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Senator Christopher Go (second from left) led the launch on Friday, October 2, 2020, of the 85th Malasakit Center at the National Center for Mental Health in Mandaluyong. (Photo from his office)
MANILA, Philippines – Put politics aside and instead work in solidarity and compassion for those made most vulnerable by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Senator Christopher “Bong” Go emphasized this message to Filipinos in his speech at the inauguration last Friday of the 85th Malasakit Center at the National Center for Mental Health in Mandaluyong.
“I know everyone is having a hard time because of this pandemic. We in the government are also having a hard time. But let’s help each other on this. Who else would help each other but the Filipinos? “Go said, according to a statement issued Sunday.
He added that President Rodrigo Duterte, in one of his late-night conversations, had asked him to ignore what critics of the administration would say.
“Bong, leave them alone. Let’s do this. The important thing is that we overcome this, ”Go recalled that the president told him.
“We have no other desire than to help us overcome this pandemic,” Go added.
The senator, who chairs the Senate Committee on Health and Demography, thanked everyone who helped install the 85th Malasakit Center, including Secretary Michael Lloyd Dino of the Office of the Presidential Assistant for the Visayas, Secretary of Health Francisco Duque III, the Undersecretary of Social Welfare Aimee Torrefranca-Neri, the Commissioner of the Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission Greco B. Belgica, the Mayor of Mandaluyong Carmelita A. Abalos and Deputy Neptali Gonzales II.
The new center is the first in Mandaluyong and the 16th in Metro Manila.
Malasakit centers are one-stop-shops that make it easier for poor Filipinos to seek medical and financial assistance by bringing together staff from various government agencies: the Department of Health, the Department of Social Welfare and Development, the Insurance Corporation of Philippine Health. ., and Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office.
The centers were institutionalized under the Malasakit Centers Act 2019, which was written and sponsored by Go and signed by President Duterte in December 2019. The act mandates the establishment of the centers in all hospitals of the Philippine General Hospital in Manila and in all hospitals managed by the Department of Health.
Other public hospitals may also establish their own centers as long as they meet the standard set of criteria and can ensure the availability of funds for their operation.
Meanwhile, Go assured patients at the hospital that they would receive the maximum assistance the government could offer.
“If you have a balance [in medical bills], the Malasakit Center will pay for it because their goal is to achieve zero balance as much as possible, ”he said.
He added that the Department of Social Welfare and Development had also committed to providing additional assistance to selected patients to complete their assessment.
Go also promised to help DOH and Gonzales in their push for the establishment of a new hospital in Mandaluyong.
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