Aiming to redefine healthcare accessibility, Glutathione drip expert Mariel Rodriguez-Padilla is set to be the inaugural Glutang Ina of the Dripartment of Glutathione, Rodriguez-Padilla announced on Instagram on March 24.
This comes after Rodriguez-Padilla shared a now-deleted Instagram post showing her hooked to an intravenous glutathione drip inside the Senate office. She reveals in an exclusive interview with The LuhSallian that the post was an “honest mistake” and that it should have been posted on the official Dripartment account. “Nakalimutan ko mag-switch, sa dump ko lang pala nailagay,” she says.
(I forgot to switch accounts. I placed it in my dump account.)
As of today, the Dripartment account still has not posted anything about the launch, but Rodriguez-Padilla assures that they are already working on retrieving their locked account, which was apparently mass reported when she posted the announcement on her personal account.
Drip everywhere
With the new department, senators and their relatives up to the fourth degree of consanguinity are able to avail of a simultaneous meet-and-greet with a random senator and a glutathione drip session free of charge. Meanwhile, ordinary Filipinos are charged a minimal fee amounting to P100,000 per drip to continue funding the department in providing services to its main benefactors.
Following Rodriguez-Padilla’s appointment to the department, she remarks how important it is to intake glutathione as this could protect Filipinos from diseases and improve their immunity.
“Napaka-importante na naisabatas na ito ng ating pangulo since …nakaka–improve talaga siya ng immunity mo. Just like what the president says, ‘pag sa ill-gotten wealth nadawit, sa immunity kakapit,” the Glutang Ina said.
(It is essential that this Department is created since…It really improves our immunity. Just like what the president says, if you are caught in an ill-gotten wealth controversy, you need to rely on immunity.)
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. swiftly signed the initiative after hearing Rodriguez-Padilla’s voice an insufferable number of times. The enactment of this law is said to highlight the administration’s advocacy in promoting healthcare to senators and their families even if the rates of unemployment and inflation continue to swell. “We’d rather have a swollen economy than have a swollen face [like] my dad’s,” Marcos Jr. declared in his ceremonial signing on March 25.
Despite being warned about the unsupervised use of glutathione, the department will continue to promote its accessibility through glutathione oral intakes or glu-tagay, consultations or glu-tanong, and educational programs or glu-talino. Rodriguez-Padila reveals that they plan to collaborate with health professionals—the same ones whose warnings got ignored.
“We are working closely with the Department of Health and Food and Drug Administration to make sure that medical warnings about glutathione will be removed. We want to make sure that Filipinos will not be afraid of using glutathione because ‘drip everywhere’ is our motto,” Rodriguez-Padilla shares.
Rodriguez-Padilla projects that external glutathione service centers will be integrated in local government units (LGU) starting January next year to improve accessibility. She reveals that municipal- or city-level drip centers will be mandated to offer services at a discounted price of P99,999 per drip.
Sen. Robin Padilla, former professional liver lover boy, current head of the Senate subcommittee on health, and husband of the Glutang Ina, commends the new legislation and dubs the Dripartment as the “future of healthcare” that will improve healthcare accessibility and will perfectly conceal the blemishes of the Philippine healthcare system.
“Putting a soldier to fight against the virus and using gasoline to kill a virus is chemistry were groundbreaking, but the Dripartment? It’s no doubt a fresh and rejuvenating reform,” Padilla says in Filipino, while lashing out at a The LuhSallian reporter for speaking in English.
A new competitor in town
Other well-established clinics experienced “alarmingly decreasing” customer turnout after Rodriguez-Padilla announced the launch of the Dripartment of Glutathione, according to Dr. Vicky Belo of Belo Medical Group. With the Dripartment offering more accessible and more affordable services given the consanguinity privileges, children of nepotism, conglomerates, and politicians alike patronized the new establishment.
Belo, on a TikTok post last March 30, took a jab at Rodriguez-Padilla and asked the senate to look deeper into the Dripartment. ”This scam glutathione center involves issues of conduct, integrity, medical safety, and the reputation of the glutathione drip practice,” commented Belo on a now-deleted video.
Rodriguez-Padilla did not wait any minute and hosted an Instagram live of her own seconds after Belo’s post. “My intent was just to inspire others to be empowered by glutathione, because it is the new Vitamin C. Why can’t she just be happy that we are lifting up the health sector,” defended Rodriguez-Padilla.
One Belo supporter that jumped ship is visiting professor in Spain and most powerful celebrity Dr. Toni Gonzaga. In an Instagram post a day after the rift between the two clinics, she expressed her support for Rodriguez-Padilla amid issues surrounding the Dripartment. “Ikaw ‘yung matalino, ikaw ‘yung maganda. Lahat, ikaw na! Kapatid kita, Mariel, kaya mahal na mahal kita,” the post read.
(You’re the smart one, you’re the pretty one. You are everything! You are my sister, Mariel, so I love you very much.)
Sen. Cynthia Villar, environmental advocate and one of those who participated in the Dripartment’s trial run, conveys her gratitude as she can now prioritize her health “even on oculars when scouting for land.”
Villar encourages Filipinos to support local businesses such as the Dripartment and to pay their taxes to access better healthcare. “I encourage the public to be righteous Filipino citizens and to support the country’s recovery. We will rebuild and redefine our home…I and Camella are committed to lead that,” remarks Villar.
This article was published in The LaSallian‘s Spoof 2024 issue. To read more, visit bit.ly/TLSSpoof2024.