Garin:  RH budget cut will not derail program

LEGAZPI CITY, Albay — Health Secretary Janette Garin has assured family planning advocates that the government’s Reproductive Health (RH) program would not be derailed despite the P1 billion cut from the Department of Health (DOH) budget for 2016.

Garin said last Friday the DOH was able to find around P490 million from funds allotted for other health programs that could be realigned to RH projects.

Garin’s latest statement appeared to be a modification of her previous statement when she expressed concern over the P1-billion cut.

She said P332 million was taken from the allocation for medical apparatus that was unspent from the 2015 budget and another P52.4 million intended
for training programs.

The DOH had proposed a P1.086-billion for RH programs this year but Congress drastically slashed it down to only P86 million, leaving the
agency with no funds to procure remaining family planning commodities like contraceptives, IUDs and condoms.

According to Garin, their main concern now would be how to get an assurance from Congress that RH programs would be funded in the 2017 budget.

Garin was here Friday along with Budget Secretary Florencio “Butch”  Abad and Social Welfareand Development Secretary Dinky Soliman for a people’s dialogue on empowerment and good governance.

Soliman, meanwhile, said they would lobby with Congress to pass the bill that proposed to institutionalize the Pangtawid Pamilya (4Ps) program or the cash dole-out program of the government for indigent families.

At present, the continuation of the 4Ps and its accompanying conditional cash transfer (CCT) program would depend on the next president to be elected on May 9.

The CCT bill was authored by Representatives Leni Robredo and Susan Yap in the House of Representatives and due for submission to the bicamiral committee. The Senate counterpart bill was authored by Sen. Ralph Recto and still pending at the Poverty Alleviation Committee chaired by Sen. Nancy Binay.  SFM