Senators on Monday expressed alarm over the P10 billion budget cut in the Department of Health’s proposed budget for next year.
In a statement, Senate Majority Leader Joel Villanueva said the budget slash in the Health department’s proposed budget for 2024 is “definitely concerning.”
“We will look into this and raise this issue during the budget hearing of the Department of Health,” Villanueva said.
“We also need to look into the Universal Healthcare Program budget which was already not enough for its full implementation,” he said.
He continued: “Filipinos still spend around 40 percent out of pocket expenses for their medical needs, which contributes to poverty in the country. This is why we need to ensure that there will be enough funding for programs that directly benefit our indigent patients.”
According to the lawmaker, the Philippines could not afford to put healthcare a second priority after what it went through over the past three years of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Meanwhile, Senator Risa Hontiveros expressed her disappointment over the budget slash in the Health department, calling the proposed P5.768 trillion national budget “deficient across the board.”
“It is always disappointing whenever there are budget cuts in important social services such as health, education, and social assistance, especially since we are still in the middle of a crisis and the economy is still reeling from the effects of the pandemic,” Hontiveros said in a separate statement.
She stressed that even if the country is no longer under a state of public emergency, the government could not withdraw its support for public investment in the healthcare system.
“Notwithstanding our limited fiscal space, DBCC [Development Budget Coordination Committee] must continue to explore non-monetary measures – such as continuing new and wider PhilHealth benefit packages, as well as coming up with UHC catch-up plan—to ease the burden of Filipinos,” she said.
Senator Grace Poe echoed the same sentiment, stressing that a cut in the Health department’s proposed budget is “not the way to go to have a healthy citizenry.”
“We will examine carefully the DOH budget when it reaches the Senate,” Poe said.
According to Poe, the government should look into the leakages and inefficiencies in spending instead of slashing funds.
Likewise, Senator Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr. vowed to look into the budget slash in the Health department’s budget once the Senate tackled the budget.
“We will definitely look into this when we deliberate the National Expenditure Program in the Senate. Health care should be, as it always has been, a priority in formulating the national budget,” Revilla said.
“The current fund allocated for the hospitals appears not enough so we should strive to address the necessity of the sector,” he added.
For his part, Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa said he would like to hear first the reason behind the budget slash before making any comments about it.
“I will have to know first from the budget proponents the reason behind the cut and where do they intend to transfer such cut before I can make the proper motion,” Dela Rosa said.
Over the weekend, Deputy Speaker Ralph Recto revealed that the Health department’s budget will be slashed to P199.1 billion next year from P209.1 billion this year, under the 2024 National Expenditure Program.
Recto said the the trimmed budget allocation for the DoH may be attributed to the “big payroll and overhead in maintaining a large bureaucracy, plus rising debt service” which boxed out social services.