Bong Go calls for unity, cooperation
SENATOR Christopher “Bong” Go called for unity and cooperation among Filipinos during a two-day relief operation held in Palo, Leyte as the community, like many parts of the country, reels from the adverse impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, natural calamities, and other crisis situations.
“Mga kababayan, napakahirap ng panahon natin ngayon. Ganito ang sitwasyon hindi lang sa Pilipinas kung hindi sa buong mundo. Dahil sa pandemya, marami ang nagsarang negosyo at nawalan ng trabaho, kasama na dito ang mahigit kumulang 500,000 na overseas Filipinos workers. Kaya sa panahon ngayon, dapat magkaisa at magbayanihan tayo. Magmalasakit tayo sa ating kapwa Pilipino upang malampasan natin ang krisis na ito,” Go said in a video message.
Go’s outreach team provided meals, food packs, vitamins, masks and face shields to 1,900 beneficiaries at the Cirilo Roy Montejo Sports Complex from May 5 to 6. To ensure their health and safety, residents were grouped into batches while observing the necessary protocols to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
Selected beneficiaries were given new shoes while some were provided bicycles for their commuting needs. Others received computer tablets to help their children participate remotely in their classes under the blended learning set-up.
Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) personnel were also present to provide each beneficiary with financial assistance. The Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), in turn, offered skills training courses to qualified beneficiaries.
The senator, who is chair of the Senate Committee on Health, acknowledged the pandemic’s devastating impact on low-income workers and urged everyone to follow the government’s protocols when out in public in order for the country to open up more quickly.
“Ang gamit naman ay mabibili natin. Ang pera, kikitain ‘yan. Subalit ang perang kikitain natin hindi mabibili ang buhay. A life lost is a life lost forever kaya mag-iingat tayong lahat at pangalagaan natin ang buhay at kalusugan ng bawat Pilipino,” he continued.
Last April 30, Go personally led the relief activities for hundreds of flood victims at the same venue. He also attended the launch of the country’s 104th and 105th Malasakit Centers at the Leyte Provincial Hospital and Schistosomiasis Control and Research Hospital, respectively, in the said town.
The center is one-stop shop which provides patients quick access to the medical assistance programs offered by the DSWD, Department of Health, Philippine Health Insurance Corporation, and Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office. Malasakit Centers have also been established at the Eastern Visayas Regional Medical Center in Tacloban City and Ormoc District Hospital.
“Sa mga taga-Leyte, wala na kayong problema sa pagpapagamot. Puntahan niyo lang ang Malasakit Center at tutulungan kayo ng iba’t ibang ahensya ng gobyerno hanggang maging zero balance ang inyong hospital bills,” explained Go.
There are now 108 Malasakit Centers in the country since the program was initiated by Go in February 2018, with the latest opened on May 7 at the Conner District Hospital in Apayao. These centers have been institutionalized through Republic Act 11463 or the Malasakit Centers Act of 2019 which Go authored and sponsored in the Senate.
Go thankee Palo officials led by Governor Leopoldo Petilla, Vice Governor Carlo Loreto and Mayor Frances Petilla, for their continuing service and support to the affected communities.
