TACLOBAN CITY — Special Assistant to the President Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go vowed to talk to Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Secretary Mark Villar to address the perennial flooding along a main highway leading to the Eastern Visayas Regional Medical Center (EVRMC) in this city.
“I will personally request Secretary Villar to find immediate solutions to this flooding as soon as possible. It is important that the road to the hospital is always accessible,” Go told reporters during the press briefing inside the new PHP497-million EVRMC main building in Cabalawan village Tuesday afternoon.
The official asked his staff to help him remind of the complaint. Go also received reports that the main road in the city are impassable during heavy rains due to flooding, forcing light vehicles such as ambulance carrying patients to return to some parts of Samar.
Last December 2017 and February 2018, flooding of the national road in Nula Tula village stalled traffic and stranded hundreds of commuters.
The DPWH earlier said the flood was caused by new structures blocking the waterways. The government asked property owners to demolish structures to pave the way for expanded flood control project.
Go vowed to ask military to use its trucks to transport patients if in case flooding will make the road impassable in the future.
During the EVRMC main building inauguration, the Cabinet official reiterated the thrust of the Duterte administration to improve health services for poor Filipinos.
The opening of the main building signals the expansion of President Duterte’s Malasakit Center, a one-stop-shop that will provide access to government programs that extend medical financial assistance to the underprivileged, he said.
The Palace official turned over PHP15 million to the EVRMC management for the first month operation of Malasakit Center. This is the second center in the Visayas after the opening of the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center in Cebu.
Go also announced the provision of Toyota Grandia van to transport patients from remote areas in Leyte and Samar provinces to the regional hospital. The vehicle donated by him and some friends from Davao City comes with regular operation and maintenance support.
The six-storey EVRMC main building has 353 beds and 35 cribs built in a new location free from threats of storm surges. With a floor area of 30,000 square meters, it was designed for 420-bed service wards and 180-bed private rooms. (PNA)
