AT least 60,000 Filipinos have benefited from more than P400 million in medical assistance during the first quarter of 2023, the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) said.
“Nasa 60,779 kababayan natin ang natulungan sa kanilang gastusing pang-medikal, na umabot sa P410,427,957.55 na inilabas ng PCSO sa pamamagitan ng Medical Access Program (The PCSO was able to help 60,779 Filipinos pay their medical bills, which reached P410,427,957.55, which was taken from its Medical Access Program),” PCSO chairman Junie E. Cua said.
“Asahan po ninyo na tuloy-tuloy lang ang PCSO sa adhikain nitong matulungan ang sambayanang Pilipino. Paiigtingin pa natin ang serbisyo para mas marami pang kababayan natin ang makinabang (The Filipino people can always rely on the PCSO. We vow to keep improving our services so we can help more Filipinos in need),” he added.
The Medical Access Program (MAP) covers various requests for fund augmentation for medical concerns, such as confinement, dialysis injection, cancer treatment, hemodialysis, laboratory, diagnostic and imaging procedures, and implant and medical devices, among others.
The MAP is taken from the Charity Fund, which comprises 30 percent of net receipts and is used exclusively to finance and support health programs, medical assistance, and services, and/or charities of national character.
The PCSO generates funds through sweepstakes, horse races, lotteries, and similar activities.
Cua expressed optimism that the agency would be able to serve more Filipinos this year and exceed the figures it had posted in 2022.
Last year, the PCSO released P1,395,310,206.43 to 210,731 beneficiaries.
“We are aggressively looking for ways to generate more revenue in compliance with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s marching order to continue pushing the envelope for the benefit of our people. So hopefully, these efforts will bear fruit and we will be able to help more Filipino families,” Cua said.
