Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) Assistant Secretary Celine Pialago has joined the individuals who have come to the aid of Philippine General Hospital (PGH), which sustained extensive damage from a recent fire.
Through her non-government organization (NGO) the Malasakit Movement, Pialago donated P250,000 in cash to the state-run hospital on Monday, May 24. Dr. Gerardo Legaspi, PGH director, personally received the money from the MMDA spokesperson.
Pialago said she sourced the cash donation from her personal funds and from resources pooled by her family and supporters.
Flames broke out on the third floor of PGH in Manila last May 16. It was later learned that five of the hospital’s sterilization units and its autoclave room were damaged during the incident.
Needless to say, the medical facility is a key part of the government's response mechanism against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. Pialago said she hopes her donation, coupled with the dole out of others, would help speed up the rehabilitation of PGH.
The day before Malasakit Movement made the donation to PGH, the group reached out and delivered food items to residents of three urban-poor communities in Quezon City, Pasig City and Caloocan City. The group is also set to visit other areas in Metro Manila in order to provide much-needed aid to residents severely affected by the health crisis.
Pialago founded the Malasakit Movement after being inspired by journalist Kara David’s “Project Malasakit”, a non-stock, non-profit foundation that sends poor Filipino children to school. “Malasakit” means “concern for others” in Filipino.