MANILA, Philippines — To improve health facilities and retain health personnel, Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has urged the bicameral conference committee tackling the 2019 national budget to boost the allocated fund of the Department of Health (DOH) by P10 billion.
In a statement on Sunday, Arroyo said she had personally instructed Rep. Rolando Andaya Jr., the House appropriations committee chair, to allocate an additional P5 billion for the health facilities program and barangay health centers.
Arroyo said she would also want to place an additional P5 billion to the Health Human Resources Development Bureau of the DOH as to avoid the reported mass lay-off of some 6,000 health personnel, which would include doctors, nurses, and dentists in government health facilities.
“There should be consistent support to our health sector because DOH plays a very crucial and frontline role and in the never-ending need for sufficient and timely healthcare especially in our poor communities,” Arroyo said.
“It needs all the funding support it could get especially in the light of the passage of the Universal Health Care bill,” she added.
Arroyo also noted that, in the past, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III had asked for a bigger budget to fund the completion of over 1,000 health facilities nationwide.
Aside from the DOH, Arroyo also asked for a budget increase for the Department of Agriculture by P20 billion to help farmers lower inflation.
Likewise, Arroyo appealed to the committee to allocate P350 million to the Department of Public Works and Highways to assist around 8,000 urban poor families at the National Government Center in Quezon City in acquiring their land. /atm