ABOLISHING THE PERVASIVE padrino system in the country – so utopian and idealistic– is much like other bills calling for taxing the rich and enforcing the law on statements of assets, liabilities and networth of public officials. Sounds good on paper, but not enforceable because of the lack of political will.
A bill introduced by an equally controversial partylist Rep. Robert Nazal (a wealthy businessman who first joined politics as a representative of commuters through Pasahero Partylist, then farmers or Magsasaka Partylist until finally the Bagong Henerasyon in the last midterm election) has good optics but nothing much, as it goes against the pervasive culture of padrino or more realistically called as “connections, sponsor or patron.”
‘Patronage politics is one of the oldest and most deeply embedded ills in Philippine governance … public office has too often been treated as a reward for loyalty rather than a trust for merit.’
PADRINOS AMONG POLITICOS
Regardless, he filed the bill in the House calling his peers to support the measure touted as restoring credibility and public trust in state institutions. But take note. The first ones to practice the padrino system are the politicians themselves.
In a statement on Sunday, Nazal (lone representative of Bagong Henerasyon) said his proposal aims to dismantle the patronage system often seen in public sector hiring or promotions, emphasizing the need to prioritize merit over personal connections.
A copy of the bill was not immediately available. (As a businessman who heads seven corporations, including a contractor of seaports, roads and bridges and his mother’s YSA Skin Care Corp) Nazal could have personally experienced the hassle of dealing with bureaucratic red tape and corruption.
“Patronage politics is one of the oldest and most deeply embedded ills in Philippine governance,” he said. “For decades, public office has too often been treated as a reward for loyalty rather than a trust for merit,” he theorized.
“This practice undermines efficiency, demoralizes career public servants, and erodes public confidence in our institutions,” he added.
The bill proposes an “Anti-Padrino Oversight Unit” that would oversee government institutions, conducting audits within the rank-and-file and investigating complaints of nepotism or cronyism.
It would have the authority to recommend administrative or criminal charges against erring officials. Perhaps he is not too convinced about the oversight functions of the Commission on Audit, the Civil Service Commission, and other relevant government agencies.
PATRONAGE POLITICS
And speaking of patronage politics, no example beats that of guarantee letters issued by congressmen and other political officials to hospitals for patients who have asked for assistance in their hospital treatments and confinement bills, which in the end would tie them to the guarantor for life during elections.
This was brought to the fore by a statement of concern issued by several groups contesting the continued deprivation of PhiHealth of funds for socialized healthcare, especially the indigent patients.
The petitioners called on the lawmakers to ensure proper funding for PhilHealth instead of institutionalizing patronage politics in public healthcare and challenging the legality of the government’s transfer of P89.9 billion PhilHealth funds to the National Treasury in 2024.
AID TO POOR PATIENTS
This year, the state health insurer did not receive any subsidies from the government. At the same time, the Medical Assistance to Indigent and Financially Incapacitated Patients (MAIFIP) program of the Department of Health was allocated P41.160 billion.
“The central role of PhilHealth is to serve as the national purchaser of individual-based health services intended to provide the benefits entitled to every Filipino and prevent the fragmentation of funds. This prevents patients from relying on ‘pagmamakaawa’ (begging) for medical assistance,” the petitioners said.
This came after private hospitals were reported to be hesitant in accepting guarantee letters issued by politicians to indigent patients, as payments of receivables from the MAIFIP Program are delayed, according to the Private Hospitals Association of the Philippines, Inc.
DEFUNDING PHILHEALTH
A guarantee letter is a document issued by politicians and government agencies to indigent patients to settle the costs of hospitalization, medical procedures and medicines.
The MAIFIP program, apart from being “complex” and “adding a burden” to the patients and their families, is subject to political patronage, thus perpetuating and normalizing the use of public funds for patronage politics.
“Ensuring that PhilHealth receives the mandated allocations to cover vulnerable populations and expand benefits is critical to protecting patients from catastrophic, out-of-pocket health expenditures,” they added. Just recently, the President announced programs that would reduce the out-of-pocket expense of people for healthcare services.
They said encouraging patients to seek healthcare in public hospitals does not solve the deeper and systemic issues in the public health system, as state facilities handle only 35 percent of healthcare services in the country.
“Defunding PhilHealth and prioritizing funding for MAIFIP will drive patients to public facilities, leading to overcrowding in already understaffed hospitals that also lack adequate facilities and equipment,” the petitioners argued.
“There is an even greater need to strengthen the capacity of public health facilities, including ensuring sufficient funds to support and sustain healthy human resources,” they added.
The petitioners said they hope that the Supreme Court will render its decision on the PhilHealth fund transfer case as the budget legislation process nears.
The petitioners are former Finance Undersecretary Maria Cielo D. Magno, lawyer and professor Dante B. Gatmaytan, urban poor leader Ernesto Ofracio, former Rep. Ibarra M. Gutierrez III, Ophthalmologist; Ma. Dominga “Minguita” B. Padilla, the Philippine Medical Association, the Public Services Independent Labor Confederation, and the Sentro ng mga Nagkakaisa at Progresibong Manggagawa.
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