DBM

supply,” AFP spokesman Col. Medel Aguilar said in an interview.

The four additional EDCA locations were the Naval Base Camilo Osias in Sta. Ana, Cagayan; Lal-lo Airport in Lal-lo Cagayan; Camp Melchor Dela Cruz in Gamu, Isabela; and Balabac Island in Palawan.

Also included in the proposed projects are the construction of humanitarian and assistance disaster relief (HADR) warehouses, hangars with electrical and water facilities, billeting or barracks complete with amenities for personnel, and a command and control fusion system.

releases P25.16b for health insurance

THE Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) stands to receive some P25.16 billion for the one-year health insurance premiums of more than eight million Filipino indigents, according to the Department of Budget and Management (DBM).

Budget Secretary Amenah F. Pangandaman has approved the release P25.16 billion to cover the insurance premiums of 8,385,849 qualified indigents enrolled in PhilHealth.

Pangandaman approved the Special Allotment Release Order (SARO) for PhilHealth on Tuesday.

The DBM said the funding would be taken from the authorized allotments in the 2023 General Appropriations Act.

Pangandaman said the appropriation was part of the Marcos administration’s effort to provide af- fordable health care for all Filipinos. mst.daydesk@gmail.com

“President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. mandated his Cabinet to ensure that Filipinos are provided with affordable health care,” she said.

“The pandemic has shown us the importance of a better health care system. That’s why we are striving to make it more accessible to our countrymen, especially the needy,” she added.

PhilHealth was mandated to administer the National Health Insurance Program, which aims to provide health insurance coverage and ensure affordable, acceptable, available, and accessible health care services for all Filipinos.

In February 2019, former President Rodrigo Duterte signed Republic Act 11223 or the Universal Health Care Act making all Filipino citizens automatically enrolled in the government’s insurance program.

NOT A STICKUP. A woman holds up a 9mm carbine on display during the opening of the 29th Defense and Sporting Arms Show spearheaded by the Association of Firearms and Ammunition Dealers of the Philippines (AFAD) at SMX Convention Center in Pasay City on Thursday. Danny Pata