CABANATUAN CITY – “Dumadaing siya sa sakit, nakikiusap…”
So lamented Girlie Cagaoan, 42, of Barangay Sta. Arcadia here of her father Ladislao Corrales after allegedly refused admission by six hospitals on April 9.
Helpless, Cagaoan, said they brought Corrales home without getting any professional help and died inside his house past 1 a.m. of the following day, April 10.
He was laid to rest Tuesday, April 14, morning.
Cagaoan said they rushed their father to the hospital on board a barangay patrol vehicle after he complained ofdifficulty in breathing which they believed was a case of emphysema.
Throughout their effort to seek medical help, Corrales remained inside the vehiclel as no one from the hospitals, including a large government facility, lifted a finger to at least give him first aid.
“Wala silang ginawa,” she said.
In some of the hospitals, a staff would go near the vehicle’s open door then say they just could not admit him, Cagaoan claimed. In one hospital, a personnel did not even allow the vehicle to get close by gesturing “no vacancy,” she added.
Because of this, the village watchmen and Cagaoan’s husband Arnold, immediately proceeded to one of the emergency rooms of one hospitals but none reportedly paid them attention.
“Andun lang sila, nakatayo, naka-PPE (personnel protective equipment) pero walang lumapit sa biyenan ko,” Arnold said.
The family’s cry for justice, led Corrales’ nephew Lord Sicat, to post their sentiment on Facebook.
It caught the attention of former Board Member Jay Ilagan who relayed the story to Sen. Lawrence Christopher Go.
Go, aside from extending financial help by paying large part of the funeral service cost, relayed it to Pres. Duterte thus a warning in his midnight address against the six hospitals.
“Sana po ay huwag niyo kaming iiwan, katarungan lang po ang gusto namin at nang huwag nang maulit sa iba ang nagyari sa aming ama,” Cagaoan appealed to Go and Duterte.
