A mayor in the Philippines refused to accept a patient transport vehicle from the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) because of political differences with the administration.
The PCSO responded by finding a willing barangay captain in the same area who accepted the unit on behalf of the community, because the agency’s objective is to help the people, not the mayor, the agency’s general manager Melquiades “Mel” Robles said Saturday.
Robles disclosed the incident in an interview on DZRH News program Special on Saturday on September 19, saying the case is rare but illustrates the agency’s position that no local executive has the right to deprive a community of a public health asset over personal or political reasons.
The PCSO general manager said the deed of donation that comes with every patient transport vehicle makes clear that the unit belongs to the community, not the mayor, and that refusing it is a refusal of a public good that was meant for the people, not the official.
He said the PCSO did not force the mayor or argue the point. Instead, they identified a barangay captain who was not only willing to shoulder the responsibility but happened to be a doctor, giving the community both the vehicle and medically informed stewardship of it.
“Pinasabi ko na alam mo, sabihin niyo sa mayor niyo, hindi ‘to para sa kanya,” Robles said. “Ngayon, pero kung ayaw talaga eh ba’t natin pipilitin? Ginawa namin, tinawagan namin yung isang kapitan who is willing to shoulder it. This barangay captain happens to be a doctor.”
He said the solution was available only because PCSO’s mandate is flexible enough to work around an uncooperative local executive when the real beneficiary—the community—has someone willing to step forward.
“‘Yun ang problema namin na very rare kasi ‘yun. Ang mandato namin mabigyan lahat ng tao. Mabigyan ng siyudad. Ngayon, kung ayaw talaga nung mayor, mahirap naman pilitin, baka mamaya pabayaan niya lang. Ayaw niyang pumirma ng deed of donation, eh ‘di ibigay natin sa makakatulong. Ang objective namin makatulong sa mga tao, hindi naman for the mayor only,” he said.
Robles said he hopes mayors who have not yet embraced their PCSO ambulances will reconsider, because the vehicle is not a political gift but a public health asset that communities in genuine emergencies cannot afford to be without.
