PASAY CITY -- On Wednesday, June 22, Senator Christopher “Bong” Go virtually attended the inauguration of Western Visayas Sanitarium and General Hospital (WVSGH) in Santa Barbara and Don Jose S. Monfort Medical Center in Barotac Nuevo (DJSMMC), both in the province of Iloilo.

“Ipinaglaban po natin ito sa Senado dahil alam ko kung gaano ninyo kailangan ito. Sabi ko nga, sa pag-iikot ko sa mga ospital sa buong bansa, nakakalungkot pong makita na nasa corridor na ng ospital ang ibang pasyente dahil walang available na kama. Bukod sa problema kung papaano bibilis ang kanilang paggaling, nagiging isyu na rin po ang hawaan ng sakit pati na rin ang kalusugan at seguridad ng ating mga healthcare workers,” said Go in his video message.

“Kailangan po talagang bigyang pansin ang kalagayan ng mga ospital, pasyente at healthcare workers. Kailangan i-upgrade ang mga ospital, dagdagan ang mga kama at magtayo pa ng bagong mga ospital sa probinsya,” he stressed.

Go, Chair of the Senate Committee on Health and Demography, vowed to continue pushing for measures to strengthen the country’s healthcare system and improve the access of more Filipinos to quality health services nationwide.

The lawmaker had earlier sponsored 39 local hospital bills, which President Rodrigo Duterte has already signed into law to improve the quality of services in more public health facilities across the country. Among these are Republic Act 11723, converting WVSGH into a general hospital with specialty in infectious diseases; and RA11725, likewise converting DJSMMC into a tertiary hospital and increasing its bed capacity from 100 to 300 beds.

Meanwhile, another 30 bills that were sponsored by Go have passed on the third reading in the Senate and await the signature of President Duterte.

As part of his efforts to ensure that poor and indigent patients have convenient access to the medical assistance programs by relevant agencies, Go also primarily authored and sponsored the Malasakit Centers Act of 2019 which mandates the establishment of Malasakit Centers in all DOH-run hospitals, and the Philippine General Hospital in Manila City.

Even before becoming a senator in 2019, Go initiated the Malasakit Centers program in 2018. Since then, the program has established 151 Malasakit Centers, including those at the WVSGH and DJSMMC, and has assisted more than three million Filipinos nationwide.

“Ngayon po, meron ng Malasakit Center na pwedeng malapitan kung saan ay nasa iisang bubong na lang ang mga kinatawan ng DOH, DSWD, PCSO at PhilHealth para magbigay ng tulong. Para po ito sa poor and indigent patients,” explained Go.

The senator went on to give recognition to the country’s medical frontliners for their immeasurable service and dedication, especially amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

“In the Senate, I authored and co-sponsored Republic Act 11712 to ensure the continuous provision of allowances to our healthcare workers. Sa ilalim ng batas na ito, mas maraming healthcare workers na ang makakatanggap ng allowance,” Go shared.

He then committed to continue pushing for measures that would benefit more health and non-health workers as they have been at the forefront of the battle against the global health crisis.

“Nananawagan naman po ako sa DOH at Department of Budget and Management na bilisan ang pamamahagi ng allowances at kompensasyon sa ating mga healthcare workers. Mahalaga ito bilang pagkilala sa sakripisyo ng healthcare workers para sa ating bayan,” he cited.

“Sana ay maging inspirasyon ang inauguration na ito para mas mapabuti ang ating serbisyo sa ating mga kababayan,” the senator concluded. (OSBG)