MANILA, Philippines — Set aside politics and instead work in solidarity and with compassion for those made more vulnerable by the COVID-19 pandemic. Sen. Christopher “Bong” Go stressed this message to Filipinos in his speech at the launching last Friday of the 85th Malasakit Center at the National Center for Mental Health in Mandaluyong. The centers were institutionalized under Malasakit Centers Act of 2019, which was authored and sponsored by Go and signed by President Duterte last December 2019. “If you have a balance [in medical bills], the Malasakit Center will pay for it because its target is to achieve zero balance as much as possible,” he said. He added that the Department of Social Welfare and Development had also committed to giving additional assistance to select patients on completing their assessment.

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer October 04, 2020 17:47 UTC