Cebu Malasakit Center helps Bohol boy with leukemia

CEBU CITY – Social media viral posts are sometimes blessings in disguise, especially for families who cannot afford huge medical expenses.

One such case is that of 11-yearold Jomel from Bohol who had been confined at the Governor Celestino Gallares Memorial Hospital in Tagbilaran City for leukemia.

A concerned citizen posted Jomel’s condition on Facebook that went viral and reached the attention of Christopher Lawrence Go, the Special Assistant to the President.

Jomel is the son of Edgar and Jocelle Montes. Edgar is a coconut gatherer whose meager income cannot even sustain the needs of his family and the boy’s continued stay at the hospital became a huge burden for them.

Told about the Jomel’s situation, Go instructed the Office of the Presidential Assistant for the Visayas (OPAV) to assist the Montes family, prompting the local government officials to facilitate his transfer from Bohol to the Vicente Sotto Memorial Center (VSMMC) in Cebu.

The Malasakit Center at the VSMMC assessed his condition and endorsed him to doctors with the assurance that all medical expenses are taken care of.

Go had a chance to visit Jomel personally because he was with President Duterte Wednesday for the Visayas Island Cluster Conference at Radisson Blu for the League of Municipalities of the Philippines.

Go assured the family the government will handle all his medical needs. He also gave cash assistance to the family and a cellphone to keep Jomel preoccupied while undergoing treatment.

Go told Jomel’s parents to pray and focus on helping him to get well.

Go helped put up Malasakit Centers in Tacloban, Iloilo, and Cebu. He said these centers are a one-stop shop that guide patients to the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), PhilHealth, Department of Health (DOH), and the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) for medical assistance.

Go said he plans to set up more Malasakit Centers, particularly in Mindanao. It is the government’s intention to strengthen and improve health and medical services to the Filipinos as this is te President’s priority agenda.

“We are here to help and provide attention to the poor and the sick and we facilitate for each Filipino’s right to have access to medical services,” Go added.