THE Office of the President (OP) will establish a help desk that will respond to financial and medical requests for assistance from the public.
Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin signed Executive Order 20 on March 21 for the creation of the Presidential Help Desk that will complement the existing health services and projects of the government to provide accessible and direct financial and medical assistance to qualified beneficiaries.
The Presidential Action Center (PACe) will serve as the administrator of the Presidential Help Desk.
Its head will determine the appropriate staffing pattern and corresponding qualification standards for all the positions necessary to operate the Presidential Help Desk.
Pending the approval of the revised organizational structure and staffing pattern, the PACe “may tap into its existing manpower to ensure the immediate implementation of the project.”
The Presidential Help Desk will be managed by a project coordinator who will directly report to the PACe, in which his/her main task is to ensure that the day-to-day implementation of the project is managed effectively, efficiently and economically, and oversee the operational activities of the project, including the performance by all employees and personnel of their respective functions.
Under the order, the PACe is required to submit to the President, via the Office of the Executive Secretary, an annual report on the operations of the Presidential Help Desk.
The funds necessary for the Presidential Help Desk to operate will be charged “against appropriate funding sources under the OP,” the EO stated.
“For this purpose, the PACe, in coordination with the Office of the Deputy Executive Secretary for Finance and Administration, shall submit to the Department of Budget and Management, for review and approval, a proposal on the integration of the Presidential Help Desk into the overall organizational structure and staffing pattern of the PACe,” it added.
The OP said from July to December 2022, the PACe (formerly the Presidential Complaint Center), received a total of 52,728 action documents from the public, in which 20.08 percent were related to medical concerns such as requests for medicines or financial aid to defray costs of medical procedures and hospital bills. (SunStar Philippines)