PCSO guarantees 1 ambulance for each city, municipality

By Bernard Susbilla

BACOLOD CITY (PIA) — All cities and municipalities nationwide will receive a patient transport vehicle (PTV), or ambulance, from the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO).

This was guaranteed by PCSO General Manager Melquiades Robles during the turnover of 82 PTVs to local government units in the Negros Island Region (NIR) and Western Visayas, held at the Bacolod City Government Center on November 25.

“We are happy to carry out the order of the President—wala pong munisipyo [o siyudad] ang hindi makakatanggap ng ambulansya… because healthcare knows no politics,” Robles stressed, saying that despite the current political turmoil, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is focused on governance.

Of these units, 37 PTVs are designated for NIR, including 11 for Negros Occidental, 22 for Negros Oriental, and four for Siquijor.

Meanwhile, 45 units were allocated to Region 6, with the following distribution: Aklan (7); Antique (8); Capiz (9); Iloilo (20), and Guimaras (1).

With the handover of ambulance units to NIR and Region 6, the official noted that the coverage now stands at 98 percent, or 1,620 PTVs provided out of the 1,642 local governments in the country.

In a press briefer, PCSO pointed out that this effort is in line with the directive of President Marcos to equip every province, city, and municipality with PTVs under the Medical Transport Vehicle Donation Program (MTVDP)—a display of the government’s continued commitment to making health services accessible to all Filipinos.

Each unit is equipped with a stretcher, oxygen tank, wheelchair, first-aid kit, blood pressure monitor, and medicine cabinet, ensuring the safe and timely transport of patients to hospitals and emergency facilities.

Furthermore, General Manager Robles announced that PCSO aspires to give LGUs a second ambulance unit to ensure uninterrupted service when the first unit becomes inoperable.

“Alagaan niyo (ang inyong first unit). You have to take care [of it and] allocate [funds] for its maintenance. Kapag maganda [pa rin] ang unit, you will be prioritized [for a second PTV],” he emphasized before local chief executives present at the turnover.

Robles then attributed PCSO’s capacity to help the public to the usual support and patronage of the Filipino people to their games, saying, “You may not win the grand prize or jackpot, but you can help a lot of people.”

In 2024 alone, PCSO aided over 300,000 Filipinos through medical assistance, educational support, medical devices, and medicines, among others. (BPS/PIA Negros Occidental)