Grassroots access to gov’t services pushed
Senator Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go on Friday batted for better grassroots access to government services as he explained his advocacies and priorities as a newbie lawmaker. to local officials and residents of Kibawe, Bukidnon during their 64th annual town fiesta.
With health as one of such priorities, Go said that a plan to put up a Malasakit Center in the province is already in the works to improve the residents’ access to quality healthcare services.
Malasakit Centers are a one-stop shop for easy access to government medical financial assistance for Filipinos in need, especially indigent patients. Concerned agencies, such as the Department of Health
(DoH), Department of Social Welfare and Development, Philippine
Health Insurance Corp. and the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office are stationed at these centers.
A law institutionalizing Malasakit Centers has also been signed by President Rodrigo Duterte last 3 December, providing for the establishment of such centers in all 73 DoH-run hospitals nationwide.
As for the youth, the senator said that he will continue to prioritize the country’s grassroot sports program to develop them in sports and lure them away from vices such as illegal drugs and criminality.
“As chairman of the Senate Committee on Sports, I plan to focus on grassroots development to help our potential athletes,” Go said, adding that the establishment of a Philippine High School for Sports is one of the measures he is pursuing to accomplish this goal.
“This is one of my priorities in the senate,” he said. The Senate is also exploring the possibility of putting up satellite campuses focused on sports in other parts of the country.
Go also shared that the President has already signed a law postponing the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections to December 2022, effectively giving barangay officials more time to accomplish their projects and programs in their respective communities.
Go added that he has suggested to the President the provision of a one-time Christmas incentive for barangay officials while a measure providing for a regular compensation for them is being deliberated in the Senate.