MANILA, Philippines – Dianne de Castro is one of the brave nurses fighting the spread of COVID-19 in the country. She is a nurse at the Philippine General Hospital (PGH), the largest government-owned health facility in the country.
She has been working shifts for more than 8-10 hours for 8 months.
According to her, until now they are still relying on private donations such as PPE’s and sometimes even recycling masks.
“I don’t feel secure working in this pandemic,” Diane said.
With the amount owed including the “emergency funds” reallocation of the Duterte Admin, they have raised up to a trillion in funds for the COVID response.
Its bulk went to the DOH led by the president’s friend Francisco Duque III.
The DOH had previously received a staggering 45 billion pesos. According to the report, it was allegedly bought in bulk by PPEs as well as test kits.
But so far, very few have been delivered. What happened? Where is the fund?
“Wag kayong matakot. May pera ako!” – Duterte (March 30, 2020)
