Pagcor allocates P22.4 million for Pamaskong Handog 2016

The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (Pagcor) has allocated P22.4 million for its traditional Pamaskong Handog this year to benefit some 13,000 people in a 13-day gift-giving activity from December 6 to 21.

The beneficiaries include persons with disabilities (PWDs), special-education students, abandoned and orphaned children, soldiers, daycare teachers, elderly citizens, street families, children with critical illnesses, indigents and minority groups. They were chosen from 41 charitable institutions and non-governmental organizations that look after the poor and neglected sectors of the society.

Pagcor Chairman-CEO Andrea Domingo, who will lead the gift-giving event, said sharing the agency’s blessings with those from the marginalized sectors of the society is one of the core values of Pagcor.

“This Pamaskong Handog project is a worthwhile undertaking. Not everyone is jubilant when Christmas comes due to different reasons and circumstances. So in our humble way, we will try to reach out to those who need our help the most. This, I believe, is the real essence of the Christmas season,” she said.

The state-run gaming firm will also donate P2 million each to the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Educational Benefit System Office, the Foundation of Our Lady of Peace Mission, Inc., and the National Children’s Hospital (NCH).

The AFP Educational Benefit System Office will use the gift for the AFP Scholarship Program benefitting 1,833 children of military personnel who were either killed in combat or incapacitated.

The Foundation of Our Lady of Peace Mission, Inc., which runs the Our Lady of Peace Hospital in Parañaque City, will use its share to buy medical equipment for its Emergency Room, such as cardiac monitors, fetal monitor, medical oxygen manifold system, ECG machines, infusion pumps and syringe pumps.

The NCH, which has been a recipient of Pagcor’s financial aid in the previous Pamaskong Handog events, will use the money to help cover the cost of surgeries of indigent children suffering from congenital anomalies of the gastrointestinal tract and urogenital organs.

Aside from the cash donations, the four institutions will also receive Christmas gift packs containing noche buena goodies during a Pagcor-hosted Christmas party for the beneficiaries.

Pagcor’s 2016 Pamaskong Handog will kick-off at Parañaque National High School. Close to 300 Special Education (SPED) and working high-school students will be treated to an exciting Yuletide program complete with meals and entertainment.

In Metro Manila, the institutions that will benefit from Pagcor’s gift-giving project include the Philippine Council of Cheshire Homes for the Disabled in Cubao, Quezon City; the Concordia Children’s Services, Inc. in Sta. Mesa, Manila; Daycare teachers and elderly citizens from Manila, Pasay and Paranaque; the Kaibigan Ermita Outreach Foundation in San Andres Bukid, Manila; the Mandaluyong City Federation of Senior Citizens in Mandaluyong City; elderly citizens from Pampanga; the Haligi ng Bata, Inc. in Quezon City; the Operations Blessings Foundation Philippines, Inc. in Pasig and the Dumagat Remotados Indigenous People of Antipolo.

Aside from these organizations, Casino Filipino branches and satellites will also conduct separate gift-giving activities in 23 selected charitable organizations in casino host communities nationwide.