COTABATO CITY (PIA) -- At least 84,919 indigent patients from Bangsamoro communities have benefited from the Ayudang Medical mula sa Bangsamoro Government (AMBaG) program of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao's (BARMM) Office of the Chief Minister (OCM) from December 2019 to August 2023.

According to AMBag program manager Moh’d Asnin Pendatun, over P516 million has been disbursed to partner hospitals to assist Bangsamoro patients that are not covered by other medical assistance programs.

“For the past few months, we’ve been doing ‘yung replenishment ng mga AMBaG funds sa iba’t ibang partner hospitals natin and yung mga additional hospital natin for this year ay natanggap na rin nila yung kanilang mga pondo [We've been doing the replenishment of funds for AMBaG to our different partner hospitals, including the funds for those additional hospitals that we have for this year],” said Pendatun.

The AMBaG program intends to help poor Bangsamoro families with their hospital bills and improve their access to much-needed medical procedures.

The assistance includes confinement, medicines, dialysis, implants, laboratories, radiation therapy, medical devices, assistive devices, non- and minimal procedures, transplants, rehabilitative therapy, and surgical supplies.

To date, the AMBaG program has a total of 44 partner hospitals within and outside the Bangsamoro region.

This month, a team from the AMBaG program conducted a series of fund transfers to its partner hospitals in the provinces of Maguindanao del Norte, Maguindanao del Sur, and Lanao del Sur.

On September 13, AMBaG turned over a check worth P15 million to Buluan District Hospital in Maguindanao del Sur, P5 million to Unayan District Hospital, and P10 million to Wao District Hospital, both in Lanao del Sur.

Meanwhile, on September 18, the Iranun District Hospital in Parang, Maguindanao del Norte, also received a check worth P10 million as a replenishment fund from AMBaG.

“After this series of fund transfers, we can truthfully say that by the end of the year, lahat na ng government hospitals dito sa BARMM, hindi lang partnered hospital, ay functioning na yung AMBAG sa kani-kanilang hospital,” Pendatun added.

Further, the BARMM government also expanded the AMBaG guidelines to cater to senior citizens, women, persons with disabilities, and victims of calamity and violence against women and their children.

Musa Mang, a senior citizen from Maguindanao del Norte and one of the many beneficiaries of AMBaG, said that the program is a really huge help, especially to those senior citizen patients who can’t afford to pay their hospital bills.

“Noong ako ay na-admit sa ospital, humingi kami ng tulong sa AMBaG, libo-libong pasasalamat sa programa ng gobyernong BARMM, sa katauhan ni Hadji Murad Ebrahim [When I was admitted to the hospital, we asked for help from AMBaG, thousands of thanks to the program of the BARMM government, in the person of Hadji Murad Ebrahim], he said.

Established in 2019, AMBaG was created under the Bangsamoro government’s Office of the Chief Minister Ahod Balawag Ebrahim, which aims to help the Bangsamoro indigents avail of needed medicines, medical procedures, and health services. (LTB -- PIA Cotabato City)