SEN. Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go lauded the government’s continuing commitment of improving access to healthcare as the country’s 140th Malasakit Center was launched at the Western Visayas Sanitarium (WVS) in Santa Barbara, Iloilo on Thursday, September 16.

The 141st Malasakit Center was also launched later that day at the West Visayas State University Medical Center in the said city.

The WVS, a known referral hospital for leprosy patients, is the eighth health facility in the region and fourth in Iloilo to open a Malasakit Center, in addition to the Western Visayas Medical Center in Iloilo City and the Don Jose Monfort Medical Center Extension Hospital in Barotac Nuevo.

“The opening of these Malasakit Centers are proof of our commitment to provide Filipinos the healthcare service they deserve. It shows how the current administration has kept its word in providing fast, accessible and reliable government services to our people,” Go said in a video message.

“Tuluy-tuloy ang pagbubukas nito sa Iloilo at sa iba pang sulok ng bansa. Basta kung ano ang makapapabilis sa serbisyo at makakatulong sa ating mga kababayan ay gagawin natin (The opening of this in Iloilo and other parts of the country will continue. We will do everything that will speed up the service and anything beneficial for our countrymen),” he vowed.

The Malasakit Centers are one-stop shops that host the government agencies with programs that provide medical assistance to patients, particularly the poor and indigent. The agencies include the Department of Health, Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), Philippine Health Insurance Corp. and Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office.

The program was institutionalized under Republic Act No. 11463 or the “Malasakit Centers Act,” which President Rodrigo Duterte signed in 2019. The law, which Go authored and sponsored in the Senate, aims to help reduce hospital bills to the lowest possible amount by covering various patient services and expenses.

In his message, Go recognized the frontline healthcare workers (HCWs) who are putting their lives on the line to care for their communities amid the ongoing pandemic.

“Pakiusap ko sa mga health workers, social workers, at doktor diyan, ‘wag nyo pabayaan ‘yung mga mahihirap, ‘yung mga hopeless at helpless na walang matakbuhan. Kahit ubusin niyo ‘yung pondo ng gobyerno sa kanila. Kaysa naman masayang pa sa korapsyon, ibalik natin sa mga tao ‘yung pera nila (I am appealing to our health workers, social workers, and the doctors not to forsake the poor, the hopeless and helpless who have no one to turn to. Utilize the government funds instead of wasting it in corruption. Let the people benefit from it),” continued Go.

In return, the senator, who heads the Senate Committee on Health and Demography, pledged to continue fighting for the welfare of HCWs, particularly those who are providing treatment to Covid-19 patients, as well as to enhance local hospitals so they have the resources and support they need to combat the pandemic.

In one of his latest legislative initiatives as committee chair, the senator filed Senate Bill 2398 on September 14, which provides continuing allowances and benefits to HCWs during the state of public health emergency due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The said bill aims to provide all HCWs, regardless of their employment status, a fixed monthly Covid-19 special risk allowance on top of the hazard pay granted under the Magna Carta of Public Health Workers. It will also give an additional monthly active hazard duty pay exclusively for public HCWs in addition to what the law already provides.

Following the ceremony, the senator's team distributed meals, food packs, vitamins, masks and face shields to a total of 468 HCWs and 123 indigent patients.