BONTOC – Mr. Philipe Odchayac Panay, 61, a diabetes patient and a resident of Omfeg, Bontoc Ili, Bontoc was hospitalized at the Bontoc General Hospital this January. Due to financial constraint, he was referred to the Medical Assistance Program (MAP) of the KABAYAN Party List (KPL) that is being implemented by the provincial government.
His hospital bills amounting to P4,436.40 was fully paid through the assistance program. Mr. Panay is one among the province’s constituents who received medical assistance since its implementation last June 2018.
Mindful on the importance of the program, the KPL represented by Congressman Ron P. Salo renewed the partnership with the Provincial Local Government of Mountain Province thru Gov. Bonifacio C. Lacwasan, Jr., in the delivery of medical assistance to help more constituents of the province. Aside from the MAP, the KPL also included additional assistance programs and projects to be implemented in Mountain Province for 2019.
KABAYAN Party List’s MAP Focal Person John Calvin Canlas Sardia, during last Monday’s regular flag ceremony at the Capitol Quadrangle bared that for 2019, KPL has allotted an amount of 25 million pesos for Mountain Province. The amount will go to the MAP, cash for work program, TESDA full scholarship grant and local infrastructures.
Sardia appreciated the efforts of Gov. Lacwasan for submitting project proposals that are timely suited to the needs of the people of Mountain Province. According to him, the KPL’s medical assistance program is but one of their programs which people can easily avail of for their medical concerns. He said that the KPL is true to its mandate in bringing the needed services even to the remote areas of the country.
He disclosed that the programs will be implemented after the transfer of funds to the conduit agencies who are partners of the provincial government in implementing the KPL programs.
For the MAP, the funds will be coursed through the DOH. There are three hospitals that are accredited by KPL where clients of the Provincial Government of Mountain Province may be referred to: 1) Baguio General Hospital; 2) Luis Hora Regional Memorial Hospital; and 3) Bontoc General Hospital.
To avail of the MAP, clients must first secure Guarantee Letters (GL) from the Governor’s Office. The GLs may cover medical expense such as but not limited to hospital bills, laboratory tests, medicines, vaccines, dialysis treatment, diagnostic procedures (2D echo, MRI, etc.) and other services the hospitals may offer. Considering the limited amount, the granting of MAP GLs, however, will be on a “First-come, First-served” basis.
Meanwhile, patients seeking medical help in the National Capital Region (NCR) may also avail of the KABAYAN MAP. Unlike the aforementioned hospitals, however, the GL for Manila-based hospitals are issued directly by the DOH Central Office pending the submission of details by the Provincial Government to the Party List’s MAP focal person.
KABAYAN Party List’ hospitals in NCR include Philippine Heart Center; National Kidney & Transplant Institute; Philippine General Hospital, Manila; Lung Center of the Philippines; Philippine Orthopedic Center; Philippine Children’s Medical Center; Las Piñas General Hospital & Satellite Trauma Center-Las Piñas; East Avenue Medical Center; Jose Reyes Memorial Hospital; and Hospital ng Muntinlupa, Muntinlupa City.
Another program of the KABAYAN Party List is its students’ assistance program, i.e., Tulong Dunong Program coursed thru the Commission on Higher Education (CHED). 70 slots have been allocated for Mountain Province. Consequently, the provincial government has issued an announcement, inviting students (preferably graduating students) to avail of the said assistance.
Per guidelines given by the funding entity, interested students must accomplish requisite documents at the soonest time possible and submit such to the Provincial Governor’s Office for proper endorsement to the party-benefactor in preparation for school year 2019-2020.
The KPL’s student assistance program will cater to qualified students who wish to study or is studying in public or private schools. A recipient will be receiving an amount of P12, 000.00 as grant-in-aid per year.
Interested applicants who are already CHED scholars of a congressman or a senator will not be accommodated; moreover, for the grade requirement, a student-applicant must have at least a general weighted average of 75 or 3.00.
The KPL – TESDA Full Scholarship Grant has also allocated 20 slots for heavy equipment back hoe NC II and 25 slots for driving NC II. Interested applicants of the scholarship grant must be willing to do practical and assessment program at Alfonso Lista, Ifugao.
Those who wants to avail of the MAP, student assistance program or the TESDA scholarship grant may visit the Provincial Information Office, second floor of the Provincial Capitol Building for more details.
In addition, the KPL has also allotted an infrastructure fund amounting to 20M pesos for the improvement of roads in the municipalities of Bauko and Paracelis.
Moreover, Gov. Lacwasan in his 2019 annual address to the members of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan on last year’s accomplishments, thanked the Kabayan Party List for the provisions of medical assistance to the constituents of the province. He mentioned on the current administration’s exhausting ways and means to complement the provincial government’s resources, particularly in addressing social protection concerns.
“Through our continuous outsourcing, we were able to work for the medical assistance program from KABAYAN partylist. Since the MAP’s implementation last June, 100 clients were able to avail of the MAP fund at Luis Hora Memorial Regional Hospital and at the Baguio General Hospital. Also, patients from the province were able to use the MAP fund at two NCR public hospitals. The two clients who underwent medical procedures at the Philippine Heart Center and at the National Kidney and Transplant Institute were readily given medical assistance in the amounts of Php 60, 000.00 and Php 50, 000.00, respectively,” Lacwasan said. By Erwin S. Batnag
