It may be tinged with political color but Cebu City residents have a听 right to question how tax money is听 being used in the City Hospitalization Assistance Medicines Program or Champ.
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That鈥檚 a fund for charity cases, right?
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When Mayor Michael Rama鈥檚 secretary Belinda Navasquez was allowed to tap the fund to help pay for her son鈥檚 medical bills in听 a private hospital,听 eyebrows shot up.
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Was he indigent?
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Was he qualified under Champ guidelines to avail of medical assistance that has long been reserved for the poorest of the city?
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When the mayor said 鈥渃harity begins at home,鈥� Rama should remember that households of indigent families have few patrons to turn to when a member falls ill.
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Their lot brings them to the Cebu City Medical Center, the mayor鈥檚 favorite social welfare institution, because that鈥檚 all they can afford.
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A bill for P145,000 in Chong Hua Hospital, a private hospital, that is settled with Champ funds is out of place unless the medical service required is one that can鈥檛 be provided in the government-run CCMC.
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Is this the case here for the reported asthma affliction?
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Navasquez鈥檚 title as secretary should not be mistaken as the description of a minimum wage clerk. She had the rank of a department head and听 handled City Hall鈥檚 human resources听 office for years before retiring and then coming back to serve the mayor鈥檚 office. As a professional, she鈥檚 very conscious of policy and propriety.
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It doesn鈥檛 help that the mayor closes the discussion instantly by saying his听 decision is valid because it is his prerogative as mayor to decide who are beneficiaries of the Champ.
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It just shows that the recipient belongs on his favored list.
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A better response would have been a transparent showing of the criteria and procedures of who can avail of Champ funds.
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Perhaps, the status of the the son as a City Hall employee was a qualifying element.听 Why not show the rules that provide for this?
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Mayor Rama has come out to defend his employee like a听 good boss.
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But as an elected official, he鈥檚 accountable to the people and must demonstrate in word and deed that he uses a charity fund by the book.
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Look what kind of trouble Gloria Macapagal Arroyo got into by dipping into the trough of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office.
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That, too, was nobly intended for the poor.