A couple of years ago, I heard of a Filipino American going to the Philippines for a kidney transplant. The person had arranged this with a Filipino doctor, and he flew to Manila, had the transplant, stayed until his doctor said he could return to the U.S. Apparently the waiting time for a kidney in the U.S. was quite long, and he wasn't sure he'd survive to qualify for one. There was hardly any wait in the Philippines. He had to pay for the kidney. This whole matter was, as I understood it, arranged by his doctor.
Today, while lunching at my favorite Filipino restaurant (nothing fancy, turo-turo on Vermont) I read Midweek Balita. It had an article about kidney black market. The headline reads, "Filipino Kidneys Cheapest in the World Black Market, says NGO."
The article says that Filipinos who sell their kidneys to foreign clients are shortchanged. "The asking price in th U.S. starts at $30,000 while kidney vendors get as much as $10,000 to $20,000 in Israel; $7,500 in Turkey; $6,000 in Brazil, and $2,700 in Moldova and Romania.
The article mentions Filipino farmers who received P112,000 from selling their kidneys - that's around $2,692 - an amount that did not change their financial status, but left many of them in poor health.
The Asia Against Child Trafficking recommended a total ban on kidney trade. Some Filipino doctors said the new administrative order aimed at eradicating a thriving black market was a wrong response to the problem. Doctors are accused of receiving P57 million per kidney transplant; foreign transplants cost $60,000. There's talk of new guidelines for kidney transplantation; guidelines which would limit foreign transplants. There's bickering back and forth among the concerned parties.
I was sad to read this. Is it is not enough for Filipinos to sell their sons and daughters as workers, entertainers, sometimes prostitutes all over the world? Must they resort to selling their body parts to make a buck?
I thought the Philippines was getting better economically. I understand the salary per day is higher than that paid in China, Vietnam, Cambodia and a few other countries in the world? So what's going on here? If the Philippines is getting wealthier as President Arroyo claims, why are Filipinos so desperate as to sell their body parts?
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Source: Midweek Balita, April 2-4, 2008, p. 22
About Me
- Cecilia Manguerra Brainard
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- Cecilia Manguerra Brainard's official website is ceciliabrainarddotcom. She is the award-winning author and editor of 22 books, including When the Rainbow Goddess Wept, The Newspaper Widow, Magdalena, Selected Stories, Vigan and Other Stories, and more. She edited Growing Up Filipino 1, 2, & 3, Fiction by Filipinos in America, Contemporary Fiction by Filipinos in America, and other books.. Her work has been translated into Finnish and Turkish; and many of her stories and articles have been widely anthologized. Cecilia has received many awards, including a California Arts Council Fellowship in Fiction, a Brody Arts Fund Award, a Special Recognition Award for her work dealing with Asian American youths, as well as a Certificate of Recognition from the California State Senate, 21st District, and the Outstanding Individual Award from her birth city, Cebu, Philippines. She has lectured and performed at UCLA, USC, University of Connecticut, University of the Philippines, PEN, Shakespeare & Company in Paris, and many others. She has served in the Board of literary arts groups such as PEN, PAWWA (Pacific Asian American Writers West), among others.
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