Citizen rejected

Since when are government services based on having a voter’s ID or being a registered voter in Lipa City or any Province, City or Barangay for that matter?

I was recently informed that our caretaker’s grand-daughter who was scheduled for physical therapy at the Ospital Ng Lipa or Lipa City hospital was denied PT services at the last minute because her mother was not a registered voter of Lipa. The mother had explained that they were literally “Balik-bayan” in Lipa one year ago.

Our caretaker has lived in Lipa since the ’70s long before the Mayor himself lived in Lipa. Our Caretaker owns property and pays taxes at the Lipa City hall. His daughter grew up in Lipa and only after graduation took a job in Quezon City but regularly comes back to their “family home.” Aside from owning property in Lipa, they support many of the businesses by way of consumption and purchases, go to a local church and often helps neighbors in one form of the other. Is there a law passed by Congress that says medical attention and social services in local government can only be given or performed to registered voters/dependents of a town or city and not to any other citizen or taxpayer of the Philippines?

I could easily have made a phone call to a few people for the sake of the child but I opted to put the story here because I have never heard of this “only registered voter” rule before and it sucks and is actually a form of “Graft” because government services are tied to voter registration. I own a house and lot in Lipa, Pay taxes in Lipa, employ people from many parts of Lipa and send other peoples children to school in Lipa. Do I get rejected because I am still a registered voter in Pasig City?

I have seen and heard about the good works of Lipa City Mayor Meynardo Sabili as well as his wife Bernadette, both of whom are credited by neighbors in Lipa for sending many kids to school on scholarships. In recent times, there has been a lot of construction and development in Lipa City such as schools as well as the City Hospital which is certainly a blessing for many residents who have repeatedly complained abut the poor but exorbitant prices being charged by private hospitals especially in emergencies. Sadly the great work of Lipa City officials are easily destroyed by personnel who simply follow Standard Operating Procedure without checking matters before turning away their own kababayan.

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How much money would Jesus make if he showed up now and turned water into wine? Probably less than turning water into beer or soft drinks. On the other hand some enterprising people and companies have done their own miraculous version of turning chemicals into vinegar and are making millions of pesos annually without telling the public that their vinegar is “Fake.”

One of my students at the Development Academy of the Philippines named “Mon” is planning to come out with a study, introduce a technology and initiate the roll call for an inter-agency task force to expose the fact that 7 out of 10 Vinegar products in the market are fake, meaning the vinegar being sold is not a natural by-product from cane or coconut but rather pure chemicals made to look, smell and taste like vinegar.

The plan which would be his Re-Entry Program might not pass with his academic adviser or immediate boss but it brings attention to how chemicals that are blatantly “fake” or falsely advertised as “Vinegar” are sold in the open market without any challenge by DTI, DOH or DOST. Here we are talking about free-range chickens, radiation paranoia with Telco Cell sites, lactose intolerance and gluten allergies while dipping our fish, pork and comfort foods in pure unadulterated chemicals miraculously sold as “Vinegar” without regulation or challenge from government.

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Unfortunately there are far more “Fake” or defective products out in the market that are not even checked, approved or challenged by any of the government agencies concerned. In the area of construction I have personally encountered fake hacksaw blades used for cutting steel metals, fake sandpaper using the 3M brand. Then there are inferior hollow blocks using muddied sand in their mixture.

As far as product standards and testing go, there are so many electronic products and brands being sold in supermarkets, groceries and malls. But how many of these “fly by night” or revolving door entries into the market are actually tested for quality and standard? Filipinos especially the poor are at great risk every time they buy medicines at the corner store. Many have bought and consumed fake medicines ranging from paracetamol, cough syrup and anti-diarrhea medicines. Just when you need the cure for LBM the most, you fall victim to fake meds and suffer or die from dehydration.

The fact of the matter is we have become a dumping ground for cheap but inferior- throwaway products. There are even importers of so-called “surplus” items that are in fact throwaways, returned items or defective products that are re-sold at almost retail prices for brand new. What is the DTI doing about this? Sadly, no one really thinks or studies the impact of such a phenomenon in our society that has altered our value system. We even have a colloquial term for it “Ka-Cheap-an.” There is a difference between Ka-Cheap-an and competitive pricing; cheap imitation products can actually kill people while killing our standards for what quality products are all about. Sooner or later it will also be reflected in our lifestyle and values.

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I recently learned from a DepEd officer that teachers and school personnel are required to undergo medical exams and present a medical certificate every year. That’s OK. What I wrongly assumed was that government employees were all entitled to Free Annual Medical check-ups. No they are not. They have to do so out of pocket and I don’t know if the amount is refundable from PhilHealth. My informant suggests that the PhilHealth should provide for mandatory – FREE annual medical check ups for regular government employees particularly DepEd and cover it with the PhilHealth card.

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