SENATE Majority Leader Francis Tolentino believes it is time for the Philippines, an archipelagic country, to have its own “floating hospital.”
He brought up the idea on Saturday during the 49th annual convention of the Operating Room Nurses Association of the Philippines.
“That is my dream: for the Philippine Navy and Philippine Coast Guard to have a floating hospital, even if it’s a small one,” he told reporters on the sidelines of the nurses’ convention.
“The floating hospital can serve medical emergencies in the high seas, such as attending to sick or injured soldiers and fisherfolk, and as first responders to island communities and coastal areas hit by calamities,” Tolentino said.
He cited the case of Robert Mondeñedo, one of the two fishers who figured in an alleged “hit-and-run” incident involving a foreign commercial vessel and a small fishing boat in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) last week.
“It had to take hours before Robert was brought to a medical facility after he was rescued by the Coast Guard,” Tolentino said.
He also cited the case a few weeks ago of an ailing soldier who had to be evacuated from BRP Sierra Madre — the old, grounded warship that serves as a Philippine Navy outpost in the Ayungin (Second Thomas) Shoal in the WPS.
“If we only had a floating hospital, then our soldier could have been treated right there. We do not need to evacuate and bring him over to Palawan,” Tolentino said.
Also, the senator said the floating hospital could be mobilized for coastal and island communities during calamities, including typhoons.
He recalled how military vessels from other countries, including hospital ships, were among the first to respond and deliver assistance to communities devastated by Typhoon Yolanda in 2013.
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