Officials block military camp in Luisita
The militant peasant
group Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) expressed its support for
the barangay officials of Balete, inside Hacienda Luisita, who refused to
allow an army camp to be built inside the community.
KMP secretary general
Danilo "Ka Daning" Ramos commended June 23 the Balete officials for “doing
what is right and standing up for the interests of their constituents.” He
also said the military has no business inside the barangay as well as the
whole hacienda. Instead, he said that the military are the ones sowing
terror among the people and farmworkers at Hacienda Luisita.
Ramos added that the
military units inside the hacienda “are nothing but paid hacks of the
Cojuangcos and are assigned there to break the fighting spirit of the
strikers by psychological operations and dirty tactics.”
In fact, Ramos said
that many cases of harassments and killing of farm animals have been
documented since the military were assigned inside the hacienda.
Bulatlat
* * *
Is PhilHealth
replacing the health department?
Dr. Gene Alzona Nisperos, secretary general of the militant health group
Health Alliance for Democracy (HEAD), said June 21 that the Arroyo
administration is pushing through with the further privatization of health
care by “underscoring the role of PhilHealth and by making national health
insurance the focal point of government health policy.”
Instead of outlining
his plans outside the current stop-gap measures being implemented in the
drug industry, Nisperos said Health Secretary Francisco Duque referred to
PhilHealth and expounded on its features that assist patients in drug
purchasing.
Nisperos also said
that Duque never fails to mention how public hospitals should emulate
government-owned and controlled corporations (GOCCs) as models of
successful health care. He, however, said that these GOCCs “not only
charge more for their services but also have a huge backlog of charity
cases because pay patients are prioritized.”
Nisperos also
criticized how Duque “flaunts” the tons of money PhilHealth has while the
DoH is “literally begging for funds to keep itself alive.” According to
HEAD, the national health budget of P10.3 billion for 2005, even smaller
than last year's, translates to a measly P125 per Filipino.
“She (Gloria
Macapagal-Arroyo) might as well put up a sign that says 'Health for
Sale!'” said Nisperos. Bulatlat
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