From an initial 25 branches, the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) now has 53 branches in its network to better serve Filipinos around the country.
When I and my fellow directors were appointed to serve at the PCSO at the start of the Aquino administration in mid-2010, we found out there was no plans to open additional branches beyond the 25 scattered over Luzon, the Visayas and Mindanao.
As we conducted comprehensive agency reforms, conducted strategic planning sessions and monitored feedback, we realized that there was an urgent need to extend PCSO services in underserved and remote regions. Most in need of access to government services are the island-provinces reachable only by air and
water transport.
Moreover, a great number of our kababayan in the provinces cannot afford to travel to the nearest PCSO or other government office branch that might be several hours away by land and/or water travel. Opening branch offices in their areas would ensure that none of our fellow Filipinos “will be left behind” in terms of access to developmental and social-welfare services that could make a huge difference in the quality of their lives.
After careful study of the PCSO’s situation, we instituted prudent financial measures that gave the agency the means to expand its branch network starting in 2012.
In the four years since then, the PCSO now has an additional 28 branches, a 112-percent increase over the original number of branches, for a total of 53
branches nationwide.
The newest branch is in Aurora province and was inaugurated on May 16. The office is at the Old Hospital Building, San Luis Street, Baler, and is supervised by OIC-Branch Manager Leopoldo Atacador, under the guidance of Northern and Central Luzon
Department Manager Laila Galang.
The branch will serve the 201,233 inhabitants of the province, extending to them the PCSO’s assistance for medical- and healthcare-related concerns, as well as support for the nine Lotto outlets and 20 Lotto Express outlets in the province.
We hope that entrepreneurs in the area consider partnering with PCSO to open more Lotto outlets. It is through the PCSO’s conduct of Lotto and its other gaming activities that revenues are generated for the agency’s social-welfare programs, primarily the Individual Medical Assistance Program, which subsidizes part of a person’s hospitalization
or medical-treatment needs.
With the mechanisms and programs that the present PCSO Board of Directors has put into place, the agency is poised to open more branches this year as it seeks to enhance its service delivery to all Filipinos. The agency’s goal is to open a branch office in each of the country’s 81 provinces, insofar as it is feasible and safe. At 53 branches, we are now at 65 percent of that goal.
While in Baler for the inauguration, we also turned over nine ambulances from the PCSO’s ambulance donation program to the municipalities of Baler, Casiguran, Dilasag, Dinalungan, Dingalan, and Dipaculao, and to the Sabang Eco Tourism Area Association Inc., Maria Aurora Community Hospital and Aurora Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office.
The aim of this program is to provide each municipality with an ambulance.
As it has for the past eight decades, the PCSO continues to serve the Filipino people with integrity and good governance, commitment to its mandate, and compassion for all.
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Atty. Rojas is vice chairman and general manager of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office.