MANILA (UCAN): A group of Jesuits have taken up the challenge of preparing meals for doctors, nurses, and Covid-19 patients at the Philippine General Hospital in Manila, one of the largest government hospitals in the country, with1,500 beds and 4,000 staff.
On September 26, Jesuit Father Marlito Ocon posted pictures of his confrères preparing meals after a week of working at the hospital where they are chaplains. They have been administering the sacraments to the sick and the dying, many of whom have been Covid patients since the pandemic struck the Philippines.
They began feeding medical frontliners and Covid patients after Father Ocon shared the story of a construction worker eating a pack of biscuits given by a family member.
“During my usual round at the hospital, I saw a patient—a construction worker—who was very thin and who could hardly eat, breathe or move. He was holding a pack of biscuits [the only thing his young daughter could afford to send] … He opened the pack with his teeth without seeing a letter was attached,” Father Ocon wrote on his Facebook page.
“I was flooded with text messages informing me of their donations … they are mostly from simple, working and struggling daily wage earners.” Father Ocon recounted.
The Jesuits pooled the donated money to finance a small soup kitchen to cook meals for hospital staff and patients.
Father Ocon said it was a sad state of affairs when people who do not have much to begin with, are sharing what they have while government funding is lacking—alluding to a corruption scandal in which 67.3 billion pesos [$10.4 billion] in government funding for the Covid-19 pandemic was allegedly mismanaged and equipment overpriced [Sunday Examiner, September 19, August 22 and 27]
The government is also under fire for not giving health workers promised benefits and Covid-19 risk allowances.
“While our rich politicians and other government officials are busy investigating and denying how they are taking away taxpayers’ money, these simple poor people shared what little money they have,” Father Ocon said.
