulad ng mga Garcia, malapit diumano sa Palasyo.

Dating legal counsel ng Veco si Jesus Garcia Sr., tiyo ni Winston. Humalili sa tiyo ni Winston ang kanyang pinsang si Jesus Garcia Jr. Ang pamangkin ni Jesus Garcia Jr. na si Jess Anthony N. Garcia ang kasalukuyang legal counsel ng Veco.

Samantala, umupo rin ang mga Garcia sa Board of Directors ng Vivant Corporation, nakalista sa Philippine Stock Exchange na holding company ng Veco. Si Jess Anthony N. Garcia ang kasalukuyang corporate investment officer at sekretarya ng Vivant.

(May dalawang grupo ng mga Garcia sa board ng Vivant. Hindi kadugo ng pamilya ni Winston ang mga Garcia na lahing Espanyol na kumokontrol sa board ng kompanya.)

“Niloloko ni Garcia ang publiko sa pamamagitan ng pagkukunwaring panig siyang walang interes na nagnanais lamang pababain ang singil sa kuryente ng Meralco. Sa totoo, may interes ang kanyang pamilya sa Veco, na makikinabang ang mga may-ari kapag nalusaw ang prankisa ng Meralco. Ang kanyang populistang retorika ay pagtatakip sa pandarambong ng mga alyado at kroni ni Arroyo,” ayon kay Jaime Paglinawan, tagapangulo ng Bagong Alyansang Makabayan-Central Visayas.

Hindi umano malayong gamitin ni Garcia ang pensiyon ng mga kawani ng gobyerno para sa kapakanan ng kanyang pamilya at mga alyado sa pulitika at negosyo. Nagawa na niya ito noon.

Noong 2004, bilyun-bilyong piso ng pondo ng GSIS ang kinuha ni Garcia mula sa Land Bank of the Philippines na pag-aari ng gobyerno at inilipat sa pribadong Union Bank.

Iginawad din ni Garcia sa Union Bank ang multi-milyong pisong kontrata sa proyektong E-Card. Idineklara ng Commission on Audit na “illegal” ang nasabing kontrata.

Pag-aari ng pamilya Aboitiz ang Union Bank.

Samantala, nagpahayag ng pagtutol ang mga kawani ng gobyerno sa umano’y tiwaling pamamalakad ni Winstyon sa GSIS at pag-abandona nito sa tungkuling pangalagaan ang kanilang interes.

Sa ika-22 anibersaryo ng Courage (Confederation for the Unity Recognition, and Advancement of Government Employees) noong Mayo 19, nagkaisa laban sa pamunuan ng GSIS ang mga empleyado ng National Food Authority, National Housing Authority, Bureau of Customs, Land Transportation Office, Department of Trade and Industry, National Broadcasting Network, Quezon City Hall, Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Department of Labor and Employment, Senado, at iba pang ahensiya ng gobyerno.

“Pinagsasamantalahan ng GSIS ang pondo ng mga manggagawa at ginagamit lamang sa pamumulitika,” ani Ferdinand Gaite, tagapangulo ng Courage.