PCSO eyes 81 branches by 2020

FILE: PCSO APAYAO BRANCH. Officials of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) grace the opening of the agency’s 68th branch in the province of Apayao on Nov. 28, 2019. The agency eyes to have 81 branches all over the country next year. (Photo courtesy of PCSO via PNA)

MANILA — The Philippine Charity Sweepstake Office (PCSO) is eyeing to have a total of 81 branches all over the country next year, in a bid to provide medical assistance to all needy Filipinos.

“We will make sure that more PCSO branches will be opened in the country for us to help the needy. Next year, we are targeting to have a total of 81 branches all over the country,” PCSO General Manager Royina Marzan-Garma said in a statement over the weekend.

“The PCSO is committed to aiding the public. We are mainly a charity agency, tasked to help our kababayans,” Garma added.

Garma said the PCSO Apayao Branch located at the Apayao Provincial Capitol will serve 119, 184 locals of the municipalities of Clanasan, Conner, Kabugao, Flora, Luna, Pudtol, and Santa Marcela.

“We want to help more people in dire need of medical assistance that’s why we opened another branch in Apayao. This our commitment to the public. We want to make them feel that they have a government that they can rely on in times of need,” she said in a statement.

The Apayao branch office, which opened on November 28, will also assist and attend the needs of 8 lotto outlets, 8 keno outlets, and lone authorized STL agent corporation (Mountain View Games of Chance Corporation) in the area.

For the period January to October of 2019, the lotto and Keno outlets in Apayao registered sales earnings of P1,204,960.00 and P1,081,908, respectively.

The opening of the Apayao Branch Office is concrete proof of the agency’s determination and commitment to bring the exciting PCSO gaming products closer to its loyal supporters, Garma said.

During the opening, the PCSO gave a total of PHP1.9 million calamity assistance to the provinces of Apayao and Cagayan, which were devastated by Typhoon Quiel in November this year.

Nearly 85, 000 people were affected by Typhoon Quiel in the Northern Luzon region, with six people dead, according to reports.

The municipalities in the province of Apayao (PHP1.

2 million) that will benefit from the financial aid of PCSO are Conner (PHP100, 000); Pudtol (PHP500, 000); Calanasan (PHP500, 000); and Kabugao (PHP100, 000).

For the municipalities of Cagayan (PHP700,000), they are Gattaran (P1HP00, 000); Pena Blanca (PHP100, 000); Buguey (PHP100, 000); Iguig (PHP100, 000); Calayan (PHP100, 000); Rizal (PHP100, 000); and Solana (PHP100, 000).

“The PCSO charitable programs and services more accessible to its mandated beneficiaries even to the farthest area of our country,” Garma stressed.

The PCSO serves as the principal government agency for raising and providing funds for health programs, medical assistance and services, and charities of national character.

The Individual Medical Assistance Program (IMAP) is considered the flagship program of the PCSO which was institutionalized in 1995 to provide timely and responsive financial assistance to individuals with health-related problems.

Aside from the IMAP, the PCSO’s other charity programs include the Endowment Fund Program, Institutional Partnership Program, Procurement of Medical Equipment, AFP/PNP Health Facilities Capability Building Project, Calamity Assistance Program, Milk Feeding Program, Integrated Health for Overall Productivity and Empowerment (I-HOPE), and Out-Patient Services Program (Medical and Dental Services), among others.