Jasmin Mae Rama April 30,2018
Gasa sa Gugma : Reflection Paper
Last April 21, our Community Engagement class immersed in Gasa Sa Gugma: Home
of dying destitutes in the Mabolo area. We were there to extend our help and good graces
for the benefit of the aged who resided there. We helped in cleaning, feeding, and washing
the laundry. It was a very insightful experience as I have never been in a institution as this
and it is indeed a very eye-opening experience. How deprived the residents are of basic
needs and how tiring it is to work there and care for the elderly.
When we got there they were in the middle of their Sunday mass so we joined in and
prayed. They probably follow a schedule of activities and probably a mundane and
repetitive one, that I cannot imagine myself living there! After mass, it is time for breakfast.
It is very disheartening how little resources they have ,specifically food, when they need so
much more. These are old residents for crying out loud! If anything, they need extra care
and pamper. Extra attention if need be. It's as if they were put here to waste away. They
have very little food and not enough rooms to house them all comfortably either. There are
only very few workers that even one worker there looked like a resident too if I am not
mistaken. The work is very demanding that it might cause a sacrifice to work quality. The
workers have their limits too and with the volume of laundry they needed to do, they
probably get extremely exhausted.
This is supposed to be a community organization, thus the community must
contribute for the betterment of this institution. Yet there is an obvious lack thereof
support from anyone. Just like how our health sectors lack the support it needs from the
government. Just like Gasa sa Gugma, our public hospitals lack the facilities and resources
for it to function as well as it should. It is no secret that we are being deprived of the tax we
pay to the government since it does not reach even the most crucial of sectors in the
society. Our emergency respondence is low, our workforce is small and weak, our
institutions are crumbling, and poor public health care. There is only a small percent of
people who could afford private medical care, and almost 80-90% of the country is under
the poverty line. So it is a dire need for free quality health care. Why cant the government
see how important this is? Our hospitals are in severely bad conditions that if checked,
shouldn't be considered a health center at all . It is a shame how the government fails to
provide quality health care to the public yet tax us so much money.
According to the World Health Organization only 10% of the government
expenditure is put on health. This is very very very little. With the costs of healthcare now
due to new technology, how is that 10% going to provide for good health assistance to the
people?
In 2016, Philippines was listed as one of the unhealthiest country in Asia. The Pan-
Asia Insurance Giant AIA Group conducted a survey and the Philippines scored 61/100
which is below the average score of 64. We are below-average in term of health care and it
is pretty evident in our public hospitals.
The poor management of our healthcare system has lead to even greater problems
not only to the patients but to everyone. Healthcare is basically a necessity for everyone
gets sick so there should be action on this problem Our country has been lagging behind
other countries in Southeast Asia for decades and although there was rapid development at
a time, for the past 3 decades it has been stagnant and not improving. Approximately, life
expectancy is only at 58 which is very low compared to that of Japan and China who are at
97 according to WHO.
Following the rise of new complex epidemics like AIDS, how is the government
going to mitigate this if even now they cant provide immediate attention to a little boy who
has been fractured? Where is the government going to retrieve the resources it need to
treat a disease like AIDS when it can barely provide antibiotics to its patients? Where are
we going to isolate this disease to prevent it from spreading when we barely have facilities
to house our patients?
The poor are the one who really need free access to quality healthcare for they are
the ones subject to poor circumstances and environment. They live in the slums and not to
mention the ever increasing population of the poor and the pollution in the environment.
People are often forced to avail for the expensive private healthcare because there
are better chances of improvement and better services as well. But then a heavier burden
to carry.
This is an issue that should've been already addressed if not solved yet there is
nothing the government is doing. Until when are we going to wait for good public service
the people so deserve?
