Revisit devolution and universal health myth
In general, when government or the legislature passes a law or rolls out a program, there is a prescribed or set period after which a review or evaluation is done in terms of the success or effectivity of the law or the program. From the time of president Noynoy Aquino, president Rodrigo Duterte until the second year of the Marcos Jr. presidency or approximately 14 years, there have been a lot of programs or laws in place but not much in terms of reviews or evaluation.
The Local Government Code, which caused the major devolution of services and funds from the national government down to provincial and local government units, was passed into law in 1991 or 32 years ago. The law that established PhilHealth was passed in 1995 or 28 years ago. The Universal Healthcare Act was signed into law in 2019 and was supposed to be implemented in 2020 but was totally disrupted by the global pandemic COVID.
When does Malacañang or Congress and the Senate plan to do the full review of these laws and programs?
In the meantime, the Local Government Code, PhilHealth and the Universal Healthcare Act have been the target or focus of complaints for what critics call infirmities or defects of the law or the related program. A number of former Cabinet secretaries and undersecretaries representing the Department of Health, Department of Agriculture and the DepEd have pointed out that these laws and programs have created serious gaps, misinterpretation of roles and authority and serious failure to deliver services.
Two former secretaries of the DOH – namely Francisco Duque and Janette Garin – have told me that the government and Congress should act to “renationalize” health care under the DOH. The fragmented reality of health care under the current system of devolution has jeopardized health care needed by Filipinos because LGUs and political leaders are all short-term officials (three years) and are generally “professional politicians,” not necessarily career management executives, certainly not trained health care administrators.
The reality is that there is also politics in the appointment of senior officials of regional hospitals and local hospitals. Rumor has it that the
