MANILA, Philippines - Private hospitals should no longer put a price and reexamine blood bags dispensed to them by the Philippine Red Cross because it is “completely unnecessary,” PRC chairman and Sen. Richard Gordon said yesterday.

In a speech at the Asian Institute of Maritime Studies, Gordon said the PRC is doing something to stop private hospitals from doing so.

He also said the PRC might no longer give blood bags to private hospitals if such practice persists.

He said indigents who need blood transfusion need not worry about spending for blood because the PRC would issue certificates ensuring that they would no longer pay.

Gordon and officials of the Philippine Coast Guard-Auxiliary also signed a memorandum of agreement for the PCG-A to hold bloodletting projects twice a year.

PCG-A national director Vice Admiral Valentin Prieto said that with the bi-annual bloodletting project, the PCG-A could make a significant and valuable contribution to blood collection and volunteerism efforts.