Bicol Medical Center law boosts region’s healthcare services – Jimenez

PRESIDENTIAL Anti-Corruption Commission (PACC) Chairman Dante Jimenez lauded President Rodrigo Duterte’s timely response in signing Republic Act (RA) 11478, which upgrades the capacity of the Bicol Medical Center (BMC).

Jimenez said the law “rescues the BMC from turning into a ‘white elephant,’ after years of numerous repairs and redesign at a cost of more than P2 billion.”

“The BMC now has good reason to look forward to its completion as a world-class medical facil ity in the South Luzon region,” Jimenez told The Manila Times.

“In 2018, the PACC helped the BMC management team led by Dr. Francisco Sales 3rd address the hospital’s many problems, including the lack of medical equipment badly needed for its patients, who are mostly poor Bicolanos who rely on the BMC as a government hospital,” he added.

Jimenez said the new law also addressed the funding needed for

BMC’s medical equipment, whose long-delayed procurement has kept the hospital from operating at full capacity, especially in the midst of the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic. Bicol has so far recorded 118 Covid- 19 cases.

“Even as the law secures the BMC’s improvement, the public must remain vigilant in the proper use of government funds and resources intended for the facility’s purposes to protect the hard work put in by its stakeholders in making this realization,” Jimenez said.

Duterte signed RA 11478, increasing BMC’s capacity from 500 to 1,000 beds, his former aide and now Sen. Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go said on Wednesday.

“President Duterte has approved the measure seeking to further upgrade the Bicol Medical Center. This is for our Bicolano compatriots,” Go said in Filipino. The lawmaker is chairman of the Senate health and demography committee.