Pagcor turns over P5B to Duterte; ‘Botika ng Bayan’ revival eyed

The Duterte administration is planning to revive the “Botika ng Bayan” or the nationwide community pharmacy program.

The government could use the funds remitted by the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (Pagcor) to the national coffers to finance the program that will provide free medicines for the poor.

“When we turned over the P5 billion… his (President Duterte) original plan is for the [revival] of the Botika ng Bayan,” Pagcor Assistant Vice President for community relations and services Arnell Ignacio told reporters in a Palace briefing on Wednesday.

The President on Monday received the P5 billion from Pagcor chairperson Andrea Domingo.

Ignacio said Duterte wanted the return of the Botika ng Bayan, a program launched during the Arroyo administration but was stopped in 2011 due to funding problems, so that poor people can obtain badly needed medicines for free.

In August, the President said he wanted to use Pagcor’s earnings to fund the revival of the Department of Health’s Botika ng Bayan program.