PLARIDEL, Bulacan — Senator Christopher “Bong” Go, Chairman of the Committee on Health and Sports appealed to the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) and the Philippine Overseas Employment Agency (POEA) to fast-track the evacuations of the Filipino overseas workers in Israel to the safe grounds.
The senator made the pronouncement during the media interview with the local media after the groundbreaking ceremony of the super health center in Barangay Sto. Nino in this town on Wednesday afternoon (Oct. 11).
As one of the authors of the law creating the DMW, Go said that the government need to ensure the safety of Filipinos stuck in the worsening situation in Israel and the Gaza Strip where according to report some Filipinos have died.
According to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), there are more than 30,000 Filipinos in Israel, but most of them are outside the war zone in the southern portion near the Gaza Strip
“Dahil sa giyerang nagaganap sa Israel may posibilidad din na tumaas ang presyo ng langis sa bansa. The possible fuel price increase would lead to a domino effect on the country’s economy,” Sen. Go added.
The senator appealed to the government to intervene in the possible fuel price increase due to the conflicts in Israel.
He also urges the Departments of Social Welfare and Development, Department of Labor and Employment and Department of Trade and Industry to use their unutilized funds to help the country’s poor sector to cope with the imminent fuel price increases in the near future.
Sen. Bong Go together with Bulacan 2nd District Rep. Augustine Dominique Pancho, and Plaridel Mayor Jocell Vistan-Casaje led the groundbreaking ceremony of the super health center in Plaridel.
The center was funded by the Department of Health — P10 million for the building and P2 million for the equipment — while the local government unit of Plaridel donated the land.
The Senator said there are 14 Super Health Centers that were approved for construction in Bulacan in the last two years and are located in Balagtas, Bulakan, Pandi, San Miguel, Angat, Marilao, Obando, Paombong, Plaridel, San Ildefonso, San Rafael and the Cities of Meycauayan, Baliwag and San Jose del Monte.
Services provided in the center will include out-patient, birthing, isolation, diagnostic (laboratory: x-ray, ultrasound), pharmacy, ambulatory surgical unit, eye-ear-nose and throat (EENT) service; oncology centers; physical therapy and rehabilitation center; and telemedicine, where remote diagnosis and treatment of patients will be done.
Other available services are eye, ear, nose, and throat (EENT) service; oncology centers; physical therapy and rehabilitation center; and telemedicine, which makes remote diagnosis and treatment of patients will be done.
“After we turn over the health center in the local government, maaari na itong palakihin ni Mayor Vistan-Casaje at dagdagan ng mga serbisyo para sa pakinabangan ng kanyang mga kababayan. Eventually, the Plaridel local government may include dialysis services among others,” the senator added.
“To date, there are now around more than 600 SHCs nationwide that were already operational, under construction and will already begin construction, kasali na diyan ang 14 sa Bulacan. Bilang chairman sa Committee on Health and Sports sa Senado, sisikapin ko na ma-improve ang ating healthcare system at ilapit natin ang serbisyo medikal sa ating mga kababayan,” Go committed. (UnliNews Online)
