Malasakit at Bayanihan Rep. Anthony Golez: Utilize DOH’s P7-B unused budget to hire health workers

Rural doctor and Malasakit at Bayanihan Rep. Anthony Golez

MANILA, Philippines — Rural doctor and Malasakit at Bayanihan Rep. Anthony Golez is taking action to solve the shortage of doctors and medical practitioners in the Philippines by pushing for the implementation of House Bill 6232, also known as the Mandatory Medical Service Bill. 

During a Committee on Appropriations hearing on May 4, 2023, it was revealed that the Department of Health’s P7-billion budget, which is supposed to be for plantilla positions of nurses and doctors, is not being used appropriately. 

Rep. Golez is advocating for its proper allocation as soon as possible to address the medical practitioner shortage in the country.

In an interview, Rep. Golez emphasized, “Ever since the 90s… I’m not saying that this is happening just now. The country is losing its battle against other countries in terms of keeping our nurses or doctors in the country.” 

He also cited recent reports from the Department of Health: “Presently, we saw in the newspapers that DOH has announced that we are lacking at least 300,000 nurses already in the country, and around 95,000 doctors,” Rep. Golez added.

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