Marcos: All 82 provinces now equipped with patient transport vehicles

President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. on Friday announced that all 82 provinces in the country now have Patient Transport Vehicles (PTVs) that could be used by local government units to transport patients to medical facilities in times of emergency.

Each vehicle features essential medical equipment, such as a stretcher, spine board, wheelchair, blood pressure monitor, first aid kit, and oxygen system. It also comes with safety features like an early warning device and a fire extinguisher, according to the Presidential Communications Office (PCO).

“Today is a little different because today, by giving the PTVs that we have behind us, we have now completed 100% distribution of PTVs to every province, to every city, to every municipality in the Philippines,” Marcos said during the distribution of a PTV at San Fernando, Pampanga.

“Sa wakas, nakumpleto din natin ang pagbigay nitong patient transport vehicles at lahat na ng ating mga LGU. Meron tayong masasabi na magagamit nila para sa kanilang pasyente,” he added.

(Finally, we have completed the distribution of these patient transport vehicles to all our LGUs. They now have vehicles available for their patients.)

Marcos, together with his wife, First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, on Friday led the distribution of 34 additional PTVs to local government units in Northern and Central Luzon.

Of these units, 14 were allocated to Region III, six to the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR), six to Region I, and eight to Region II.

The six PTVs for CAR were distributed to Abra, Apayao, Benguet, Ifugao, Kalinga, and Mountain Province.

For Region I, one unit each was given to Ilocos Norte and Ilocos Sur, while La Union and Pangasinan received two units each. In Region II, two units each were provided for Batanes, Cagayan, Nueva Vizcaya, and Quirino.

The President said the PTVs may be used to transport patients to and from health facilities for free.

He also said that the next phase of the project will involve providing boats to local government units to ensure faster transportation for passengers living in island communities.

“At kung titingnan ninyo, doon naman may display, may barko doon na maliit na ‘yun ang isusunod namin dahil syempre, maraming isla dito sa Pilipinas. Papaaano ‘pag ang pasyente ililipat, bubuhatin pa, dadalhin sa barko, bababa, etc.,” Marcos said.

(If you look over there, there is a display of a small vessel. That will be the next phase of our project, since there are many islands in the Philippines. Because we have considered patients living on islands---we had to lift them and carry them into the ship, and so on.)

“Ngayon, ang gagawin sa design na ‘yan, isasakay na ‘yung transport, isasakay na do’n sa barko kaya ‘yung pasyente hindi na kailangan bumaba doon sa kanyang transport vehicle,” he added.

(With this, we no longer have to carry patients because the transport vehicle itself will carry them to board the vessel.) —LDF, GMA News