Malasakit Center to go nationwide

CEBU, Philippines — Malacañang is eyeing to establish in other parts of the country the Malasakit Center being piloted in the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center.

Special Assistant to the President Christopher “Bong” Go announced in a luncheon press conference yesterday that they are going to launch the facility in the Eastern Visayas Regional Medical Center in Tacloban City tomorrow.

The Office of the Presidential Assistant for the Visayas is the lead agency behind the Malasakit Center which is funded by the socio-civic funds of the Office of the President.

Go said they are also considering the setting up of the same “one-stop shop” center in Bacolod City and Iloilo City.

During the press conference yesterday, the possibility of setting up the center in provincial hospitals was also brought up, but Go said he will talk to Department of Health Secretary Francisco Duque first, considering the number of provincial hospitals nationwide.

Presidential Assistant for the Visayas Michael Lloyd Dino reported that as of yesterday, around 13,000 patients have already been assisted by the Malasakit Center since its launching last February.

The Malasakit Center at VSMMC gets P50 million every month from President Rodrigo Duterte. The socio-civic funds of the president primarily come from sin taxes, according to Department of Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano.

The center is a one-stop shop comprised of different agencies that help families of patients who wish to settle medical expenses such as the Department of Social Welfare and Development, Philippine Health Insurance Corp., the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp., and the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office.

Dino earlier said the project is piloted in Cebu. Once the system has been polished, it will be replicated in other parts of the country.

He said that government programs like the Malasakit Center are formulated to especially help the marginalized Filipinos. (FREEMAN)