Akbayan Rep. Risa Hontiveros revealed today the government seeks to cut the budget of several NCR hospitals that were damaged by typhoon Ondoy.“It’s like being hit by disaster twice. These hospitals have already suffered multi-million damage from Ondoy, and now their budget – their lifeline, in short – is about to be cut,” Rep. Risa Hontiveros said.
Rep. Hontiveros is worried that these hospitals might jack up the price of their services and pass on the cost of rehabilitation to their patients. “With no budgetary support from the government, they would be compelled to increase their fees to fix the damage in their infrastructure and equipments,” she explained. “Dagdag na pahirap ito sa ating mga mamamayan.”
She said that the budget of Jose Reyes Hospital, Rizal Medical Center, East Ave. Hospital, Tondo Medical Center, National Children’s Hospital, and San Lazaro Hospital would be slashed under the proposed budget, with the cut ranging from P1 million to P50 million.
“This is reprehensible. What is ironic is that in times of disaster, we actually rely on these hospitals to provide emergency medical treatment to disaster-stricken communities. At the height of the recent disaster, for instance, the government actually ordered public hospitals to be open despite the floods to provide continuous services to the victims of Ondoy. Why the administration seeks to reduce its support for these public hospitals is therefore beyond comprehension,” Rep. Hontiveros added.
Amang Rodriguez Hospital is the most affected by the typhoon, with the cost pegged at P364 million. “Amang Rodriguez’s budget would be increased, but only by P15 million. Surely this is not enough,” she said.
She said that most of the hospitals were told by Malacanang to charge their rehabilitation costs from the calamity fund.
“But calamity fund from where? Local governments could barely cope with the extent of the damage, and even prior to this disaster they find it hard to finance public hospitals. The GMA administration has yet to clarify whether or not the calamity fund from the national coffers is actually forthcoming,” she said.
“The least that Congress could do is increase the budget of public hospitals. Allowing these cuts to happen would only prove that the government has learned no lessons from Ondoy,” she added.
Source: http://newsbreak.com.ph/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=6939&Itemid=88889376
Ano na ang magiging itsura ng proposed budget ngayong alam na natin na maraming item ang binawasan ng budget. Hindi lamang ang hospitals ang binawasan.
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