Tacloban City and other areas in Leyte and other surrounding provinces were the most badly devastated by Supertyphoon Yolanda (international code name Haiyan), and the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) is making sure that residents in these areas get all the help they need that the agency can provide.
In addition to the assistance given by the PCSO immediately after the disaster, the agency has also been extending other forms of help, such as ambulance donations to qualified municipalities, cities and government hospitals.
On September 11 my fellow PCSO directors and I traveled to Tacloban City to hand over 48 ambulances to six provinces in the area.
Leyte received eight ambulances; Southern Leyte, 12; Biliran, seven; Samar, nine; Eastern Samar, five; and Northern Samar, seven.
Spearheading the turnover ceremony at the RTR Plaza was PCSO Director Bem Noel, a son of the province. PCSO Directors Betty Nantes, lawyers Mabel V. Mamba and Francisco G. Joaquin III, and myself welcomed the ambulance recipients —mayors, vice mayors, municipal health officers—and other guests.
This is the second batch of
ambulances handed out to the areas hit by Yolanda.
Local government units, hospitals and other health-care facilities and associations that comply with PCSO requirements may receive an ambulance every five years. First- to third-class municipalities receive their ambulances under a 60-percent to 40-percent cost-sharing scheme, while fourth- to sixth-class municipalities may receive theirs under 100-percent donation.
We also handed the P6.7 million in proceeds from the Pamaskong Handog special Lotto draw held to benefit 148 barangays, which received P48,000 each, to be spent on medicines and medical supplies and equipment.
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ON September 7 we visited Batangas City, where we were warmly welcomed by Gov. Vilma Santos-Recto at an ambulance-turnover ceremony at the Provincial Capitol Auditorium.
Under the PCSO Ambulance Donation Program, the province of Batangas received 24 emergency vehicles for various municipalities and hospitals.
Santos-Recto said, “I truly commend you, PCSO, for all your good work. We thank you for these ambulances that will be a big help to the residents of our various communities, especially because health care is the primary program in Batangas.”
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THE PCSO will continue its ambulance-donation activities for the rest of the year, as well as pursue its other corporate strategic directions, one of which is branch-office expansion.
The agency will be opening its 48th branch in Maasin, Leyte, soon, and one other branch, if not two, before the end of the year.
Establishing a branch office in
every province is the PCSO’s medium-term goal in order to bring the agency’s services closer to our kababayan, especially those in far-flung areas, such as islands. Each PCSO branch offers the same services as those offered by the head office, such as processing of requests for patient assistance under the flagship Individual Medical Assistance Program, support of Lotto agents, processing of Lotto prize claims up to a certain amount and other services.
All these PCSO programs are made possible by public support of the agency’s games—Lotto, Lotto Express, Digit Games and others. Fifty-five percent goes to the agency’s Prize Fund. Thirty percent of all gaming revenues are allocated to the agency’s Charity Fund, which finances all its medical and health assistance-related programs, including the Ambulance Donation Program. Fifteen percent goes to the Operating Fund, which enables branch expansion.
As we look forward to celebrating the agency’s 81st anniversary in October, we thank the public for their support and cooperation, which has helped us serve the Filipino people this long, and will allow to continue our services well into the future.
Atty. Rojas is vice chairman and general manager of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office.