For a family whose income is barely enough to cover their daily needs, a member getting sick and needing hospital care can be nothing short of a tragedy. When it is already a struggle just putting food on their table, having to scrape together enough money to pay exorbitant hospital fees is no different from kicking them when they are already down.

Sadly, that is precisely the experience of many of our poor Filipino families. Faced with unexpectedly huge hospital costs, they either dig themselves deeper into debt or forego hospital care altogether, both of which lead to more dire consequences. With no one else to rely on, many turn to the government to provide them assistance. However, I have also personally witnessed how seeking government aid can be very taxing on the applicants before.

When I was still working as the aide of our former president Rodrigo Duterte, who was then the Davao City mayor, we witnessed people queuing up in seemingly endless lines from one government agency to another just to apply for medical aid. So, when FPRRD was elected as our president, we provided a solution to address this problem and later on institutionalized it through the Malasakit Centers Act of 2019, which I authored and sponsored when I became a senator.

A one-stop shop, the Malasakit Center brings together under one roof relevant agencies, such as the Department of Social Welfare and Development, Department of Health, Philippine Health Insurance Corporation and Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office, to provide more convenient access to medical assistance programs. It seeks to reduce a hospital bill to the lowest possible amount by covering various medical services and expenses, particularly for poor and indigent patients.

More than four years since the first Malasakit Center was opened in Cebu City, I am happy to note that we have just opened the 152nd Malasakit Center in the country last 15 September. Together with my good friend, Sen. Robin Padilla, I personally witnessed the launch of the center and distributed assistance to 16 patients and 92 frontliners at the Maria L. Eleazar General Hospital in Tagkawayan, Quezon. This latest installment is the second Malasakit Center in Quezon province and the 12th in the CALABARZON region.

Nationwide, we now have 86 Malasakit Centers in Luzon, 29 in the Visayas and 37 in the Mindanao region, already benefiting millions of Filipinos. It is heartening to know that this program we initiated four years ago continues to expand even until now.