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By LOUI MALIZA
Padayon Pilipino .

FOUR years after the political opposition’s “prophets of doom” predicted the program to crash before it could take off, the Misamis Oriental Health Care System (Misorcares) has now become a health care model of the government at the local and national level. Provincial Governor Yevgeny Vincente “Bambi” Emano launched the Misorcares in July 2014 as an innovative health care program and in response to the health needs of Misamis Oriental after Philhealth, the government’s national health care program, refused to extend health services to the people of Misamis Oriental. Philhealth informed Bambi Emano’s infantile administration of the provincial government’s failure to pay P250 million for the Philhealth insurance purportedly of the people of Misamis Oriental. Sadly, Bambi was elected governor of Misamis Oriental at a time when the provincial coffer was left empty by the former governor Oscar Moreno. Apart from scooping up the provincial treasury, Moreno also left a staggering debt of about P2 billion.

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No doubt, Bambi inherited a “bankrupt” provincial government. Moreno was provincial governor of Misamis Oriental before he jumped to Cagayan de Oro City in 2013. How Moreno siphoned off the money of the provincial government of Misamis Oriental was another story.

With a cash-strapped provincial government, Bambi had to address the financial crisis in order for his administration to survive. Perhaps, Moreno thought that without a sufficient fund to run the affairs of the provincial government, Bambi’s administration would self-destruct.

Given the more than 2,000 workers without salaries and benefits, demoralization would prevail in the provincial government, and with the Philhealth’s withdrawal of its health services, the people in Misamis Oriental would be in trouble addressing health problems. Without health services, Moreno had already painted the meanest political scenario that would take place under Bambi’s watch in the next few months or so in office. However, Moreno failed to consider Bambi’s competency as a public official. Having served as a municipal mayor for three terms and representative of the 2nd congressional district in Misamis Oriental for two terms, Bambi developed a strong weapon of experience as a public servant.

Amid seemingly insurmountable odds, the Philhealth’s denial of health services to the people of Misamis Oriental fired up Bambi’s ingenuity. Thus, he conceptualized the Misorcares program as a health care alternative while the provincial government struggled to pay the P250-million debt left by the Moreno administration. The novel idea of Misorcares is to provide the poorest of the poor free health services, which include free medicines, free medical checkups and free hospitalization, among others. For example, under Misorcares, an admitted patient would walk out of the provincial hospital without paying a single centavo. To top it all, if the patient dies (God forbid), the provincial government would extend free coffins and burial assistance to the bereaved family.

In the last four years, Misorcares has extended about two million services to the people in Misamis Oriental and even Cagayan de Oro City. The benefits – free medical assistance, free burial and free scholarship, etc. – are the essence of Misorcares that make it stand out from all other health care programs offered local government units. Known as the “Troika” health approach, Misorcares has somehow given an inspiration that the national government has come up with seemingly similar principles and policies in the creation of a Universal Health Care program.

With its success as a health care program, some political rivals are jealous of Bambi Emano that they want Misorcares to be abolished. While desirous of their evil intention, the green-eyed politicians have adopted the so-called “point-of-care health program.” One should not be misled by these bitter politicians because Bambi Emano’s Misorcares is already the technical adaptation of the “point-of-care” health program. Clearly, copycat politicians simply want to rename Misorcares in order to gain credit for it. The inherent “Troika” elements of the Misorcares may be imitated, but no one could ever duplicate its originality and its implementing concept. Bambi’s Misorcares has already served millions of Misamisnons and the number continues to climb.

(Louie Maliza is a staff member at the capitol’s press office.)

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