Vice presidential candidate Dr. Willie Ong said on Thursday, Dec. 9, that he and his running mate, presidential aspirant Manila Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso, will push for the establishment of the Cancer Center of the Philippines (CCP) if they win in the 2022 elections.
Ong said that they are aiming to provide the poor free medicines and medical procedures.
“Hindi po ako masaya na ang nabibigay ko sa inyo ay payo lang dahil ang kailangan ninyo po ngayon ‘yung libreng gamot sa high-blood, libreng gamot sa diabetes, kailangan ninyo ng insulin, kailangan libreng dialysis, libreng blood test, urinalysis, libreng ultra-sound, 2D Echo, ECG, at ‘yung mga operasyon na nalulungkot ako at hindi ko maibigay dati (I am not happy that I only give you advice because what you need now are free medicines for high-blood, free medicines for diabetes, you need insulin, you need free dialysis, free blood test, urinalysis, free ultra-sound, 2D Echo, ECG, and operations that I am saddened I could not give before),” Ong said during the Aksyon Demokratiko rally in Malabon City.
“Sabi ni Mayor Isko sa akin ‘Doc Willie samahan mo lang ako, mabibigay mo ‘yan sa milyon-milyong kababayan natin. Ikaw bahala sa kalusugan’ (Mayor Isko told me ‘Doc Willie, be my running mate and you will be able to give those to millions and millions of our people. You’ll be in charge of health),” he added.
The CCP project, he said, will be modelled after the Philippine Heart Center and the Lung Center of the Philippines to provide specialized treatment to Filipinos diagnosed with cancers.
Ong reiterated his pronouncement he made during the “Bilis Kilos” grand launch in Laguna on Nov. 12 that he is running on a health-based platform.
His campaign focuses on “GOALS” which stands for “gamot, operasyon, abiso, lab test, and safe na gamot at pagkain (medicines, operations, advice, lab test, and safe medication and food)”. It aims to secure affordable medications, operations, and laboratory tests for poor Filipinos.