DAVAO CITY (September 1) — Special Assistant to the President Christopher Lawrence ‘Bong’ Go expressed the need to strengthen and expand the Malasakit Center program in Visayas and Mindanao for people to have access to quality medical care.
The Malasakit Center is the one-stop shop program of President Rodrigo Duterte to hasten the delivery of medical services and give poor patients access to free medicines.
Go, according to Duterte inspired the establishment of the Malasakit Centers.
Under the program, patients are assisted in availing themselves of the services and financial assistance provided by the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO), the Philippine Amusement and Games Corporation (PAGCOR), and the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).
Pooled together, the assistance can reduce the patients’ medical bill — including medicines — to a more affordable amount or at times, to zero.
Currently, there are five Malasakit Centers in the Philippines, three in the Visayas: the Vicente Sotto Memorial Center in Cebu City, the Western Visayas Medical Center in Iloilo City, and the Eastern Visayas Regional Medical Center in Tacloban City, one in Davao City, and another at the Philippine General Hospital in Manila.
In an interview in Mandaluyong past midnight Thursday, Go said the government plans to put up additional centers so more people can benefit from the program.
Go said Malasakit Centers will be put up in September in key areas like Bacolod, Dumaguete, and Palawan to name a few. Another one will be put up in Maguindanao soon.
He also said the President has also allotted a P100-million monthly subsidy to the Philippine General Hospital (PGH) to help it give free medical services to more people.
Establishing more Malasakit Centers will provide more health services to Filipinos especially those who need intervention.-NewsLine.pn
