SEN. Christopher “Bong” Go on Sunday urged government hospitals to ensure that patients, as well as health care workers and frontliners, have access to nutritious food.

The chairman of the Senate Committee on Health and Demography stressed the importance of proper nutrition among Filipinos.

He pointed out that proper nutrition is a “fundamental aspect of healing and maintaining overall health, especially for patients and those in the medical community.”

“We must ensure that our patients, as well as our tireless health care workers and frontliners, have access to nourishing food during these trying times,” Go said in a statement.

Recently, Go conducted feeding activities for patients, hospital workers and frontliners in public hospitals with Malasakit Centers to promote the importance of proper nutrition.

He said that the Covid-19 pandemic has put a strain on the country’s health care system, and the health care professionals who are at the forefront in the battle against coronavirus.

Go said that the integration of nutritional support into these centers reinforces his commitment to “holistic health care.”

So far, Go’s team has organized feeding initiatives through rice porridge or “lugaw” distribution, among others, in various public hospitals in Metro Manila. They also reached out to several hospitals in the provinces of Pampanga, Bulacan, Batangas, Cavite, Laguna and Rizal.

In the Visayas, numerous patients, hospital workers and frontliners from the provinces of Cebu, Aklan and Antique also benefited from the feeding initiative.

Last October 7, Go visited the Cebu City Medical Center where he personally served meals to 400 individuals, including patients and hospital staff.

In Mindanao, Go’s team also reached hospitals in Misamis Oriental, Lanao del Sur, Lanao del Norte, Bukidnon, Davao del Norte, Davao del Sur, Davao de Oro, Cotabato City, Surigao del Sur, Agusan del Norte and Sultan Kudarat for this feeding initiative.