A doctor in the house

Doctors in politics are not a new thing. The most striking and relevant example is the late Juan Flavier, who is remembered for various initiatives like the “Doctors to the Barrios” program. He remains one of the most popular secretaries of health and is remembered as a diligent and trustworthy member of the Senate.

As a physician in the Senate, Dr. Willie Ong, cardiologist and social media personality, would have some pretty big shoes to fill. He recently filed his certificate of candidacy (COC) for a Senate bid in the 2019 elections, counting on his popularity as a health advocate and citing Juan Flavier as an inspiration. His Facebook pages, which have millions of followers, are a wholesome mix of inspirational quotes and health advice for the layman. He served the Department of Health for a decade, is familiar to many through “Salamat Dok,” and has written articles for the layman, underscoring a belief held by many that education is key to healthy communities and individuals. “You see, I can only see 30 patients in a day,” he has been quoted as saying, “but one article can reach thousands of readers.”

Dr. Ong, from the looks of it, intends to go even further; he cites a gap in the Senate and intends to fill to represent the interests of physicians and patients. It’s a brave step.
After all, senior physicians often enjoy a comfortable niche that allows them to limit the parameters of their own practice, be their own bosses, and enjoy a degree of financial stability. To disrupt this lifestyle with the trappings of public office — public scrutiny, government functions, and an all-too-real threat to personal safety — seems crazy.

But Dr. Ong, like many of the odd candidates who filed their COCs, represents a growing dissatisfaction, a heightened political awareness, on the part of the public which sees the government as failing to protect their own interests. The circus of our personality-based and extremely divisive politics is so intolerable that some rise out of the ranks of the lay to take matters into their own hands. The loss of trust in incumbent and prospective senators — a motley crew of apologists, plagiarists, and perpetrators of varying degrees of crime — makes Dr. Ong and those like him an attractive alternative.

Despite lacking much experience in administration and public office, already he seems like quite a winnable candidate, as most doctors appear to the public: well-educated, used to difficulty, in touch with the plight of the common man, and inclined to serve. Qualification-wise, he is no veteran politician, but when placed beside known criminals in the senatorial roster, one can’t help but consider him.

It is hoped that he will use his medical experience to the same advantage that Dr. Flavier did, as the former drew on his experience in underserved communities to address gaps in the fractured health system. The current status of Philippine healthcare is such that the responsibility of doctors lies not only in addressing the needs of the individual, but of the community at large. The World Health Organization’s model of the “five star” doctor, which is the proposed profile of a doctor who can help deliver relevant, high-quality, cost-effective and equitable health services, includes the role of community leader. It underlines an obligation to treat not just sick individuals but sick communities—an obligation that a majority of physicians feel but few are equipped to do.

This isn’t an endorsement of Dr. Ong, but rather an expression of understanding of the need to take a larger and more prominent role in local politics; after all, the profession virtually calls for this degree of responsibility and initiative. Motivated as Dr. Ong must be by a disappointment in our current statesmen and current health setting, he parallels the motivations of many doctors who ran for office before him, locally and abroad. As 2014 Republican senatorial candidate and neurosurgeon Dr. Monica Wehby put it, “I knew if I didn’t try, I’d always feel like I just stood back when things went from bad to worse.”

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