The workers union at the University of the Philippine system and the Philippine General Hospital branded the cuts on their budgets as “unfair and unacceptable” and Rep. Rufus Rodriguez said this could send wrong message about this administration’s intentions.
Cutting the budget of the University of the Philippines by 2.5 billion and the Philippine General Hospital by P893 million for next year was called by the workers’ union as ‘unfair and unacceptable’ and they insist that the proposed 2023 budget of these institutions should be doubled.
“President Marcos Jr. said our hopes are his hopes. So let me inform the newly- elected President that we fervently hope that the government would appropriate PGH a P10- billion budget,” Karen Faurillo, president of the All- UP Workers Union-Manila/PGH, said in a statement issued Saturday night.
Under the P5.268-trillion proposed national budget for 2023 submitted to Congress last week, the University of the Philippines (UP) System will receive P23.1 billion, or P2.5 billion less than its current P25.6-billion budget, while the proposed allocation for PGH is P5.412 billion, or P893 million less than its P6.302-billion budget this 2022, the Inquirer reported.
Faurillo said the proposed budget cut was both unfair and acceptable. “PGH is known as a premier training hospital and ‘Ospital ng Bayan.’ [The] budget cut is a clear indication that people’s health is not a priority of this government,” she said.
‘Go-to health facilities’
Allotting PGH a P10-billion budget would mean more medical assistance to indigent patients and more funding for the upgrade of hospital facilities and the purchase of more equipment like diagnostic machines, Faurillo said.
It could also fund the hiring of an additional 500 nurses with permanent positions and the regularization of over 300 contractual and job order employees.
“A P10-billion budget would translate to better health services for patients and help ensure our health workers’ benefits and welfare,” she added.
Restore the cut
Cagayan de Oro Rep. Rufus Rodriguez earlier urged President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., Congress, and the Department of Budget and Management to restore the cut in the proposed funding next year for UP and PGH.
“We should be increasing the budgetary allocations of state universities and colleges, which are the poor student’s schools of choice, and government hospitals, which are the pauper’s go-to health facilities, instead of reducing their funds,” he said in a statement on Aug. 23.
Rodriguez added that the government might “send the wrong message” if it insisted on the budget cut.
PGH has been at the forefront of the country’s fight against COVID-19 after its designation as one of the referral centers in the National Capital Region at the onset of the pandemic in 2020.
‘Pushed to the streets’
Its health workers, however, have been complaining about the release of their “much-delayed” COVID-19 benefits, particularly under Administrative Order (AO) No. 43, prompting them to hold a protest during their lunch break last week.
“We are once again pushed to [go] to the streets to denounce the callousness of this government to implement what is due to us. We strongly demand from the PGH Administration, the Department of Health, and the Marcos Jr. government to immediately release our well-deserved yet belated COVID-19 benefits,” Faurillo said at the protest.
Under AO 43, all government personnel who physically reported for work in areas under enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) and modified ECQ between March 27 and May 14 last year were entitled to a rate of P500 per day.
On top of this, public and private health workers involved in the COVID-19 response from Jan. 1, 2022, onward should also get a One COVID Allowance.
PGH health workers, however, said they have yet to receive theirs for April to June this year.
Faurillo said it was “demoralizing and unacceptable” for them to be deprived of their own benefits.
“These COVID-19 benefits were granted to us in recognition of our heroic and invaluable contribution as we bravely and unselfishly risked our lives and health by being at the forefront to respond to the pandemic,” she said.
People’s health is not a priority
“PGH budget cut is a clear indication that people’s health is not a priority of this government,” she added.
Based on the P5.268-trillion proposed national budget for 2023 submitted by the Department of Budget and Management to the House of Representatives, PGH will only get P5.412 billion. This will be a slash of P893 million from its P6.302 billion budget for this year.
The UP workers’ union also urged the Congress, and the DBM to stop the PGH budget cuts, vowing to “oppose and exhaust all means to fight against the budget reduction.”
Instead of a budget cut, the workers’ union is hoping for a P10 billion budget for the state hospital.
Sending the wrong message
Cagayan De Oro Rep. Rufus Rodriguez has urged President Marcos Jr., Congress, and the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) to restore the P3.3 billion that was cut from the proposed 2023 budgets of the University of the Philippines (UP) System and the Philippine General Hospital (PGH).
Rodriguez cautioned the government against
“sending the wrong message if it insists on cutting funding for the UP System and PGH.”
“We should be increasing the budgetary allocations of state universities and colleges, which are the poor student’s schools of choice, and government hospitals, which are the pauper’s go-to health facilities, instead of reducing their funds,” Rodriguez said in a statement on Tuesday.
Rodriguez said the DBM could restore the slashed amount by sending a budget erratum or errata to the House of Representatives.
“They did that in the past. It is they who could easily make the necessary adjustments,” Rodriguez said.
Based on the P5.268-trillion proposed national budget for 2023 submitted to the lower chamber, UP will get P23.1 billion, P2.5 billion less than its current P25.6-billion budget.
On the other hand, PGH’s proposed funding for 2023 is P5.412 billion, down from this year’s P6.302 billion or a reduction of P893 million.
Preferred by indigents
He said UP and other state universities and colleges were preferred by indigent students because tuition was free, while government hospitals like PGH use their share of the medical assistance fund allocation from the national budget to treat poor patients.
For House appropriations vice chair Rep. Stella Luz Quimbo, the reduced allocations for the UP System and PGH could still be remedied during House budget deliberations.
She told reporters that there were many congressmen and senators “who always want to help the PGH” in terms of getting higher funding.
“The PGH is always one of the recipients of amendments (to its budget) that happens almost every year. So if the funding is low, let us not be too concerned because this can still be remedied. Again, that’s precisely the purpose of the budget briefings and plenary debates,” Quimbo said.
“If House members and senators would find it meritorious to amend the proposed budget, of course we will do that. The PGH is very important, not only is it a very good hospital in Metro Manila servicing many catchment areas … At the same time, it is very important because it is a premier teaching hospital,” she added.
Tags: #Budgetcuts, #UP-PGH, #unfairandunacceptable