Complete turnaround for health in Duterte’s second SONA

In his second State of the Nation's Address, President Rodrigo Roa Duterte reiterated his administration’s dependence on the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation, or PhilHealth. He said that PhilHealth coverage will be expanded and that the No Balance Billing policy will be strengthened.

For Health Alliance for Democracy, such statements are a complete reversal of his earlier stance against PhilHealth.

"More than a year after being elected into office, President Duterte has completely backtracked on PhilHealth and now continues with the Department of Health's band-aid solutions to age-old public health problems," said Dr. Darby Santiago, HEAD Chairperson. "He has forgotten that during the 2016 presidential debates, he was the only candidate to criticize PhilHealth, for which he was applauded and supported by many who wanted to see real changes in health care."

Protesters gather at Batasan ave. to ask President Duterte what has become of his
promised change on the president's second State of the Nation Address, July 24, 2017.

At that time, he was already convinced of the general ineffectiveness of PhilHealth that despite its ballooning budget and supposed coverage of the poor, patients still shouldered more than half the cost of their hospitalization.

"But now, Duterte is singing a different tune," Dr. Santiago said.

An effigy by the health sector, depicting Duterte and his health agenda,
where bureaucrat capitalists and imperialists benefit instead of the people.

Strengthening the No Balance Billing policy is useless when there are not enough government-run hospitals and when health facilities are poorly funded and understaffed. Even indigent members wind up paying for the medicines themselves or worse, go to private centers because these are the only ones nearby.

"Is this what President Duterte meant by change? That he will just do more of the same old things?"

The presidential backpedalling is not new. In his recent pronouncements, President Duterte has turned his back on the substantive issues and immediate concerns of Filipinos.

He promised to end labor contractualization, support genuine land reform, assert an independent foreign policy, and pursue the peace talks with the National Democratic Front of the Philippines before and after he won the presidency.

For HEAD, the direction that the Duterte administration is taking reveals much of the interests it now represents. "President Duterte is now far removed from the people he alleges to serve. This is not the leadership we deserve. This is not the change that we want," Dr. Santiago lamented.##

SONA 2017: Change in health, non-existent and intangible

"What change would you expect if the Duterte Health Agenda pursues the same neoliberal policies that the previous administrations pursued? The answer is nothing," said Dr. Darby Santiago, Health Alliance for Democracy Chairperson. "Change in health is non-existent and intangible."

Gomampong Gymnasium, Baloi, Lanao del Norte, jampacked with evacuees from Marawi City. Evacuees line up on the left side of the image for the medical mission/checkup. Photo taken June 15, 2017.

"Privatization and corporatization of healthcare in its various forms continue. Budget cuts plague our public healthcare delivery system. Medicine and vaccines remain lacking in communities, while millions worth of these rot in storage rooms," added Dr. Santiago. "Then there's the casual killing of doctors who serve communities, further depriving the poor of much-needed healthcare and medical attention."

"Malnutrition worsened. HIV cases increased. Countless data prove that the health of Filipinos has in fact worsened. Yet the Department of Health and the Duterte administration has yet to implement policies that would result to substantial change," added Dr. Santiago. "Insanity is doing the same thing and expecting different results, therefore DOH is insane to think that neoliberal policies will solve the ills of our healthcare system."

"One thing is clear: the fascist Duterte administration cannot bring real change; the change we need remains in the hands of the Filipino people through our collective action and empowerment," added Dr. Santiago. "Our struggle for a free, comprehensive, and progressive healthcare must continue. Our struggle for a just and peaceful society shall flourish."##

Martial law extension means extension of humanitarian crisis, state abuses – Health groups

Health Alliance for Democracy strongly condemns the extension of martial law in Mindanao up to

December 31, 2017. By voting for the extension, the Congress and the Senate have exposed themselves as mere tentacles to the President and his rabid dogs Lorenzana, Esperon, and Año.

As the bureaucrats pander to their precious soldiers, largely lost in the narrative is the massive humanitarian crisis that Duterte's martial law has brought upon the people of Mindanao. Half a million Moros have been displaced, the Lumad have been forced out of their communities by the military, and human rights violations abound not just in the south but in the entire country.

Students hold placards in front of the Philippine General Hospital in an action against Martial Law in Mindanao.

And yet, the political elite have dismissed the massive evacuation and civilian deaths as mere "collateral damage" to the US-AFP counter-terrorist agenda. It is clear which masters they serve.

HEAD likewise condemns the detention and calls for the release of the #Kabataan8 who launched a lightning protest during the session. The incident is a reminder of how a reactionary state responds to legitimate public dissent.

Without any hindsight, Duterte and his allies continue to address the conflict in Mindanao and in the entire country through a rightist, militarist policy. But time and time again, history has taught that the enduring socio-economic crisis in the country feeds the growth of rebellion. Because of this, his martial law, as that of his hero Ferdinand Marcos, will ultimately fail.

The health sector is resolute in standing with the Filipino people against Dutert's martial law and his fascist rule. It will march on Monday, during the president's SONA, to show its indignation and call for the lifting of martial law. President Duterte must serve the Filipino people, not the US imperialist agenda of waging war for its own profit.##

DOH blasted for ‘washing hands’ over Cavite provincial doctor slay

Health Alliance for Democracy blasted the Department of Health for again downplaying its responsibility in the protection of health personnel. This, following the killing of Cavite Provincial Health Officer, Dr. George R. Repique, Jr. Dr. Repique is the third physician to be shot and killed within the last five months.

HEAD together with PROJUST (Protection and Justice for Frontline Healthworkers) held a candle lighting action in front of the Philippine General Hospital on July 13 for the killing of Dr. George Repique Jr.

In an official statement on Friday, DOH Secretary Paulyn Ubial deplored the killing and acknowledged the string of unresolved killings of doctors, but she makes no mention of what the department will do in response to this.  In fact, in the five months since Dr. Dreyfuss Perlas and Dr. Shahid Sinolinding have died, no clear mechanism has been put in place to protect the other frontline health workers currently in the field.

All the DOH has done is to pass on this responsibility to local government units – an utter absence of commitment, sincerity, and leadership. While it continues to watch by idly, doctors are dying and health workers are being harassed. This is not the DOH we deserve.

Candles lit for Dr. George.

HEAD calls on the DOH to do the following:

1. The department should come up with a clear, unequivocal statement that it will protect its health workers at all cost and that it will work tirelessly to get justice for them;

2. It should set up a mechanism by which it can get complaints and immediately assist frontline health workers;

3. It should meet with the DILG to delineate their respective tasks and responsibilities in protecting health workers;

4. It should immediately undertake the thorough investigation of these cases as well as complaints raised by other frontline health personnel regarding harassments and threats;

5. It should insist that the PNP and DOJ bring the full force of the law against the perpetrators; and,

6. It should ask President Duterte to make a strong stance on protecting health workers, the same way that he persistently does for his soldiers.

The DOH should not simply "support efforts to obtain justice" in these killings, but should exercise clear leadership for the protection of those who serve.##

Third doctor killed under Duterte: Cavite provincial doctor shot outside hospital

Health Alliance for Democracy strongly condemns the murder of Dr. George R. Repique, Jr., Provincial Health Officer of Cavite. He is the third doctor to be killed in five months, after the killing of Dr. Dreyfuss Perlas in March and Dr. Jaja Sinolinding in April.

Justice is yet to be served for Dr. Drey and Dr. Jaja, and the death of Dr. Repique confirms the continuing impunity in our country. We demand justice for our killed colleagues. We demand that perpetrators be arrested and punished. The Department of Health cannot dismiss his death as another isolated case and must take concrete steps to protect frontline health workers.

Dr. Repique was a member of the University of the Philippines – College of Medicine class of 1993. He had a very strong public health perspective and had partnered with the UP Community Health and Development Program. He was the Provincial Health Officer of Cavite when he was shot on July 11, just outside General Emilio Aguinaldo Memorial Hospital. He died in the emergency room.

AFP and martial law: Direct threat to lives and well being of people

"Terrorism and state terrorism have always been threats to lives and well-being. But you do not solve a problem by creating a bigger problem. Maute is a problem, but the Armed Forces of the Philippines and their implementation of Martial Law is a bigger problem," said Dr. Joseph M. Carabeo, Secretary General of Health Alliance for Democracy.

"What should have been a simple police problem and failed intelligence has been rewarded with vast military powers and authoritarian rule, directly threatening people's rights," added Dr. Carabeo. "We must remember that even without Martial Law, the police and military have been the primary violators of human rights in the Philippines. With the suspension of basic rights under Martial Law, we fear worse human rights violations by state forces."

"It doesn't help that fake news probably fueled the declaration of Martial Law, throwing the people of Mindanao into chaos. The people now 'turn to' the foremost human rights violators, the military, as their knight in shining armor," said Dr. Carabeo. "This condition drowns out the voices of the victims of military abuse, at the same time diminishes the evil and discriminatory character of aerial bombings, as if it can only be directed to their target terrorists. But the picture of thousands of people fleeing their communities is enough testament to the worsening situation than the military frenzy hopes to address."

"The peace talks between the Government of the Republic of the Philippines and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines, which aims to address the roots of our social problems, have also become a casualty," lamented Carabeo. "The panel and the people's hard work towards attaining a just and lasting peace has gone down the drain, at least for now. No justice, no peace, no health."


Health Alliance for Democracy beseechs the help of fellow health professionals, health workers, health science students and health advocates to call for the end of Martial Law in Mindanao. Vast military powers and authoritarian rule under Martial Law is an additional threat to the people of Mindanao. Casualties among civilians will only increase through aerial bombings. Never again to Martial Law!##

HEAD joins global resistance against RCEP and imperialist globalization

Health groups under the Health Alliance for Democracy joined the multi-sectoral protest action against Imperialist Globalization on May 11, 2017. "The closed-door meetings between world economic leaders, businessmen, and countries involved in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership pose serious threats to basic human rights, including health," said HEAD Chairperson Dr. Darby Santiago.

RCEP is a free-trade agreement between the ten member states of ASEAN, with China bearing the lead role in response to the US-led Trans-Pacific Partnerships. Specific details behind RCEP remain secret, although several leaks point to the same neoliberal policies of liberalization, deregulation, and privatization that are in the TPP. "Health workers' rights are primarily at risk: these trade agreements seek to facilitate cheap labor and resources from the Philippines and other underdeveloped countries in Southeast Asia. Aside from low wages, these entail worse working conditions as corporations want to secure more profit," said Dr. Santiago.

"What's even scary is the drive to intensify patent laws, which will worsen the people's access to cheaper medicines. RCEP ensures that private companies will own exclusive rights to produce drugs, including the generic ones, resulting to monopoly and higher cost of medicines," added Santiago. For starters, branded HIV/AIDS medication costs 13,000 US dollars per person per year; the generic version only costs 67 US dollars. Generic drug pharmacies are also at risk of going out of business.

"The investor-state dispute settlement seals the deal to completely reject these imperialist impositions. Under RCEP and similar free-trade agreements, trans-national corporations can sue country states if that country's laws and constitution prevent them from reaping profits," added Santiago. Whether we win or lose the case comes the litigation costs, such as in the MWSS v Maynilad case where we paid 52 million US dollars for litigation alone. "It's tax payers' money, which could have been spent for free healthcare or salaries of health workers. Worse, it meddles with our sovereignty. The welfare of the people would be in peril."

"That the head of states discuss economic treaties with businessmen behind closed doors warrant public scrutiny. It compels us to ask, 'what about the people?'" said Dr. Santiago. "Health care, education, labor conditions, agriculture and other basic services, struggles fought and won, are in danger of being lost by the people en masse. The Duterte administration must prioritize its primary stakeholders – the Filipinos people – and reject these economic neoliberal impositions."

Amidst these great challenges, the people's resistance against these free trade agreements grows stronger by the minute. Health Alliance for Democracy joins the international clamor to resist RCEP and the ever growing threat of imperialist globalization in Southeast Asia. We call on our fellow health professionals, health workers, health science students, patients, and health advocates to join the resistance. Our collective action together with multi-sectoral groups shall prevent RCEP and free-trade agreements from endangering the very fabric of our society.##

Health groups support #OccupyBulacan!

Health Alliance for Democracy and other health groups will join the People's Caravan in support of #OccupyBulacan on March 18, Saturday. "This Occupy movement is a culmination of the urban poor's desire to liberate themselves from dire and unhealthy living conditions," said HEAD Secretary General Dr. Joseph Carabeo. "Where the government fails, the people will assert."

"Homelessness unnecessarily exposes people to sickness and disease. The Duterte administration should therefore acknowledge the legitimate demands of the urban poor and heed their call instead of tagging as anarchy their assertion and collective action," said Dr. Carabeo. "The urban poor communities under Kadamay assert their rights because the government institutions have been failing, yet these failures are shrugged off as a mere problem of bureaucracy. President Rodrigo Duterte should stand with the people."

HEAD members participate in a medical mission in the relocation sites occupied by Kadamay in Pandi, Bulacan.

"When we say health, the environment where people live is a huge factor. Decent homes contribute greatly to the prevention of disease," said Dr. Carabeo. "It doesn't help that when the poor get sick, the rotting public healthcare system also fails to give them free and adequate treatment."
Urban poor communities under Kadamay occupied around 5000 houses in a relocation site in Pandi, Bulacan on March 8. The group occupied vacant houses that have dilapidated over time as these have remained unused for years. On March 17, they occupied additional 1200 houses in Pandi Atlantica.

"The Duterte administration and the National Housing Authority along with the local government units should take further steps to improve the living conditions in the relocation sites," added Carabeo. "Electricity and water are among the basic needs that people need to attain a healthy and clean environment. Immediate action must be taken to ensure that the rights of the people are prioritized."

HEAD is one with the urban poor in their struggle for decent and healthy living conditions. Health groups will bring food, water, and health services to the occupied relocation sites as part of the People's Caravan in support of #OccupyBulacan.

Two doctors in two months: On the killing of rural doctor Sajid "Jaja" Sinolinding

Health Alliance for Democracy condemns in the strongest terms the killing of Dr. Sajid "Jaja" Sinolinding in Cotabato City, Tuesday. The ophthalmologist was shot dead alongside his security escort in his clinic by a gunman who posed as a patient.

HEAD is outraged that two doctors have been ruthlessly killed in two months. Last March Dr. Dreyfuss Perlas, a municipal health officer in Lanao del Norte, was shot in the back—his and Dr. Jaja's killers remain at large.

"How many more health workers need to die before the Department of Health and this administration stop idling around and start protecting our barrio doctors?" asked Dr. Joseph Carabeo, HEAD secretary-general. "Every day front line health personnel are putting their lives on the line to serve their countrymen, but the government repays them with indifference, deaf to the bullets that kill them."

Health groups under the Protection and Justice for Frontline Health Workers (Pro-Just) call to stop the attacks on health workers, April 7, 2017.

"What's glaring in Dr. Jaja's case is that he already had a security escort. This did not stop him from getting killed," Carabeo remarked.

Carabeo implored the DOH and the local and national governments to hasten the investigations on the deaths of Dr. Perlas and Dr. Sinolinding. "The underserved areas have lost much-needed doctors, and that their cases remain unresolved sends a chilling message to health workers all over the country," he said.

The DOH in particular must stop hiding behind the local government units and the national government, and assert its role as protector of health workers. "There have been cases where local governments were involved in the harassment of health workers and professionals. These must be taken more seriously. The continuous harassment and killings of health workers and health professionals must not be dismissed as 'isolated cases'. Simply transferring health workers from one community to another will not stop them from being targeted," warned Carabeo. “If not the DOH, then who else will?"

HEAD calls on members of the health sector to be steadfast in their commitment to serve the people by uniting in the outrage against the murder of their colleagues. It also calls on the public to condemn this brutal killing and unite in the call for justice.

Neoliberal policies make people crazy

"Neoliberal attacks and imperialist impositions threaten and worsen social determinants of mental health," said Dr. Joseph Carabeo, Secretary General of Health Alliance for Democracy, as health groups under the International League of People's Struggle–Health Commission, People's Health Movement–Southeast Asia, and the Coalition for People's Right to Health gathered in front of the World Health Organization office on UN Avenue, Ermita, Manila on World Health Day, April 7. "We collectively bring attention to the public and the policy holders, both global and local, the various issues that undermine the attainment of the people's right to health."

WHO takes on depression as the theme on this year's World Health Day. They acknowledged social inequality and the importance of social and physical determinants in achieving mental health, which include access to health resources, job security, public safety, and shelter among others. "Yet they are silent on continuous neoliberal attacks and imperialist impositions that threaten and worsen these very determinants," said Dr. Carabeo.

"In a nutshell, neoliberalism seeks to open up basic social services such as health to the market for profit, while the government forces down our throats the policies that permit this desecration of social services," explained Dr. Carabeo. "It justifies the imperialist need to open up new avenues for profit and business, so that imperialist countries and their bureaucrat capitalist allies can continue to prosper. Privatization or corporatization of healthcare is one prevalent example."

Health groups pose for photos: Social conditions such as poverty, landlessness, militarization, low wages and budget cuts affect mental health.

"The neoliberal policy of privatization or corporatization undermines access to health resources as the cost of services soar," added Carabeo. "Worse, government funding is redirected to health financing such as PhilHealth instead of direct hospital services, leaving patients at the mercy of health insurance and private hospitals seeking higher returns. Trade liberalization on the drug industry in the form of drug patents limits the production of cheaper if not free medicines. Meanwhile, neoliberal policies on employment such as contractualization undermine the job security of health workers. The list goes on as the health of the masses erodes along with these determinants."

"The Duterte administration and the Department of Health must not abandon its responsibility and ensure that public health interests are not trampled by business interests," added Carabeo. "The World Health Organization on the other hand must take further steps to press governments to pursue policies on the economic and political levels that promote mental health instead of undermining it. Neoliberal attacks on health in the Philippines must stop!"

"World Health Day should be a day for championing the people's right to health. We must resist neoliberal attacks and imperialist impositions on health. Let us bring these issues to the attention of the public and concerned institutions as we continue to struggle for our right to health!" Carabeo ended.##