About 50 members of Gabriela-Negros yesterday staged a rally in front of the Corazon Locsin Montelibano Memorial Regional Hospital in Bacolod City to oppose the corporatization of 26 government hospitals in the country, including CLMMRH.

They also appealed to Bacolod Rep. Anthony Golez, the author of House Bill 6069 or an Act Creating the National Government Hospital Corporations, and to Rep. Alfredo Marañon III (Neg. Occ. 3rd district), who chairs the Committee on Health in the House, to stop deliberations on the bill.

Rina Amacio, secretary-general of Gabriela-Negros, said the corporatization of government-owned hospitals will only deprive the poor of access to free health care and hospital services.

Even if the hospitals are not privatized, many people still cannot afford to pay for their hospitalization, how much more if they are managed by private persons, she added.

The bill, if passed, will have a big impact on the lives of the poor, especially women, Amacio added.

Amacio also said the government has not even provided its people with accessible, affordable, and timely health services?

Corporatization of hospitals is also anti-poor and does not intend to provide health services for the people, Berlita Ante, 55, said; while Juanito Tanalgo, 72, said it is not a public service.

Tanalgo said only the rich will benefit from corporatization, adding that he joined the Gabriela rally because health issues do not only concern mothers but fathers as well. *LTG

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