Making good on his vow to bring government services closer to the people, Senator Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go visited Catanduanes last week and extended support to thousands of indigents in Virac, with his chief of staff leading the inauguration of the Super Health Center in Panganiban town.
“Malapit po sa aking puso ang mga taga Virac. Kanina po may lumalapit sa akin, nagpapasalamat. Sa totoo lang po, kami ang dapat magpasalamat sa inyo dahil binigyan niyo po kami ng pagkakataon na makapagserbisyo sa inyo,” he said.
“Ang Pilipino po’y kilala sa pagtutulungan po, huwag po kayong mawalan ng pag-asa. Ang importante po ay tulungan natin ang mga nangangailangan, ang mga hopeless and helpless natin na mga kababayan,” he added during his brief message to local officials and 1,500 beneficiaries at the Catanduanes Convention Center last Nov. 7.
Go and his Malasakit Team distributed essential items, including food packs, meals, shirts, masks, vitamins, fans, basketballs, and volleyballs to the selected beneficiaries recently affected by typhoon Kristine. Some beneficiaries also received bicycles, mobile phones, shoes, and a watch. Through the local government of Virac, the senator gave each beneficiary 25 kilos of rice.
He likewise thanked his fellow public servants for their unwavering support and dedication to bring government services closer to people, particularly Governor Joseph Cua, Vice Governor Peter Cua, Virac Mayor Samuel Laynes, Bato Mayor Juan Rodulfo, San Miguel Mayor Francisco Camano Jr., San Andres Mayor Leo Mendoza, Baras Mayor Jose Paolo Teves III, Bato Vice Mayor Roy Regalado, and Provincial Board Members Joselito Alberto and Jan Ferdinand Alberto.
The provincial chief executive expressed his appreciation to Go for including Catanduanes among the areas hit by the recent calamity which received his assistance, noting that the senator has visited the island province multiple times.
As Chairperson of the Senate Committee on Health and Demography, Senator Go also visited the Malasakit Center at the Eastern Bicol Medical Center in Virac and urged the residents to take advantage of the medical assistance it offers for indigent patients.
The Malasakit Center is a one-stop shop designed to streamline medical assistance programs from various government agencies, ensuring that Filipinos can access medical assistance to overcome the financial burden of healthcare costs.
Go is the principal author and sponsor of Republic Act No. 11463, or the Malasakit Centers Act of 2019, which institutionalized the Malasakit Centers program. The Department of Health reports that the Malasakit Center program has already provided aid to more than 15 million Filipinos.
As Vice Chairperson of the Senate Committee on Finance, Go has supported projects in Virac such as the rehabilitation of the national road, the Catanduanes circumferential road, the rehabilitation of Virac water supply pipelines, and the construction of sewage treatment facility.
On the same day, Go’s team also led the inauguration of a Super Health Center in Panganiban, Catanduanes where the senator was declared an adopted son of the town by Mayor Cesar Robles and the Sangguniang Bayan headed by Vice Mayor Arvin Atencia.
It was the senator who first proposed the construction of SHCs all over the country to offer basic health services including database management, out-patient (OPD), TB-DOTSs, birthing, isolation, diagnostic services (laboratory, x-ray and ultrasound), pharmacy and ambulatory surgical unit.
The other Super Health Center being built by the Department of Health (DOH) in Catanduanes is in Caramoran town.
In his message, Mayor Robles thanked President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Sen. Go for the SHC, which he said would be a huge help for people in remote barangays in Panganiban as well as residents of Bagamanoc and Viga who will not need to go to Virac for a medical checkup.
However, he sought financial assistance from the national government so that the LGU could fully operate the center.
Municipal Health Officer Dr. Arsenia Donato told the local media that the LGU is in the process of looking for additional human health resources that will man the SHC.
While the DOH has assigned Dr. Katryn Asebedo to the center, it would need nurses, midwives, a pharmacist, medical technologist and other trained personnel who will operate the diagnostic and laboratory equipment.
She disclosed that for the meantime the SHC will focus on outpatient services while it applies for appropriate licenses from the DOH.