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ROUGH CUTS | No politics in payout of ‘ayudas’?

Payouts of assistance from the national government such as the TUPAD program under the Department of Labor, the Ayuda para sa Kapus ang Kita will not be politicized, according to the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Assistant Regional Director for Operations Merlinda Paragamac.

Paragamac added that its payout is not influenced by politicians. Hence the financial assistance cannot be used for political purpose.

Really? But how come the releases are usually determined by politicians as to when and how many and who will be entitled? For example in one barangay we are familiar with, the release of the TUPAD funds was actually scheduled by the barangay official leader of a local politician and the amount was agreed to be halved by the original recipient with anybody he or she recommends to share with.

Of course the condition was the recipients will support the barangay leader and the local politician who worked out the release of the financial assistance from the government department that is the lead agency in the financial support program. 

The scheme is also replicated in the releases of similar financial assistance under the auspices of other government agencies. And the DSWD official still insists that there is no politics in the giving of financial aid to Filipinos believed in the margin?

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Davao City first district Councilor Pilar Braga could not hide her displeasure with the action of Congress to deny subsidy to the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) operation for 2025.

According to Councilor Braga, “This is simply unacceptable and that social welfare should always remain a top priority and universal health care must not be compromised.”

Very well said Councilor Pilar but there has to have some “discipline” in the manner of utilizing funds given by the government to the health insurance firm. Why in the first place the people running the agency allowed the accumulation of too much money in its coffer when there was so much need for assistance by its members who have to be confined in hospitals for illnesses?

Why? Did the PhilHealth officials invest the government-provided funds in some business ventures and divide among themselves the proceeds?

We are aware that when funds are invested by an agency to other business ventures there are certain conditions before the money can be withdrawn together with the promised interests. If withdrawn ahead of the agreed date, chances are, it is the investor who will pay certain percentage of the total amount as penalty payment.

This could have possibly happened to the PhilHealth money reason why the usual subsidy was not provided by Congress in its deliberation of the 2025 national budget.

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The members of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) Maringal Class of 1988 rallied the other day for their Mistah Police General Wilkins Villanueva, former Director of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) after he was cited in contempt by the Congress’ Quadruple Committee investigating the alleged extrajudicial killings during former President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on illegal drugs.

But of course! Who do people think the Maringal Class of ’88 rally for but for one among them? They’d definitely not do it in support of the witness who is out to destroy the credibility of the former PDEA director now accused of protecting a drug lord known to be closely associated with the former President.

However, who between the presented witness and the former PDEA head is telling the truth we can only assume that both of them are out to save their own neck from the sharp edge of humiliation.

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Dr. Ricardo Audan, Mdical Director of the Southern Philippines Medical Center will soon be fully utilizing its new robotics system of operating patients.

Sometime middle of this year, according to Dr. Audan, SPMC acquired a P350 million robotic surgery machine. The acquisition included training of doctors who will operate the machine when used for operation.

Of course this is a very welcome development at the SPMC. The only problem that we, and perhaps many other people see, is that how fast can the patients avail of the robotic machine’s use considering the number of patients who will be competing for the use of the equipment when they are confined at SPMC.

We are sure that the name of the game in the competition for the machine’s use in operation will again be the usual “who you know who knows you as well”.

In other words it is still the Padrino system that will prevail in the use of this robotic operating equipment.

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