NlI,allo;pSrn
Business Insight
Thursday, September 1-:9,
Malasakit Centers
in public hospitals OK'd
BY WENDELL VIGILIA
THE House committee on healdr
yestetday approved a measute
irstitutionalizing "Ma.lasakit Ceri
ters" in public hospitals nn by tl.re
Depattment of Health, more tlan
lwo weeks after Albay Rep. Edcel
Lagman said the ptogram was be-
ing used as a "partisan tool."
The proposed "Ma.lasakit Pro-
gram Act," a project which was
initiated by Sen. Christopher Go,
seeks to complement the objectives
of Acl
the Universal Heaidrcare
Under the substitute bill, all
DOH-tun hospitals will be re-
quired to establish Malasakit Cen,
ters, which will function as a one
stop shop inside hospitals where
patients can apply for and get
medical assistance from different
\ Tpori- r6q€v
2OLg
govelnmeot agencles.
. The center nill provide patients
access to medical and financial
aid from the DOH, Department
of Social Welfare and Develop-
ment (DSIWD), Philippine Chatity
Sweepstakes Ofice fCSO),
Of6ce of the President.
Other pubJ.ic hospitais that are
not operated by the DOH can
also put up Malasakit Centers for
as loog as local government units
pGUs) can fund it and thatDOH
tequitemeots are met.
The medicai assistance covered
under the bill is intended to cover
the balance of hospiul bills that will
noL be shouidered bv *re PnilHeilrh
The committee chaired by Que-
zoo Rep. Angelina Tan had to
See MAIASA'KIT > Pase 83
MALASAKIT
come up with a substiarte bill because many
bills were 6led for the same PurPose.
The substitute biil exp)icidy states that Mala-
sakit Cenrers shalJ be non-partisan' convenlenL
free ofcharge, accessible, and shall have a
srandard sysrem of availment of assisrance ''
I r require. rhe DOH. the DSWD. ard r-he
PCSO Lo allocaLe funds for rhe Ma.lasakit Cen
and
ters uadet thei annual national budgets
Maioriq leader Mardn Romualdez and his
wife Tingog parry-Jist Rep. Yedda Marie KirtiJ
swedt, the audrors of HB No. 3273, said Maia-
sakit Centers "inteod to reduce, if not eliminate,
out-of-pocket expenditures of hdigent and
poot p"tiatrt, and improve assessment fot
patieni assi.Laoce and referral to provide much
needed system support for padenr navigation "
"This way *.6a11 deljter basrc services ro
t commuobes in tbe most efficient, responsir e
and sustainabie mannet," the couple said.
Under dris year's P3.7 triJlion oational budget,
an allocation of P1 billioo was appropriated to
fund Malasakit Centers. uhich Lagraan previ
ou5l] said shouJd be invesrigated "because it is
more of a partisan tool than a medical oudet."
Duting the campaign petiod for the Ma,v
elections, President Duterte credited Go, his
longtime aide, for coming up *ith the idea
Lagman had nored even rhe Commission on
Eleccions ,Comelec) hrd ro order rhe DOH ro
remove Go's camPaign Posters which littered
government hospirals.
- Tbe opposicion lawmaler sard some of the
centen, especially in AJba1. were n ot-l'.bg bu L "mere
outlets foi referral to the mdn local offices of
dre patticipatrg agencies .*'here the benedciades
havi to just the sarne queue in long lines because
ttre reptesenatives in the ceoters do not have the
authoriry nor discretion to make assessmens either
fot partiai or 6rlL payrnent of hospital bill balances "
Go hter slammed Lagmzt. in a privilege
speech and went as far as insulting the veteran
Iawmaker, saying his face u'as "beyond tepair"
even by t}Ie Malasakit Centers.