Senators yesterday announced that the newly renovated Public Assistance Center has a counter for “malasakit” center, whose establishment would soon be institutionalized after President Rodrigo Duterte signed it into law.
Senator Cynthia Villar joined Senate President Vicente Sotto III, Minority Leader Franklin Drilon and Sen. Bong Go during the ribbon-cutting and blessing of the newly renovated center.
The facility, which was renovated through the personal funds of Villar, can now serve more constituents.
Villar said the Senate PAC serves as a one-stop shop for the public seeking assistance from legislators and hopes that the modern facility will serve more people efficiently.
“It will serve more people in a more orderly and modern facility,” Villar said.
She said the center is a good way for the senators to reach out to more people and provide them the needed medical assistance.
Through the PAC and Malasakit center, she said they can focus more on the medical requests of the public. In return, it would be easier for the public to make transactions under one roof.
She said this is also in support of the Go’s Malasakit Center Act that will complement the implementation of the Universal Healthcare Law, providing medical assistance to the oubkic and making healthcare accessible to all Filipinos.
For his part, Go thanked Sotto and his colleagues for the collective decision and effort to improve the operations of the PAC.
“The PAC has long been helping the Filipino people who need medical and financial assistance, but we must strive to make it bigger and better in terms of funding and quality of service, so I am quite delighted that the Senate decided to adopt the concept of the Malasakit Center through a one-stop Malasakit Counter here inside the PAC,” he added.
As what Malasakit Centers offer, the Malasakit Counter in PAC processes applications for medical and financial assistance from four government agencies, namely, the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth), Department of Health (DOH), Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO).
The Senator also expressed his gratitude for the people who made the renovation possible. “Senator Cynthia Villar, salamat talaga for the generous sponsorship, and to Senate Secretary Myra Villarica, Director Lino Ong and the whole Senate Secretariat for facilitating the process,” he said.
“Special thanks also to DPWH for their assistance in the renovation plans and to the Malasakit Center team represented now by DOH, DSWD, PCSO and PhilHealth for their commitment to help improve the services in the Senate PAC,” he added.
Go also acknowledged the help of Drilon, who initiated the establishment of the PAC in 2001 when he was the Senate President, for “allowing the repair” and Senator Sherwin Gatchalian for suggesting the added services. “Siya (Gatchalian) po ang unang lumapit at sabi niya, puwede bang ayusin nating magkaroon tayo ng Malasakit help desk or counter dito sa PAC,” Go said.
Drilon recalled that the PAC was established eighteen years ago to “coordinate the efforts of assistance” of Senators, and he lauded the Malakit Center Law, authored by Go, for institutionalizing the one-stop shop process of providing assistance.
Sotto said that he is “simply overwhelmed to be leading a group of compassionate and generous people.” He praised Go and referred to the Malasakit Center and the Malasakit Counter as Go’s “brainchild.” He added in jest, “I’d like to call him starting today Senator Bong ‘Malasakit’ Go.”
Go emphasized the significance of one-stop shops for medical and financial assistance.
“Maganda nga naman po na tayo mismo dito sa Senado ay may ibinibigay tayo na parehong serbisyo,” he added.
