Drilon: Cha-cha amid COVID-19?

This time should not be spent pushing Charter change amid the coronavirus pandemic, Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon tells the Department of the Interior and Local Government.

This columnist agrees with the senator. The push, he says, is “a total waste of time.” Why so?

“Habang ang mga Pilipino ay wala nang makain at nawalan ng trabaho, isusubo natin itong Cha-cha?” Drilon said in a press statement reaching this column. (Why do this when Filipinos have nothing to eat and are jobless?)

‘’We are in the middle of a pandemic. The country is grappling to contain COVID-19 and deal with its aftermath. To talk about Cha-cha is the height of insensitivity,” he stresses.

The DILG is reported to be gathering up to two million signatures over the next two months to back amendments to the Constitution, which will be submitted to Congress in July.

The minority leader warns the DILG not to use COVID-19 activities to promote Cha-cha and advance their agenda.

“It will only create distraction, division and unnecessary noise,” he says.

“The Congress and the executive branch should work together to pursue legislation that will help revive the economy and restore the jobs temporarily and permanently lost due to the pandemic. That should be the focus, not Cha-cha.”

Drilon says that all efforts should be geared toward addressing the crisis and paving the road to economic recovery.

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My young colleague in the Philippine STAR, Franco Luna, wrote last Sunday about a story stressing the need for the government to ensure that women’s health is not taken for granted during the pandemic. Being a women’s rights advocate, and in view of the fact that International Day of Action for Women’s Health will be on May 28, I am bringing up again what Franco wrote.

The story sent to both Franco and myself came from Marevic Parcon, executive director of the Women’s Global Network for Reproductive Rights. WGNRR, according to her, is a global network that connects and strengthens movements for sexual and reproductive health, rights, and justice. Its work is grounded in the realities of those who most lack economic, social and political power. Its key objectives are to coordinate and strengthen national and regional networks of sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) organizations, initiating activities that ensure that all women and girls are able to exercise their right to make a free and informed decision regarding their sexual and reproductive health (SRH).

The story is about three pregnant women who were refused admission by hospitals for certain reasons. Women’s rights groups have called the government’s attention to ensure the availability and equitable access to essential sexual and reproductive health services in its COVID-19 response.

There’s the case of Nancy, a resident in Laguna who was refused admission by three hospitals before being admitted in a fourth facility where she successfully delivered her baby. Nancy was reportedly refused admission following the government’s “stringent containment measures to mitigate the impact of the pandemic,” said a statement from the Center for Reproductive Rights and the WGNRR.

In April, Katherine Bulatao, who suffered from complications after giving birth at home for fear of contracting the virus, was refused treatment by six facilities for reasons ranging from the lack of adequate medical facilities and health providers to her inability to make advance payment to the hospital. By the time they found a facility willing to take her in, Katherine had already bled to death. The National Bureau of Investigation has been asked to probe Katherine’s death.

Also, in April, Mary Jane Alpide died during labor in a hospital after she was turned down earlier by four facilities.

Center for Reproductive Rights Asia legal adviser lawyer Jihan Jacob said, “The refusal to administer emergency reproductive health care to women like Nancy, Katherine and Mary Jane violates their fundamental rights guaranteed under our Constitution and a myriad of our laws including the Anti-Hospital Deposit Law, Magna Carta of Women, and the Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Act. It also violates the government’s international human rights obligations to guarantee women’s rights to life, health, and equality and nondiscrimination. The current pandemic and resource constraints do not justify these refusals.”

Last week, on May 11, 60 individuals and organizations signed a statement expressing concern over the preventable maternal deaths that reflects how the government’s COVID-19 response has overlooked the availability and accessibility of quality life-saving reproductive health services. The statement called for clear mechanisms to ensure availability, accessibility, acceptability and quality of sexual and reproductive health information and services.

Yesterday, Marivec Parcon told me by phone, “We sent the statement to Health Secretary Francisco Duque and Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID). But we have not received a reply until now. We also sent the statement to other relevant agencies. The statement has reached the attention of the office of DILG Secretary Eduardo Año and forwarded the statement to the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Mindanao Affairs and Special Concerns (OASMASC) for appropriate action. The Philippine Commission on Women Chairperson Rhodora Bucoy has also committed to bring this matter to the PCW Board, where the DOH sits as a member, for deliberation.

Said Marivec: “We will continue to follow-up on these government agencies and departments to track how they are addressing the issue concretely. We are also closely coordinating with the Commission on Human Rights to monitor and address cases like these.
 “As we are gearing up for May 28 International day of Action for International Health, a campaign to call on governments all over the world to recognize that women’s health still matters in this pandemic. We will continue to highlight internationally and locally cases such as the refusal of life-saving care to women so that hopefully there will be no more Katherine and Mary Jane who will die unnecessarily over childbirth.”

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