CITY OF SAN FERNANDO – The Regional Development Council (RDC) in Central Luzon has mandated all state-owned hospitals in the region to have a dedicated ward for Aetas and other Indigenous Peoples (IPs).
RDC Vice Chair and National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Regional Director Severino Santos said “we have also appealed to Department of Health (DOH) to include in its priority program the establishment of Ospital para sa mga Katutubo to achieve the provision of inclusive health services in the region,”
“Republic Act 8371 otherwise known as the IP Rights Act states that members of indigenous cultural communities shall equally enjoy full measure of human rights and freedoms without distinction or discrimination. Members of the Sectoral Committee on Social Development vouch for the need to have a dedicated ward to facilitate non-discrimination during hospitalization,” he noted.
He said that in particularly, the RDC asked the Jose B. Lingad Memorial Regional Hospital in this regional capital to dedicate five to 10 beds for IPs. RDC 3 is the highest policy-making body in Central Luzon and serves as the counterpart of the NEDA Board at the subnational level.
It is the primary institution that coordinates and sets the direction of all economic and social development efforts in the region and serves as a forum where local efforts can be related and integrated with national development activities. Council members include all governors, city mayors, municipal mayors of capital towns, presidents of municipal mayors’ league, regional directors of national government agencies and representatives from the private sector.
