PHILIPPINE Charity Sweepstakes Office, through the Charity Assistance Department, has defended the new budget allocation for medical assistance after it drew mixed reactions from patients and relatives.
“In as much as we wanted to help everyone, we need to stick with our budget for this year. We are over utilizing our budget. Hopefully this is temporary. Rest assured we are doing our best to accommodate all your requests,” said PCSO general manager Alexander Balutan.
“In so far as the budget is concerned, it’s always been P4.1 million, but we recognize that there is really a volume of individuals asking for help so we went beyond. What we did is to strictly implement that budget,” said Dr. Larry Cedro, assistant general manager for Charity Sector.
Recently, PCSO has modified its budget allocation program for its medical assistance services due to overutilization of funds.
The Individual Medical Assistance Program has exceeded its utilization by more than P500 million. This is also attributed to a marked increase in the number of beneficiaries availing of financial support from the agency by 27.93 percent for the first semester of 2018 compared to its 2017 data of the same period.
But in 2016, the Commission on Audit issued an Audit Observation Memorandum cautioning the agency for overspending.
The agency was advised to review and prioritize its expenses and it should be duly supported by the supplemental budget.
Cedro said: “We explained that it’s hard to turn away clients because they rely heavily on PCSO’s role. But we have to acknowledge the fact that we cannot have a repeat on what happened in 2016.
“If there’s overutilization, it’s doesn’t have to be the big or else, CoA will issue another memorandum. That’s why we immediately applied the remedial measure.”
Prior to 2010, Cedro revealed the agency only operated with around P2 million per day for IMAP as compared with the P4.1 million and more it is spending now.
Cedro also dispelled rumors the Lung Center of the Philippines, PCSO’s satellite office, was only accepting 100 patients a day.
While there are lines dedicated for senior citizens, persons with disability, and the regular patients, Cedro said he gave specific instructions to distribute the quota of patients.
Once they reached the cap, the social workers have to stop.
As for PCSO branches, Cedro confirmed that the agency had maintained the P18-million daily budget.
But he clarified that the provision of services is anchored on the hospital where the patient is receiving the treatment and not where he lives.