Senator Christopher Lawrence Go said budgetary support for Baguio city’s 911 command center, issued by the Office of the President, was also turned over to the Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center.
The 911 command center, intended to manage traffic, peacekeeping and disasters in Baguio City,
it was patterned after the 911 emergency services that President Rodrigo Duterte established in Davao City when he was serving as its mayor.
To discourage prank calls, the senator has filed a bill seeking to penalize prank callers to emergency hotlines.
He has also filed several bills that aim to strengthen the emergency response mechanisms of the government, including the Fire Protection Modernization Act of 2019, Disaster Resilience Act of 2019 and Emergency Medical Services System Act of 2019.
Go was in Baguio City for the opening of the 50th Malasakit Center in the country. He also witnessed the turnover of P200-million check that will be used in establishing the city’s 911 command center.
The Malasakit Center, dubbed as a “one-stop shop” for financial assistance, was opened at the Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center.
It is the first Malasakit Center in Cordillera Administrative Region and the 22nd in Luzon.
Go said the agencies with medical assistance programs available in Malasakit Centers are the Philippine Health Insurance Corp., Department of Social Welfare and Development, Department of Health and Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office.
He added that patients or their representatives will only need to go to the Malasakit Center inside the hospital and fill out one unified form.
The centers will serve as one-stop shops for all medical and financial assistance to indigent and poor patients, putting in one center all government agencies presently involved in giving these medical assistances. Malasakit Centers will also serve as health care processing centers for patient assistance and referral to provide much needed system support for patient navigation under the Universal Health Care Law.
Senior citizens and persons with disabilities will be entertained in a priority lane. This removes the burden for patients of traveling to different offices just to avail of medical assistance from concerned government agencies.