Pamaskong Handog ng PAGCOR 2010 distributes Christmas gifts to 150 critically-ill children - DAY 12
Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) Chairman and CEO Cristino L. Naguiat Jr. (2nd from left) and President and Chief Operating Officer Jorge V. Sarmiento hand over to PCMC officials the hospital equipment worth half a million pesos donated by PAGCOR to the Philippine Children's Medical Center (PCMC) during the Pamaskong Handog in PCMC.
In photo are PCMC officials, Chief of Staff Elues Fajardo (3rd), Overall Chairman of PCMC's 30th anniversary Rudy Delos Reyes, Deputy Director for Medical Services Dra. Sonia Gonzales and Deputy Director for Nursing Services Amelinda Magno (right) received the special gifts from PAGCOR.
The state-gaming firm granted PCMC's Christmas wish list composed of a syringe pump, weighing scale for babies, nebulizer, oxygen tank with gauge and portable phlegm suction machine.
Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) Chairman and CEO Cristino L. Naguiat Jr. (3rd from left) receives a plaque of appreciation from Philippine Children's Medical Center (PCMC) Deputy Director for Medical Services, Dra. Sonia Gonzales (left). PCMC thanked PAGCOR for choosing the hospital as one of the beneficiaries of PAGCOR's Pamaskong Handog 2010 gift-giving project.
Critically ill children patients of the Philippine Children's Medical Center (PCMC) receive from the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) Board of Directors their Christmas gifts during the state-gaming firm's Pamaskong Handog gift-giving activity in the hospital.
One hundred and fifty (150) critically ill children patients of the Philippine Children's Medical Center (PCMC) received early Christmas gifts from the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) during the state-gaming firm's Pamaskong Handog gift-giving activity today in the hospital.
The children received Christmas gift packs containing toiletries, slippers, coloring books, crayons, and other basic commodities. According to Dra. Sonia Gonzales, PCMC Deputy Director for Medical Services, the whole of December is a busy month for the hospital when kind-hearted benefactors visit the patients to give gifts to their patients.
"We have many indigent patients here, 70% of them come from poor families. Kaya sobrang appreciated nila ang mga regalo sa kanila. Malaki ang pasasalamat namin sa PAGCOR sa pagtulong at pagbibigay nila ng kasiyahan sa mga pasyente namin," Gonzales said.
Also in photo are PAGCOR President and Chief Operating Officer Jorge V. Sarmiento (right) and PCMC Deputy Director for Nursing Services Amelinda Magno.
Apart from the special gifts for the patients, PAGCOR also granted PCMC's Christmas wish list of a syringe pump, weighing scale for babies, nebulizer, oxygen tank with gauge, and portable phlegm suction machine. The hospital equipments donated by PAGCOR to PCMC amounts to half a million pesos and will be utilized for the long-term use of the hospital's patients.
PCMC officials led by Gonzales, Amelinda Magno (Deputy Director for Nursing Services), Elues Fajardo (Chief of Staff of PCMC), and Rudy Delos Reyes (overall Chairman of PCMC's 30th anniversary) received the donations from PAGCOR Chairman/CEO Cristino Naguiat, Jr. and President/COO Jorge Sarmiento.
Magno said they are very grateful to the agency for choosing PCMC as one of its beneficiaries. "Ang aming pamunuan ay nagpapasalamat sa pamunuan ng PAGCOR, kay Chairman Naguiat at COO Sarmiento sa inyong pagdalaw sa amin. Sana ay ito na ang umpisa ng pagtutulungan ng PCMC at PAGCOR," she added.
According to Naguiat, there are many charitable institutions like PCMC who need help. "Our priority for this Pamaskong Handog project is to reach out to centers like this hospital who are not receiving much attention. This is the first time PAGCOR has ventured into a massive Christmas gift-giving activity. Talagang marami ang nangangailangan ng tulong at kami sa PAGCOR ay masayang makatulong sa mga kapuspalad nating mga kababayan," he added.
100 of the PAGCOR Pamaskong Handog beneficiaries at the PCMC are confined patients, while 50 are outpatient sick children who regularly visit the hospital for their treatments. Sixty percent of them are afflicted with cancer, 30 percent are neuro patients, while ten percent are afflicted with kidney and liver diseases, as well as dengue.
In photo are (from left) PAGCOR Director Jose Tanjuatco, President and COO Jorge Sarmiento, Chairman and CEO Cristino Naguiat Jr.; PCMC Chief of Staff Elues Fajardo, Deputy Director for Nursing Services Amelinda Magno, Deputy Director for Medical Services Dra. Sonia Gonzales and MS. PAGCOR Sandra Seifert.
During the Pamaskong Handog event, PAGCOR held a mini Christmas program complete with food and entertainment for the patients. The PAGCOR Voice Symphony sang Christmas carols, Pinoy Dream Academy Season 2 grand winner Laarni Lozada belted some of her latest hits, while the Manouvers danced for the beneficiaries.
Lozada expressed joy at being able to sing for the beneficiaries. "Ang sarap ng pakiramdam na marami kang napapasaya. Yung mga bata dito, despite their sickness lumalaban pa rin sila. Dahil dyan, mas nainspire ako lalo kumanta para mapasaya sila. I thank PAGCOR for making me a part of this event," she said.
The PCMC gift-giving activity is part of PAGCOR's "Pamaskong Handog 2010 - 12 Days of Christmas" project where 24 charitable institutions in Metro Manila and other nearby provinces were chosen as beneficiaries. Since December 9, two charitable institutions a day are visited by PAGCOR to give gifts and bring cheers to their wards. Other PAGCOR branches in the provinces like Angeles, Cebu, Davao, Olongapo, Tagaytay, Laoag and Bacolod are also holding their own gift-giving missions during the entire Pamaskong Handog event.
The project's beneficiaries nationwide number close to 9,000. They come from marginalized groups of society: orphans, neglected and abandoned babies, kids and elderly, handicapped, mentally ill patients, street children, poor and indigent families, retired war veterans and wounded soldiers.