May 29, 2006 · Posted in: Public Health

The state of the nation’s health: Of patent maladies and public remedies

AT the launch of the Ayos na Gamot sa Abot-kayang Presyo (AGAP) coalition early last week, Sec. Roberto Pagdanganan presented interesting facts about the state of the nation’s health vis-a-vis the growth of the Philippine pharmaceutical market.

As president and chairman of the Philippine International Trading Corp. (PITC), the lead coordinating agency tasked to “make quality medicines available, affordable and accessible to the greater masses of Filipinos,” Pagdanganan was among a few government officials who have publicly lent their support to the newly formed group’s initiatives.

Pagdanganan opened his presentation with a look at the health situation in the country as borne by the following facts:

The Philippines is ranked 126th out of 191 countries in terms of “level of health.” (WHO Health Development Report 2000)

The Philippines is classified as among countries where less than 30 percent of the population have regular access to essential drugs. (The World Drug Situation, WHO, 2000)

An estimated 40 percent of Filipinos never get to see a doctor in their lives.

The Philippines is ranked 84th out of 177 countries in the 2003 UNDP Human Development Index.

The country’s leading causes of illnesses are pneumonia, diarrhea, bronchitis, influenza, hypertension, respiratory tuberculosis, and heart diseases. On the other hand, the leading causes of deaths are heart and vascular system diseases, malignant neoplasm (tumor), pneumonia, accidents, and tuberculosis (all forms).

The PITC head then contrasted these with the state of the Philippine pharmaceutical market, which has grown into a P80-100 billion industry. Based on 2004 statistics, the annual growth rate of drugstore sales has grown by 14 percent, with multinational companies (MNCs) accounting for 70 percent of total sales.

Approximately 80 percent of toll manufacturing — a version of contract manufacturing used in the pharmaceutical industry wherein production is outsourced by the originating company to third parties — for MNCs is done by a single company, Interphil Laboratories.

Interphil’s sister company, Zuellig Pharma/Metro Drug, in turn controls about 80 percent of wholesale distribution while more than 60 percent is sold through Mercury Drug, the country’s largest drugstore chain.

Other pharmaceutical facts:

Eighty to 90 percent of essential drugs sold in the Philippines are already off-patent.

True generics account for a measly three percent of medicines sold in the Philippines compared to 50 percent in the U.S.

The country, he said, has probably the highest drug prices in the world in relation to per capita income.

But a “cartelized system” of drug marketing and distribution is only one of the reasons why medicines are very expensive in the country. Other contributing factors, Pagdanganan said, are:

Underdeveloped market for generic products
Present patent system inimical to general consumer interest
Lack of safeguards against certain trade practices that inflate cost of medicines
No price control even for off-patent products
Heavy dependence on imported raw materials

Why generic drugs have not taken off, Pagdanganan pointed to certain myths that serve to stunt their development:

Myth No. 1: Cheap medicines are most likely fake and substandard.

Myth No. 2: Efforts to push medicine prices downward are a deterrent to business. Multinational companies will eventually close and leave the country.

Myth No. 3: Drug companies claim drugs are so expensive because they need to cover their very high R&D (research and development) costs.

Defending generics, Pagdanganan said they are as efficacious and safe as branded medicines. In the United States, generics constitutes more than 50 percent of medicines sold.

Citing the case of India, now among the largest drug manufacturers in the world exporting to North America, Africa, Europe and Asia, Pagdanganan explained that reduction in prices will result in bigger volume of sales that translate to more business and bigger employment opportunities.

“In India, the sales volume multiplied many times over when prices were reduced,” he said.

Pagdanganan also pointed out that figures of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) for total R&D costs for the decade of the 1990s put the cost at around US$ 100 million after taxes, much less than what the drug companies claim. In 2001, they pegged the amount at US$802 million for each new drug they bring to the market.

Pagdanganan said that part of the Medium-Term Philippine Development Plan is the reduction of the cost of medicines commonly bought by the poor to half of their 2001 prices by 2010. Under the government’s Half-priced Medicines Program, the PITC strategy involves parallel drug importation, strengthening the local pharmaceutical industry, combating the proliferaton of fake medicines, and forging strategic alliances with key stakeholders.

The program aims to establish a nationwide network of privately-operated retail drug outlets to ensure accessibility and availability of quality low-priced medicines comprising of 2,000 Botika ng Bayan and 8,000 Botika ng Barangay outlets by the end of the year. As of this month, there are 59 Botika ng Bayan outlets and 1,053 accredited drugstores.

PITC is also supporting other initiatives in line with its Half-priced Medicines Program like:

Maximizing flexibilities available under the TRIPS Agreement including compulsory licensing, parallel importation/exhaustion of patent rights, early working exceptions (Bolar provision) and government use licenses

Instituting selective and time-bound price control or regulation for off-patent medicines

Exploring the possibility of instituting spending controls on pharmaceutical marketing and advertising

Stronger enforcement of the 1988 Generics Act, and

Amendment of the Intellectual Property Code through Senate Bill No. 2139 filed by Senator Mar Roxas

The Roxas bill seeks to create an environment that will lower the prices of medicines through greater competition among drug companies and by providing the government with better policy tools to significantly influence the supply and demand of medicines.

29 Responses to The state of the nation’s health: Of patent maladies and public remedies

naykika

May 29th, 2006 at 5:48 pm

The main reason why the prices of prescription drugs is even more expensive than even in western countries is the absence of same quality generic equivalent of branded drugs. Just today I picked up my RX of maintenance drugs (8 RXs) and the most expensive brands were substituted by generic equivalent even though we are covered by our health system. The only branded ones are the specifics as prescribed by my doctors. More than half of our medications are of generic and they are dispense in priority unless the prescription specify “no substitute”.

Most of the diseases mentioned are not only curable but preventable by proper medication. Tuberculosis is curable within 9 mos. of proper treatment. Hypertension can be controlled by exercise, change of diet and maintenance medication. Most infections can easily be treated by complete dosage of today’s modern anti-bodies. Even diabetics can live a normal lives with lifestyle adjustments and maintenance.

But how could you afford these expensive medicines, especially the seniors where most of the illness come at the stage of their lives, when some can not even afford the daily needs? I would say the govt. will have to come up with a program to assist them. My brother and his wife spent more on their medicines than both received on their retirement pensions. And why do I have to subsidized them when they both worked all their lives, paid their taxes religiously and never ever in conflict with the law? How about those who have no other means of support? Shall we just let them die “without dignity”?

loudzZ

May 29th, 2006 at 6:55 pm

Bakit maraming tao ang namamatay?kasi walang ipambili ng gamot o kaya bibili ng generic na gamot,hindi ka naman gumagaling.Nagmahal pa ang doctor`s fee kasi dahil sa lintik na E-vat na iyan.pagbinigyan ka ng resita syempre isusulat ang branded name ng gamot them isusulat sa ibaba ang generic name ng gamot,alin dito ang bibilhin mo?di iyon generic med.kasi mura eh,pero balik-balik ka din sa doktor dahil hindi ka gumaling.Nakamura ka nga ng gamot,sa sikat na botica ka bumili,bakit doon ba`y sigurado kang hindi fake ang nabili mo?Iyon nga ang sabi ni Sen.Flaver BAWAL MAKASAKIT…so ingatan mo na lang ang iyon katawan na huwag magkasakit.Sana`y may solution ang problemang ito,kawawa ang mga taong may sakit na hindi kayang bumili ng mamahalin gamot.Sana ang GENERIC MEDICINE na isasagawa ay magkatulad sa branded medicine ang lamang….at bumaba ang presyo….salamat po.

jr_lad

May 29th, 2006 at 8:43 pm

“Eighty to 90 percent of essential drugs sold in the Philippines are already off-patent. ”

“No price control even for off-patent products.”

“The country has probably the highest drug prices in the world in relation to per capita income.”

tingnan mo nga naman ang kalokohan. 90% off-patent na pala at parang patented pa rin ang presyo. no price control pa. no wonder na tayo ang may pinakamataas na presyo ng gamot sa buong mundo. sino kayang bulsa ang tumataba diyan? maawa naman kayo sa 40% ng populasyon nagtitiyaga na lang sa mga arbolaryo at mga doktor kepweng dahil sa taas ng gamot.

sige, ipagtanggol nyo pa ang mga kompanya ng mga imported na gamot na yan.

baycas

May 30th, 2006 at 3:52 am

“Medicines fall under two separate legal and regulatory systems: the intellectual property system and the drug regulatory system. These systems have different objectives, are administered separately and function independently. Recent efforts to integrate these two systems via data exclusivity, ‘linkage’ or other means are likely to have negative implications for access to medicines. Thus, (developing) countries would be well advised to keep these systems separate, and to reject any and all efforts to make connections between them.”*

—–
*taken from WHO Regional Office for the Western Pacific Briefing Note: Access to Medicines

tongue in, anew

May 30th, 2006 at 4:02 am

Before my Dad died, I remenber I bought him medicine he had to place inside a contraption from which he sipped off the capsule’s contents. The capsules were about P200+ each, taken 3x a day. After a few visits to his doctor, we were told by the secretary asked if we had been availing of the 50% rebates, of course we were surprised. The rebates were given cash by the doctor, provided, we surrender the receipts to him every time the prescription was consumed.

What a scam! Imagine, the drug company can cut the price in half (only if you are aware), the doctor is ensured the patient returns every month, and the receipts are liquidated against VAT. For three months we had been paying the full price and we would not have known of the rebate scheme were it not for the secretary.

Kaya naman palang magsurvive ng mga drug companies sa ganoong presyo, bakit dinodoble pa! And the doctor makes more from more frequent visits. And the drugstore, too. Paano na yung hindi kayang bilihin lahat ng naprescribe? O yung nagtitipid sa consultation fee di na bumabalik sa doktor para marefill yung prescription, nagbabayad na lang ng doble? Paano kung hindi kami nasabihan nung secretary?

Nakakatuwa sana dahil malaki ang natipid mo, kaso niyayari ka na pala nung una pa lang.

Toro

May 30th, 2006 at 6:18 am

Tongue_in, you are absolutely right. There should be a law against this kind of practices between the conniving pharmaceuticals and unconscientious doctors.

Rizalist

May 30th, 2006 at 11:53 am

jr_lad,
Who’s fault is it that despite 80-90% of essential drugs being off-patent we are still buying drugs at old prices? What it means to be “off-patent’ is that the original invention is now in the public domain and anyone can make money on it. In fact, the patent contains all the information needed to do so! The intellectual property has become public property. What more do we want? We can make the stuff ourselves at cost! Yet we don’t, because we don’t know that that is how the patent system works. Don’t you get it yet?

fullman

May 30th, 2006 at 2:15 pm

to a large extent, it is also a question of political will. the case filed by pfizer will indicate how far the government is willing to go before it surrenders to the caprices of large pharma companies. however, issue goes beyond litigation – it boils down to the capacity of the government to overhaul the country’s emaciated health care.

it is good that the article mentioned the need to maximize the flexibilities available under TRIPS. the silly thing is, the government is not keen on using options that are available under arguably prohibitive trade agreements. in the same manner that we have lowered unilaterally our tariffs (way below the WTO bound rates), we have ignored these flexibilities for so long.

the way our healthcare is organized has to be reformed too. on the assumption that the government cannot afford to deliver health care services, we have encouraged HMOs to a point that regulatory mechanisms for them are very lax. thus, one hmo would prescribe different brands of medicine for the same ailment for the simple reason that they are disorganized. they could avail of cheaper medicines through bulk buying (or even be forced to prescribe generic drugs primarily) if the regulatory environment is more efficient.

the more strategic is for the government to invest in building our own pharma industry, especially to support domestic production of medicines for life-threatening diseases. honestly, though, i don’t think any of these proposals is plausible under this regime.

May 30th, 2006 at 10:08 pm

Rizalist,

clearly it’s not only the fault of our local businessmen who are as ignorant(?) as we the consumers are regarding how the patent system works opting for easy money in trading, rather than venture into production of those off-patented essential drugs. surely PITC knows about how this patent system works. but with its more than 30 years of existence and with its “broader mandate and objective of stabilizing prices and supplies of essential raw materials and commodities for local industries and consumers”, why do we still have to endure such excessive cost of drugs?

and in the absence of local players, what’s stopping the govt. from using “the policy flexibilities provided in the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) Doha Declaration on TRIPS (Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights) and public health to ensure that every Filipino will have access to affordable and quality medicines?

“Under the declaration, WTO member-states are allowed options like parallel importation and compulsory licensing to fulfill their public health obligations and ensure access to cheaper drugs.
Through parallel importation, patented medicines can be purchased from the cheapest source without having to get the consent of the patent holder. Compulsory licensing, on the other hand, allows governments to order a local firm to produce a drug and pay for a negotiated royalty to the patent holder.”

“pagdanganan decried attempts by certain “influential groups” in the local drug industry that are opposed to importing “cheap but quality drugs.”
“Some people are flexing their muscles. This is pure greed exacted on already harassed Filipino consumers,” again, some influencial people? surely this is not the fault of the people.

but why not the government flex its own muscle? is the govt so inutile that it’s now the responsibility of concerned individuals and civil society groups (form FTA and AGAP) to initate awareness-raising campaign just to dismantle this “monopoly” of multinational companies and other entities over the local pharmaceutical industry?

and even with the patent still in effect, look at the price difference against other countries.

“…Why, for instance, must Pfizer in India sell Norvasc, a high blood pressure medicine that many other Filipinos must take daily, at P5.98 per 5 mg tablet and P8.96 per 10 mg tablet and sell the exact same drug here at P44.75 per 5 mg tablet and P74.57 per 10 mg tablet? And this is not fake either, since the Indian Norvasc is also manufactured by Pfizer. In other words, Norvasc is sold in the Philippines at prices 650 percent to 750 percent higher than those in India. Is it because the Indians wouldn’t stand for price gouging and we are such pushovers?” DEMAND AND SUPPLY By Boo Chanco The Philippine Star 04/05/2006

kaya pag wala kang pambili ng gamot siguradong makakarating ka sa “enchanted kingdom”.

May 31st, 2006 at 5:16 am

Totoo yan, Jr_lad! Kaya lang baka instead of riding a horse in the elegant carousel in the Laguna theme park, you might just be riding a horse-drawn hearse to a memorial park.

When I read Boo Changco’s article myself, no amount of Norvasc would stop my blood pressure from shooting to near 200. No, it’s not me who’s taking Norvasc but my mom who spends half of her meager pension for her maintenance drugs.
I remember, too, she showed me a discount coupon mailed her by Pfizer which entitled her to 10% discount in addition the regular senior citizen’s 20% discount. Another card was from Novartis which extended a discount of 30% for another drug. Yesterday, I answered a call from Mercury Drug telling us that one other drug she buys regularly is offering 10% discount if she buys in tens, which she will from now on, instead of the usual 7 pcs. She usually buys medicines weekly. I know this because I fill out with her personal info the coupons, reply cards, etc.

Lately I’ve been noticing also that the drug cos who make my moms medicines have been making frequent calls and sending mails to our house for more promos, brochures, calendars, even birthday cards!

I can only conclude (1) that senior citizens who take maintenance drugs without fail are, now, the “preferred ones”.

Another conclusion (based on these discounts plus the one I posted above) is (2) that all prices of adult drugs have been adjusted 20% or more upward to render the senior citizens’ discount’s effect on their bottom line to zilch. This is beside the fact that in the first place, these are already grossly overpriced!

And (3) that a lot of doctors and drugstores are in connivance with the pharma giants on one side against the helpless public on the other.

No wonder, alternative healing modalities and wellness options such as herbal, Virgin Coconut Oil, tonics, supplements, even alternative forms of medicine, i.e., iridology, acupuncture, aromatherapy, reflexology, not far behind are psychic, pranic, spiritual healing, or the use of crystals, stones and other natural elements, or the use of pyramids (Johnny Midnight), triangles (Ernie Baron), eletronic sound waves, electromagnetics, radiation, and the now high-tech Korean version of “bentosa” (suctioning bad air or “lamig”), in addition to the traditional “hilot” and “herbolaryo”, have all proliferated or attracted renewed interest at the expense of physicians, hospitals, pharmaceuticals who have been losing out to the other modalities whether in healing or prevention.

I can think of 2 culprits for the major medical paradigm shift, the first is that people have realized that medicine, after all, isn’t an exact science, one would rather gamble with his fate on his hands rather than on those of the doctor’s.

The second one is that the cost of professional health care is sooo expensive more than half of the Filipinos cannot afford it. Health professionals migrate to make more money, hospitals refuse to accept patients or to perform procedures unless the patient has the capability to pay, the price of medicines are padded a hundredfold – all these point to only one thing…

…GREED.

May 31st, 2006 at 9:58 am

sometimes democracy mixed with a little bit of socialism is not bad at all.

It was tommy douglas, now annointed by people of canada as the canadian of the 20th century, Known as the father of our current Health Care System, was a leader of a Socialist Party (known as New Democrats)> He was appointed to formulate a health system, that came up with a Universal Sceme that maybe expensive at first glance, but as whole benefits all citizens Equally irregardless of our income, status in life, race, or disabilities. And the drug companies and all have to cooperate or else..

bernardocarpio

May 31st, 2006 at 10:21 am

How come the senate and congress never use their “in aid of legislation cliche'” to investigate this problem? Too much prioritization has been given already with the Garci scandal that no importance has been given to this plague.

May 31st, 2006 at 11:37 am

Naykika, good models can be found in countries where social democracy has taken root. Sweden, for instance, has the best and the most efficient healthcare system worldwide. They top most of the life indicators and the cost per capita is lower than that of the US (a country we’ve been trying to emulate). I don’t mind paying high taxes if it means free healthcare and education for all.

bernardocarpio, well, i don’t think that this is a zero-sum game. it is the obligation of Congress to investigate the Garci issue AND our healthcare problems. One good question to think about is what is the President doing about it? Pooling the already meager resources for social services that should be given directly to line agencies to the President’s pork barrel doesn’t help much, since it becomes an issue of patronage. PCIJ posted the research of Ms. Maitet Diokno, and see, too, how the budget for social services has declined to prioritize projects that would increase the country’s creadit rating. Healthcare is a life-and-death issue – it should be a minimum. if it is necessary to reduce the pork of politicians to allocate more resources to social services, then it must be done. but this president has so many political debts. she’s willing to sacrifice everything to pay her political debts and ensure her survival.

witpagain

May 31st, 2006 at 12:46 pm

First, we must put our trust with the Filipino people, second on a democratic system, then full steam ahead.
We are very young nation. There will be lot of growing pains. The important thing is to have a strong faith on ourselves as a nation. We made our decision on election day. There must not be second guessing on that decision, no matter how wrongly it may appear to be. Let us leave the people we elected alone. Allow them to do their job in peace.

We only make noises when we discuss our opinions. There are enough official oppositions to do the criticism of the goverment. Our own intellectual prowess will be better used on our personal challenges, on our immediate family and community. The business of our country are better left to be discussed by the politicians, the academics and other accomplished citizens among us. Ordinary juan dela cruz should just be quiet and listening, steady on the faith, and ready to participate honestly on the next election as the democratic sytem requires.

We must keep in mind that our nation is still young. Our leaders will come and go, let us not focus our own intellectual prowess on criticising them but instead help strengthen our faith on our people and our system by being silent. When trully we have something to say, get elected first then talk. Otherwise, keep our opinion to ourselves and be aware of our nationhood, lead a healthy and honest lifestyles.

The next generation will benefit from our quiet but aware, hard-working and healthy examples. Through these quiet life examples, we will pass on to them the mentallity that keeping our faith on our nation and on our democratic sytem strong is the only way to salvation, not the cynicism we unintentionally do when we opinionate too much.

Forum like this perpetuates the cynicism that is widespread in our country. While hiding under the veil of finding the truth through honest discourse, it only provides an arena for people to show off their vanity, their self-created intellectual prowess that makes them think they have the grand idea of things.

Growing up as a nation could be a nicer experience if we do not waste our energy on talking too much. We will develop better as a nation if we do more listening, observing and understanding through hardwork, honest and healthy lifestyles. Only do our part or say our opinion when it truly matter: on election day. This may be a blind faith and difficult to do thatswhy we must do it. No one say that the growing up is easy.

May 31st, 2006 at 1:26 pm

ano raw? panahon pa ata ng mga kastila yung sinasabi. ganyan yung mga sinasabi ng mga prayle noong araw di ba?

INSIDE PCIJ: Stories behind our stories » No free lunch…or graduation party

May 31st, 2006 at 7:41 pm

[…] While he may be ecstatic over his personal future as a physician, Raoul cannot help but also worry about this healthcare subculture associated with pharmaceutical companies — the way they market drugs by lavishing doctors with a lot of perks. He finds the practice unethical but wonders if he and the 153 members of his graduating class can make a difference, even as they just allowed a drug company to host their class graduation party. […]

June 1st, 2006 at 12:24 am

If nobody’s talking, who would you listen to?

No second guessing the elections? Ok. Hindi pala nandaya si Gloria, Fake yang tape ng PCIJ.

Mas masahol pa ito kay GMA, get elected daw before we talk? A, yung ordinary citizens walang karapatang makihalo sa politika. Ang galing! Yung elite lang pwede, yung nakapagaral. Iyong mga dropout, high school graduate lang o di nakapag-aral ipagbabawal na sa blog!

This is the first time I heard someone guarantee salvation by “keeping faith in our nation and our democratic system”. It sounded good at first glance, but looking deeper, it sounded stupid.

Okay, Gloria kills all of those who disagree with her. So, let’s wait for the next election?

I may not agree with you, my firend, in fact, I totally disgree with you.

But I will fight for your right to say whatever you want to say…here in PCIJ.

Juan Makabayan

June 1st, 2006 at 9:50 pm

tongue in,
hi, ur reacting to witpagain? funny, reads like pre-programmed Luli, funny,
kaawawa naman talaga, I feel sorry for her,

June 1st, 2006 at 10:01 pm

Ako hindi nag maintain ng gamot para sa highblood, kasi lalong tataas ng blood pressure ko sa mahal na mga gamot.ang ginagawa ko syempre mi nomonitor ko araw-araw and pressure ko pag mataas kukuha ako ng 3 pirasong bawang i chopped ng pinong-pino ilagay sa kutsara,kumuha ng isang lemonsito,alisin ang buto bago ipiga sa kutsarang may bawang inumin at uminom ng tubig.maya-maya lang bababa na ang blood pressure mo.subok na ito,nakakatipid ka pa.
tungkol sa resita ngt doktor,nagtataka din ako dahil pagbumili ako ng gamot ay kinukuha ang resita at hindi na ibabalik sa akin kahit pilit kung hinihingi ay ayaw talagang ibibigay kasi bilin ng doktor.ngayon lang ako naliwanagan….kaya pala.salamat sa information mo tongue-in,anew.

June 1st, 2006 at 10:13 pm

Freedom of speech is an end in itself. It must not be confused as a means to some ends.

In a true democratic society, if the freedom of speech is curtailed or eliminated, there are numbers of means or ways to bring it back again. We must encourage each other to talk or voice an opinion despite the consequence. The freedom of speech is under attack, therefore, the best way to fight back is to speak up in any expression at any cost.

When the economy and security is under attack, hard-work, perseverance and co-operations are the best means to apply, not talking. When we are silent, it is not that we can not speak, but we understand that the re is a right place, a right time, and a right reason to speak. We also understand that talking too much of the same thing abuses the freedom of speech. Ultimately, too much talking also reduces freedom of speech as a mean to an end.

I advocate that we must try to be quiet, our people spoke on the last election. We have to have faith in them, and let our democratic system takes its full course. Speaking only at the right time and a right place for a right reason does not mean to legitimize any wrong doing nor does it suggest disrespect on the freedom of speech, it merely allows our leaders of the time to do their work without noises. We can all appreciate a quiet time when we are working, can’t we?

Silence also allows our people to reflect on their lives and hopefully the next time they speak our leaders will listen more honestly. Again we must have to have faith in the Filipino nation and on the democratic system and must be patient.

June 1st, 2006 at 10:59 pm

Words can move a multitude. Just look what a few word from the mouths of the leaders of the “el shadai” or ka eddie or even ms. arroyo can do. remember that “you’re with us or you’re against us’ by pres. bush. or just a simple “do it” by GMA. And if bin ladin starts talking watch out. So talking can achieve results, depending on what are you are talking about.

No disrespect to your views, but to state that election is the only means to which the people will express their democratic right is simplistic as defining “true domocracy” in any form. In a truly functioning democratic society, election is the primary means of expresssions- the very pinnacle of freedom, followed by speech, and that means press, broadcast and talking.

Politicians are public servants and leaders all at the same time. They are voted to perform, to lead and as public servants they are subject to criticism, for work evaluation and accountability, all within the bound of existing laws.

Anyways, it’s refreshing to read another point of view that maybe different from some of us, but refreshing nontheless. thanks witpagain…

Cecile Impens

June 2nd, 2006 at 1:56 am

witpagain said:
The business of our country is better left to be discussed by the politicians, the academics and other accomplished citizens among us. Ordinary Juan de la Cruz should be quiet and listening, …

witpagain,

You remind me of our post-Hispanic colonization when, the Malolos Constitution has been formulated to favor “only” the ilustrados, for them to govern the country. This is the equivalent of our today’s politicians, academics and accomplished citizens!
Is this how you view a government of the people, for the people and by the people? How can you say that Juan de la Cruz should be quiet and listening, ready on the faith and ready to participate honestly on the next election?

How many more elections do you think Juan de la Cruz could still be capable to tackle? Do you think really that he will just remain quiet and be ready to vote “again” in the next election?

You stated further that we can talk only on the right place and the right time! What are you implying? When is the time suited for us to speak?
You seem to have a very low regard of our Juan de la Cruz. Very much like our present government also, bizarrely you talk exactly the same way!

June 2nd, 2006 at 4:23 am

Juan M, Luling-luli nga! And speaking of Luli, that young lady is an awful mess, I feel sorry for her. She recites her mom’s litany of lies, half truths and twisted logic while her eyes look you straight. Innocent ba o innocent-looking lang?

LoudzZ, I’ve tried your garlic w/ calamansi concoction only once before and what I got was a severe heartburn I thought I was having a heart attack. I never tried it again. I just might give it one more try, though.

As for witpagain, you said “In a true democratic society, if the freedom of speech is curtailed or eliminated, there are numbers of means or ways to bring it back again” – The premise is wrong, If freedom of speech is being curtailed or eliminated, there was no true democracy in the first place, what is there to bring back?

Next, you declare “I advocate that we must try to be quiet, our people spoke on the last election…” – Wrong again! It wasn’t our people who spoke on the last election, it was Gloria and Garci speaking to each other in the last election, whatever statements the people wrote on their ballots were switched with fake ones.

GMA: So will I still lead by more than one M., overall?
Garcillano: More or less, it’s that advantage ma’am. Parang ganun din ang lalabas.
GMA: It cannot be less than one M.?
Garcillano: Pipilitin ho natin yan…

Now you tell us we can talk only in the right place and time, does that apply to you too? Well, goodbye then.

June 2nd, 2006 at 4:52 am

It is always what is wrong with the administration that commands a lot of reactions and attentions. There seems to be a perpetual fixation to criticize the government. Then come ideas on how things should be done. What are being offered as a solution, however, are nothing but varieties of the same concoction of grand theories based on experiences of other nations of different history, of different times and different geography.

We must have faith on the Filipino nation. We must let our skills and abilities speak louder that our criticisms. Our leaders will take us more seriously if we can show them something different than what they are accustomed. We think they are corrupt and we rant, we think they are incompetent and we rant some more, we are sure they cheated and we rant even more. The action and reaction are almost expected. At the end of the day, after one hundred years, we are still doing the same bickering. It will be difficult to govern and to be governed when our strengths are focussed on the negatives.

June 2nd, 2006 at 5:54 am

i wrote this last week but it never got uploaded at mlq3’s blogpost no. 916:

mlq3,

wish you keep this topic alive:

DROP-DEAD DRUG PRICES.

pcij recently resurrected the issue in Ensuring access to cheap medicines… and Multisectoral group formed….

neal cruz has, time and again, been writing commentaries on this…i couldn’t find yet the first installment of this one.

a lot of patients would benefit if we continue to lobby for cheaper medicines.

thanks.

June 2nd, 2006 at 5:55 am

for those interested in the pfizer and norvasc issue, several links can be viewed at cptech’s website.

of particular importance is the exchange of pdi’s neal cruz and phap’s leo wassmer. a glimpse of the former’s column can be read at pitc’s site. i’ve yet to find the exact link…

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witpagain said: It will be difficult to govern and to be governed when our strengths are focussed on the negatives.

yes witp, but presently, the power of the one who governs is questionable…gloria has no strength to speak of in the first place! we can never move on in the positive when we started off in the negative.

Gurong Bayan

June 5th, 2006 at 3:29 pm

Try to ask anyone at PGH about this fact…

PGH dont pay most of the new doctors doing their training. Instead, pharma companies are giving these young doctors their pay….and of course they are requierd to prescribe their drugs/products…so whose interest is served with this set-up? And this is PGH!!!

Just asking …