Abad: There are enough funds for RH

The Department of Budget and Management on Friday said there are enough funds in the 2016 and the 2015 budgets that the government could tap to implement the family planning initiatives under the Reproductive Health (RH) law whose funding was cut by the Senate.

“There is enough funding to satisfy the 2016 budgetary requirements of the RH law. At the very least, the Department of Health (DOH) can draw P900 million from a number of fund sources to procure family planning commodities in 2016,” Budget Secretary Butch Abad said in a statement.

Abad said there was also a “carryover amount of P337.5 million from the 2015 budget for the health department’s family health and responsible parenting (FHRP) program, as mentioned by Health Secretary Janette Garin.”

“The DOH can supplement the needed funding for family planning commodities from within the line item of the FHRP. From the P2.28 billion appropriation, the DOH can realign P300 million to family planning commodities from one of the components of the FHRP,” he said.