THE Cebu City Government is now authorized to use Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) funds for its Long Life Medical Assistance Program (LLAMP).
Mayor Tomas Osmeña said the City would no longer need to use its regular budget to buy the maintenance medicine for the program’s 40,000 beneficiaries.
“We are tightening up Long Life. As soon as we have some realignment as we strengthen and regroup the program, we’re moving into phase 2,” he told reporters.
Phase 2 of the program includes trained volunteers checking the patient’s vital signs and blood pressure, among others.
But instead of patients going to the barangay health center, the LLAMP personnel tasked to deliver the maintenance medicines will be the ones to report to trained volunteers if the patient is not feeling well.
“If it doesn’t work, we will send the nurse. That will be the third stage. The nurse will get the blood without the person leaving his house. Starting next year, we will bid out 15,000 blood test laboratories prepaid,” Osmeña said. “So that when the nurse will get the blood extract, it goes directly to the laboratory. Electronically, the results will be made available on the same day so that the doctor can find out what is wrong with you,” he added.
For now, the mayor wants to focus on buying more maintenance medicines to cater to more beneficiaries.
The City Council yesterday approved the City’s first supplemental budget amounting to P469 million. Around P27.7 million of this is intended for the LLAMP.
Osmeña said there is a need to buy more medicines since there are still many who have yet to avail themselves of the program.
“I want to have the best medical service anywhere in Asia. I want to show the future that Cebu City must have the lowest mortality rate in the Philippines because we are setting up a management system of taking care of these people who are vulnerable,” he added.
Meanwhile, the mayor reacted to the opposition’s statement that the Barangay Mayor’s Office (BMO) is illegal.
“It (BMO) is like a knife. It depends on how you use it”, he said.
The opposition has described the functions of the BMO as redundant, saying Osmeña is using the office for politics.
For this matter, Osmeña said that there is good and bad politics, and if the opposition thinks that his main agenda in creating the BMO is “bad” politics, then it only reflects the values the opposing team holds.
He said the BMO extends basic services and supplies from City Hall to barangay constituents right at their doors. (With Paula Joy Mendoza, CNU Intern)