PHILHEALTH Regional Office (PRO) VII officially launched the Yaman ng Kalusugan Program (Yakap) in Central Visayas on August 11, 2025, at the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center (VSMMC).
Through this program, PhilHealth will provide an enhanced primary and outpatient care package that includes free consultations and health screenings, select medicines, and basic laboratory or diagnostic tests, with cancer screening and additional medicines to follow soon.
VSMMC’s Outpatient Department (OPD) is among the 240 accredited Yakap Clinics in Central Visayas as of August 9, 2025.
As a tertiary-level DOH hospital, VSMMC is equipped with a variety of facilities and services.
It also serves as a multi-specialty academic medical center and a healthcare provider network for the province.
With these capabilities, it is expected to become one of the key providers for the upcoming cancer screening services under Yakap.
Local health leaders and local chief executives present during the launch expressed their support for the enhanced primary preventive care benefit package were VSMMC Chief Dr. Gerardo Aquino Jr. with the hospital’s Executive Committee, Department of Health Central Visayas Center for Health Development (DOH-CVCHD) Regional Director Dr. Joshua Brillantes, Cebu Provincial Board Member and Committee on Public Health Chairperson Dr. Stanley Caminero, Cebu Provincial Administrator Atty. Ace Durano, on behalf of Cebu Governor Pamela Baricuatro, and Cebu City Mayor Nestor Archival.
Also present at the launch were Cebu Provincial Health Officer Dr. Mary Ann Josephine Arsenal and Cebu City Health Officer Dr. Daisy Villa.
In her welcome message, PRO VII Regional Vice President Marjorie Cabrieto highlighted the program’s enhanced coverage and preventive approach, stating, “Yakap is an enhanced package of the Konsulta.
[Rural Health Units], district hospitals, DOH hospitals, and even private clinics are accredited as Yakap Clinics. Meaning to say, you can seek free consultations, medicines, and laboratory services.”
She further encouraged the public to register at an accredited Yakap clinic to fully maximize the benefits, especially with the upcoming inclusion of cancer screening services for breast, lung, colorectal, and liver cancers.
Over 100 stakeholders, comprising of patients from VSMMC’s Outpatient Department seeking medical consultations at the facility that morning, VSMMC medical staff and utility personnel, availed of on-site services such as member registration, updating their member data record (MDR) and getting a printed copy of such, ID card issuance with on-site photo capture, and assisted registration at their preferred YAKAP clinic.
In the afternoon, a ceremonial signing of the Manifesto of Support was held, led by representatives from VSMMC, DOH-CVCHD, the Cebu Provincial Government, and the City Government of Cebu. The signing solidified a unified commitment among government agencies and health institutions to bring quality, accessible, and preventive healthcare closer to Cebuanos and to the rest of the people of Central Visayas. (Press release)