The Palawan branch of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office based in Puerto Princesa City received the highest ratings from the 2017 Customer Satisfaction Survey commissioned to the Development Academy of the Philippines.
PCSO general manager Alexander Balutan said the branch office was adjudged best for both medical assistance (4.60) and prize claims (4.69).
“I would like to congratulate the men and women of our Palawan branch office headed by Rolando ‘Orly’ Batislaong for a job well done. Hope this will serve as a good example and inspiration to all other branches and a challenge as well to step up in their performance and delivery of services,” he said in a statement.
In an interview, the 44-year-old Batislaong said they were flattered with the observation.
He has been with PCSO for 20 years, serving as Palawan’s branch manager for nearly 17 years.
“With all humility, we are not yet at our best when it comes to our full service. Since our allocation is not sufficient to sustain and/or serve all our clients in full and in a day, we try to compensate in our services. We do not allow clients to wait in line for more than an hour. We try to deliver our services fast so they won’t feel annoyed,” Batislaong said.
The branch has a daily Individual Medical Assistance Program allocation of P200,000, catering to 30-40 patients a day.
In 2017, Palawan served on 8,167 number of cases for a total of P49 million.
The top three nature of cases include hospitalization with P3,812 cases at P30 million; laboratory/diagnostic procedures with 3,043 cases at P10 million; and dialysis (peritoneal/hemodialysis) with 455 cases at P4 million.
For the first quarter of 2018, the branch has already served on 2,304 cases at P12 million, an 11.6-percent increase compared with the same period last year, wherein 2017 first quarter, there were 2,064 number of cases at P12 million.
“No significant increase since the allocation is almost the same. Most of our clients belong to Class C, D, and E who are into agriculture, fishing, and tourism industries,” Batislaong said.
Palawan is the largest province in terms of land area. The distance from PCSO office to the city from north to south is approximately 300 kilometers.
“Our top priority is clients coming from the northern and southern part of Palawan, and persons with disability [PWD]. The location of our office is in the heart of the city. We are inside the City Coliseum and is very accessible and near the hospitals,” said Batislaong.
The branch has only nine personnel: Branch manager, accountant, cashier, electronics and communication equipment technician, admin aide, one licensed social worker, clerk, supply officer and bookkeeper (both assigned at Small Town Lottery in Taytay). It opens at 8 am and closes at 5 pm.