Senator Christopher "Bong" Go's team, in coordination with Councilor Derek Palanca, brought relief to displaced workers in Victorias City, Negros Occidental last Friday.

The senator — in a video message — also stressed the importance of providing sufficient livelihood opportunities for the poor to ensure inclusive economic recovery.

The distribution activity was held at the Barangay 7 covered court where Go's team handed out snacks, shirts, and balls for basketball and volleyball to 180 displaced workers while the Department of Labor and Employment also conducted an orientation for those eligible for the Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers program.

Previously, the lawmaker filed Senate Bill 420, which seeks to offer temporary employment to eligible members of low-income rural households. Under the proposed legislation, the Rural Employment Assistance Program would be created within the DoLE.

If the measure is enacted into law, REAP's primary objective would be to offer temporary job opportunities to individuals who meet the criteria for economic disadvantage, poverty, displacement, or seasonal employment.

Go, who also chairs the Senate Committee on Health and Demography, extended assistance to those with health concerns as he encouraged them to avail of the services of the Malasakit Center located at Corazon Locsin Montelibano Memorial Regional Hospital in Bacolod City if they need assistance with their hospital expenses.

Established in 2018, the Malasakit Centers are one-stop shops that consolidate various government medical assistance programs from various agencies such as the Department of Social Welfare and Development, the Department of Health, the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation and the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office.

Go is the principal author and sponsor of Republic Act 11463 or the Malasakit Centers Act of 2019, which institutionalized the Malasakit Centers program. To date, 159 operational centers have helped more than ten million Filipinos nationwide, according to the DoH.

Go then highlighted RA 11959, also known as the Regional Specialty Centers Act, a legislative initiative for which he is the principal sponsor and one of the authors in the Senate. This Act aims to establish Regional Specialty Centers within the current regional hospitals under the jurisdiction of DoH.