MikeLigalig.com

Dr Casuga refused to sign a purchase request of P2-million worth of medicines in January 2012 which, he was told, had already been distributed to town residents the year before.

"Questionable kasi ang purchase order, dadaan pa yan sa committee. Tapos previously distributed na siya. Dapat previous officer-in-charge ang mag-sign," he said. (It was questionable, because the purchase order should go through the committee. And then the medicines were already distributed. It should be signed by the previous officer-in-charge.)

Casuga was referring to the Bids and Awards Committee (BAC), which supposedly supervises the procurement of goods and items for the town.


REFUSED TO SIGN. A copy of the purchase request that Dr Gabriel Casuga refused to sign. Photo provided to Rappler

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Overpriced medicines

Another doctor – deployed in a 4th-class municipality in the Visayas – said the irregularities in the purchase of drugs by LGUs have been a source of frustration for him.

Sharing his experience with Rappler, the 26-year-old doctor said he was shocked by the steep prices of purchased medicines and medical supply. He had requested for the drugs for his RHU some time in December 2012.

"Even test tube brushes, which cost around P10-P20 perhaps, cost P350! Gloves which cost P120-P150 pesos are priced P550 in that receipt. Amoxicillin syrup which costs P15-P20 is priced P115," he said in an interview. The receipt was dated Jan 13, 2013.

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Medicines as political tools

The same doctor sees around 20 patients a day. As in Casuga's case, medicines are dispensed to residents at the Office of the Mayor and not at the rural health unit (RHU).

"All patients who need medicines as per my prescription, have to go to his (mayor's) office to get the medicines themselves... Even this much jacked-up medicines are used as political tools," he said.

Casuga said this set-up affects the "continuity of care" delivered to the town residents.

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Threat to life

Casuga is not the only doctor who was transferred to another town due to a perceived threat to life.

A doctor who was previously deployed in another town in the Visayas also refused to sign bidding documents that the mayor asked her to sign. The bidding was dated Jan 4, 2012, a day when she was on leave for her sister's birthday.

"Actually, everybody sa internal, they advised me, 'Pirmahan mo na lang yan. Okay lang yan. Papel lang yan.' Pero hindi eh," she said. (Actually, everybody in the office advised me to sign the papers. They told me, "It's okay. It's just paper." But no.)

"It will haunt me for the rest of my life, the rest of my career… Bakit ko isasakripisyo yung buong buhay ko (Why will I sacrifice my life) just for the comfort of this one person?" she asked.

The doctor, who is now a Municipal Health Officer (MHO) in a different town, said she was pulled out of the town due to "poor LGU support" and "threat to life."

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Address corruption

Casuga, who is now in residency training for surgery, worked as an MHO in San Jorge under the "Doctors to the Barrios" (DTTB) program, which deploys fresh graduates of medical schools to poor and remote municipalities.

DTTB is a program of the DOH launched by Flavier, who has inspired many with his life story.

But many of the doctors under DTTB are forced to compromise their principles as they finish their two-year service in the towns they are assigned to.

"New graduates like me really find it difficult to do our work efficiently and more easily. Often we need to bend our principles just to get some jobs done," said one doctor.

"Corruption perhaps is a bigger and more frustrating cause of why medicines are not accessible," he added. - Rappler.com

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