The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) turned over a total of P571.58 million to the provinces of Pampanga, Bataan, Zambales, Nueva Ecija, Aurora, Ilocos Norte, Masbate and Leyte on June 28, 2022.
PAGCOR Chairman and CEO Andrea D. Domingo said the financial grants will be used for the upgrading of hospital equipment and augmentation of the local governments’ medical facilities.
The province of Pampanga received P190.5 million. Of this amount, P100 million was allotted for the completion of Pampanga Provincial Hospital – Clark Annex as instructed by former President Rodrigo Duterte, while the remaining P90.5 million will be used for the procurement of 40 units of dialysis machines and one unit of CT scan machine.
Pampanga’s Provincial Administrator Atty. Charlie Chua said the hospital will cater to around 125,000 employees in Clark and other patients from nearby provinces. “Yung dialysis machines at CT scan naman ay gagamitin sa dalawang dialysis centers sa Districts 4 at 2 na itatayo sa Pampanga,” he added.
Meantime, the province of Bataan received P102.06 million which will be used for the procurement of various medical/hospital equipment for the COVID-19 facility and Mariveles District Hospital (MDH)-Imaging and Diagnostic Center of the province.
MDH Chief Doctor Hector T. Santos said the donation will enable them to cater to more patients after serving as a COVID facility for two years.
“Early this year lang kami nakapag-resume ng operations ng lahat ng services. Kaya napakalaking timing ng grant ng PAGCOR. Una, magagamit ito sa pagpapa-gawa ng temporary ICU para kung magka-surge ulit ng COVID, prepared tayo. Second, i-a-upgrade natin ang ospital at makakabili na tayo ng diagnostic modalities, like CT Scan, Ultrasound, mga Digital X-Ray. Sabi nga ni Gov. Alberto Garcia, kung napakalaki ng province at development, ang healthcare hindi dapat napapag-iwanan,” Santos shared.
The provinces of Zambales and Nueva Ecija, meanwhile, received P100 million each.
According to Zambales Provincial Legal Officer Atty. Jo Ellaine Collado, the financial grant will be utilized to upgrade their provincial hospital. “Currently, our hospital is under level 2. But with the P100 million-donation from PAGCOR, we will get to level 3 to increase our bed capacity from 150 beds to 300 to 500, hopefully” she said.
Nueva Ecija Provincial Administrator Atty. Alejandro Abesamis said they will use the donation for the procurement of one unit of MRI machine and three units of ambulance.
Other provinces that received financial grants were Aurora (P54 million for the procurement of one unit of 64-slice CT scan equipment, anesthesia machine, and construction of a building to house the facilities) and Ilocos Norte (P15.05 million for the procurement of various hospital equipment).
Also, the municipality of Baybay in Leyte received P3.97 million for the purchase of various medical equipment intended for Immaculate Conception Hospital. The municipal government of Balud, Masbate also received P6 million for the construction of one unit school building, procurement of books, journals latest editions, furniture and fixtures, and laboratory equipment.
The recipients expressed their gratitude to PAGCOR for the agency’s generosity and timely support.
In the past six years (2016 – 2022), PAGCOR has infused more than one billion to several health-related programs of the national government and several public medical institutions, on top of its mandated contributions.
