Bong Go provides support to over a thousand indigent students in Antipolo City, Rizal

The Office of Senator Christopher “Bong” Go, in coordination with the Department of Social Welfare and Development, has provided assistance to 1,700 indigent students in Antipolo City, Rizal on Thursday, July 6.

Go’s team spearheaded the relief efforts at the Ynares Event Center and handed out snacks, masks and shirts to the students. The team distributed bicycles, shoes, watches, and balls for basketball and volleyball to select beneficiaries.

DSWD representatives also provided educational assistance to qualified beneficiaries.

An advocate for quality education and welfare of students in the country, Go has co-sponsored 12 school bills aimed at improving several public schools in the country, as part of his vision to create a better learning environment for students, especially in rural areas.

Go also co-authored and co-sponsored Senate Bill No. 1359 or the “No Permit, No Exam Prohibition Act.” The proposed measure penalizes the imposition of a “no permit, no exam” policy or any similar policy that prohibits students from taking an examination or other similar educational assessments due to unpaid tuition or other school fees.

The lawmaker also co-authored and co-sponsored SBN 1360, which seeks to expand the coverage of the tertiary education subsidy by amending Republic Act No. 10931 or the Universal Access To Quality Tertiary Education Act. The proposed bill expands the eligibility criteria for availing of the TES to include disadvantaged, yet academically competent students, who are enrolling in their first undergraduate post-secondary tertiary education program in private higher educational institutions (PHEIs) and technical-vocational institutions (TVIs).

Go also introduced SBN 1190 to expand the purposes and applications of the Special Education Fund (SEF) if enacted into law, proposing its use for the operation and maintenance of public schools, payment of salaries and benefits for teaching and non-teaching personnel, competency training for teaching personnel, operation of the Alternative Learning System, and educational research, among others.

The senator also filed SBN 1786 to help address mental health concerns in higher education institutions. He also co-authored SBN 379, also known as the Basic Education Mental Health and Well-Being Promotion Act, which aims to provide mental health services, emotional, developmental and preventive programs, and other support services in the basic education level if enacted into law.

As chair of the Senate Committee on Health, Go made a commitment to collaborate closely with the local government in safeguarding the health and welfare of Filipinos by enhancing the availability of affordable healthcare. He encouraged individuals with medical conditions as well as the elderly, to visit the nearest Malasakit Center, where they can conveniently access the government’s medical assistance programs.

The primary aim of the Malasakit Center is to reduce a patient’s hospital bill to the lowest possible amount by covering various services and expenses.

There are currently 158 centers nationwide which have assisted over seven million Filipinos, according to the DOH, the closest of which are located at the Antipolo City Hospital System Annex IV, Casimiro A. Ynares Sr. Memorial Hospital in Rodriguez, Bagong Cainta Municipal Hospital, and Margarito A. Duavit Memorial Hospital in Binangonan.

“Sa mga pasyente dito, hindi niyo na po kailangang bumiyahe para pumila sa iba’t ibang opisina para makahingi ng tulong mula sa gobyerno. Kung may hospital bill kayo, ilapit niyo lang ‘to sa Malasakit Center. Wala itong pinipili. Basta poor at indigent patient ka, qualified ka,” assured Go, who primarily authored and sponsored the Malasakit Centers Act of 2019.

Go has also reiterated his appeal to his fellow Filipinos to prioritize their health as he highlighted the services to be offered in Super Health Centers that will be established nationwide. Super Health Centers in the province will be strategically located in Antipolo City, Binangonan, Jala-Jala, Rodriguez, San Mateo, and Taytay.

Super Health Centers offer basic services such as database management, out-patient, birthing, isolation, isolation, diagnostic (laboratory: x-ray, ultrasound), pharmacy and ambulatory surgical unit. Other available services are eye, ear, nose, and throat (EENT) service, oncology centers, physical therapy and rehabilitation center and telemedicine, through which remote diagnosis and treatment of patients is made possible.

An adopted son of the CALABARZON region, Go continues to push for more programs, projects and initiatives that will benefit local communities.

He previously supported the improvement of the road and drainage system in Angono, Rodriguez and Antipolo City; rehabilitation of the flood control structures along the upper Marikina River in Rodriguez; construction of the Batangas Medical Center Annex in Rodriguez; construction of the Justice Building in Antipolo City; construction and improvement of a multipurpose building and new roads in Baras; and purchase and installation of streetlights in San Mateo.