Manila councilors belonging to the 13-man strong minority bloc have raised concerns over an impending shortage of free medicines for indigent patients in six city-owned and -operated public hospitals.
The bloc, headed by Councilor Bernardito Ang, appealed to Mayor Joseph Estrada to act quickly on the problem.
Ang said the possible shortage was the result of a decision of the city council to divert some P360 million from the 2017 annual allocation of the six hospitals to other city hall entities.
The six public hospitals are the Ospital ng Maynila, Sta. Ana, Justice Jose Abad Santos, Gat Andres Bonifacio, Sampaloc and Tondo II.
Ang said at least P60 million each have been slashed from the budget of the medical centers and have been transferred to the Manila Traffic and Parking Bureau, Manila Tricycle Regulatory Office and the Manila Health Department.
“But the MTPB and MTRO, both chaired by Dennis Alcoriza, already have sufficient budgetary outlays to run these two offices,” he said.
“More than the legal grounds, if there are any, to justify the fund diversion, isn’t it that the moral issue at hand, which is that of the well-being and health of our constituents, more important?” Ang added.
