What Lies Ahead
Workers bare long-standing issues as PGH director selection nears
by Zamuel Ryle Malonzo and Casandra Peñaverde
The Board of Regents (BOR) is set to select between three-term incumbent director Gerardo Legaspi and Philippine General Hospital (PGH) Obstetrics and Gynecology fellow Angela Sison-Aguilar on who will lead the nation’s premier government hospital amid workers’ calls to disqualify Legaspi over unmet labor demands and the lagging healthcare status of PGH.
Amid two-term directorship limits set by the revised University Code of 1961, Legaspi, who has only been granted a third term due to the pandemic, has still been nominated to vie for his fourth, banking on the creation of PGH units all over Luzon. Regardless, the search committee permitted the candidacy, citing a ‘lack of basis’ for disqualification.
The cost of 9 years in office
Since Legaspi took office as PGH director in 2016, the administration has yet to resolve the concerns of its stakeholders and materialize its development plans that beset the hospital.
In an interview with All UP Union Workers-Manila/PGH (AUPWU), unresolved workers’ grievances on governance and health services since the beginning of his term, which have been consistently expressed in statement releases, freedom wall, and public forums, were highlighted.
While Legaspi mentioned that the incapacity to effect changes is due to insufficient budget, the director admitted in a Senate committee hearing on the proposed 2025 UP-PGH budget that the institution is ‘more than ready’ to provide all its services for free and is “fortunate to have been granted very generous budgets” despite him being silent about the P2.4 billion UP system-wide budget cut in 2025.
Despite Legaspi’s assertion of budget sufficiency, the union highlighted that the on-ground healthcare providers in PGH, who have long called for administrative changes, remain unprioritized.
Workers persistently demand free basic health services as stipulated in Republic Act 7305, or the Magna Carta of Public Health Workers, such as free annual physical examinations, laboratory tests, vaccination, and outpatient admission. The union noted that lack of access to these forces workers to queue in long lines and take time off duty.
AUPWU President Karen Mae Faurillo emphasized that being deprived of such free services comes with a financial burden and the cost of having a limited hospital workforce, which furthers understaffing and overcrowding of emergency rooms, worsened by impending structural expansions within.
“Sa totoo lang, walang empleyadong gustong magpa-admit [sa PGH] dahil gusto namin mag-duty,” said Faurillo.
Even after the onslaught of COVID-19, affected PGH employees had to rally about their seven months-delayed health emergency allowance (HEA) in front of the Department of Health (DOH) office where Undersecretary Roderick Napule pointed out that PGH’s slow-moving liquidation process is the cause of this delay.
On another note, the maintenance staff dropped from 130 to 78 in 2022, as contract-based work and lack of job security forced sick employees to resign voluntarily due to lack of access to free medical care and benefits.
The union claimed PGH workers are demoralized as management allegedly uses promotions to target dissenters. They have filed eight official complaints against unfair promotions, which will be escalated to the Civil Service Commission if the UP system fails to act.
The administration must prioritize addressing workers’ concerns through democratic consultations and swift action, according to Faurillo. She said health workers are calling for “maayos na koordinasyon at malayang talakayan” and adherence to the Collective Negotiation Agreement, a set of provisions for labor rights binding UP and All U.P. Academic Employees Union (AUPAEU), under Legaspi’s leadership.
After nine years, PGH workers worry that healthcare quality may reflect the shortcomings of Legaspi’s leadership. Consequently, the union stands resolute in opposing the incumbent’s impending term extension.
Moving forward with visions
In an attempt to restructure the system, director nominee Sison-Aguilar presented her seven A’s (Ayos, Akap, Angkop, Abot, Alab, Aral, and Alay) in her vision paper to leverage the hospital’s capabilities and fit with its trademark of being on top.
With a focus on being on par with international standards, the nominee emphasized taking care of its professionals and workers to ensure PGH’s conducive environment. She pointed out how the lack of staff affects several operations which hounds the hospital’s ability to stay on track.
On the other hand, Legaspi’s aim is to continue the PGH Masterplan that seeks to establish specialized units throughout Luzon — Diliman, New Clark, Carmona, and Los Baños — in an effort to lessen the foot traffic inErmita.
The current director insists on overseeing the 20-year plan’s completion and highlights his role in the State University Hospitals (SUH) Development Track, aimed at improving medical graduate quality and expanding services to underserved areas.
On-ground realities
All promises aside, the normalized realities of long lines and overstretched waiting hours are met by patients and their families, including JP Vesca, a husband tendering to his wife with a worsening case of kidney failure, from General Mariano Alvarez, Cavite.
Vesca explained in an interview that despite the demanding conditions PGH has had, their family continues to travel approximately two hours every day because of the low costs and the assured quality of health service the hospital offers.
“May trabaho po ako, umabsent lang ako, nilalaanan lang po ng oras,” he answered when asked about his time with work.
PGH also extends its services to UP Manila students through the UP Health Service unit. However, due to the high volume of patients, inefficiencies became apparent to Kyla Sophia Delantar, a BS Applied Physics student, when she sought assistance for abdominal pain.
“Minsan tinitiis ko na lang [‘yung sakit ng tiyan] kasi ayoko na pumila pa sa PGH kasi sobrang haba,” Delantar bared as her pains were not resolved by the hospital.
From the perspective of PGH as a training ground for the future of the medical industry, John Christopher Padua, a BS Nursing student shared that despite being exposed to the often-neglected aspects of healthcare, he believes PGH remains “a conducive environment for students [and] interns as a teaching hospital.”
Following the sectoral consultations and submission of the search committee’s report to the chancellor, the UP Board of Regents is set to announce the new director by month’s end.
