Marcos: 100% Patient Transport Vehicles Rolled Out but Target Missed

MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Friday announced that all 82 provinces in the Philippines now have Patient Transport Vehicles (PTVs), a milestone aimed at strengthening emergency response and improving access to healthcare nationwide. The distribution of 34 PTVs in Pampanga marked the completion of Marcos’ promise to provide PTVs nationwide. This, however, fell behind his target of completing the program by 2025. READ: Marcos: All municipalities to get patient transport vehicles in 2025 “Today is a little different because today, by giving the PTVs that we have behind us, we have now completed 100 percent distribution of PTVs to every province, to every city, to every municipality in the Philippines,” he said in a statement at the Provincial Capitol of Pampanga. “At last, we have completed the distribution of these Patient Transport Vehicles. All of our LGUs now have vehicles they can use to transport their patients,” he also said. Marcos also announced plans to provide vessels for coastal communities that can transport the PTVs, allowing patients who need to travel to other islands to remain in the same vehicle throughout the trip. “That will be our next priority, because, of course, the Philippines has many islands,” he said The PTVs are provided by the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office through its Medical Transport Vehicle Donation Program. A total of 1,820 PTVs have been distributed following the turnover in Pampanga. Each unit is equipped with a stretcher, oxygen tank, blood pressure monitor, and other supplies needed to ensure the safe and timely transportation of patients. /mr