Realign P1.1T from ‘Build, Build, Build’ budget to PGH, says solon

Smoke billows out of the Philippine General Hospital as fire hit it at around 1 a.m. on Sunday, May 16, 2021. (Photo from a video posted on Facebook by NURSE BANGZ)

MANILA, Philippines — Gabriela party-list Rep. Arlene Brosas is calling for the realignment of a portion of the P1.1-trillion funds under the “Build, Build, Build” (BBB) program for the reconstruction of the Philippine General Hospital (PGH) following the blaze that gutted the hospital’s third floor.

Brosas on Monday said the PGH is “financially constrained” to do building and equipment repairs following the fire since “there is zero allocation for such under the 2021 national budget.”

“I propose that we realign a portion of the massive BBB budget towards PGH. We cannot afford to leave it paralyzed, as it is one of the largest COVID-19 referral hospitals,” Brosas said in a statement.

“How can we let PGH remain impaired while we continue to build non-essential infrastructure such as redundant roads and road repairs in the time of pandemic? We must persist in correcting the twisted priorities of the 2021 budget,” she added.

Brosas said the Palace cannot simply ask for donations from private groups for the PGH.

Further, Brosas said that the proposal to realign funds to PGH and other public hospitals can be included in the provisions of the Bayanihan 3 bill.

The measure still needs to be approved by the House committee on appropriations before it can be transmitted to the plenary floor for further debates and approval.

A fire broke out on the third floor of the Philippine General Hospital (PGH) on Taft Avenue in Manila, which lasted for almost five hours Sunday, the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) reported.

Several patients in PGH were evacuated and transferred to nearby district hospitals in Manila, according to its directors.

EDV