Bong Go to put up Malasakit Center for Negros Oriental

CEBU, Philippines — Special Assistant to the President, Secretary Bong Go, during his recent visit to Dumaguete City, has promised to establish a Malasakit Center at the Negros Oriental Provincial Hospital (NOPH).

After Cebu, Tacloban and Iloilo cities, Go said the next Malasakit Center will be in Dumaguete City in Negros Oriental as a one-stop-shop for patients to avail of free health services from the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office, PhilHealth, Department of Health, and the DSWD, until the patient’s bill is settled.

Go said the center will be provided with funds so patients can avail themselves of free medicines, adding that it has been President Rodrigo Duterte’s order to make all available resources of government to help the poor.

Negros Oriental Governor Roel Degamo welcomed the good news coming from Malacañang including the promise of Go to deliver an ambulance for use by the people of the province. Go said the ambulance is a donation from a friend, just like the ambulance given to Tacloban earlier.

When asked if he has plans for the Senate in 2019, Go quickly answered in the negative, but he was strongly endorsed by the people who greeted him during a market tour in Dumaguete City and during the Nutrifest 2018 program at the Mariano Perdices Memorial Coliseum, which was attended by about 15,000 people.

Go also refused to issue categorical statements on the killings of mayors in Luzon, saying he was not authorized to speak for the government over the matter.

On the case of the killing of Dumaguete broadcaster Edmund Sestoso, Go said another preliminary investigation is scheduled within this month, after the withdrawal of the wife Lourdes as private complainant, due perhaps to discontentment on the findings that the New People’s Army was the mastermind.

“Let’s continue to look for justice for Edmund Sestoso,” Go told members of the Dumaguete Press Radio and TV Club, adding that the complaint for murder had been re-filed. (FREEMAN)