Senator Go assures BARMM, Soccsksargen of help amidst pandemic

COTABATO CITY – Senator Bong Go. who was here in this city Friday afternoon, has assured the public and the front-liners that the government is always willing to extend help to the BARMM region and Soccsksargen areas.  



The Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), that the senator is referring to, is composed of the provinces of Maguindanao, Sulu, Tawi-tawi , Basilan, plus the cities of Lamitan, Cotabato and Marawi.



Soccsksargen, on the other hand, is composed of four provinces namely South Cotabato, Cotabato, Sarangani, Sultan Kudarat, and General Santos City, plus the four cities of General Santos, Kidapawan, Koronadal and Tacurong.



Go was in the City as part of his monitoring visit, as well as to assure the workers of the Cotabato Regional and Medical Center (CRMC), who are hardly coping up with the challenges and scare brought about by the deadly coronavirus disease 2019. (Covid-19).



Go revealed he was working on a bill that would ensure allowances of healthcare providers and health care workers in hospitals and other facilities for Covid-19.



“All health care workers on duty are considered exposed to Covid-19. We cannot see this virus and it is hard to separate those who are directly exposed from those who are not,” he told officials of the CRMC here. “All health workers in both private and government facilities are included in the proposed Senate bill on special risk allowance that I had filed.”



During the senator’s visit, he also led the groundbreaking ceremonies of a new building which will become an exclusive office of the 16th Malasakit Center he inaugurated in 2018, including a 100-bed capacity Covid-10 isolation and treatment facility in the BARMM, and they both located in the CRMC compound.



In the BARMM and Soccsksargen areas, only the CRMC is the main referral hospital for Covid-19 in Central Mindanao.



“We all know that once you are inside the hospital, you cannot say you are not exposed to the virus,” the senator said.



During the groundbreaking ceremonies, Senator go was with CRMC Chief of Hospital Dr. Ishmael Dimaren, Cotabato City Mayor Cynthia Guiani Sayadi, and Minister Eduard Guerra of the BARMM Ministry of Public Works



“President Rodrigo Duterte’s marching order is to ensure health services to Filipinos must be prioritized. The Malasakit Center is for the poor and the indigents, for the hapless and helpless that have nowhere to go for their medical needs,” he concluded. – PNA