BONG GO’S MALASAKIT TEAM ORGANIZES RELIEF EFFORT FOR FIRE VICTIMS IN BACOOR CITY, CAVITE

SENATOR Christopher “Bong” Go, adopted son of CALABARZON, deployed his Malasakit Team to assist recovering fire victims in Bacoor City, Cavite.

“Alam kong napakahirap pong masunugan. Umpisa po muli, back to zero. Naiintindihan ko po ang inyong nararamdaman. Iniikot ko po ‘yung mga nasunugan upang makatulong sa abot ng aking makakaya,” said Go in a video message during the distribution activity on Friday, December 15.

“Pero tandaan po natin, ang gamit po’y nabibili natin, ang pera ay kikitain natin, subalit ‘yung perang kikitain ay hindi po nabibili ang buhay, ang nawalang buhay ay wala na po. A lost life is a lost life forever. Importante po buhay tayo. Huwag ho kayong mawalan ng pag-asa at pag-ingatan natin ang buhay na ibinigay sa atin ng Panginoon,” he continued.

Go’s Malasakit Team distributed financial assistance, grocery packs, water containers, snacks, shirts, and balls for basketball and volleyball to 13 affected households at Tramo Day Care Center.

Meanwhile, the families were also assessed for possible housing assistance through the National Housing Authority’s Emergency Housing Assistance Program.

Go played a key role in the passage of Republic Act No. 11589, a law that mandates a ten-year plan for modernizing the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP). This initiative significantly enhances the bureau’s response efficiency to fire incidents.

As the primary author and co-sponsor in the Senate, Go ensured that the legislation also includes a requirement for the BFP to organize monthly fire prevention campaigns and educational initiatives in each local government unit, focusing especially on informal settlements and areas with economic challenges prone to fire incidents.

Go, chairperson of the Senate Committee on Health and Demography, encouraged family members to seek the services of Malasakit Centers located at Southern Tagalog Regional Hospital in the city and General Emilio Aguinaldo Memorial Hospital in Trece Martires City if they may need assistance with their hospital bills.

First launched in Cebu in 2018, the center is a one-stop shop that brings together under one roof the agencies from which patients may seek medical assistance, namely the Department of Social Welfare and Development, Department of Health (DOH), Philippine Health Insurance Corporation, and Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office.

To date, there are 159 Malasakit Centers nationwide that have assisted more or less ten million indigent patients, according to the DOH.

Go also supported the establishment of more Super Health Centers in the country, including one in the city, which he attended the groundbreaking event last October. Aside from Bacoor City, necessary funds were allocated to construct Super Health Centers in Dasmariñas City, General Trias City, Carmona City, Tagaytay City, Imus City, Alfonso, Kawit, Magallanes, Tanza, General Mariano Alvarez, and Rosario.

The Super Health Center will serve as a hub for various healthcare services, including database management, out-patient, birthing, 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 centers; and telemedicine. These centers can also be used as satellite vaccination sites for those Filipinos who live far from the urban centers.

Go also principally sponsored and is one of the authors of RA 11959, also known as the Regional Specialty Centers Act, which was signed into law on August 24. The law mandates the establishment of Regional Specialty Centers within existing DOH regional hospitals.

Go, vice chairperson of the Senate Committee on Finance, has likewise supported various road improvements in the cities of Cavite, Dasmariñas, General Trias, Imus and Tagaytay; rehabilitation and improvement of the municipal fire station in Noveleta; rehabilitation of covered courts in various barangays in General Trias City; acquisition of ambulance units for the local government of Indang and Trece Martires City; and improvement of a sports facility in Cavite State University in Indang.