Former Victorias City mayor Francis Frederick “Wantan” Palanca on Tuesday, Dec. 3, said the One Hospital Command Center (OHCC) of the Negros Occidental provincial government should be abolished for being “anti-poor”.
Palanca, who is running for governor of Negros Occidental under the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino of former president Rodrigo Duterte, held a press conference in Bacolod City.
He was joined by PDP senatorial candidate Jayvee Hinlo, 6th District congressional candidate Ernesto Estrao, Calatrava mayoralty candidate Dick Dedicatoria and their board member bets.
Palanca said the OHCC was only needed during the COVID-19 pandemic but now that that is over it is no longer necessary.
Patients should immediately be admitted in hospitals without the delay of the referral system, he said.
“People are dying because they cannot enter hospitals,” he said.
The OHCC provides a center of communications between referrals from one hospital to another, and to facilitate medical transport and patient pickup arrangements, a provincial government post said.
“I’m running for God and the people”, Palanca said.
Palanca said if he is elected governor he will have a God-centered government at the Capitol, make hospitalization free, provide scholarships to change lives, create more jobs, and will be accessible to all.
The Capitol will be open to everybody, he said.
Estrao said he if is elected congressman he will push for community driven programs.
“A lot of people in the hinterlands of the 6th District are waiting for freedom from poverty”, he said.
He will also push for more roads in the hinterlands, complete facilities for provincial government hospitals with free services, state-owned and managed farms to address hunger and education for all and not just scholarships for those close to politicians, Estrao said.
Hinlo said if he is elected to the Senate he will support the programs being pushed by Palanca and Estrao.
He will also push for the creation more jobs through industrialization, improved tourism, and state managed farming, Hinlo said.*