The death of a two-year-old child following a brutal dog attack in Campetic, Palo has ignited outrage and renewed scrutiny over patient care conditions at Eastern Visayas Medical Center (EVMC), with the victim’s family alleging critical delays, lack of urgency, and an absence of compassion during the child’s final hours.
Joseph Linde, the victim’s father, recalled carrying his bloodied child in desperation after the toddler was attacked by three dogs at around 5 p.m. on May 9.
The child was first brought to Leyte Provincial Hospital before being referred to EVMC in Tacloban City due to the severity of the injuries.
What followed, according to the family, was a long and agonizing night inside the region’s largest government hospital.
Linde alleged that despite repeatedly begging hospital staff to immediately attend to his child, they were left waiting for hours while the toddler cried in pain and gradually weakened.
The father said he expected emergency action the moment they arrived, but instead felt helpless watching his child’s condition deteriorate inside crowded hospital corridors.
The child reportedly received an anti-tetanus injection only around 10 p.m., nearly four hours after arriving at EVMC.
The family claimed they continued waiting overnight for anti-rabies treatment and other urgent medical interventions that never came in time.
By dawn on May 10, the child was dead.
The post-mortem examination later confirmed rabies as the cause of death.
For the grieving father, the trauma was not only losing a child, but feeling that his pleas for help were ignored.
“They saw my child suffering,” Linde said. “We kept asking for help, but nobody acted fast enough.”
The tragedy has struck a nerve among residents in Eastern Visayas, where stories of overcrowded government hospitals, exhausted healthcare workers, delayed treatment, and understaffing have long circulated among patients and their families.
Critics are now questioning the hospital administration’s priorities, alleging that millions of pesos were funneled into infrastructure projects and building developments while urgent concerns involving patient welfare, staffing shortages, medical supplies, and frontline healthcare support remained unresolved.
Residents and concerned citizens have raised concerns over whether public funds were being directed more toward construction and expansion projects rather than improving emergency response systems, hiring additional doctors and nurses, and ensuring faster treatment for critical patients.
In previous public statements, EVMC officials themselves acknowledged the severe strain on the hospital’s emergency services.
Reports published last year noted that the hospital had been operating beyond its intended capacity, with emergency rooms handling nearly twice the number of patients they were designed for.
Hospital administrators admitted that patient surges and understaffing were affecting the speed and efficiency of care delivery.
While many residents recognize the sacrifices of overworked doctors and nurses in public hospitals, the death of the toddler has intensified public anger over what critics describe as a healthcare system where poor families are too often left waiting in life-or-death situations.
Several patients and families in the region have previously voiced complaints online about long waiting times, delayed treatment, and cold or dismissive behavior inside overcrowded public hospitals, though many cases never progress into formal complaints or investigations.
The latest incident has amplified those frustrations, with netizens expressing grief and fury over the image of a father spending an entire night pleading for help while his child slipped away.
For Linde, no explanation about congestion or lack of manpower can erase what happened inside the hospital that night.
He is now calling for a formal investigation into the actions of the medical personnel involved, as well as accountability from the owners of the dogs responsible for the attack.
As of press time, Eastern Visayas Medical Center has yet to issue an official statement regarding the allegations raised by the victim’s family and the growing public criticism over the hospital’s priorities and patient care system.
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