Ang deposito ay mababayaran, ang buhay na nawala ay hindi mapapalitan
Opening Statement of Akbayan Senator Risa Hontiveros on
the Senate Hearing regarding the Anti-Hospital Deposit Law

Magandang umaga sa ating lahat.

Naniniwala ako na ang serbisyong pangkalusugan ay para sa lahat. May kaya ka man o mahirap, bata o may edad, lahat ay may karapatan sa abot-kaya at dekalidad na serbisyong pangkalusugan. Ang hangad ko ay isang malusog na bayan kung saan walang maysakit ang maitataboy ng hospital, at walang pamilyang mamumulubi sa pagpapagamot.

Dahil dito, ako, kasama ng kapwa ko mga senador na nandito ngayon, ay pinatawag ang hearing na ito upang pag-usapan at bigyang linaw ang mga diumano'y kaso ng pang-aabuso at paglabag sa Republic Act 8344 o mas kilala sa tawag na Anti-Hospital Deposit Law.

Ang Anti-Hospital Deposit Law ay isang mabuting batas. Layon nitong protektahan ang karapatan at interes ng mga pasyente laban sa pang-aabuso. Hangarin din nitong mas mapabuti ang propesyon ng pag-gamot. Ngunit 19 na taon na ang lumipas simula ng ipasa ang batas na ito, patuloy tayong nakakarinig ng mga kaso ng paglabag sa batas. We continue to hear horror stories of patients, many of whom are indigent, being denied emergency treatment by erring hospitals simply because they failed to give deposit payments in exchange for medical care. The cases range from refusal to administer medical treatment to outright denial of confinement of patients which resulted in their further harm, worse, even death. This is unacceptable.

No one should be refused adequate and quality medical care or unnecessarily die just because they are poor. Profit should not reign supreme over the health needs of the people. It not only negates the country's achievements in achieving universal healthcare, it is also inhumane. Ang deposito ay mababayaran, ang buhay na nawala ay hindi mapapalitan.

I believe majority of our hospitals are compliant with the law. I am confident that majority of them are contributing in helping the government address the wide public health gap. However, we cannot deny the fact that there are abusive hospitals that violate the law, treating patients as customers and healthcare simply as a money-making business. While they are a few, they are enough to tarnish the reputation of the noble medical profession and erode the people's faith in our medical institutions. We must put an end to this. We cannot deny the sad and tragic stories of those who fell victim to this cruel practice. They have been denied once too many already.

I have high hopes that the hearings that this committee will conduct will determine the loopholes in the implementation of this law and provide the necessary policy recommendations to strengthen the measure. Together with our push to provide more support to our hospitals and increase the benefits of our medical practitioners, I am confident that the country's healthcare system will be more responsive to the needs of the people.