USWAG VS OWA: Mayor snaps at lady lawmaker for ‘blocking’ city hospital bill

By Joseph B.A. Marzan and Francis Allan L. Angelo

Bacolod City will soon have its own hospital thanks to the passage of Republic Act (RA) 11564 which President Rodrigo Duterte signed into law on June 24, 2021.

It was a smooth-sailing affair for RA 11564, which was authored by Bacolod lone district Rep. Greg Gasataya, as it hurdled both the Senate and the House of Representatives in less than two years sans fanfare.

But the same cannot be said of the proposed Uswag Iloilo City Hospital (UICH) in Molo district all because of its name and politics.

On Monday evening, Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas accused Rep. Sharon Garin (AAMBIS-OWA partylist) of blocking House Bill No. 10464, which seeks to establish UICH.

Treñas initially threw potshots at a “Congresswoman from a Party List coming from Iloilo Province” for blocking HB 10464 which he labeled as “very sad.”

The mayor did not respond to Daily Guardian’s inquiry if he was referring to Garin, who is the only female partylist representative from Iloilo province.

“I am very sad because I heard that the bill for the Iloilo City Hospital was not approved today for the third reading because of the opposition of a Congresswoman from a Party List coming from Iloilo Province. I hope it will finally be approved on the third and final reading tomorrow since it will benefit the people of the City of Iloilo. It is just very sad though,” Treñas said in a Facebook post.

But in a radio interview on Tuesday, he confirmed that he was alluding to Garin, saying that she was “dying” to have the word “Uswag” deleted from the hospital’s name.

He also mentioned that when he was the city’s lone district representative, he did not oppose the “Garinasiums”, or gymnasiums built by the Garin family in the 1st congressional district.

Garinasium is a portmanteau or combination of Garin and gymnasium.

“It’s like she wants to die for that. She doesn’t want ‘Uswag’. That’s okay. Let’s not care if she wants to die on that. But what does Congresswoman [Sharon] Garin care about what we do here in the city? Why does she not want us to build a hospital? This is for the poor. If she wants to, let her make her own hospital. We won’t object to that [expletive],” Treñas said in a radio interview.

Garin caught wind of the accusations and told radio interviews on Monday evening and Tuesday morning that she did feel like he was alluding to her.

She also told Daily Guardian via Viber on Monday evening that she did not object to the construction of the hospital, adding that “she was just one of 300 members of the House of Representatives” who needed to vote on the bill.

She added that she did not have enough clout over other members of the House to block the passage of the bill.

“I mean what’s my vote? I’m just one vote. A bill needs majority of the quorum. One vote is not enough to oppose and not let the bill get approved,” Garin said in Viber message.

“I’m flattered if [Treñas] means me, I wish I had that clout. Pero maybe they should find more logical reasons than pin it on me,” she added.

Garin elaborated on her position in an interview with Aksyon Radyo Iloilo on Tuesday, clarifying that she supported the bill but not after suggesting to Baronda to remove the “Uswag” from the hospital’s name.

She said that the name also referred to the Uswag Ilonggo partylist established by Treñas, which will vie for a House seat for the first time in the 2022 elections.

“When [Iloilo City Lone District Representative Julienne Baronda] sponsored [HB No. 10464] in the period of debates, I did not oppose. I supported it, actually. My comment to [Baronda] at the time before they presented it to the House [plenary], ‘I think it would be better to remove the Uswag because we know that it refers to the partylist and the political party, and that is not allowed by law,’” she said.

Garin said Baronda amended the bill on second reading by deleting the word “Uswag”.

She also mentioned that the House’s Party List Coalition, where she is the chairperson, also expressed concerns over the use of Uswag in the bill.

“We’ve discussed that before, and [Baronda] turned it into an agreeable amendment as Iloilo City Hospital which would be more adequate, so that there would be no more issues. It’s not only me, but also all the other partylists and parties, they won’t be okay with the naming of a hospital after a party. [Baronda] was very accommodating,” she explained.

Garin inferred that Baronda may have failed to gather enough votes for HB 10464, which led to the delay in the third reading of the measure.

“I think maybe it wasn’t read because there wasn’t enough support from other congressmen, so we should work on it until we can get more support from other members and the leadership,” she added.

As to politics, Garin said they are not insecure with Uswag Ilonggo partylist as Iloilo City has enough votes to earn the latter a seat in the House.

Under election laws, partylist groups must secure at least 250,000 votes to get a House seat.

According to the House of Representatives’ website, HB No. 10464, which was authored by Rep. Julienne Baronda (Iloilo City-Lone), quickly breezed through the Committees on Rules, Health, Appropriations.

It was first read to the House plenary on Nov 15 and was approved on the second reading on Nov 29.

The bill is also sponsored by Reps. Angelina Tan (Quezon province-4th) and Eric Yap (ACT-CIS partylist).

Baronda has been pushing for the passage of the bill in the House so it could be endorsed to the Senate for a counterpart bill.

The delay in passage would mean pushing the Senate timetable to 2022 as Congress is set to take a break for the holidays.

BACOLOD HOSPITAL

In Bacolod City, RA 11564 allocated P600 million for the construction of Bacolod City General Hospital (BCGH) while Senator Juan Miguel “Migz” Zubiri, who sponsored the law’s counterpart bill in the Senate, added another P200 million.

Zubiri said the additional funds will ensure that the construction will start in 2022.

The P600-million funding for the hospital is seen to be released on a multi-year basis under the Department of Health – Health Facilities Enhancement Program.

Bacolod lone district Rep Greg Gasataya said the Bacolod City government is finalizing the donation of a lot at Barangay Vista Alegre which will become the site for BCGH.

“There’s no problem if the lot will be donated to the city government, what is important is that the city’s hospital will be constructed,” Gasataya said.

If the Iloilo City hospital hit a snag because of its name and politics, maybe the proponents can take a page from Bacolod City’s experience.

Even if Gasataya and Bacolod City Mayor Evelio Leonardia had a political falling out, the latter said the BCGH will push through and even assured that he will work for its realization regardless of the political circumstances.

Leonardia’s group earlier “dropped” Gasataya from their 2022 ticket after he labeled the latter’s neutrality in the mayoral race as a “sham.”

Gasataya had said that he will remain neutral in the contest between Leonardia and former Negros Occidental congressman Albee Benitez as both are close to him.