Sen. Christopher Lawrence Go greets a child patient at a Malasakit Center. (Photo from the senator’s office)
MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go joined various national and local government officials during the opening of the country’s 36th and 37th Malasakit Centers in Borongan, Eastern Samar, and Ormoc, Leyte respectively on July 5, 2019.
“The government continues to promote Malasakit Centers in various parts of the country so that they can help more patients, especially those in the provinces and far-flung areas,” Go said in his speech, which he delivered in Filipino. “This comes from your money. We’re just returning it to you through competent medical service.”
Just like the launch the other day in Siquijor, the opening of the two newest Malasakit Centers was led by Presidential Adviser for the Visayas Michael Lloyd Dino. The centers are hosted in the Eastern Samar Provincial Hospital and Ormoc Provincial Hospital.
“A Malasakit Center is a ‘one-stop shop’ that can deliver faster assistance from government agencies to poor Filipinos,” Go further explained.
The agencies linked with the centers include the Department of Health, the Department of Social Welfare and Development, PhilHealth, and the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO).
“Instead of letting our countrymen suffer standing in line to get government assistance, there are already 37 Malasakit Center to help them,” Go said, noting that providing more accessible quality healthcare was one of the primary goals of the Duterte administration.
Since 2018, when the project began, 37 Malasakit Centers have been established nationwide, all of them now fully functional to serve the needs of millions of Filipinos.
“I will always prioritize the welfare of Filipinos who need the most attention from government,” Go said.
He added that the first bill that he filed in Senate — “The Malasakit Center Act of 2019” — would institutionalize the establishment of such centers in more provinces and strategic urban centers.
“This is what I promised before — to speed up the delivery of medical services,” Go, speaking in Filipino, told reporters.
He pointed out that it used to take a week for financial-medical support to reach a patient. Through the Malasakit Center, all papers and documents in all government agencies concerned could be processed in only a day.
The senator admitted that the Malasakit Center bill would raise some minor concerns in harmonizing with the Universal Health Care Act. But he said the most important thing would to provide Filipinos fast and efficient health care.
(Editor: Alexander T. Magno)