The HESPEROS: A LETTER OF CONDEMNATION AGAINST GOVERNOR GWENDOLYN FIEL GARCIA FOR HER GROSS AND INTENTIONAL NEGLECT OF THE MEDICAL NEEDS OF THE PEOPLE OF ARGAO
On March 24, 2010, the Tourism Officer of Argao and our dear friend, THEODORE “TED” GUMILA VILLARIMO, passed away. He allowed himself to be admitted at the Isidro Kintanar Memorial Hospital, run by the PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT OF CEBU, the night before, complaining of a great difficulty in breathing.
The PROVINCIAL HOSPITAL OF CEBU had no available medicine to give to TED VILLARIMO to alleviate him, even temporarily, of his pain. The hospital did not even have any ventolin solution for the nebulizer to help our friend breath easier. In fact, he had to ask his companion to buy the medicines and the solution at an outside pharmacy every time the doctor prescribed something.
It took the attending doctor more than five hours to decide that they could not, in fact, help our friend with his medical need and he would be best helped if he were treated in a hospital in the City of Cebu.
While it was already an emergency situation, the hospital ambulance was nowhere to be found. The hospital personnel gave our friend’s companion the cellular phone number of the ambulance driver and told her “mao ni iyang numero. Tawagi lang siya.” (This is the driver’s number, you call him).
After more minutes were wasted, the driver arrived. However, the ambulance needed its tank refueled, so again more precious time was wasted.
The hospital personnel said that they could not let any medical professional accompany our friend in the ambulance because “this is a provincial policy that Gov. Garcia implemented”. So, our friend, who was already struggling to survive, with an oxygen mask on him, was brought to the city with only his house helper to accompany him. Sadly, Ted Villarimo died while still in Carcar.
The death of Ted Villarimo is not the first that resulted due to the Provincial Hospital’s many inadequacies. Two years ago a man entered the hospital a relatively healthy person but died in a city hospital because, apparently, the attending doctor at Argao’s provincial hospital injected the wrong medicine which caused the man’s blood pressure to rise abnormally, leading to his untimely death.
Witnesses have stated of seeing an old man groaning and moaning complaining of great pain to his kidney area, with doctors and nurses simply walking by without even bothering to look at the old man. The said old man died the following day.
A pregnant woman was rushed to the provincial hospital when she was in labor, and it took the doctor attending her a long time to realize it was a difficult birth and needed emergency medical intervention. The lateness of the doctor’s intervention led to the death of the woman’s baby.
Many, many more sad stories abound regarding the horror and pain Argawanons have to go through when they admit someone at the PROVINCIAL HOSPITAL OF ARGAO.
How many poor people have died in the hospital because they could not afford the P900.00 required payment for the use of the ambulance when transporting sick people to the city?
How many people could have been saved if the hospital only had ample and adequate medical equipment and medicine ready to give to patients instead of simply telling them to buy the medicines outside because they had none in their pharmacy?
How many more deaths are the people of Argao going to wait for before they decided to take action against this great injustice?
Governor Gwendolyn Fiel Garcia, being the Governor of the Province of Cebu, has a direct responsibility over the medical needs of the Cebuanos in general, and the Argawanons in particular.
Governor Garcia, as a woman and the supposed Mother of the Cebuano People, should have given ample thought and consideration of the medical needs of the people of Cebu.
Governor Garcia has always boasted to everyone that Cebu is the best and richest province in the entire country. In her 2009 State of the Province Address, the governor boasted that “The state of the Province of Cebu is strong — stronger than we were last year, stronger than we have ever been and stronger than ay other province can hope to be.” She said the assets of the province amount to P20 billion as of December 31, 2008, which is 16 percent higher that what it was a year before that. She also boasted that one of her many achievements is the improvement of medical care.
Where did all these assets go to? And what improvement in MEDICAL CARE?
Why can Gwen Garcia give prize money of 1 MILLION PESOS to the photographer with the best picture of HERSELF in her CATCH ME IF YOU CAN PHOTO CONTEST but not give enough financial support to the various district hospitals of Cebu? How many medicines could have 1 MILLION PESOS bought if it were given to a hospital and not to a photographer with the best picture of GWEN GARCIA?
Why can GWEN GARCIA give 32 dance group contingents from various localities in Cebu subsidy of P300,000.00 each (total of 9 MILLION 600 THOUSAND PESOS) in the recent PASIGARBO SA SUGBO competition but not the same amount to hospitals for better equipment and more medicines?
Why can GWEN GARCIA spend P800 per plate for her guests during various functions at the Capitol but not give enough money so poor people don’t have to pay the P900.00 for use of the provincial ambulance?
Why can GWEN GARCIA give 7 MILLION 2 HUNDRED THOUSAND PESOS worth of multicabs to the barangays of Argao (in time for election, I might add) even when the barangays would rather have something more useful as most have already been given multicabs before? Shouldn't she have given the money to the hospital for more medicines?
Clearly, GWEN GARCIA, the supposed mother of Cebu, the governor of Cebu, and the one who has always claimed that Cebu is the richest province in the Philippines, has a lot to answer for.
Let her pay for the dozens of people who died because provincial hospitals had no enough medicines or because sick, poor people could not afford to pay the ambulance fee.
Let her answer for the rude and sometimes downright neglect of the hospital staff of the people who are very sick and dying.
Argawanons, let us unite and demand for our rights! Do not allow GWEN GARCIA to continue to waste our money on useless and extravagant things that only benefit herself and not the people of Cebu.
ARGAWANONS, DO NOT ALLOW ANOTHER OF OUR BROTHER, SISTER, MOTHER, FATHER, OR FRIEND TO DIE BECAUSE GWEN GARCIA WOULD RATHER SPEND MONEY ON DANCES AND EXTRAVAGANT SHOWS BUT NOT ON MEDICINE. LET US FIGHT THIS INJUSTICE AND AVENGE THE DEATH OF OUR DEAR FRIEND, TED VILLARIMO, AND MANY MORE ARGAWANONS WHO SUFFERED THE SAME, IF NOT WORST, FATE.
FRIENDS OF TED VILLARIMO AND CONCERNED CITIZENS OF ARGAO
What can you say about the letter of condemnation against Gov. Gwen
Originally Posted by Siobhan
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