MANILA, Philippines - At least 47 ambulances have been turned over by the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) to the provincial governments in Cagayan Valley and the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) to help enhance the delivery of health services.
PCSO vice chairman and general manager Jose Ferdinand Rojas II, along with board of directors Betty Nantes and Francisco Joaquin III, led the turnover of the ambulances in Tuao, Cagayan last week.
Local officials from the province of Isabela and CAR’s Apayao, Abra and Kalinga attended the event to receive their ambulances.
Rojas also inaugurated a new PCSO branch office in Tuao.
He said the charity agency would open two more branches this year, as part of its goal to establish an office in every province.
Three other CAR provinces – Benguet, Ifugao, and Mountain Province – received their ambulances from PCSO during a ceremony at the Baguio Convention Center last Friday.
Benguet Gov. Nestor Fongwan said they could see the government responding to the needs of the local governments through the PCSO.
Mountain Province received five ambulances for its municipalities of Sabangan, Bauko, Natonin, Paracelis, and Besao.
Ifugao got 10 ambulances for the towns of Asipulo, Mayoyao, Hungduan, Lamut, Aguinaldo and Lagawe, and its health facilities – Public Health Office of Ifugao, Mayoyao District Hospital, Hungduan Municipal Hospital and Ifugao General Hospital.