Go leads online opening of 84th Malasakit Center in Zambales

Zambales now has a Malasakit Center. (Photo from the Ofifice of Sen. Christopher Go)

MANILA, Philippines — The 84th Malasakit Center opened last Friday at the President Ramon Magsaysay Memorial Hospital in Iba, Zambales, through an online event attended by Sen. Christopher Go, chair of the Senate Committee on Health and Demography.

“To all you patients in Zambales, let your neighbors know that you already have a Malasakit Center,” Go said in his online speech. “This is is poor and indigent patients. There’s no politics here. Nobody is favored here.”

The center is the first Zambales, the ninth in Central Luzon, and the 44th in Luzon, according to a statement issued on Monday. The hospital is a COVID-19-designated hospital.

“It’s hard being sick,” Go said in Filipino. “These are times when our countrymen are so confused, and they don’t know where to go and ask for help.”

The Malasakit Center, a pet project of his, aims to be a one-stop shop for patients seeking medical care with financial assistance.

The patients, or their representatives, only need to fill up a unified form to request assistance, instead of having to visit government offices scattered in various locations.

The government agencies with representatives in each Malasakit Center are the Department of Social Welfare and Development, Department of Health, Philippine Health Insurance Corp., and Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office.

Each Malasakit Center has an express lane for persons with disability and senior citizens.

According to Go,  Republic Act No. 11463 institutionalized the creation of Malasakit Centers in each of the 73 hospitals run by the Department of Health. Hospitals run by local governments may also ask for permission to establish a Malasakit Center provided they meet certain criteria.

Fighting corruption

Meanwhile, Go took the opportunity to ask honest PhilHealth employees to continue to help in the fight against corruption, and deliver the best service to citizens.

“To all those in PhilHealth, don’t lose hope. I know that there are many good employees of PhilHealth who would want to serve with all honesty,” he said. “Let’s just help our countrymen get back their money. You know, the past week has really been saddening because PhilHealth has become fodder in the news.”

He was alluding to the recent allegations of corruption hounding the state health insurance firm, with some officials reported to have pocketed P15 billion of its funds.

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