Blue Ribbon chief Sen. Richard Gordon has filed a resolution urging the Senate to convene as a Committee of the Whole to probe the “current state of the health of the nation.”
In his proposed resolution, Gordon said the Covid-19 pandemic had dangerously stretched the limits of the country’s healthcare system and brought healthcare workers to the point of exhaustion, if not infection or death.
Based on the Department of Health (DOH)’s latest data, the National Capital Region was in the “danger zone,” as 5,008 health workers have tested positive for Covid-19. Data showed that 4,576 have recovered, while 38 have died as of Aug. 1.
“The current state of our healthcare system is severely challenged and obviously impaired, which necessitates a primordial and urgent need in modernizing our health care systems,” the resolution, released Aug. 3, read.
Gordon’s resolution wants state agencies to present a report on the implementation of Covid-19 testing, citing issues raised by the Philippine College of Physicians on behalf of the medical community in a letter dated Aug. 1.
The resolution also called for a masterplan and a road map describing the role of all parties involved in the pandemic response.
“It behooves the Senate to listen to the plight of our doctors and other frontliners, and consequently to our suffering people, to find out what is wrong so we can alleviate their burden and provide the necessary impetus for all government agencies to work together to implement effective and science-based solutions and interventions,” Gordon’s resolution read. Isabel S. Macaraeg