Senate has own Malasakit center now
At the opening of the newly renovated Public Assistance Center (PAC) of the Senate last Monday, Senator Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go thanked his fellow Senators for adopting the Malasakit Center concept.
“I thank Senate President Vicente Sotto III and my colleagues for the collective decision and effort to improve the operations of the PAC,” Go said in his speech at the ribbon cutting ceremony.
“The PAC has long been helping the Filipino people who need medical and financial assistance, but we must strive to make it bigger and better in terms of funding and quality of service, so I am quite delighted that the Senate decided to adopt the concept of the Malasakit Center through a one-stop Malasakit Counter here inside the PAC,” he added.
As what Malasakit Centers offer, the Malasakit Counter in PAC processes applications for medical and financial assistance from four government agencies, namely, the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth), Department of Health (DoH), Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and Philippine Charity
Sweepstakes Office (PCSO).
Go on Tuesday joined the launch of the 54th Malasakit Center in the country at the Margarito Duavit Memorial Hospital (Rizal Provincial Hospital -Binangonan Annex) in Binangonan, Rizal.
The Malasakit Center in Binangonan is the 25th to open in Luzon. The office covers patient services and expenses such as laboratories, medicines, surgeries or operations, with the exemption of professional fees and private room accommodation.
The process of seeking assistance has also been simplified through the Malasakit Unified Form, which means there is only one form to fill up for Filipinos requesting assistance.
During the visit, Go also shared that all DoH-run hospitals will now get their own Malasakit Centers with the enactment of Republic Act (RA) 11463 by President Duterte last week.
The PAC has long been helping the Filipino people who need medical and financial assistance.
The Senator expressed his gratitude to the people who made the renovation of the Senate PAC possible.
“Senator Cynthia Villar, thank you for the generous sponsorship, and to Senate Secretary Myra Villarica, Director Lino Ong and the whole Senate Secretariat for facilitating the process,” he said.
“Special thanks also to DPWH for their assistance in the renovation plans and to the Malasakit Center team represented now by DoH, DSWD, PCSO and PhilHealth for their commitment to help improve the services in the Senate PAC,” he added.
Go acknowledged Senator Franklin Drilon, who initiated the establishment of the PAC in 2001 when he was the Senate President, for “allowing the repair” and Senator Sherwin Gatchalian for suggesting the added services.
Likewise, his fellow Senators acknowledged the efforts of Go. Villar thanked Go for coordinating with relevant government agencies so that there would be a Malasakit Counter inside the PAC.
Drilon recalled that the PAC was established 18 years ago to “coordinate the efforts of assistance” of Senators, and he lauded the Malasakit Center Law, authored by Go, for institutionalizing the one-stop shop process of providing assistance.
Sotto said that he is “simply overwhelmed to be leading a group of compassionate and generous people.” He then praised Go and referred to the Malasakit Center and the Malasakit Counter as Go’s “brainchild.”