Health workers denounce the govt's evasion on public's demand for accountability; corruption kills like a cancer

Health groups under the Health Alliance for Truth and Justice join today's Interfaith rally at Ayala Avenue to protest Mrs. Arroyo's callousness and her government's systematic manipulation to balk at the serious corruption charges being hurled against her and her cronies.

Dr. Darby Santiago, HATJ's lead convenor said, "she continues to pervert people power, the people's right to know the truth, and the demand public accountability."

Mrs. Arroyo is accountable. Her belated admission proved that she knew about the irregularities of the NBN-ZTE deal but disregarded these and allowed the contract to be formally signed.

Now that she has her hands full, employing every sort of ludicrous gimmickry to divert attention and evade accountability, from despicable and cheaply-scripted unity walks and mass celebrations/prayer sessions within Malacanang to portray her spirituality and immaculateness.

She even floated to review EO 464, which allegedly exercises powers of executive privilege, to appease the some sectors including the Senate, even if the Supreme Court has since declared it to be arbitrary.

Her ploy of cheap acts are signs of desperation, but all a little too late. And the more she does all of these, the more protests hound her.


Corruption kills

According to Dr. Santiago, aside from the attempts to extract kickbacks from the NBN-ZTE deal, billions of pesos are still taken away from state coffers in every form of corruption.

"Corruption kills", said Santiago, "it curtails our people's right to health care."

The cancer of corruption spreads deep and wide. At the very heart of this disease is Mrs. Arroyo.

Funds that are supposed to deliver health and other social services are pilfered to buy political support and sustain loyalty to Mrs. Arroyo's rule. Of late, she has again revived funds for military housing in the hope of neutralizing them or securing their loyalty.

Meanwhile, hospitals' and health centers' logistical deficiencies have become so glaring nowadays that sick people are frustrated in availing these services.

Communicable diseases that are preventable and mostly poverty-related, like tuberculosis, dengue fever, and pneumonia, continue to rise and are not effectively mitigated because funds are usually diverted elsewhere. "The death bed of our country's public health system is a ramification of Arroyo's policy of neglect and incorrigible greed", Santiago ended.

The Power of the People is the Power of Change,The End of Gloria is Inevitable!

Press Release
Feb.29,2008

The so-called personalities who have appropriated for themselves the uprisings known as EDSA 1 and 2 conveniently forget the real meaning, the real power that moved people on those two historic occasions: CHANGE.

It is not merely the calls of these personalities that were heeded by the people. Rather, the people saw for themselves the need to act and institute change that was not forthcoming from a government founded on corruption, self-indulgence, and lies. This is what is happening now.

For the doctors, nurses, and other members of the health sector under Rx Gloria Out Now! (Rx GO Now!), the ecumenical and interfaith rally today at Ayala represent the people's outrage not just against the culture of corruption that is endemic to the current dispensation, but also against Mrs. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo herself, who symbolizes an obstinate government hell-bent on robbing the people of its future.

Even the equivocal position taken by the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) does not belie Mrs. Arroyo's lack of moral ascendancy and further reinforces widespread calls for her to step down and be held accountable. Discernment does not replace but guides communal action.

So how can Mrs. Arroyo hope to silence the reverberating clamor for her resignation, when her removal from office is a requisite to instituting any change? She cannot.

People will continue to gather in rallies, in symposia, in religious celebrations, and in various forms of gatherings as the disenchantment for her illusory achievements grows, as dissent becomes more widespread, and as the desire for change and social justice gains headway.

As what was attempted at the Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP), where the police tried to prevent students and the academe from hearing ZTE witness Rodolfo "Jun" Lozada Jr. under the pretext of a bomb threat, the Arroyo administration will continue to resort to underhanded and dastardly acts of violence to create a climate of fear. Mrs. Arroyo's insatiable greed is only surpassed by her shameless duplicity.

But the power of the people is the power of change. Whether or not Mrs. Arroyo recognizes this, her end is inevitable. The writings on the wall are clear: Gloria OUT Now!

Health workers hit the Arroyo government's attempts to cover-up GMA corruption on NBN-ZTE deal

14 February 2008

"Enough of gov't lies! The people deserves to know the truth." said health workers who trooped to the Senate today to express support for Mr. Rodolfo "Jun" Lozada and denounce the systematic ploy to discredit Mr. Lozada and cover-up the massive corruption exemplified by the NBN-ZTE scam.

Amidst Lozada's politically damaging exposé, Health Alliance for Democracy (HEAD), together with members of Alliance of Health Workers (AHW) held an extended protest against the unbridled corruption in government after a picket-dialogue at the Department of Health (DOH) to demand for a P1,5000 monthly subsistence allowance.

Health workers expressed support for whistle-blower Lozada by bringing white roses to symbolize his courage to stand for the truth. They also brought black hearts for those senators with an ostensible bias against him, particularly Senators Arroyo, Defensor-Santiago, and Enrile. These solons attempted to trivialize the Senate hearings as a mere grandstanding venue for the 2010 elections.



"We denounce attempts to silence Lozada. We denounce the complicity of high ranking officials leading up to Mrs. Arroyo, all of whom are responsible for the kidnapping and threats to Mr. Lozada's life." according to Dr. Darby Santiago, HEAD vice-chairperson.

The barrage of pathetic and embarrassing lies that littered the testimonies of DENR Secretary Lito Atienza and Gen. Avelino Razon backfired on them and served only to fan the flames of public outrage. Even former DENR secretary, Mike Defensor, resurrected to reprise his role as official administration liar, also revived public disgust.

"The way the Arroyo regime is mobilizing its allies only shows the extent of its desperation to hide its pandemic corruption", said Dr. Santiago. ""Hypocrisy has never been so bad, utterly pathetic!"

HEAD also assailed the Arroyo government's cheap diversionary tactic of dividing public attention, stifling dissent, and token but useless investigations such as those being undertaken by the so-called Anti-Red Tape Task Force and the Procurement Transparency Group. Even the Office of the Ombudsman was awakened from its stuporous existence to allegedly investigate corruption cases.

Government health workers, as well as the entire health care delivery system bear the brunt of incessant corruption of the Arroyo regime, which siphons off much needed funds for health worker benefits and social services to the people so as to feed its insatiable greed.

Health workers vowed to join continued protests until truth and justice is served and Mrs. Arroyo is out.###

References:
Dr. Darby Santiago
Vice-Chair, 0917 477 9230

Dr. Gene Alzona Nisperos
Secretary-General, 0916 214 5724