Metro Manila (CNN Philippines) – Presidential candidate Rodrigo Duterte said there will be more charity wards in all public and private hospitals if he wins the upcoming May 9 polls.
The charity ward patients will not have to pay for anything because the government shall shoulder all expenses, he said on Thursday (February 25).
The Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) standard bearer added he wants to allot at least 20 to 30 beds for charity in every hospital.
In a press release on Friday (February 26), Duterte’s running mate Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano lambasted the government for failing to provide free hospital care through the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth)’s No Balance Billing Policy, which states that no other fees or expenses shall be charged to indigent patients.
WATCH: PhilHealth beneficiaries unaware of privileges
“Pinaasa ninyo ang tao, this had been the DOH (Department of Health) and Philhealth system in the last few administrations. It’s time for real change,” Cayetano said as he visited indigent patients at the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center in Cebu City.
[Translation: “You gave the people false hope.”]
Also read: Duterte banks on platform to get support in vote-rich Cebu
In a 2014 circular, the PhilHealth admitted “resource constraints have proved to challenge the effective implementation of the NBB policy.”
Cayetano vowed full health insurance coverage for all Filipinos under his watch.
Related: Many domestic workers still without insurance
Where will Duterte-Cayetano source the funds?
The vice presidential candidate also expressed disgust that six out of 10 Filipinos die without seeing a doctor, citing a 2013 report by the Philippine Society for General Internal Medicine.
“This is simply unacceptable,” he said.
He added his tandem with Duterte plans to establish in Northern and Southern Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao, the national hospitals and centers currently found only in Metro Manila. He said these regions should have their own Heart Center, Kidney Center, Lung Center, Orthopedic Center, and Children’s Hospital and Cancer Research and Treatment Center.
Duterte and Cayetano said the funds for healthcare will come from the PhilHealth budget, sin taxes and the national budget, made possible through their administration’s anti-corruption program and efficient tax collection system.
“Yung corruption is eating so many billions a year. Mahinto mo lang yang corruption, macollect mo lang yung taxes from all sources correctly, wala na tayong problema. May pera eh,” Duterte said.
[Translation: “Corruption is eating so many billions a year. Stop corruption, collect taxes from all sources correctly and there will be no problem. There is money.”]
LOOK: Presidential candidates’ campaign trail interactive map
CNN Philippines senior correspondent Ina Andolong contributed to this report.
