Every time a family member gets seriously ill or hospitalized, impoverished Filipino households often have no choice but to fall deeper into debt trying to pay for out-of-pocket medical expenses or to endure inadequate medical attention for fear of suffering through more severe financial strain.
As aptly characterized in a recent study by Ateneo de Manila University Development Studies Program, the health financing experiences of ordinary Filipinos can be summed up into four “Ps”: “pagtitiis,” “pangungutang,” “pagmamakaawa,” and PhilHealth.
The Philippine Statistics Authority also earlier revealed that every Filipino spent nearly P10,000 a year on health-related goods and services in 2021.
True enough, I bore witness to how many of our poor kababayans feared getting hospital care due to the exorbitant fees. Meanwhile, those who did seek medical attention had to then spend large chunks of their time every day, queuing up in long lines from one government agency to another, just to try to reduce their hospital bills. Seeing this unfortunate plight of our fellow Filipinos was the reason behind the Malasakit Centers program, which we initiated in 2018.
The Malasakit Center is a one-stop shop where indigent patients can more conveniently apply for medical assistance from the Department of Health, Department of Social Welfare and Development, Philippine Health Insurance Corporation and the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office.
Five years have passed since our first Malasakit Center was opened at the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center in Cebu City on 12 February 2018. Since then, the Malasakit Centers program has been institutionalized under the Malasakit Centers Act of 2019, which I primarily authored and sponsored. To date, a total of 154 Malasakit Centers are now available across the country. And more than 7 million Filipinos have been assisted by the program nationwide according to DoH, of which more than 700,000 patients were helped by the center at VSMMC.
To celebrate these milestones and on the occasion of the program’s fifth anniversary, I returned to VSMMC last 10 February where I had the opportunity to personally thank our front liners and provide aid to 441 of the hospital’s employees and 13 of its patients.
I also commended VSMMC for their service and the recognition received. In 2019, the VSMMC received two international awards, including the “Dr. Kwang Tae Kim Grand Hospital Bronze Award” and the “Seddiqi Holding Excellence for Corporate Social Responsibility Award,” during the International Hospital Federation’s 44th World Hospital Congress in Barcelona, Spain.
In a bid to make affordable government health services more accessible to more Filipinos, especially in rural areas, I also continue to support the establishment of more Super Health Centers or SHCs nationwide. Just last week, upon the invitation of the respective local government units, I witnessed the groundbreaking of the SHCs in San Carlos City, Negros Occidental, and Talisay City, Cebu.
These centers are medium versions of polyclinics and are bigger than rural health units, which offer basic services such as out-patient, birthing, isolation, diagnostic, pharmacy, and ambulatory surgical units. Other services include eye, ear, nose, and throat service; oncology centers; physical therapy and rehabilitation center; and telemedicine, among others.
We have early on successfully advocated for the funding of some 307 SHCs in 2022 and also pushed for sufficient funds for 322 SHCs in this year’s health budget.
Then and now, I believe it is important that we bring government services closer to our people in need. These efforts, I highlighted when I attended the Rotary Concerns Forum in Davao City on 11 February.
That is why apart from Malasakit Centers and Super Health Centers, I continue trying my best to push for measures geared towards promoting the welfare and needs of our Filipino people, particularly the hopeless and the helpless. I have been persistently advocating for bills that seek to address some of the gaps in the country’s healthcare system, support the economy’s recovery and protect workers, ensure more job opportunities, especially in rural areas, and foster a more proactive approach to natural disasters.
To the best of my ability, I also continue to visit our distressed Filipinos, wherever they are, to provide relief, address their struggles, and leave a smile on their faces amid the challenges they are facing.
I believe it is our responsibility to work together to address the challenges facing our society. Whether it be poverty, education, healthcare, peace, and security, or the environment, it is only through collaboration and cooperation that we can find lasting solutions and create a brighter future for all Filipinos.