The Philippine Red Cross (PRC) Pangasinan Chapter is facing blood supply shortage following an increase in demand for blood, prompting a plea for donors to come forward.

While their daily target is to collect 20 blood bags, they often receive around 60 to 100 requests for blood in a single day.

Sally Sibayan, a relative of a blood recipient, has visited the PRC three times and said that it is hard to find blood for her diabetic sibling.

"Mahirap maghanap ng dugo… tulad po ako, nag-donate na rin ako, [ako rin po] 'yung last [donor na] taga sa amin," he said.

The rising demand is linked to cases requiring blood like dialysis, surgeries, and instances of dengue.

"Medyo tumataas ang cases ng pangangailangan ng dugo because of the dialysis, operations, and medyo may case rin tayo ng mga dengue for the previous months," Rex Vincent Escano, the Officer-in-Charge of PRC Pangasinan Chapter, said.

He urged people to donate blood proactively to prevent shortages.

"Nanawagan talaga kami sa mga blood donor na mag-donate sila para hindi maging patient-directed process. Nagdadala ng donors 'yung watchers, mga client ng sariling blood donor, at 'yun ang niri-release for the next day after the testing," Escano added.

Escano highlighted that donating blood is a way of helping others.

Reyna Mariano, a regular blood donor, has been donating since 2017.

"Para makatulong sa ibang tao kasi wala naman akong alam na maitutulong sa iba pero 'yung mai-save mo 'yung isang buhay is napakahalaga," Mariano said.

Around 21,000 blood bags is the annual target of PRC.