Botika ng Bayan needs more support

If there is one project of Ate Glo that’s really starting to help the poor and even the not so poor citizens of this country, it is the Botika ng Bayan. It was initiated as an extremely modest project, and somehow, it still is. But in the hands of a capable and fired-up public official, Obet Pagdanganan, the project has started to go places.

I am normally against government getting into business but this is one exception to the rule. The unaffordable cost of medicines in this country, thanks to a multinational drug industry cartel, has made it necessary for government to step in and even up the market for the sake of the poor consumers. In fact, not even this government’s token entry may prove to be good enough, if it were not for Obet’s determination to make a difference.

The drug cartel is one powerful, aggressive and well funded group. It has in its grips, even the very regulators of the industry. I was shocked to find out that some months ago, it had the gumption to fool the BFAD into attempting to raid the Indian Embassy in search of so-called counterfeit drugs there.

That ill-advised raid could have caused a serious diplomatic incident were it not for the sense of humor of a very understanding Indian Ambassador. She was aghast at the temerity of those who would accuse the Embassy of harboring counterfeit drugs but she discounted the incident as one low level bureaucrat’s misguided obedience to a powerful foreign cartel.

The problem lies in defining what constitutes "counterfeit" drugs. The cartel labels as counterfeit any medicine that does not pass through their specific marketing channel, even if it was produced in the same manufacturing facility. Never mind if they are the same medicines manufactured by a sister company in another country, has the same brand, the same ingredients and strength – in other words, identical with those being protected.

Unfortunately, the WHO has defined all medicines sold in a country outside of the multinationals’ network as "counterfeit." Any off-patent generic drug produced by any facility other than a Western multinational is also called counterfeit. That has terrific propaganda value because unfortunately, as columnist Neal Cruz pointed out, "counterfeit" in the Philippines is confused with "fake" or "bogus" ("counterfeit" bills are also called "fake" and "bogus" bills).

It seems that like our local drug regulatory agency, the WHO has also been captured by the cartel! The WHO should instead, put pressure on these giant multinationals for more affordable Third World prices. That’s the way to achieve WHO’s mandate to save Third World lives, many of which are now lost because life saving drugs are unaffordable.

Fortunately, some Third World countries, like India, have developed their pharmaceutical industry well enough to manufacture some of these off patent drugs that could be sold as generics. By importing these drugs from India and making them available to our people, we are giving the gift of life to those who cannot afford the branded products.

This is why when Obet distributes his medicines to his network of Botika ng Bayan, he makes sure every tablet or bottle is certified by BFAD as the real thing, not fake or counterfeit. But because the pharmaceutical cartel has successfully managed to fool the public into believing that the PITC imports are ‘fake,’ even doctors, who should know better, have been fooled.

I am glad that Obet through the Philippine International Trading Corporation (PITC) has persisted with this valuable program despite the hindrances thrown their way by the cartel. Parallel importation is having an impact somehow. Botika ng Bayan has started to have an effect in the market, thanks to Obet’s marketing skills, learned from years of working with Unilever.

The budget of PITC’s parallel imports is still minuscule at only P500 million, against the whole Philippine pharmaceuticals sales of P92 billion, but the multinationals are already reacting. They have filed cases against PITC and Obet Pagdanganan, alleging that their IPR has been violated by Ate Glo’s token program. Luckily, Obet is being defended by the very able Agnes Devanadera of the Office of the Government Corporate Counsel.

The cartel filed suit probably because Obet’s Botika ng Bayan is expanding fast, going beyond the few government hospitals when Mar Roxas launched it. They now have 245 drugstores nationwide and Obet said he is working to bring that number to 1,500 by yearend. Obet explained that he had to create the alternative network because Mercury Drug, with 600 branches, refused to carry his medicines. Mercury chose to cooperate with the cartel.

Obet is working with the small drugstores, a group that has a wider network coverage than even the giant Mercury. The small drugstore operators also welcome the partnership with PITC because Obet makes sure they get enough margins to enable them to grant the mandated senior citizen discounts. Because the cartel only gives them margins of five to 10 percent, the small independent drugstores lose money selling the cartel’s products once the customer presents a senior citizen card that calls for a 20-percent discount.

The best part of the deal is, the poor has an option now. Without the Botika ng Bayan, they can only watch their sick loved ones slowly die. But how can Obet manage with such a small budget? Good management, he said. They make sure the drugstores pay for stock quickly so that the money can be recycled fast to import some more or buy from local generic manufacturers.

The way I look at it, Ate Glo should consider the cases filed against PITC and Obet as a personal affront. Here is one program of hers that really works, despite the measly budget and the legal challenges. Obet should be getting a medal, not a court suit.

The one man Ate Glo had been throwing around but has remained loyal to her, is also the one who is delivering tangible results on an important social welfare initiative. It is true that you can’t put a good man down. Obet is proof of that.

Pag-ibig Responds

Reader Grace del Rosario wrote us to report a happy ending to her complaint about the treatment she got from Pag-ibig Fund bureaucrats.

Thank you very much for raising my concern to Pag-ibig Fund. I am so happy to find out that they are now working on major improvements within their system. When I e-mailed you last May 23, I just wanted to express my disappointment over my experiences with Pag-ibig but I was never really expecting any improvement in their performance. I was so surprised that it was even Attorney Bobby Go-an (as he introduced himself over the phone) who contacted me last May 27 to attend to my complaint. And yesterday (May 30), their billing and collection head informed me that my title is now ready for pick-up.

I am so happy with what happened not just because you facilitated the faster processing of the release of my title but rather because I learned of the many good plans of Pag-ibig to improve their operations. It feels good to know that somehow there is still hope in our country.

Thank you so much again for all the help. God bless...

Foreign Telcos

It was pretty stupid of lawyers from Smart/PLDT and Globe to say that allowing the NTC to implement its new rules on VOIP would violate the constitution because foreign-owned Internet Service Providers will get into the telephone business.

What are they talking about? The foreigners are now in the local telephone business. Smart/PLDT is partly owned and totally managed by Indonesian-owned First Pacific. Globe is partly owned by Singapore Telecom. The fine point legalities aside, the telecom business is an international business as even Manny Pangilinan and Jaime Zobel de Ayala would have to admit.

Smart/PLDT and Globe lawyers should save us all a lot of time and spare us their legal nonsense in the matter of VOIP. It is a useless battle they cannot hope to win, anyway. It is all a matter of time. Their legal strategy may only delay the inevitable and can only make their principals look ridiculously like King Canute trying to stop the waves. I am sure neither Manny nor JAZA would appreciate the caricature.

Typhoons

It is reader Jack Gesner doing duty today.

Q: Why are typhoons normally named after women?

A: When they come they’re wild and wet, but when they go, they take your house and car with them.

Boo Chanco’s e-mail address is [email protected]