By: Leila N. Valencia
Mandaluyong City. The Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) approved various medical assistance in the total amount of Php122.654 million for 13,236 indigent Filipinos across the country for the month of April.
The approved medical assistance covers confinement, chemotherapy, dialysis, hemophilia and post-operative medicines under the Medical Access Program (MAP) of the agency.
“Amid the COVID-19 virus threat, the charity agency is taking the necessary steps in order to continue providing medical assistance to the increasing number of indigents seeking help from PCSO, through its flagship Medical Access Program (MAP). Rest assured that the Agency will find ways to meet the medical and health-related needs of all Filipinos especially the marginalized " GM Garma said
Of the Php122.654 million approved assistance, Php113,236,328.95 came from various PCSO offices nationwide for 12,445 patients while Php9,417,575.88 was approved for 791 patients thru the different hospitals with Malasakit Centers where PCSO is a partner.
From April 15-30, 2020, when PCSO resumed operations for its Medical Access Program (MAP), the National Capital Region (NCR) approved a total amount of Php 12,046,480.00 for 887 patients, Southern Tagalog and Bicol Region (STBR) allocated Php21,562,835.93 for 2,442 indigent patients, Northern and Central Luzon (NCL) with Php31,744,092.00 for 3,591 beneficiaries, Php27,803,845.00 for 2,793 recipients in the Visayas Region and Php20,079,076.22 for Mindanao Region with 2,732 qualified individuals.
On the other hand, hospitals with Malasakit Centers nationwide assisted 791 indigent individuals with medical assistance in the total amount of Php9,417,575.88. Malasakit Center hospitals from NCL approved Php1,370,000.00 for 129 patients while STBR allocated Php 578,400.00 for 43 indigents. For hospitals with Malasakit Center in NCR, Php1,324,700.00 was approved for 46 clients, Visayas Region with Php4,379,371.68 for 362 qualified individuals and Mindanao Region with 211 patients with total assistance of Php1,765,104.20.
It can be recalled that on April 15, 2020, the agency resumed the processing of medical assistance amidst suspension of PCSO operations due to COVID-19 situation throughout the Philippines brought by Corona Virus, while the online services started on April 22 ,2020.
"We are physically distant today, but we must come together to fight this invisible corona virus so that tomorrow we can stand close to each other again, " added by GM Garma.
PCSO Main Office and all PCSO Branch Offices nationwide are open from Monday to Friday, 9:00 am to 2:00 pm only to accept and process request for medical assistance. In addition, patients from the National Capital Region (NCR) may also file their request through online application by accessing the PCSO official website www.pcso.gov.ph, go to E-Services and click the NCR Online Application
