Dirty Bukidnon care facility operated for more than 3 years

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY (MindaNews / 16 Oct) — The dirty unregistered care facility for the aged in Maramag town, Bukidnon that was shut down by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) over the weekend Saturday had been operating under the noses of authorities for the past three years.

A room inside the unregistered facility in Maramag. Photo courtesy of DWD-10

The facility for senior citizens and persons with disability (PWDs) situated in a 600-square-meter property in Barangay North Poblacion was left “untouched” by authorities that it became “an open secret” in Maramag town, residents said.

Lian Santiago, a staff of the Maramag Municipal Social Welfare and Development Office, said in a telephone interview that every time they conduct an inspection on the facility of the Bukidnon Multi-Sectoral Services Foundation Inc. (BUMSSEFI), they were stymied when they were shown the foundation’s Security Exchange Commission registration document plastered on the wall of one the buildings.

“Because of that we thought the foundation was legal. So we only issued warnings to the owners that they are prohibited to accept clients,” she said.

Santiago said the foundation and its owners violated the warning they have given and secretly accepted clients.

The DSWD-10 finally shut down the facility of BUMSSEFI for operating without permit last Saturday and rescued 17 senior citizens and PWDs who were found in dirty, unkept rooms and living under squalid conditions.

The obnoxious smell of human wastes and urine greeted the joint team of Santiago, DSWD-10 personnel and police when they inspected the facility.

The families of the 17 senior citizens and PWDs reportedly paid the foundation ₱6,000 to ₱7,000 a month to care and provide medical support for their sick relatives.

Santiago said the foundation did not hire any doctor, nurse and caregiver for their patients.

She said the foundation owner identified as a certain Myrna Sun would come to the MSWD to ask medicines or advise on how to treat a certain kind of disease.

Felix Vergara, a former town official, said that through the years, told MindaNews over phone that the facility has become an “open secret” to the residents of Maramag, a first class municipality a population of 110,000.

“Everyone knew about it. It was openly discussed in the municipal hall but nobody lifted a finger to stop it,” Vergara said.

Barangay chairman John Andre Lalaan of North Poblacion said the facility and its owners have been the subject of many complaints from residents.

“The residents complained about how the patients yell that they are hungry. They also complained about the stench from the facility reaching their houses,” he said.

Lalaan said the owner would make amends and promise to fix these problems. Each time, the owner broke that promise, he said. (Froilan Gallardo / MindaNews)