Metro Cebu is getting the 3rd link to Mactan

Last Thursday was a momentous occasion for Cebuanos as it was the ceremonial awarding of the Design and Build Contract for the Cebu-Cordova Link Expressway (CCLEX) at the Waterfront Hotel in Cebu City. This is the long-awaited 3rd bridge that would link the mainland Cebu to the Island of Mactan, which would start at the South Road Project (SRP) passing through the Municipality of Cordova. Construction will start early next year.

The main bridge would have a 390-meter length and connect to a causeway passing through four low level bridges that would eventually connect to the Mactan Circumferential Road in Pilipog, Cordova. No, this project doesn’t have a road connection to the Mactan Cebu International Airport (MCIA), which is why at this time, I exhort the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) under Sec. Mark Villar to already make plans to widen the roadway that would lead to the MCIA via this road because there is more than enough material time for DPWH to make this connection so when the CCLEX project is done, travelling from downtown Cebu City to MCIA would be a breeze!

When the first bridge to connect the mainland Cebu to Mactan Island was finished… we sat on our laurels and didn’t do anything until traffic became unbearable. When Pres. Cory Aquino became president we exhorted her to build the second bridge to Mactan, but that just took too much time. Construction for the Marcelo Fernan Bridge was done during the term of Pres. Fidel V. Ramos, but then Pres. Joseph “Erap” Estrada inaugurated it.

We wrote columns asking to build a 3rd bridge to link mainland Cebu to Mactan because once more traffic has turned from bad to worse. Hence, the CCLEX is expected to be the light at the end of this proverbial tunnel, because it would decongest traffic going to the beaches of Mactan and the MCIA bypassing the most traffic congested areas of Metro Cebu. Best of all, the construction of the CCLEX won’t disturb the current traffic in the area.

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Last week we wrote at length about the issues plaguing the health maintenance organization (HMO), which was regulated under the Department of Health (DOH). But then via Executive Order 192, then Pres. Benigno “P-Noy” Aquino III had it transferred to the Insurance Commission (IC), which knows next to nothing about the health care industry. Last Saturday I got a letter from Atty. Mario Cavada of the Philippine Association of HMO Members and Owners (PAHMOMAC), but since his letter is quite lengthy, let me reprint the gist of his letter, which is self-explanatory.

“Mr. Bobit Avila, I have read your article Regulatory Capture and the HMO, I couldn’t agree less. What is happening in the HMO industry is an unnecessary U turn where instead of improving the conditions and regulations to ensure that HMOs can better provide programs for the general public, EO-192 was passed just to benefit the few, wealthy, and big HMOs.

These HMOs manipulate the industry so they can control the price so the public will have very few choices should they decide to avail of a HMO. Currently, there are only 28 HMO companies to serve over 100M Filipinos. I foresee that the numbers will be reduced to less than 10 once the Insurance Commission (IC) has released all of its circulars.

It appears that the intention of EO 192 is to let the IC regulate HMOs when it has no knowledge and competence to oversee its affairs. In fact, IC’s mandate is to regulate life insurance companies only. HMOs are in the business of providing health care while insurance undertakes to indemnify or guarantee against loss by a specified contingency or peril.

The IC, to date, does not have an actuarial study for the health industry nor does it have a single licensed medical doctor in their payroll. The main objection to EO 192 is that it will not regulate but will kill the HMO industry. Worse, life insurance companies are now selling health care products and most of them do not even have accredited hospitals or doctors with no real health actuarial study in place. Insurance health care products are just expense reimbursements while HMOs deal with accredited hospitals and doctors. Simply, HMOs pay the claim directly to the hospitals and doctors, which is an entirely different system from insurance, or its packaged so called health care.

Congress should wake up and urgently ask Pres. Rodrigo “Digong” Duterte to stop and invalidate EO 192. In turn, Congress should pass a law that protects the public and not that which would put the public to a disadvantage by allowing the IC to pass haphazard regulations. A good HMO law can become one of the legacies of the Duterte administration. The President should not allow the HMO industry to be manipulated or controlled by a few interest groups to the detriment of the masses whom he has vowed to protect! More power and God bless you! – Atty. Mario Cavada, President, Philippine Association of HMO Members and Owners (PAHMOMAC).”

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