How to Ask for Help for Medical/Medicine Assistance from the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO)

“Health is wealth.” is an age old saying which still rings true today.

A person who is healthy can live a life free from worries, problems and stress.  However, if by any chance you (or someone you know) have been diagnosed with an illness and you don’t have enough resources/finances to undergo a medical procedure or buy (maintenance) medicines there are several ways to do so.  But I will only be discussing about one in this article and that is “how to ask for help for medical/medicine assistance from the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office or PCSO.

These are the documents which you need to prepare:

1.Write a letter addressed to the PCSO chairman.

2. Get a medical abstract from the doctor who attended to you or a referral letter from your doctor if you are requesting for (a supply) of medicines.

3.  It would also be helpful (if you have ready copies of your laboratory tests).

4. Secure an Indigency Certificate from your barangay.  Some barangays charge a very minimal fee of PhP 50.00, others do not charge you for it.

5. You may go to your governor’s office for additional certification that you are a resident of your province. (but, this is not the case at all times.)  Most of the times, the Indigency Certificate from your barangay is enough.

6. At times, a DSWD certification from your municipality will also be required.  (take note that to get a DSWD certification, you should have your indigency certification).

7. If you are seeking help for the payment of hospital bills, you should get the latest copy of your bills from the hospital.

8. You can now proceed to the PCSO Office which is located at:

PICC Secretariat Building

CCP Complex

1307 Roxas Boulevard, Pasay City

or to any Regional Office that is near you.

9. After you have submitted all the necessary requirements, they will give you a guarantee letter addressed to the hospital or to a pharmaceutical company (for medicine supplements or prescriptions).

Warning:  You have to be patient because there is usually a long line of people who are availing of these charitable services.  Just bear in mind, that in everything, you may have to follow some rules/regulations for them to process your paper.

It always pays to come early.

Gotti’s Ristorante

On a recent trip to MOA, my friend and I stumbled upon this small yet cozy restaurant – Gotti’s Ristorante.  Eager to try something new which is not commonly available to some SM malls, we decided to give it a try.

Since we’re not really that hungry, we ordered pizza margherita, ham and cheese pasta for sharing and dalandan shake.  

True to its words, the pasta is really good for 2 to 3 persons.  It is not oily, not even salty unlike the kind of pasta which usually drowns itself in olive oil.  For me, this is just the perfect kind of pasta.

The margherita pizza is also very appetizing and really filled our stomach, that we had to take out the remaining two slices.

I got too adventurous with the dalandan shake since i don’t particularly like citrus fruits.  What the heck, i wanted to give it a try.  The shake is very much like the taste of a dalandan minus the acid taste but more on the sweet side.

All in all, it was worth the try.  The price?  Quite reasonable. 

My regrets?  I was not able to take a photo of the delicious food that we ordered.  Next, time i’ll try to remember to take pictures before finishing them off.  🙂

Gotti’s Ristorante

G/F  SM Mall of Asia

Entertainment Mall , Ocean Drive