Go seeks higher budget for DOH in 2020 expenditure plan

Sen. Christopher “Bong” Go answers questions from the media on September 17, 2019 at the Senate. INQUIRER.NET PHOTO/CATHY MIRANDA

MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Christopher “Bong” Go on Tuesday assured the Department of Health (DOH) that he would fight for a higher budget for health services when the Senate deliberates on the government’s proposed P4.1-trillion national budget for 2020.

“As health committee chair, it’s important for me that there be sufficient funds for the medical services and healthcare programs of the government,” Go told the Inquirer.

Go’s remarks came a few days after funds for health services were slashed by about P10 billion in the P4.1-trillion national budget for 2020 approved by the House of Representatives on Friday, even as the country faces a polio epidemic as well as dengue and measles outbreaks that have claimed thousands of lives.

The P88-billion budget of the DOH in the 2020 spending bill decreased by P10.6 billion from its 2019 level of P98.6 billion, said Iloilo Rep. Janette Garin.

Go said budget officials had informed him that underspending was the main reason behind the slash in the DOH budget, and that he and his fellow senators would consider augmenting the agency’s appropriations “as long the funds [are used] for [additional] health facilities.”