Senatorial bet: Malasakit Centers  ‘unnecessary’

CEBU, Philippines —  Partido Reporma senatorial bet Dr. Minguita Padilla said Malasakit Centers, a one-stop shop for government medical and financial assistance for poor and indigent patients, are superfluous.

Padilla, who was the spokesperson of UP Universal Health Law Study Group, said Malasakit Centers are unnecessary and redundant because the Universal Health Law already provides complete healthcare among Filipinos from womb to tomb.

It only needs proper implementation, she added.

The eye surgeon, who was in Cebu for a two-day visit, said if the Universal Health Care, which was signed into law in 2019, is properly implemented, the entire country is a Malasakit Center and nobody, including politicians, should be “bida” as "health  is not a privilege, but a right".

"Any politician who makes it like bida ako, ako lang ang nakagawa nito is stepping backwards which is not what the law is saying," said Padilla who was also the former Philhealth consultant.

She said one of her priorities in running for Senate is the proper implementation of the law.

"One of my priorities is the proper implementation of the law. Let us not put another layer that is unnecessry," she said.

Padilla, also the founder, chief executive officer and president of the Eye Bank Foundation of the Philippines, said the budget for Philhealth should go to health as the law says it should be there for everybody.

"I have nothing against any politicians but I  am just wondering why there is another layer? I know the answer but I’d rather not say it,” Padilla said.

She said the Universal Health Care will work like in Philippine General Hospital wherein surgery is free.

"In other places, surgery is also free. It is just a matter of implementing the law properly," she said.

"Let’s  give them that reason, the benefit of the doubt because there was COVID (in 2020) hindi na implement but the law if implemeted maganda talaga. Those LGUs that are not capable they  need to be guided by DOH,” she added.

Over the past three years, Malasakit Center has served more than two million Filipinos nationwide, according to the Office of the Presidential Assistant for the Visayas in a previous press statement.

The first-ever Malasakit Center was launched in Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center in Cebu City on February 12, 2018. Present were President Rodrigo Duterte and Senator Bong Go, dubbed as Mr. Malasakit.

The program was institutionalized under Republic Act No. 11463 — or the Malasakit Centers Act, which Duterte signed in December 2019. Go authored and sponsored the act in the Senate.

Since then, the country has over 100 Malasakit Centers.  Hospitals where the centers are located receive a monthly funding from the Office of the President ranging from P3 million to P30 million depending on the capacity and level of the hospital. — KQD (FREEMAN)