SEN. Bong Go vowed to hold the Department of Health (DoH) accountable if any patient, especially those who are underprivileged, is denied medical attention.

Go issued the warning during a Senate health committee hearing last Tuesday into the condition of the public health system.

"You should stand by your memo that no patient would be denied here. Because if a patient dies here due to poverty, you have a big responsibility to our countrymen. I will speak here every day if there is a patient who died because they were denied and because of the hardship that they have nowhere to run to and were denied by your office," the chairman of the Committee on Health and Demography said.

He cited the situation of a patient in Ozamiz City, Misamis Occidental, who was on the brink of having his oxygen supply cut off due to severe financial constraints, to highlight the need for the implementation of the Malasakit Centers Law.

"I was talking to the doctor; he said he would remove the oxygen because he no longer has money to pay for the private hospital. How can we help this through the MAIP program? Think about it: because of the oxygen ... he would remove it, he would suffocate due to hardship," Go said.

The DoH's Medical Assistance for Indigent Patients (MAIP) provides financial aid for medical care to indigent and financially incapable patients, which can be accessed through Malasakit Centers.

Health Secretary Ted Herbosa attended the hearing where Go pressed on the integrity of the DoH's promise to fulfill its mandate to implement the Malasakit Centers Law, which the senator authored and sponsored in 2019.

"You were under oath several times during (previous) hearings. You said you will help the poor. You said you would support and continue the Malasakit Centers because it helps the poor," Go reminded Herbosa.

There are 163 Malasakit Centers nationwide, which have assisted more than 10 million Filipinos, as reported by the DoH. The centers serve as one-stop shops that consolidate the medical assistance programs of various government agencies, including DoH, PhilHealth, the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office, and the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).

"You issued a memorandum that all patients must be accorded the services they need in Malasakit Centers," Go said, referring to the DoH Department Memorandum 2023-0235 issued by Herbosa, which mandates that all patients at Malasakit Centers receive the necessary services.

"I will stand by my commitment, and the government's 2024 allotment for the medical assistance for indigent and financially compromised patients is P58 billion," Herbosa said.

Other resource persons at the hearing, including DSWD Project Development Officer Artemio Bautista and Malasakit Center Program Office Director Luz Jordana Jose, discussed the centers' operations and success stories.

Jose discussed the centers' staffing problems. "Right now, we are still at 69 percent only. Unfortunately, we received several resignation letters from appointed job orders," he said.

Bautista said that slots are still available, particularly in the four newly opened centers and one at the Veterans Memorial Medical Center in Quezon City.

Go called for immediate filling up of the vacancies.

The Senate health committee also asked the DoH to submit a comprehensive plan on the projected expansion of Malasakit Centers to qualified public hospitals.