Vendor files COC for senator; appeals for sick child, hits PGH budget cut

07 Oct 2024, 21:35 by John Eric Mendoza · INQUIRER.NET

Nelson Ancajas files COC at Manila Hotel Tent City. INQUIRER.net/John Eric Mendoza

MANILA, Philippines — A street food vendor filed his certificate of candidacy for senator, using it as a platform to air grievances about the budget cut for the Philippine General Hospital (PGH) and appeal for help for his child with a rare genetic disorder.

“We have a child who has congenital adrenal hyperplasia, it is a rare disease which requires lifetime of treatment, lifetime laboratory, lifetime checkup and with medicine that is made to order,” said a teary-eyed Nelson Ancajas, a business administration graduate from San Jose Del Monte City, Bulacan.

Ancajas first filed his COC last 2022 to shed light on the condition of his three-year old child. However, he said he has no illusions of making the cut for the next year’s midterm elections.

“Real talk. I know that they will remove my name,” he said, adding that he is still filing his COC this time to shed light on his advocacy.

“Since I started filing as an individual, parents whose children have similar conditions started to surface,” he said.

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Ancajas said they have since formed a support group for parents of children with the said disease which affects the adrenal glands, now with some 100 members.

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“Why am I crying? Because I remember my experience, then the stories I’ve heard from my fellow parents whose child has the same condition,” Ancajas said.

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“Kapag mahirap ka, kawawa ka,” he added.

He then slammed the government for trimming the budget of PGH.

“Our children receive treatment in PGH, so many rely on PGH. But what is our government doing? They are cutting the budget of PGH. For every budget cut you do, it costs lives,” he said.

The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) did not also escape Ancajas’ scorn for the indignity he’s been through whenever he asks for help.

“To be honest, whenever I go to DSWD, you need to plead before they give you something, you need to bawl your eyes out first as if it’s their money. I hope this will change,” he said.

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