Gordon wants PGH branch in every region in RP

Senator Richard J.. Gordon (Ind.) today called for the establishment of a Philippine General Hospital (PGH) in every region in the country to allow people in the provinces to receive quality medical attention without having to travel all the way to Manila .

Gordon, author of Senate Bill 2402 or the Health and Education Acceleration Program (HEAP), said the Constitution states that "the State shall protect and promote the right to health of the people and instill health consciousness among them.

"We have to put up a PGH in every region to ensure the health of every Filipino as mandated by our Constitution," he said.

"All Filipinos are entitled to the same quality of medical attention. People in the provinces are disadvantaged because they have to travel all the way to Manila to seek quality medical attention," he added.

Gordon has always actively campaigned for the development of the country's health system, regularly giving donations to the PGH to contribute in transforming it into a state-of-the-art hospital that offers services that can compete with those of first class private hospitals in the country.

When he was mayor of Olongapo City , he had the James L. Gordon Memorial Hospital built in 1996 in memory of his father, Mayor James L. Gordon, the city's first elected mayor.

The hospital is equipped with state of the art medical facilities, some of the finest in the region, and has a staff of professional doctors, nurses, managers and administrators.

When he became senator, Gordon sought to address the pressing problems plaguing the country's health and education systems by filing the HEAP bill.

Under the SB 2402, a HEAP Corporation will be established to manage funds that would be remitted by telecommunications companies from a portion of their net revenues from text messages which reportedly reach two billion daily.

The funds would be used to fill the gap in the country's health care and education requirements.

Gordon stressed the need to improve the country's health and education systems as Congressmen Junie Cua (Quirino), Edcel Lagman (Albay), and Salvador Escudero III (Sorsogon) vowed to support the HEAP bill.

"We need to improve our health, education, agriculture, tourism, and information technology in order for us to develop as a nation and compete with our neighbors in Asia . We used to be Asia's No. 1 but now we are known as Asia 's-used-to-be," he said. (30/lap)