Allow us to add our agitated voice to the many state of affairs in the province.

Let us stop playing cute and let's call a frigging spade a frigging spade.

For the nth time, allow us to restate the case of Juan de la Cruz. The poor fellow simply needs three things: food, health services and shelter. And we will remember therefore this Government (national and local) in the annals of our history books because these are the things they do not precisely provide.

The country is in a food crisis - and as if to the habit born, their Patroness (GMA) blames Media (of all entities) for the food hysteria. This while a DA high official like Jocjoc Bolante who misspent P700 million of fertilizer funds alleged illegal use in the 2004 elections and the assorted manipulators of overpriced, malfunctioning dams (to feed irrigation water to rice fields) are scot-free and counting their booty.

Rice shipment outside the province has to be curtailed as there may not be enough for Boholanos. Backlog in housing for even middle and lower income families is apparent such that subdivisions are really set up almost primarily for the OFWs. Now we hear of even more (of the same) horror stories of how awful our hospital and health services situation is in the province.

No rice, no good hospitals and medicine and no housing.

In their stead: (per NEDA) an overpriced P3.2 billion BHIP dam, now a P4.0-Billion Panglao international airport (potentially underutilized) and an ecology-threatening oil exploration (within threatening distance of the world's richest biodiversity habitat)?

What is happening to our sense of priorities in addressing the needs of Juan de la Cruz whose vote politicians buy, coerce and miscount during elections? What are the criteria why Government chooses some projects over others (that directly positively impact Juan de la Cruz)? Your guess is as good as ours.

Let's talk about hospitals and the delivery of health care for this editorial.

The Gov. Celestino Gallares Regional Hospital is the biggest government-run hospital in the province which continues to get complaints from poor patients who are left unattended due to lack of manpower. Always, we receive this explanation that "we lack the doctors." But, this reason can not stay forever. Ing-ana na lang ba kanunay?

Grin and bear it? Our local officials should join hands together to address this, excuse us, Mr. Government Officials?

It was good that the Department of Health Secretary Francisco Duque (finally) dispatched a team last Thursday to look into the hideous bottom of this nagging problem at the said hospital. One, they found out that the hospital is not attracting doctors since some of its departments are not accredited by the DOH. Thus, doctors are turning their backs from working in these departments - because they do not improve the face of their bio-data.

Of course, we know that the lack of logistics for medicine is a more basic problem in all government hospitals.

The gross state of management of said hospital got the attention and concern of Rep. Edgar Chatto in whose district this hospital belongs. After hearing deafening complaints on unattended patients, the solon insisted that DOH should immediately look into the concerns within the hospital, be it management or otherwise. We hope that the DOH probe will be serious in trouble-shooting the problem. Once upon a time, the solution was for some hospital officials to file a libel case against this paper for bringing out complaints of the public - which the Courts, of course, aptly threw to the garbage can.

We are again reminded of the theory that the reason why poor patients jam at the city-based Gallares Hospital is because of the lack of services and medicines (of course) at the 10 devolved government hospitals in the towns. What will this "pro-poor" provincial government do about this? There was a suggestion before that some of these devolved hospitals should be merged in order to gain more capability in serving the people in the hinterlands - who is doing the feasibility study?

The public demands an inventory of capabilities of each of these devolved hospitals so that not too many patients will have to travel to the city for hospitalization.

The health concern does not stop with the government hospitals. Generally, because of lack of upgraded health delivery services, to date, many Boholanos still proceed to Cebu hospitals for further checkups. The city private hospitals still lack a lot of facilities. To the point that by way of this agitated editorial, we invite other business groups engaged in hospital operations to come and explore the vast market for them to operate here.

What happened to the plan of Cebu Doctors Hospital group? We also heard of discussions within the Holy Name University to open a hospital here. Quo vadis?

With the growing number of families dependent on OFWs, the market for better hospitals in the province is rich and is clearly overlooked by those engaged in the hospital operations in the neighboring province of Cebu. In fact, we monitored that the high-end rooms at Ramiro Hospital and at the Tagbilaran Community Hospital are always fully booked, thus, confirming the shortage of room. No need for a Ph.D. to ascertain that theory.

With Bohol now undisputed as a tourism magnet, the prospect for medical tourism is not a distant thought at all. Can we hack the challenge?

The absence of more upgraded hospitals here, in fact, is one valid reason why retirement villages would not sound viable to propagate in a big way in the province.

The Japanese market has been eyeing Bohol as a retirement paradise for ages. But, minus the up-to-benchmark health services, the retirement homes will remain a blueprint. A province of lost opportunities, we could be.

Lastly, we remind ourselves especially our policy-makers and private hospital operators that price often settles the issue of the supply and demand. Thus unless our country can offer competitive rates for our doctors, it would be difficult for them to think of Motherland first and not instead become nurses to pursue the Almighty Dollar and other currencies abroad.

Wouldn't it be an ironic twist of tragedy that after sending US$18 billion in annual OFW remittances here, their relatives just die here plainly because of inadequate health services and lack of doctors and medicine.

Let's go back to basics, ladies and gentlemen. Food, health and shelter.

For Comments: email to bingo_dejaresco@boholchronicle.com Or editor@boholchronicle.com