Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon on Tuesday recommended that part of the P75 billion in “insertions” slashed from the budget of the Department of Public Works and Highways be given to the Health department whose budget suffered a P28-billion cut.
Drilon, along with Senator JV Ejercito, is also pushing for an increase in the Health department’s budget by at least P24 billion this year.
During his interpellation of the department’s budget, Drilon pushed for an additional P16.8 billion for the agency’s Health Facilities Enhancement Program.
But Ejercito, who was defending the department’s budget, said the agency needed another P7.4 billion for the Human Resource for Health program.
The fund in the HRH will be used for the continuous employment of more than 10,000 nurses and health professionals deployed throughout the country, Drilon said in a statement.
During the continuation of the interpellation on the Health department’s budget, Drilon proposed to that the controversial additional funding that was allegedly inserted into the budget of Public Works and the Interior departments be realigned to restore the slashed budget of the Health department.
“The amount could be sourced from the P75 billion in additional funding that went to the DPWH or the P27.7 billion supposedly for assisting local government units that went to DILG,” Drilon said.
Both agencies denied requesting additional funds and were clueless as to how they would spend the additional funding, Drilon said.
Senator Panfilo Lacson said “[the Senate] will discuss the final resting place for the P75 billion that we have already agreed to delete from the DPWH proposed budget.”
Ejercito agreed with Drilon and vowed to restore at least P24.2 billion out of the P28 billion that had been cut from the Health department’s 2019 budget.
“These funds are necessary in order to enable the health facilities to deliver better services,” Drilon said.
During Drilon’s interpellation, it was revealed that of the P28 billion that was slashed from the Health department’s 2019 spending program, around P16.8 billion was supposed to fund the Health Facilities Enhancement Program.
“If the budget cut was not restored, a number of health facilities, which have either been wholly or partially completed, cannot be functional,” Drilon said.
He said there were 900 health facilities with 100 percent completed infrastructure and existing human resource but needed equipment for licensing and/or PhilHealth accreditation.
There were also 328 health facilities there were at least 80 to 90 percent complete but in danger of being left unfinished due to the budget cut, Drilon said.
Also slashed was P7.4 billion that was meant for the Human Resource for Health that would be used for the continuous employment of more than 10,000 nurses and health professionals deployed throughout the country.