Hontiveros to IATF, DOH: Release report on P9-B expenditure for COVID facilities

Sen. Risa Hontiveros. Screen grab / Senate PRIB file photo

MANILA, Philippines – Senator Risa Hontiveros on Tuesday urged the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) and the Department of Health (DOH) to release a public report on the P9-billion budget allotted for the construction of temporary hospitals and isolation facilities.

In a statement, Hontiveros stressed that if the budget was utilized well, it could set up “temporary but humane” and “fully equipped” isolation facilities.

“Ubos na ba ang P9 billion kaya nasa provincial hospitals na ang mga taga-Maynila? Sobrang puno na yung mga ospital natin, ginawang emergency room na yung tents. The P9 billion, if effectively used, is supposed to go to setting up temporary but humane and fully equipped makeshift hospitals,” she said.

(Have we drained all the P9 billion that is why most people in Metro Manila are now in the provincial hospitals? Our hospitals are already full that’s why tents have become an emergency room.)

Under the Bayanihan to Recover as One Act, P9 billion was allocated for Temporary Treatment and Monitoring Facilities (TTMFs) and isolation facilities, according to Hontiveros.

“It is important to set up makeshift treatment centers where we can. With added support from the government, it is a system that will be easier to replicate in more areas, especially in areas where hospitals can no longer accommodate more patients,” she added.

She also noted that Filipinos should not have to watch their loved ones die because hospitals are full.

Earlier, several hospitals in Metro Manila have reported that they would no longer accept COVID-19 patients for the meantime after they reached their full capacity amid the surge of COVID-19 cases in the country.

Hontiveros said hospitals should be “supported” as many Filipinos were being hospitalized too.

“It is so unjust that they are so close, and yet so far. With all the projections made about the number of cases, dapat matagal ng nag-double time ang mga ahensya. We have to remember, not only COVID patients need to be hospitalized,” she added.

Meanwhile, the senator said the IATF and the DOH must quickly “reinforce and upgrade” their One Hospital Command Center (OHCC) as it was recently reported to be “unreachable” because of the “basic set up” of its system.

She further said that people were running city to city while experiencing an emergency because the OHCC was unreachable, Filipinos do not deserve these “busy signals.”

“With the billions in funding we have available, that is nothing but another lazy copout. Every phone call they do or do not pick up can spell the difference between life and death. We have known for many months that COVID variants, if left uncontained, could overwhelm our hospitals. Why didn’t we prepare for the worst?” she asked.

The Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth), Hontiveros suggested, can accredit additional TTMFs so that the operating cost becomes reimbursable.

“Our health workers and our patients need full support. There is no excuse as to why we are holding back from giving them the best that their lives depend on,” Hontiveros concluded. – Liezelle Soriano Roy, INQUIRER.net trainee