Loyal Sons of the Phi Kappa Mu, both resident brods and alumni alike, have joined the social media-initiated nationwide rally entitled Million People March last August 26, 2013 to call for the abolition of PDAF and higher fund appropriation for healthcare, particularly for the UP – Philippine General Hospital.
The student brods marched with the Philippine General Hospital representatives, led by PGH Director Brod Jose Castillo Gonzales Φ’69A. The delegation was also joined by numerous students, faculty and staff of the UP College of Medicine and residents, consultants and employees of the Philippine General Hospital. The group condemns the corrupted pork barrel system and calls for a higher fund allocation for PGH.
Joining the PGH contingents was neurosurgery resident and famed storyteller Brod Ronnie Enriquez Baticulon Φ’03, who earlier this month wrote a column for the Philippine Daily Inquirer about the pork barrel issue. He decries how the gross injustice ultimately affects the Filipino patient. “It’s a shame,” he writes, “If that amount, or even just a small part of it, had instead been used for the improvement of facilities and purchase of surgical equipment in regional hospitals, or to expand the health coverage of the marginalized… How many families would have been spared the unnecessary loss of a breadwinner, homemaker, son, or daughter?” (Read more: It’s a shame)
Present with the PGH delegation were alumni brods Jose Castillo Gonzales Φ’69A, Ronnie Enriquez Baticulon Φ’03, John Paul Emerson Serrato Mariñas Φ’04B, Gerald Marion Maramag Abesamis Φ’05, Alvin Anthony Patricio Anastacio Φ’06, and John Faustine Danan Gutierrez Φ’08B.
Brods from all over the country also joined the cause with their respective groups and families, including Department of Health Undersecretary Teodoro Javier Herbosa Φ’79A, Benigno Amor Agbayani, Jr. Φ’86, Jose Jonas Dino Del Rosario Φ’86, Gary John Vergel De Dios Mercado Φ’86, Winston Valentine Lopez Villar Φ’86, Alfredo Dela Torre Calendacion, Jr. Φ’91, Fabian Arnel Angeles De Jesus Φ’92, Rommel Fernando Fernando Φ’95B, Brian Michael Icasas Cabral Φ’96B SE ’00-’01, and Nestor Don Nepomuceno Santiago Φ’02. Brod Ronaldo Aspillaga Paraan Φ’73 and Jaifred Christian Fellicilda Lopez Φ’06 joined the march in Baguio.
Phi Kappa Mu Official Statement on PDAF
The Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF), also known as the “pork barrel”, is a discretionary fund made available to members of Congress for the purpose of financing priority development programs and projects identified by its members. The responsibility and power to budget, allocate and eventually use these funds built largely on the money of the Filipino people are thus vested on a chosen few. Recently, we have learned how the potential for corruption can be realized as public officials have been implicated in probably one of the largest political scandals to date.
The Phi Kappa Mu Fraternity of the University of the Philippines – College of Medicine since its founding in 1933 has stood up for integrity and excellence in the practice of medicine and delivery of healthcare in the country. As medical students and physicians affiliated with the Philippine General Hospital, we see every day how many Filipinos suffer and die from their illnesses due largely to their inability to afford medical services. We do all that we can and make the most of all that we have for the welfare and recovery of our patients but, more often than not, the budget for the Philippine General Hospital is barely sufficient to provide even the most basic of their medical and surgical needs, as is the case in most government healthcare institutions.
We strongly condemn the misallocation and downright plunder of the Philippines’ public treasury. We are calling for the complete dissolution of the PDAF and the entire pork barrel system, the lawful and thorough investigation and conviction of all those implicated, a comprehensive probe for similar incidences of corruption yet to be elucidated, and the recovery of funds lost. The public treasury should be instead used to provide basic social services to every Filipino. We are lobbying for a greater appropriation of funds to the healthcare system of the country and to all government hospitals, especially to the Philippine General Hospital, the national university hospital and referral center of the Philippines.
