Amid the uptick in confirmed COVID-19 cases, the House Committee on Appropriations chaired by AKO BICOL Party-list Representative Zaldy Co looked into the budgetary performance of the Department of Health (DOH).
The panel examined in particular the agency’s financial reports, budget utilization, and Health Facilities Enhancement Program (HFEP) implementation status for Fiscal Year 2022 until the first quarter of this year.
According to DOH Financial and Management Service Director Rowena Lora, the DOH spent P145.94 billion in 2022, for a 79-percent disbursement rate for the said period.
The funds were spent on DOH priority programs, such as 1) the Health Facilities Enhancement Program (HFEP), 2) Medical Assistance to Indigent Patients Program, 3) COVID-19 laboratory network commodities, 4) prevention and control of communicable diseases, and 5) operation of DOH hospitals.
“We need to ensure that national government agencies use their budgets efficiently and effectively.”
Committee Senior Vice Chairperson and Marikina City 2nd District Representative Stella Luz Quimbo emphasized the need to ensure that national government agencies use their budgets efficiently and effectively.
Zamboanga Sibugay 1st District Representative Wilter Palma inquired about the unfilled positions in DOH.
“The DOH currently has about 20,000 unfilled positions.”
OIC Secretary Ma. Rosario Vergeire responded that the DOH currently has about 20,000 unfilled positions.
She said filling up these positions has challenges, such as uncompetitive salaries, and the insufficiency of certain health professionals in the country, such as speech therapists.
Co, for his part, urged the DOH to distribute antigen kits and personal protective equipment currently kept in storage to local government units (LGU) to benefit the Filipinos, especially healthcare workers, instead of resulting in wastage.
Vergeire attributed the rise in COVID-19 cases to variants, the increased mobility of the population, and vulnerability of the persons getting infected.
She also clarified that the alert levels that the DOH releases are only risk communication tools and that local government units (LGUs) still have the discretion to impose the appropriate restrictions on establishments, and schools, among others, based on the DOH alert levels.
