PGH budget slash ‘unfair and unacceptable,’ says UP workers’ union

The UP-PGH building in Taft Ave., Manila. INQUIRER/ MARIANNE BERMUDEZ

MANILA, Philippines — The UP Workers Union-Manila/PGH has slammed the almost P900 million budget slash for the Philippine General Hospital (PGH) as being “unfair and unacceptable.”

“The budget slash is unfair and unacceptable,” said Karen Mae Faurillo of the UP Workers Union-Manila/PGH, in a statement on Saturday.

“PGH budget cut is a clear indication that people’s health is not a priority of this government,” she added.

Based on the P5.268-trillion proposed national budget for 2023 submitted by the Department of Budget and Management to the House of Representatives, PGH will only get P5.412 billion. This will be a slash of P893 million from its P6.302 billion budget for this year.

The UP workers’ union also urged the Congress, and the DBM to stop the PGH budget cuts, vowing to “oppose and exhaust all means to fight against the budget reduction.”

Instead of a budget cut, the workers’ union is hoping for a P10 billion budget for the state hospital.

Faurillo said their proposed P10 billion budget allocation for the PGH could fund additional medical assistance for indigent patients, upgrade facilities, purchase additional equipment like diagnostic machines, hire additional more or less 500 nursing personnel with permanent positions and regularize more than 300 contractual and job order employees, among others.

“We fervently hope that the government would appropriate PGH a P10 billion budget for 2023. We neither hope for a budget slash,” Faurillo said.— Christian Paul Dela Cruz, INQUIRER.net trainee 

/MUF