Lawmakers question budget cut for govt hospitals

The government has trimmed down the proposed 2011 budget for several public hospitals across the country, and lawmakers want to know the rationality behind it. During Monday’s House appropriations committee hearing on the P32.7-billion proposed budget of the Department of Health (DOH) for next year, Health secretary Enrique Ona was grilled on why the allocations for some public medical facilities was reduced by as much as 42 percent. “Can we rationalize these reductions and most probably see if we could increase the allocation for these particular medical centers?" House Minority Leader Edcel Lagman asked Ona. He noted the cut in the maintenance and other operating expenses (MOOE) budget of East Avenue Medical Center, Quirino Memorial Medical Center, and Amang Rodriguez Medical Center. He did not say how much was reduced in the budget of EAMC and QMMC, but said that ARMC's MOOE budget was slashed by 37.76 percent. In a statement, Health Alliance for Democracy said almost half of the budget of Culion Sanitarium in Palawan was slashed from P25.9 million in 2010 to P12.9 million in 2011. The MOOE budget of Western Visayas Medical Center in Iloilo was likewise reduced by 42 percent. In Metro Manila, the MOOE budget of Jose Reyes Memorial Medical Center, the DOH flagship hospital, was reduced by P9.3 million while that of San Lazaro Hospital, where most infectious cases are brought, was reduced by P6.5 million. Congressional insertions Ona said parts of the budget for the said hospitals went to other medical institutions under the DOH “which have been neglected for sometime." “I think this was in the light of needs or prioritization because of the needs of other DOH medical centers which have been neglected for sometime," he said without identifying the medical institutions that were given the priority in budget. Ona said congressional insertions, usually sourced from lawmakers’ pork barrel or Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF), were not yet included in their proposed budget. Lagman, however, said he was not referring to the initiatives of congressmen. “That has been done traditionally, but what I was talking about was over and above the Priority Development Assistance Fund," he said. Lagman, who represents Albay province in the chamber, reminded Ona that Congress has the “power of the purse" as mandated by the Constitution. “We should not be hesitant to make the necessary amendments, modifications or even abandonment of certain items in the National Expenditure Program to give way to congressional initiatives which would fund items in the proposed budget overlooked by the executive," the lawmaker from Bicol said. Ona, in response, appealed to legislators to allocate part of their PDAF to any DOH hospitals. Military hospitals Gabriela party-list Rep. Emmi de Jesus scored the Aquino government for reducing the allocation for public hospitals while at same time increasing the budget of military hospitals — Armed Forces of the Philippines Medical Center and Veterans Memorial Medical Center. “Aren’t our public hospitals in dire need of new or upgraded medical equipment, supplies and drugs? If the [Department of Budget and Management] can give the AFP Medical Center P1.91 billion and VMMC P820.2 million, shouldn’t the DOH hospitals get the same if not more considering that DOH hospitals are more for the general public?" she said. In a press statement, Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Teddy Casiño expressed alarm at the dwindling budget for the health sector despite pronouncements by health officials on the contrary. “Capital outlay for the 12 major hospitals under the DOH and 55 public hospitals nationwide have been removed and lumped together in a lump sum for use at the discretion of the Secretary. Also, MOOE, which is the lifeblood of public hospitals, have been substantially reduced, sometimes at more than 50%," he said. Casiño said the budget for specialty public hospitals, like the Lung Center, Kidney Center and Heart Center, was slashed by P970.6M. Even the budget for Philhealth premiums for indigents, which stood at P5.17B in 2010, was slashed by more than a billion to only P3.5 billion for 2011. He added that there were also significant decreases in the budgets for “Subsidy for Indigent Patients for Confinement or Use of Specialized Equipment" (P36 million in 2010 to P16 million in 2011), “Operations for Health Centers for Health and Development" (P2.5 billion to P2.27 billion), and “Family Health Including Family Planning" (P1.4 billion to P931 million). ‘Slash and burn’ “Given all the ‘slash and burn' going on in the health sector budget, I am very much worried that the state of public health under the Aquino administration will be much worse," said Casiño. Casiño also expressed apprehension that given the budgetary cuts for health centers, the government’s conditional cash transfer (CCT) program, which aims to reduce poverty through welfare programs, would be a waste of money. “We will give the poor monthly cash dole outs for them to go to the health centers and yet we will not be funding these centers properly. Unless we spend more on these health facilities, the CCT program will not lead to better health for the poor," he said. The DOH proposed budget for 2011 is 7.5 billion higher than the P25.238 billion 2010 budget. However, P5 billion of the amount could not be considered as an increase in the DOH budget as these were merely transferred to the department, according to the Nueva Viscaya Rep Carlos Padilla. He was referring to the P3.5 billion from the Assistance to Local Government Units (ALGU), formerly under the budget of Philhealth, and P1.5 billion for potable water from Local Water Utilities Administration (LWUA) formerly under the Department of Public Works and Highways. “I was happy that DOH would be getting a P7.5 billion increase but my enthusiasm was dampened when I heard that this is not new money," Padilla said. - KBK, GMANews.TV