VETERANS WARD. Veterans participate in an activity in Cebu province in this file photo. Philippine Veterans Affairs Office-Cebu head Reggie Sabandal on Tuesday (Aug. 20, 2024) announced plans to recover and improve veterans’ wards at the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center in Cebu City and Gov. Celestino Gallares Memorial Medical Center in Bohol. (File photo courtesy of PVAO-Cebu)
CEBU CITY – The Philippine Veterans Affairs Office (PVAO) on Tuesday announced plans to open veterans’ wards in Central Visayas government hospitals.
Reggie Sabandal, head of PVAO in Cebu, said their focus is to improve existing facilities at Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center (VSMMC) here and at the Gov. Celestino Gallares Memorial Medical Center in Bohol.
"Our next move is to lobby with VSMMC for the creation of a MOA (memorandum of agreement) with them in order to have a veterans ward in that facility. Our goal in PVAO is enhancing or augmenting the existing facilities of VSMMC which is planned to be implemented in 2025," she said.
She said the goal is to bring medical services closer to the veterans so that they will no longer need to travel to Metro Manila to claim their benefits.
As part of the agreement between VSMMC and PVAO, the Veterans Hospitalization and Medical Care Program assists in improving the infrastructure and equipment for the veterans’ ward as a token of gratitude for their sacrifices to the country during their active years.
“Veterans refer to those who were able to render at least six years of service in the military. Retirees who are able to complete six years of service can apply with us at PVAO,” Sabandal said during the Kapihan sa Bagong Pilipinas forum here.
According to records as of June, 12.93 percent of the 147,448 veterans in the country are from the Visayas.
Meanwhile, 4,509 veterans are from the Central Visayas Region.
PVAO is still serving 30 World War II veterans -- 16 from Bohol, one from Dumaguete and 13 from Cebu.
Sabandal said PVAO-Cebu is also strengthening its annual validation for veterans’ sustained monthly pension.
“We need them to update monthly that’s why right now, field officers and staff are really trying their best to ensure that there is no one receiving the pension even though they died already,” she added. (PNA)
