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By APD Writer Melo M. Acuna
MANILA, Sept.18(APD) – Health Secretary Paulyn Jean B. Rosell-Ubial condemned the recent killing of Dr. Vicente Soco, provincial health officer of Dinagat Islands in a statement released today.
She said she joins the entire medical community and all health workers in calling for an end to the killing of physicians in the Philippines. She described Dr. Soco as one of the government’s valued physicians who has worked in the province for over a decade.
She said the Department of Health, the health offices in the local government units and government law enforcement agencies “are doing all they can to protect government doctors, mostly from underserved areas.”
“These doctors can only be truly safe when they are protected by all members of the community as there is only so much that the government can do,” Dr. Ubial said.
She addded killing a town’s physician is “almost like killing the countless people who rely on this physician to ensure their health and longevity.”
“While murdering a doctor leaves behind a bereaved spouse, children, siblings, parents and other family and friends, it also leaves behind an untold number of people whose lives become endangered when they are deprived of vital healthcare services,” she added.
Secretary Ubial called for the “speedy resolution” of Dr. Soco’s murder and the other government physicianswho lost their lives to violent crimes in the past several months. A doctor was killed in Kapatagan town, Lanao del Norte last March while another doctor was killed in Cotabato City last April. The provincial health officer of Cavite was killed last July.
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She appealed to law enforcement authorities, justice organizations and witnesses to bring the perpetrators to the bar of justice.
“Let us put an end to these killings now! Let us protect our nation’s health workers!” Secretary Ubial concluded.
In a related development, Congresswoman Kaka J. Bag-ao of the Lone District of Dinagat Islands also condemned the murder of their provincial health officer.
In a statement, the lawmaker said Dr. Vicente Soco, Jr. was shot to death by still unidentified suspects at about 7:00 P.M. last Thursday.
“I express my deepest condolences to his family and friends as he is a great loss to our province,” Congresswoman Bag-ao said. She assured everyone of her commitment to assist in seeking kustice for Dr. Soco as “violence and injustice have no place in our province.”
(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)
