Robredo to reopen Bayanihan e-Konsulta

Former Vice President Leni Robredo on Wednesday announced that the Angat Buhay Foundation will reopen Bayanihan e-Konsulta—the free telemedicine program she established under the previous administration.

On Facebook, Robredo called for medical and non-medical volunteers as part of the preparations for its resumption.

“Bilang paghahanda, mangangailangan ang programa ng 50 non-medical volunteers at 40 medical volunteers (na maaaring madagdagan sa susunod na mga araw depende sa bilang ng request) para sa iba’t ibang bahagi ng ating operasyon,” she said.

(In preparation, we will need 50 non-medical volunteers and 40 medical volunteers—though the number of volunteers needed may go up in the next few days, depending on the volume of requests—for the different parts of our operations.)

In a tweet later on Wednesday night, Robredo said that 1,100 volunteers signed up within 20 minutes of their announcement. "Thank you," she said. "The spirit of volunteerism is alive and well."

She also reminded volunteers the foundation will remain under a remote setup and asked that applicants have their own devices such as smartphones and internet connections should they apply.

Robredo closed down Bayanihan E-Konsulta on June 1, 2022, over a year since it opened in April 2021 amid the coronavirus pandemic. The free consultation program helped over 58,000 patients—both COVID and non-COVID—which she said was made possible by 947 volunteers and 1,761 call and chat agents. — Sundy Locus/BM, GMA News