PRC breaks ground on P10-M Bogo facility

Bogo, nearby towns need not go to Cebu City to access PRC services

THE Philippine Red Cross (PRC) recently broke ground for its Bogo City/ northern Cebu branch building and blood bank with Sen. Richard Gordon leading the activity.

The construction of the P10-million, two-story building will be funded entirely by the Red Cross on land donated by the City Government of Bogo at the New Government Center.

Gordon, PRC chairman and chief executive officer, highlighted in his speech the 5Fs of the Red Cross. These are focus on work, to be fast, friendly and not corrupt, flexible, and forward-looking.

He also hinted that PRC may provide dialysis machines and ambulances for Bogo City.

“Buildings do not a Red Cross make, blood does not make a Red Cross, it is people who give blood, who donate mon- ey, who work,” said Gordon.

He said that the establishment of a branch in Bogo will further bring PRC services nearer and more accessible to people in the northern part of Cebu.

Blood collecting station

People from Bogo and neighboring municipalities will not have to go far to access Red Cross services, like blood, as the new building will have a blood collecting station.

Also present during the groundbreaking were Bogo City Mayor Carlo Martinez, Vice Mayor Mayel Martinez, Sangguniang Panlungsod members, Mayor Jay Dela Fuente of Madridejos, Mayor Mariano Martinez of San Remigio, Red Cross Cebu Province chapter president and lawyer Allan Nicolas Ouano, and a delegation from the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies headed by Kari Isomaa.

Former Bogo mayor Junie Martinez also attended the event.

It was during the term of the former mayor that the 1,000-square-meter land on which the building will be built was donated to the PRC.

Information and Communications Unit According to Marco Abrazado, PRC Field Operations head for Haiyan (Yolanda) Operation, the building will be the focal point for Red Cross operations in the north. These include disaster management, safety services, health services, Red Cross Youth, social services and blood services.

Abrazado said that Bogo was the logical choice due to its being the gateway to northern Cebu, and the presence of support facilities.