From the air, Panay Island is a colorful patchwork of red-and-blue roofs and green fields that beckon visitors with the promise of friendly people, good food and interesting times.
I visited the island last week with fellow Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) Director lawyer Francisco G. Joaquin III and other agency officials and employees to conduct branch opening and ambulance-donation activities.
On July 20 our first stop was Kalibo, Aklan, to turn over 10 ambulances to Vice Gov. Gabrielle Calizo, local government unit (LGU) officials and hospital chiefs. The recipients were the municipalities of Altavas, Balete, Nabas, Madalag, Libacao, New Washington, Malay, Ibajay, Numancia and the Dr. Rafael S. Tumbokon Memorial Hospital.
From there we proceeded to the province of Capiz, where we were met by Gov. Victor A. Tanco. A simple ceremony was held in the provincial capitol’s Hall of Governors to turn over eight ambulances to the LGU officials of Ivisan, President Roxas, Cuartero, Panay, Maayon, Panitan, the Camp Peralta Station Hospital and Roxas City.
In his welcome address, Tanco thanked the PCSO for the ambulances, which he said would be a great help to the people of the province, especially during times of emergency.
In return, we thanked him for his support of our agency in many ways, one of which is providing free office space for the PCSO Aklan branch office right within the capitol building itself, a few steps away from the main entrance doors and thus easily seen by the public.
Having delivered my remarks in Hiligaynon, I was promptly and lightheartedly “adopted” by Tanco as a “son of the province.”
On July 21 we traveled to the province of Antique for another ambulance-donation turnover ceremony and a milestone occurrence—the formal inauguration of the PCSO branch office in the town of San Jose de Buenavista (or simply San Jose).
Upon our arrival, we were greeted by San Jose Mayor Rony L. Molina and former Gov. Exequiel Javier. We all trooped to the newest PCSO branch office for a Mass said by Bishop Jose Romeo O. Lazo.
In his blessing at the end of the Mass, the bishop said something that struck me as most apt: “I hope that in Antique, and all over the country, the PCSO will be known as the Philippine Charity Service Office.” That is, indeed, the mission of the agency—to be of service to Filipinos nationwide.
The opening of this branch, headed by Elma Gutierrez, makes it the PCSO’s 47th and the fourth on the island of Panay, meaning that all provinces on the island now have a PCSO branch office, for the convenience of residents.
Before the PCSO’s present administration started branch expansion in 2012, there were only 25 branches, making it difficult for people to access the PCSO’s services. For instance, the only office in the area back then was in Iloilo; it meant that people from Antique would have to take a three-hour bus ride, while people from the island-province of Guimaras would have to take a long land trip, depending on where on the island they lived, and a ferry to cross to Iloilo.
The Mass and PCSO Antique office blessing were followed by an ambulance-turnover ceremony, where the PCSO gave nine ambulances to the municipalities of Anini-y, Barbaza, Laua-an, Bugasong, Patnongon, San Remigio and San Jose de Buenavista, and to the Sebaste Community Hospital
and Angel Salazar Memorial
General Hospital.
Molina expressed his “sincere gratitude to the PCSO leadership” for the ambulances and the branch office, which makes “PCSO’s services visible in the Western part of Panay.”
On July 22 we held another ambulance turnover, this time at the Iloilo Provincial Capitol, where we were greeted by Iloilo Gov. Arthur D. Defensor Sr. and Guimaras Gov. Samuel T. Gumarin.
Iloilo received 22 ambulances for the city of Passi; municipalities of Bingawan, Badiangan, Anilao, Lemery, Balasan, Maasin, Igbaras, Dingle, Estancia, Carles, Oton, San Rafael and Dueñas; and for Western Visayas Medical Center, Federico Roman Tirador Sr. Memorial District Hospital, Aleosan District Hospital, Dr. Ricardo V. Ladrino Memorial District Hospital, Western Visayas Sanitarium, San Joaquin Mother and Child Hospital, Iloilo Doctors College and the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines at Iloilo Airport.
Guimaras received four ambulances for the municipalities of San Lorenzo, Sibunag, Nueva Valencia and Buenavista.
With his concern for his constituents being “health and quality of life,” Gumarin said, “Finally, we now have one of the ingredients for the delivery of basic services—ambulances—and they are brand-new. The ones we’ve been using are 10 to 15 years old. In behalf of Negros, I thank the PCSO and our beloved President…. Rest assured that we will do our best for development up to the barangay level.”
The PCSO’s long-term goal is to open a branch office in every province, to better serve the people by reducing their cost and effort to reach the PCSO. Likewise, we aim to provide each municipality with an ambulance. Both are stretch goals, but we believe we can reach them with the help and support of the people we serve.
Atty. Jose Ferdinand M. Rojas II is the vice chairman and general manager of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office.