Labella wants Malasakit offered to CCMC patients

CEBU, Philippines — Cebu City mayor-elect Edgardo Labella will ask the Office of the President to appropriate funds for the Malasakit Program to be offered to Cebu City Medical Center (CCMC) patients.

“The Malasakit Program has no limit so I will ask the Office of the President to set aside an amount for CCMC (patients),” Labella said yesterday.

Labella said through the Malasakit Program, the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center (VSMMC), where the program was launched, will be decongested since 60 percent of the patients are residents of the city.

On February 12, the program was officially made available to patients of VSMMC who are not financially capable of paying all the hospitalization expenses.

“I’ve made a research that 60 percent of the patients in Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center came from the City of Cebu because our CCMC (referring to the new building) is not functional,” he said.

That is why he wants to fast track the completion of the new CCMC hospital building along N. Bacalso Ave. and Panganiban St.

Labella’s letter request will be sent to Malacañang with the help of the Office of the Presidential Assistant for the Visayas (OPAV).

At present, C.E Padilla Construction Inc. is still working on the second phase of the construction of CCMC which involves water piping, electrical wirings and others.

There is no definite date yet on its operation which prompted Labella to schedule a meeting with the contractor and the city engineers when he assumes office as the new city mayor.

Aside from the Malasakit Program, the mayor-elect is also planning to increase the budget intended for City Hospitalization Assistance and Medicines Program (CHAMP).

But he will finalize it as soon as the Malacañang has set aside funds for CCMC patients to balance the medical assistance programs.

Under CHAMP, qualified residents and registered voters can get as much as P30,000 in medical assistance in the form of cash as long as they are confined in hospitals accredited by the city government.

Further, Labella is going to continue the giving of daily maintenance medicines for the Long Life Medical Assistance Program to at least 45,000 beneficiaries.

But Labella’s office will make minor adjustments for a smooth implementation of the program.

The program was implemented by outgoing mayor Tomas Osmeña. (FREEMAN)