DOH ’24 budget may suffer P10-b cut, but anti-cancer fight gets more

THE Department of Health (DOH) may have to be more prudent in its spending next year as its proposed 2024 budget might be cut by P10 billion.

Deputy Speaker and Batangas Rep. Ralph Recto said however, that the Marcos administration was seeking a significant increase in the allocation for cancer control and cancer patient assistance funds in the proposed P5.76 trillion national budget for 2024.

But Recto gave assurance that “just like in the past, Congress and the Executive, in the spirit of cooperation, will find ways on how to increase the health budget.”

Recto blamed “the big payroll and overhead in maintaining a large bureau- cracy, plus rising debt service” for boxing out social services.

“If the budget were a sculpture, then revenues are the clay from which it is made from. Hindi ka maaring humulma na malaki kung kulang ang materyales mo,” he explained.

But in a break from the past when Congress would chide the Palace for cutting cancer control and treatment allocations, this time the Marcos administration has proposed that this year’s Cancer Assistance Fund be doubled to P1 billion next year.

The proposed P1.02-billion for the cancer control fund brings to to P2.02 billion the allocation to combat a disease which killed almost 60,000 Filipinos in 2021, or one every nine minutes. “Pwede pa idagdag dito ang proposed P28 billion para sa gamot sa susunod na taon, at panukalang P22.2 billion para pambawas ng hospital bill na nasa Medical Assistance for Indigent Fund (MAIF), Recto added.

Congress is also expected to ea mark P101 billion in premium payments to PhilHealth to achieve universal health care, which swells the DOH budget to P306.1 billion.

But some of these amounts, according to Recto, “should be treated as the floor