The provinces of Sulu, Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur, and Sarangani in Mindanao are the first batch of recipients of medical equipment worth P50 million each from a charity fund aimed to help improve their delivery of services to the people, Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office general manager Alexander Balutan said on Sunday.
He said the provinces were identified by the National Anti-Poverty Commission as among the poorest in the country.
“Our priority is help these four identified provinces. The PCSO has allotted P50 million worth of medical equipment to each province,” Balutan said.
The project is under the Integrated Health for Overall Productivity and Empowerment or I-HOPE program of the PCSO, an integrated program to assist four identified poor provinces each year as identified by the NAPC, the GM said.
“This undertaking is a collaboration of the PCSO and NAPC that aims to provide direct financial assistance to primarily improve health facilities in terms of equipment, medicine and basic equipment to barangay health centers,” he added.
Balutan said the provinces are the beneficiaries of the I-HOPE program for 2017, and PCSO will be assisting another batch of provinces next year.
“It’s our way of alleviating the concern of the local government units in terms of managing their constituents when it comes to health care management,” he said.
These provinces in Mindanao are also known as conflict areas where residents are usually affected by clashes between government forces and local armed groups.
Balutan said he had worked in these provinces for more than 20 years when he was still a Marine Corps officer, and he is aware that the primary problem of the area is more of livelihood and health.
“Their livelihood and health concerns have not been meet because the government hasn’t been able to reach them properly,” the PCSO boss said.
He believed that being the first beneficiaries of the I-HOPE program, residents in these provinces “will finally feel the effort of the government to improve their lives.”