Public health

TWO years ago I started to feel a slight pain in the area of my body near my heart. It was not the first time, but this time it was a bit stronger. I requested a free day at the job and I ran to a private hospital in Makati City to visit a doctor. I was told to do some tests and physical exams, which I immediately did. I do not remember how much everything cost me, but I guess something around P8,000, plus P1,000 for the initial consultation fee. The results, released after three days, were reassuring, especially considering that in a few days I had to fly to Spain to visit my family. But when I landed in Madrid, my pain was still there and since it is always better to be checked twice, I called a friend and he recommended a public hospital.

When I arrived at 4 p.m., a lady in the little window asked me two things: my social security card and my health problem. Since my problem did not seem urgent, I was told to sit in a waiting room. So lucky I was that I sat just beside a young Filipino couple in their 30s. I looked at them with a big smile and said “Magandang hapon!” We kept talking for 30 minutes. The guy got his knee injured while playing football in an amateur league of companies. He was from Negros and spoke fluent Spanish, while his wife, from Manila, spoke only a bit of Spanish because she had only just arrived a few months before.