WITH President Leni Robredo set to step down next month to give way to Vice President-elect Sara Duterte-Carpio, the Office of the Vice President has officially ended its Bayanihan E-Konsulta program.
Last Tuesday afternoon, the OVP wrapped up the Bayanihan E-Konsulta services after assisting over 58,000 people last year, the second year of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The program was spearheaded by the office of the Vice President to help COVID-19 patients get medical attention through online platforms and take some load off hospitals at the height of the pandemic.
“Huling araw ngayon ng ating (Today is the last day of our) Bayanihan E-Konsulta initiative. Since we launched the program in April 2021, we have assisted more than 58,000 cases–both COVID and non-COVID patients,” Robredo said on Twitter.
The Bayanihan E-Konsulta also provided the public with free COVID-19 care kits such as paracetamol tablets, vitamins, thermometers, facemasks, oximeter, disinfectant, and alcohol.
The Office of the Vice President had suspended its COVID-19 response projects during the campaign period for the May 9 national elections but the Commission on Elections (Comelec) eventually allowed it to continue implementing its programs such as the Vaccine Express, Swab Cab and the Bayanihan E-konsulta, especially because of the spread of the Omicron variant.
Robredo, who lost badly to President-elect Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., also expressed gratitude to all the volunteers who helped in the OVP’s pandemic response programs, particularly the 947 doctors and 1,761 call or chat agents who worked with the Vice President and her staff.
“Lubos ang aking pasasalamat sa lahat ng nakasama natin: sa ating volunteer doctors, call/chat agents, EMS teams, and to my OVP family. At sa lahat ng mga kababayan na ating natulungan sa Bayanihan E-Konsulta, malaking karangalan po para sa amin na kayo ay mapaglingkuran (I’s so grateful to everyone who joined us: our volunteer doctors, call/chat agents, EMS teams and my OVP family. And to all the Filipinos that we were able to help through Bayanihan E-Konsulta, it is a great honor for us to serve you),” she said.
