Zero tax, better pay for public doctors in provinces
DUTERETE-CAYETANO’S OFFER
“ZERO tax and better pay.”
The PDP-Laban’s presidential tandem of Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte and Senate Majority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano made these offer to medical doctors who will choose to work in public hospitals in countryside to provide health care services.
Sen. Cayetano made this assurance of support before medical practitioners at the 21st Joint Convention of the Philippine Society of Hypertension (PHS) and the Philippine Lipid and Atherosclerosis Society (PLAS) on Thursday.
“The country’s disorder can be seen in the sorry state of our health care system. Many new doctors seek private practice in urban cities when they are needed most in the provinces,” Mr. Cayetano said.
Citing government statistics, the senator said 7 out of 10 Filipinos die without seeing a doctor.
“We have to increase public doctors’ salaries so that more practitioners will go to the public hospitals,” he said,
“We will exempt them from paying income taxes, and even give them additional compensation,” the senator assured.
The tandem said the lack of public health workers and facilities in rural areas deprives patients of the proper treatment they need. Hence, if elected, they vowed to pave the way for more accessible health care services in the countryside, like specialty hospitals in Visayas and in Mindanao, as well as tertiary hospitals in all the regions.
In an interview with The PUNCH, Mr. Cayetano, said Pangasinan is fortunate that all of its public hospitals’ services and facilities have been upgraded under the Espino administration making them one of the best in the country, providing quality health care for Pangasinenses.
“In the ARMM alone, it takes a patient 60.9 minutes to reach the nearest hospital. This is criminal. This is totally unacceptable,” Mr. Cayetano said. #
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