Senator Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go (second from left) visits the first Malasakit Center in the Vicente Sotto Medical Center (VSMMC) on the Malasakit Center’s 5th anniversary. | Futch Anthony Inso
LAPU-LAPU CITY, Philippines — Senator Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go visited the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center (VSMMC) on Friday, Feb. 10, 2023, to join in the celebration of the VSMMC Malasakit Center’s 5th anniversary.
Go was considered the father of the Malasakit Center after he passed in Congress Republic Act No. 11463 or the Malasakit Center Act.
The VSMMC Malasakit Center was the first ever Malasakit Center established in the country that was launched on Feb. 12, 2018.
It is a health-support initiative of then President Rodrigo Duterte in the Visayas through the Office of the Presidential Assistant for the Visayas (OPAV) headed by then Secretary Michael Dino.
The facility serves as a one-stop shop, which is aimed to simplify the process of getting help from government agencies like PhilHealth, Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO), Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), and Philippine Amusement Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) without going to their respective offices spread in Cebu City.
“According sa balaod, butangan og Malasakit Center ang tanang DOH Hospital ug sa mga provicial and city hospital, basta pasado lang sila sa criteria set by the law,” said the father of the Malasakit Center.
(According to the law, they will put a Malasakit Center in all DOH Hospitals and provincial and city hospitals as long as they pass the criteria set by the law.)
Currently, Cebu has six Malasakit Centers located at VSMMC, St. Anthony Mother and Child Hospital, Eversly Child Sanitarium, Lapu-Lapu District Hospital, Talisay District Hospital, and Carcar Cebu Provincial Hospital.
For the entire country, 154 Malasakit Centers have already been established.
Dr. Gerardo Aquino, medical center chief of VSMMC, had expressed his gratitude to Go for institutionalizing the Malasakit Center by making it into law.
He said that since the Malasakit Center in the hospital was established in 2018, it had already served 729,084 patients.
“We have proven that great things happen when we all come together united under one cause. We thank Senator Bong Go, Secretary Dino, and all our partner agencies for the trust and support extended to VSMMC all these years through the Malasakit Center,” Aquino said.
The activity was also attended by Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia; Department of Health in Central Visayas (DOH-7) Regional Director, Dr. Jaime Bernadas; and Malasakit Center head, Dr. Girlie Veloso.
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