‘Unfair’

In the midst of an ever-deteriorating health care system in the country and a continuous exodus of health professionals, Doc Ogie lamented that the government is unfair to the likes of him and many others who “opted to stay and serve the people.”

Doc Ogie added that until now, in medical missions and clinic consultations, he is still shocked by the deteriorating health situation he witnesses in communities. “I cannot help but feel that this government is really heartless towards its people, prioritizing less important things than upholding basic human rights such as health,” Doc Ogie said.

Moreover, he said, the government should instead support him and his colleagues for reaching out to far-flung communities to provide health services. “That is something that the government should be doing, it is its responsibility,” Doc Ogie added.

Doc Ogie has been working as a doctor for a community based health program (CBHP) for 16 years now. After passing the Medical Board Exams, he immediately worked as a community doctor in Cebu. In 1993, he headed the Community Based Health Services Desk of the Visayas Primary Health Care Services, Inc. (VPHCS) until January 2001, when he transferred to VPHCS-Bohol to be the program coordinator.

Established in 1985, VPHCS is a CBHP working in the Central Visayas region.

Supportive family

Still a bachelor at 44, Doc Ogie, being the only doctor in a brood of seven, is easily his family’s darling.

Attending to his mother’s health is a duty he does not neglect even if it meant traveling some three-hours from Cebu City to Medellin town where his mother lives.

Medellin is Doc Ogie’s hometown, a coastal municipality in the northernmost part of the province of Cebu.

“They are worried about me, of course, but they are very supportive. They are assured that I am not alone in this battle,” Doc Ogie said.

Campaign to defend Doc Ogie

In a recent forum, Dr. Reggie Pamugas of the Health Alliance for Human Rights (HAHR) said that the different health organizations in the National Capital Region are fully supporting Doc Ogie in his fight.

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