Senator Christopher “Bong” Go on Thursday lauded President Rodrigo Duterte for signing into law 11 bills seeking to establish and improve Department of Health (DOH)-run hospitals.

Go, who chairs the Senate Committee on Health and Demography, said these new laws would

inevitably help improve the capacity of the public healthcare system in the respective communities to provide quality care and services to Filipinos, especially in the grassroots, and amid the ongoing global health crisis.

Among the towns and municipalities that would benefit these new laws are Abulug, Cagayan; Bocaue, Bulacan; Villanueva, Misamis Oriental; Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao; Cagayan de Oro City; Cebu City; Daraga, Albay; Jolo, Sulu; Santa Barbara, Iloilo; San Fernando City, La Union; and Barotac Nuevo, Iloilo.

“Sa pandemyang ito, nakita natin kung gaano kahalaga ang investment sa kalusugan. Nahirapan tayo noong umpisa ng pandemya dahil hindi natin binigyang pansin nitong nagdaang mga dekada ang pagpapalakas ng ating healthcare system capacity (During this pandemic, we saw the importance of investing in health. It was difficult at first because we didn’t pay attention to strengthening our healthcare system capacity much during the last decade),” remarked Go, who is the principal author of the said measures.

“Bagama’t patuloy na bumababa ang mga bagong kaso ng COVID-19, kailangan pa rin nating maging handa dahil hindi natin alam kung ilang pandemya pa o bagong variants ng COVID-19 ang darating. Huwag po nating hintayin na tuluyan nang bumigay ang healthcare system natin at malagay sa panganib ang buhay ng ating mga kababayan (Even though Covid-19 cases continue to wane, we still need to be prepared because we don’t know how many pandemics or if there are new variants of Covid-19 that will emerge. Let’s not wait until then for our healthcare system to collapse and put the lives of our people in danger),” he added.

Among the newly signed measures include Republic Act No. 11718 which establishes the Northwestern Cagayan General Hospital in Abulug, RA 11720 which establishes the Joni Villanueva General Hospital in Bocaue, RA 11721 which establishes the Northeastern Misamis General Hospital in Villanueva, RA 11715 which converts the Cotabato Sanitarium in Sultan Kudarat into the Cotabato Sanitarium and General Hospital and increases its bed capacity, RA 11716 which increases the bed capacity of the Northern Mindanao Medical Center in Cagayan de Oro City, RA 11717 which increases the bed capacity of the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center in Cebu City, RA 11719 which converts the Bicol Regional Training and Teaching Hospital in Daraga into the Bicol Regional Hospital and Medical Center and increases its bed capacity, RA 11722 which converts the Sulu Sanitarium in Jolo into the Sulu Sanitarium and General Hospital, RA 11723 which converts the Western Visayas Sanitarium in Sta. Barbara, Iloilo into the Western Visayas Sanitarium and General Hospital and increases its bed capacity, RA 11724 which increases the bed capacity of the Ilocos Training and Regional Medical Center in San Fernando City, and RA 11725 which converts the Don Jose S. Monfort Medical Center Extension Hospital in Barotac Nuevo into the Don Jose S. Monfort Medical Center and increases its bed capacity.

In light of this, Go reassured that the Senate Committee on Health will continue prioritizing the improvement of the healthcare system.

“Asahan n’yo po na patuloy na magtatrabaho ang komiteng ito hanggang sa nalalabing araw ng Kongresong ito para ipaglaban ang pagpapalakas sa ating mga pampublikong ospital (You can expect this committee to continue its work until the last day of Congress to push for the strengthening our public hospitals),” he vowed.