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Senators slam P10B cut on DOH's proposed 2024 budget

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Sherrie Ann Torres, ABS-CBN News

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News/File" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2021/news/08/19/20140421-health-jc-a01a8901.jpg"/><figcaption>Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News/File</figcaption></figure></div>MANILA -- Senators who got wind of the P10-billion budget cut suffered by the Department of Health (DOH) for next year’s proposed P5.768 trillion national budget gave varying reactions about it.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/09/12/22/dbm-cuts-funds-for-healthcare-programs-in-2023-budget">DBM cuts funds for healthcare programs in 2023 budget</a></li></ul>Senate Deputy Minority Leader Risa Hontiveros in a statement Monday dubbed as “disappointing” the Development Budget Coordination Committee’s (DBCC) submitted DOH budget with P10-billion budget cut.“The 2024 budget in its current version is deficient across the board. Laging nakakadismaya pag may budget cuts sa mga mahahalagang social services gaya ng health, education at social assistance lalo&#x27;t nasa gitna pa rin tayo ng krisis at nahihirapang bumangon mula sa pandemya ang ekonomiya natin,” Hontiveros said in a statement.According to Hontiveros, the DOH doesn’t deserve a budget reduction given the still many pressing needs of the country healthcare system.Senate Majority Leader Joel Villanueva, on the other hand, sees the P10-billion budget cut as “concerning,” given the substantial funding support needed by the agency for the Universal Health Care Law.“We also need to look into the Universal Healthcare Program budget which was already not enough for its full implementation. Filipinos still spend around 40 percent out of pocket expenses for their medical needs, which contributes to poverty in the country,” Villanueva said.For Sen. JV Ejercito, who authored the Universal Health Care Law, said government agencies’ budget allocations can be touched, but not that of the DOH.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/08/11/23/tony-leachon-appointed-as-doh-special-adviser">DOH appoints Leachon as special adviser for non-communicable diseases</a></li></ul>“﻿We can make sacrifices elsewhere but we cannot compromise budget for health program specially implementation of Universal Healthcare Law, which would benefit all Filipinos,” Ejercito remarked.Sen. Grace Poe on the other hand noted that a cut in the DOH budget will also mean a slash in the funding support for the four specialty hospitals, namely the Philippine Health Center (PHC), Lung Center of the Philippines (LCP), National Kidney and Transplant Institute (NKTI), and Philippine Children’s Medical Center (PCMC).&quot;A cut is not the way to go to have a healthy citizenry... Leakages and inefficiencies in spending should be addressed instead of slashing funds,” Poe said.Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel III, meanwhile, vowed to scrutinize the DOH budget to ensure that “there should be no wastage and leakages when it comes to the purchase of vaccines medicines vitamins and other supplies.”“We should not cut the budget for the basic services. But in calculating the amounts needed for the basic services we should also not allow the bloating of these amounts,” Pimentel stressed.Even Sen. Ramon Revilla, Jr. is against the idea of slashing the DOH budget.“Sa kasalukuyan nga ay parang kulang na kulang na ang ating pondong inilalaan para sa ating mga ospital kaya dapat sikapin na mas matugunan ang mga pangangailangan ng sector,” Revilla said.Sen. Ronald dela Rosa, meanwhile, opted to first hear the explanation about the DOH’s budget cut before making a statement on the matter.“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.For Sen. Francis Tolentino, issues that hounded the DOH especially at the height of the pandemic should also be revisited before looking at what should be the final figure of the agency’s 2024 budget.Sen. Sonny Angara, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, said formal discussion of every agency&#x27;s budget will commence this week, starting with the Judiciary.<div>RELATED VIDEO</div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/wnzIK2P6KDM?enablejsapi=1" width="560"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div>

Sen. Ronald dela Rosa meanwhile opted to first hear the explanation about the DOH’s budget cut before making a statement on the matter.

Senators slam P10B cut on DOH's proposed 2024 budget

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Senators slam P10B cut on DOH's proposed 2024 budget

Sherrie Ann Torres,

ABS-CBN News

Published Aug 21, 2023 07:07 PM PHT

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DOH

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2024 budget

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