On October 21, 2025, at the Dalta Conference Room, Perpetual Help Medical Center (PHMC) and RISE, a leading business-to-business internet service provider, officially launched their partnership — a collaboration focused on strengthening the hospital’s resilience and its ability to serve the Las Piñas community, particularly in times of disaster.

Present at the contract signing were PHMC President Lt. Col. Richard Antonio M. Tamayo, PHMC Administrative Director Capt. Norman R. Biola and RISE Area Sales Head Justin Santiano.

The partnership launch aligns with PHMC’s 50th Anniversary celebration, aptly themed “Golden Year. Greater Heights. Up and Beyond,” highlighting the hospital’s enduring dedication to excellence and service to the community.

What made Perpetual Help Medical Center say yes to the partnership with RISE Internet?

“Definitely, reliability is very important. Ako mismo sa office ko, I have connections from both (networks) because, as you know, this is also a school facility. Sa university, may connection din ‘yan and ‘yung hospital din. So minsan, I switch. Sabi ko mahina yata ito, just for my own usage. Sabi ko nga kay sir Norman, who’s our admin director, we really need a reliable connection lalo na we’re in a hospital setting. We’ve progressed, meron na tayong automated transfer switch, we’re also ISO certified hospital, and connectivity plays a very crucial role in healthcare delivery. We do have the day to day na nangyayari ang ating residents and fellows where they have to call and coordinate all the time with consultants and connectivity is a very important with our risk pack system that our readers get to interpret the results, give feedback, mahalaga din ‘yun for timely and accurate prevention. Even in telemedicine, in our education and training, all of these play a very important and crucial role. Mahirap ‘yung walang internet. Of course, we also have backups and at the end of the day, it’s also part of our training na maging resilient pa din. Malaking tulong talaga ang technology when it comes to healthcare delivery. Even right now, with our government’s effort in increasing our health coverage, ‘yung plano ng PhilHealth, if you notice nage-expand talaga sila with the YAKAP program and meron silang zero balance and even for other illness, ine-expand nila. How does connectivity play a big role? Malaki kasi the doctors need to fill out these forms properly. Dina-download ‘yan, sine-send ‘yan sa PhilHealth and even when the doctors are not around, they confer with the residents and the fellows and mas mabilis ang turn around time na ‘to, better then, of course, ang mga doctors becuase they have needs. So kung mabagal ang connectivity, mabagal ang process internally, mapapabilis ‘yung process. Again, reliable connectivity will shorten up the process and would make it easier for both of us doctors and even for our patients,” Perpetual Medical Center Preisdent Lt. Col. Richard Antonio Tamayo shares.

How does RISE Internet see its role in enabling Perpetual Medical Center to become a more resilient and future-ready healthcare provider?

“It’s about being connected. So, when the connectivity that we will be providing, the service level is more of an uptime of 99%. Aside from that, we’re also offering other ICT (Information and Communications Technology) solutions that they will be needing to provide better connectivity internal and outside of their facilities and to support operations of their medical team. Actually, that’s one thinig that I’m proud of – being a partner of Perpetual Medical Center, even if you don’t reach those patients, I know, with their objective of being at the forefront of medicine, being at the forefront of digitalization of what’s happening in the world, who support whether just the basic treatment of a patient, or a medical forefront in the sense of being the robotics or the future-proofing of life. Meaning giving the best in class healthcare, which I receive.

When asked about how strong their cables are, which were mentioned to be “submarine cables,” RISE Internet Area Sales Head, Justin Santiago clarifies, “hindi maapektuhan but it depends on the fibers (cable). What we can make sure of, as long as there is connectivity, when there’s no electricity, we do not have the power to support the connection. As long as there is power, we have contingencies as well, if you would notice, I don’t know if you’ve heard about data centers? Nowadays, conglomerates, big companies, or even small companies, they also invest in data center, Meaning, it’s not just in their specific offices where they store data. As much as possible, they store it on another site which is secured, meaning on a high ground where it cannot get flooded or far away from a fault line in case there would be disasters like earthquake. We have to support that. So that we provide the backbone for not just connectivity but actually, is more of ensuring that it’s gonna be online.”

What are the plans for the hospital regarding this partnership?

“Definitely, our goal is to make everything interconnected. I have this pet project, it’s very basic with PhilHealth, it playing a big role in the hospitals. Very critical ‘yun, kung hindi mo maayos ‘yung turn around time, you’re not paid on time. That’s critical on our cash flow. We won’t have money to pay our suppliers and the rest. Essentially, we’re coming up with a system that will make PhilHealth processing faster. Again, interconnectivity plays a big role there with our existing hospital information system. But without a reliable connectivity, babagal ito.

The strategic partnership with RISE is a significant step towards embracing greater heights and innovative solutions to continue delivering quality healthcare amid the challenges of the future.

Watch the full Q&A below: