Belmonte vows more medicine funds

Speaker Sonny "SB" Belmonte said yesterday he will appropriate more funds for medicines in government hospitals and health centers to meet the growing needs of Quezon City residents, especially the urban poor.

"Government medical and hospital services are meaningless if indigent patients are not assured of the medicines needed to cure them," Belmonte stressed, as he promised to put in place the right priorities.

The Speaker lamented that residents of depressed areas in the city cannot afford to buy medicine.

Apart from the garbage problem, housing for squatter families and scarce livelihood opportunities, Belmonte said there was a need to infuse more funds for the city health program, especially the procurement of medicines.

"This is a matter of setting aside enough funds for medicines so that the tens and thousands of indigent residents are cured of their sickness and are not left alone to die with their doctors’ prescriptions in their hands," said Belmonte, the People Power Coalition’s mayoral candidate in Quezon City.

Belmonte cited the efforts of the private sector, especially the business sector and non-government organizations, in implementing programs extending free medicines to indigent patients.

"But they could share more of their extra resources as part of their campaign to create a healthy market. Their efforts should also be coordinated so that areas which need them most are given priority. There must be coordination between government and the private sector. This is where the QC Development Council will come in," he said.

Furthermore, Belmonte stressed the vital role of barangay officials in the delivery of basic services to the people. "They know the problems of their areas, the people and what needs to be done. We will institutionalize barangay and city coordinating teams."

At the same time, he gave his assurance on the expansion of the Sagip Buhay medical program which has served more than 4,500 patients in all the four districts of the city from 1996 to November last year, even as he only represents the fourth district as congressman.

Belmonte,, the first House Speaker from Quezon City, has earmarked more than P16.8 million from his countrywide development fund for the medical program.

During his campaign sorties, particularly in depressed areas, Belmonte has been pressing for his Serbisyong Bayan (SB) Team "so that there will be a solid team effort in the management of city affairs and programs."

The SB team under the PPC includes vice mayoral reelectionist Connie Angeles, four congressional aspirants and 24 city council bets.