Go visits Tawi-Tawi Malasakit Center
SEN. Christopher “Bong” Go, chairman of the Senate Committee on Health and Demography, emphasized his ongoing efforts to support public hospitals and improve health care accessibility in the far-flung province as he visited the Datu Halun Sakilan Memorial Hospital in Tawi-Tawi on Thursday, March 7.
“I will continue to help you. As chairman of the Committee on Health, I want to improve our health care system. We should always be prepared for whatever challenges that may come to us. Let us prove that by working together, we can do it,” Go said.
Go was accompanied by Gov. Yshmael Sali, Mayor Jimuel Shia Que and medical chief Sangkula Laja, among others.
Understanding the challenges faced by residents in accessing medical services, Senator Go stressed the importance of enhancing the health care infrastructure in Tawi-Tawi.
The senator also gave away snacks, vitamins, masks, grocery packs, shirts, basketballs and volleyballs to health workers in attendance. He likewise gave shoes, mobile phones and bicycles to select individuals.
The senator also served rice porridge to the hospital’s patients and their watchers.
“As vice chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, we have helped in pushing for the fund for the additional needs of the hospital,” said Go, citing his support for the construction of an operating room complex and other facilities in the hospital.
Further extending his support to the health sector of Tawi-Tawi, Senator Go also backed the construction of the Tawi-Tawi Provincial Hospital and Tawi-Tawi Medical Center.
Meanwhile, he also supported the construction of a sports complex and a public market as part of his advocacy to improve the delivery of public service in Bongao.
The senator also took the opportunity to visit and promote the Malasakit Center within the Datu Halun Sakilan Memorial Hospital.
Go encouraged the public to utilize the Malasakit Centers, reflecting his efforts to ease the burden of health care costs for Filipinos. The most recent Malasakit Center was launched on Friday, March 8, in Davao Occidental.
Under the Malasakit Centers Act of 2019, which was principally authored and sponsored by Go, Malasakit Centers shall provide convenient access to medical programs offered by concerned agencies, particularly for poor and indigent patients under one roof inside qualified public hospitals under the law.
On the same day, Go aided fire victims in the same town together with the National Housing Authority to help them rebuild their homes.