P5B from Pagcor to revive ‘Botika ng Bayan’

President Duterte has set aside P5 billion from the Philippine Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) to revive the Arroyo administration’s “Botika ng Bayan” project, Pagcor vice president Arnell Ignacio said on Wednesday.

Ignacio told reporters the state-owned gaming company recently turned over the amount to the President’s Social Fund which will be used to establish government pharmacies that provide free medicines to the poor.

Mr. Duterte on Tuesday said he wanted to use the amount to finance the government’s rehabilitation programs for drug dependents who had yielded to authorities.

The comedian-turned-Pagcor official said that when they turned over the money, Mr. Duterte’s “original plan (was) for the resurrection of the  ‘Botika ng Bayan.’”

“The President wants every patient to be have free medicines,” Ignacio said. “When we (met) with the President, he was specific about this.”

Ignacio, however, clarified that the agency doesn’t say how the money it provides is to be spent, leaving the disposition of the funds to the President.

“So if he plans to use it for the ‘Botika ng Bayan’ or for the rehabilitation centers, it’s he who will decide,” he added.

In a speech earlier, the President directed Pagcor to make at least P35 billion available to resuscitate the health project of the Department of Health (DOH) from 2005 to 2011 under President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

The DOH terminated the “Botika ng Bayan” due to logistical and financial problems.

Without elaborating, Ignacio said “meaningful reforms” had been implemented in the state gaming agency since Mr. Duterte appointed Andrea Domingo, a former immigration commissioner and Pampanga representative, as Pagcor chair.

Ignacio also urged the public to know more about Pagcor projects and activities that help impoverished communities across the country.