PCSO sets up P420-M Covid fund

THE Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office ( PCSO) has announced that it allocated a P420- million fund for coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid- 19) response.

According to PCSO General Manager Royina Marzan Garma, the fund, which would be transferred to the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. ( PhilHealth), was earmarked as early as February of this year.

Based on the Executive Order 108, series of 2020, and signed by President Rodrigo Duterte, the Inter-Agency Task Force on the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases directed PCSO to transfer the fund to PhilHealth “to augment the fund requirements of government concerning Covid-19.”

“The agency anticipated the need for emergency response and readied the funds since Covid-19 became a serious threat globally early this year and [when] the first case in the country was reported,” Garma said in a statement.

Despite the suspension of its operations, the PCSO assured that the agency would continue serving its clients.

The PCSO has set up a hotline for the people seeking medical assistance. Those who will seek assistance will be referred to hospitals with Malasakit Centers and other government hospitals.

The PCSO also increased daily funding to the Lung Center of the Philippines, Philippine Children’s Medical Center, Philippine Heart Center, Philippine General Hospital, Rizal Medical Center and the Taguig Pateros District Hospital until April 16, 2020.

It also provided free bus rides in Metro Manila to transport those who were affected by the public transportation suspension, including frontliners, and has distributed food packs to the National Capital Region Police Office ( NCRPO) and Eastern Police District.

“The agency will always be ready to help the government and the Filipino people in times of crisis,” Garma said.