Pinas needs ghostbusters

Netnet Camomot .

PINAS is not alone after all—Malaysia has also become a dumpsite for other countries’ garbage, it’s returning 3,000 tons of plastic waste to where they belong.

Plastic waste, plastic friends—what’s the diff? Hmmm. At least, plastic waste can be recycled. Like Pinas’ senators who can also be recycled until the Pinoy stops voting for them.

On Wednesday night last week, Sen. Manny Pacquiao posted on Facebook a photo of him and other incoming 18th Congress senators having dinner at his Makati home, with the caption, “Dinner with my fellow senators.” I was tempted to comment with, Good luck na lang to Pinas. But this was Pacman posting and not the senator-elect who allegedly lied about her educational background nor the daughter whose late father happened to be a dictator when he occupied Malacanang nor the daughter of a former First Lady who had 3,000 pairs of shoes.

The photo, though, was cute—Aw, ang sweet naman. Until you realize that each of them is most probably a multi-millionaire with assets starting at P100 million, they don’t have to worry about their next meal nor the roof over their heads nor the clothes on their back, since all these and more are already part of their lifestyle, otherwise, how could they afford the hundreds of millions of campaign expenses that a “senatoriable” is always expected to shoulder, with much help from his financiers. Sarap ng buhay!

As for the Election 2019 losers, are their financiers expecting to be refunded for the zero return on their investment?

The grafting and corrupting’s mantra is, “Where there’s a will, there’s a way.” And there’s now a new revelation on one of the ways. WellMed Dialysis and Laboratory Center Corp. in Novaliches, Quezon City filed claims for dialysis treatments for its patients who were members of the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) and submitted them to the said government-owned and controlled corporation. But there’s one problem: the patients had already passed away by then. Still, PhilHealth paid for the claims. WellMed also filed claims for dialysis sessions of living patients which the latter had not undergone yet. Tsk tsk.

In other words, Philhealth probably doesn’t check on the claims’ validity. And the “probably” here is the same as supposedly, reportedly and allegedly.

All along we thought ghost employees were the worst kind of “ghosts,” until former President and Manila Mayor Erap Estrada upped the ante last year when his administration was accused of giving funds to 27 ghost barangays in Manila. And now, Pinas has to deal with what the Philippine Daily Inquirer (PDI) calls as “ghost kidney treatments.”

Former “senatoriable” and presidential spokesperson Harry Roque is the lawyer helping former WellMed employees Edwin Roberto and Liezel Santos in revealing these anomalies to the world.

Roque quit on his senatorial dream in February 2019 due to health reasons. His major comeback through this Philhealth case has, of course, attracted the attention of Philhealth acting President Rody Ferrer who said, “Si Atty. Roque, if gusto nya yung upuan ko, he has to earn it. But now I, the acting president and CEO, have to carry out what the President told me to do. Hence, I am seriously cleansing it (“PhilHealth acting chief to Roque: If you want my post, earn it” by Neil Arwin Mercado, inquirer.net, June 6, 2019).”

The Universal Health Care (UHC) Act could be the possible sacrificial lamb if Philhealth fails to address and fix the allegations that are being hurled against it.

Roque was then a Kabayan party-list representative when he authored the UHC Bill in 2016. But he’s now saying, “Instead of losing our money to the corrupt, let’s suspend the law and start a thorough cleanup of Philhealth (“28 complaints filed vs dialysis center over bogus patients’ claims” by Mariejo S. Ramos and Matthew Reysio Cruz, PDI, June 7, 2019).”

As if ghost employees, ghost barangays, and ghost kidney treatments are not enough, the Commission on Audit has discovered that 5,721 dead veterans were still receiving monthly pensions in 2018, for a total amount of P70.25 million. The Philippine Veterans Affairs Office, however, has recovered P33.79 million, but it has not been returned to the national treasury.

Bad news on ghosts and dead people. And it’s not even All Souls’ Day yet. Boo!

Whew. Pinas needs ghostbusters.

Can exposure to this kind of bad news result to burnout? The World Health Organization (WHO) defines burnout as “a syndrome conceptualized as resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed,” and it’s characterized by “feelings of energy depletion or exhaustion, increased mental distance from one’s job, or feelings of negativism or cynicism related to one’s job and reduced professional efficiency.”

Burnout is finally included in WHO’s International Classification of Diseases, prompting labor groups in Pinas to remind employers on the importance of focusing on the “well-being of their workers” instead of “profit margins (“Labor groups to employers: Help prevent burnout” by Jovic Yee, PDI, May 29, 2019).”

Federation of Free Workers’ Vice President Julius Cainglet said, “This is a big challenge since a lot of employers find it difficult to comply with existing basic standards, such as having enough doctors and nurses depending on the firm’s size and having full-time safety officers. The occupational safety and health culture really has to change.”

Well, there’s definitely less or no burnout if you love your job since that won’t feel like work at all. So, the secret must be, to find work that you truly love. Writers write, and all that jazz. In other words, your life should be real, not plastic.

Do allegedly grafting and corrupting politicians and government officials ever reach the point of burnout? Hmmm.