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Palace justifies RITM budget cut, says it's no longer sole COVID-19 testing hub

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ABS-CBN News

Malacañang on Monday said &quot;thousands&quot; of laboratories were running COVID-19 tests, in response to the 2022 budget cut looming over the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM), the country&#x27;s main coronavirus screening hub.Next year&#x27;s proposed spending plan could slash P170 million from the RITM budget, even while the coronavirus outbreak continued to rage, reports said. &quot;Hindi naman po RITM lang ang nagti-testing... Ang number of laboratories natin is thousands already,&quot; said Palace spokesman Harry Roque.(RITM is not only one testing. The number of our laboratories is in the thousands already.) He said private laboratories are undertaking &quot;a huge chunk&quot; of the coronavirus tests. &quot;But I&#x27;m sure there are other reasons behind this,&quot; he said in a press briefing. <ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/09/01/21/doh-releases-new-price-caps-on-covid-19-tests">DOH releases new price caps on COVID-19 tests</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/09/03/21/philippine-red-cross-covid-19-testing-should-be-job-of-government">&#x27;We merely stepped up&#x27;: Red Cross reminds gov&#x27;t of COVID-19 testing obligations, debt</a></li></ul>Just last August, National Task Force Against COVID-19 deputy chief implementer Vince Dizon admitted COVID-19 testing remains insufficient. He said state medical insurer PhilHealth needed to pay screening laboratories. Vice President Leni Robredo earlier called on pandemic leaders to raise the daily COVID-19 testing to 150,000, among other measures, to achieve government&#x27;s goal of making Metro Manila&#x27;s Aug. 6 to 20 <a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/08/18/21/govt-adviser-suggests-metro-manila-mecq-shift">lockdown</a> the &quot;<a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/08/03/21/palace-hopes-metro-manila-ecq-will-be-last-ever-lockdown">last ever</a>.&quot;The Philippines last week crossed 2 million coronavirus infections, among the highest in Asia. The health department on Monday confirmed 22,415 COVID-19 cases, the country&#x27;s <a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/09/06/21/record-high-ph-records-22415-new-covid-19-cases">new highest ever</a> single-day tally. <ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/09/05/21/30000-fresh-covid-cases-in-ph-possible-by-next-week">Philippines may reach 30,000 fresh COVID-19 cases by &#x27;next week&#x27;: OCTA</a></li></ul>

Next year's proposed spending plan could slash P170 million from the RITM budget, even while the coronavirus outbreak continued to rage, reports said. 