House restores reductions in SUC, hospital budgets

MANILA, Philippines – The House of Representatives has decided to restore millions in reductions President Duterte had proposed in the budgets of government hospitals and state universities and colleges (SUCs).

Davao City Rep. Karlo Nograles, appropriations committee chairman, announced the decision yesterday, hours before the House was to approve on third and final reading Duterte’s P3.35-trillion budget proposal for 2017 before Congress goes on its first recess after convening in July.

Nograles said many congressmen, including seven leftist party-list representatives belonging to Makabayan bloc, had lobbied for the restoration.

He said Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez and Majority Leader Rodolfo Fariñas, with the support of Minority Leader Danilo Suarez, have approved their colleagues’ request.

“We are one in the belief that these SUCs and our government hospitals must be given utmost funding priority at all times. Quality education and quality health care are key public services that have a direct impact on our nation’s future,” he said.

He said in Duterte’s budget proposal, allocations for maintenance and other operating expenses (MOOE) of 65 hospitals run by the Department of Health and 34 SUCs had been reduced.

Nograles said Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno recommended the cuts on the assumption that these hospitals and state schools could generate tens of millions in additional funds from fees to supplement their budgets.

With the restoration decision, he said the University of the Philippines-Manila would now receive an additional P85 million for the modernization of its laboratories for the College of Dentistry, the repair and rehabilitation of the College of Nursing building and the acquisition of generators for UP Manila buildings.

He said a total of P233.7 million has been restored in the MOOE funding of 33 other SUCs, including the Philippine Normal University, which will receive an additional P1.4 million; Central Luzon State University, P11.5 million; Southern Luzon Polytechnic College, P2.7 million; Cebu Technological University, P40.6 million; Eastern Visayas State University, P2.4 million; and University of Southern Philippines, P30.3 million.

He said 65 government hospitals would get a total of P1.5 billion in additional MOOE funding. 

“Any deterioration in public health would reflect on the leadership of President Duterte, so we are making sure that our government hospitals will continue to deliver quality health care to our people,” Nograles stressed.

According to Makabayan, among the hospitals that lost money in Duterte’s version of the 2017 budget were the Philippine Orthopedic Center and Jose Fabella Memorial Hospital.

The group said the four specialty hospitals in Quezon City – Kidney Center, Lung Center, Heart Center and Children’s Medical Center – lost a combined P800 million.

“All these public hospitals cater to and serve the poorest of the poor in various regions. Our indigent patients will suffer the most with these budget cuts,” it said.

P3.35-T budget approved

Voting 243-5 with one abstention, the House last night approved the proposed P3.35-trillion 2017 national budget on third and final reading.

The outlay is President Duterte’s first budget proposal.

Fariñas said the House would print a clean copy of the spending bill before transmitting it to the Senate for its own consideration.