Senate panel ‘provisionally’ OKs bills upgrading, establishing of DOH hospitals

Sen. Bong Go during the Senate committee on health and demography’s hearing on bills seeking to upgrade and establish DOH hospitals. Screengrab from Senate of the Philippines Youtube

MANILA, Philippines — A Senate panel  has “provisionally” approved several bills that seek to upgrade and establish Department of Health (DOH) hospitals as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to affect the country.

According to Senator Christopher “Bong” Go, chairman of the Senate committee on health, the approval of the measures is pending on the Department of Budget and Management’s (DBM) identification of funding.

“The bills are hereby provisionally approved pending the identification of source of funding by the DBM,” Go said during  Tuesday’s hearing of the committee.

Aiming for the immediate passage of bills, Go pushed the DBM and DOH to scour budget for the measures.

“Ang apila ko naman po sa DBM, hanapan niyo po ng pondo. Kung maari, para sana po sa 2022 para maipasa po natin ito sa lalong madaling panahon,” he mentioned.

(My appeal to the DBM is to find funding for this. If possible, for 2022, so that we can already pass these bills.)

“I will pressure the DOH and the DBM to find funding for this in the 2022 budget,” Go stressed.

Four bills were filed in the Senate while nine other measures were lodged in the House of Representatives, seeking to upgrade DOH hospitals.

Meanwhile, five Senate bills and eight House measures, aiming for the establishment of new hospitals under DOH, were filed.

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JPV