The Senate yesterday moved to restore P24 billion in the 2019 budget of the Department of Health (DoH) to provide better health services to the public and support more than 900 health facilities throughout the country.

However, the senators also cut P75 billion off the fund intended for the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), sending President Rodrigo Duterte’s initial “Build, Build, Build” projects to a slowdown in an election year.

But Health Secretary Francisco Duque III, in an interview at the sidelines of the DoH budget deliberations, expressed elation over the efforts extended by Senate Minority Floor Leader Franklin Drilon and Sen. Joseph Victor Ejercito, chairman of the Senate Committee on Health and Demography, to ensure more funding for the agency.

“(According to) Senator Drilon and concurred by the chairman on health Senator JV, there’s enough fiscal space to be able to allow the restoration,” Duque said.

Malacañang, meanwhile, has to accept the Senate’s decision although it will reel for some time until President Duterte finds where to source additional budget for his infrastructure projects.

Duque said Drilon and Ejercito agreed to restore P16.8 billion allotted to the Health Facility Enhancement Program (HFEP) and another P7.4 billion to cover salaries of 26,000 health workers.

The fund will equip 900 completed health facilities nationwide and the continued construction of those 70 percent completed.

“These are combination of hospitals, health stations, health units and centers and other health facilities,” Duque said.

He stressed that there will be no new construction of health facilities under the 2019 DoH budget.

The DoH chief explained that Priority 1 will be the equipping of 100 percent projects completed; Priority 2 will be for the facilities that are 90 percent complete; Priority 3 for those 80 percent completed that will need money to close the 20 percent gap, and then Priority 4 will be for the 70 percent completed projects, meaning 30 percent budget support to close in the gap.

“It’s a catch-up plan. The focus will be on completing building or infrastructure program that have been started a few years back,” Duque said.

Drilon said the fund will be sourced from the P75 billion slashed from the budget of the DPWH or from the P27.7 billion “inserted” to the Department of Interior and Local Government.

“These funds are necessary in order to enable the health facilities to deliver better services,” Drilon said.

EJERCITO Ejercito thanked Drilon for pushing the restoration of the HFEP budget.

He stressed the huge boost of the restoration to his advocacy of providing quality health services to all Filipinos.

“I would like to thank the minority leader, Senator Drilon, for pushing the restoration of the HFEP budget. This will be a great preparation as we anticipate the first year of the implementation of the Universal Health Care Program,” said Ejercito, author of the UHC bill.

“This is the beauty of the Senate, we cross party lines for the interest of the Filipino people,” he added.

Ejercito said slashing of the HFEP budget will be “a disaster for the DoH and the initial year of implementation of the UHCP.”

Malacañang, meanwhile, said it is not alarmed by the DPWH budget slash.

Expressing confidence that the 2019 proposed national budget will be passed soon, presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo reiterated the deletion of the additional funding will not have an adverse effect on the Duterte administration’s “Build, Build, Build” infrastructure program.

“There are many ways. The Executive is very creative, as well as Congress. We will see,” Panelo said. “There’s a supplemental budget and other possible sources. There’s a will, there’s a way.”

The DPWH, basing on the cash-based budgeting system put in place by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), initially asked for a P480-billion budget for the year.

This was later raised by the DBM to P555 billion before forwarding the 2019 National Expenditure Program (NEP) to Congress. The House of Representatives alleged the increase was an “insertion.”

“Number 1, the assumption is wrong. The Executive did not insert. Its job is to propose budget. Number 2, that’s the job of Congress to amend,” Panelo pointed out.

The Executive branch has repeatedly called on Congress to hasten the passage of the NEP to avoid further delays in government projects.

It acted late, however, and belatedly submitted the budget to the Senate.

The budget issue had also exposed a rift between House Majority Leader Rolando Andaya Jr. and Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno.

Andaya accused Diokno of favoring contractors allegedly related to him as a reason for the supposed insertion.

In a related development, Casiguran, Sorsogon Mayor Edwin Hamor denied any relation to Diokno during the House Rules Committee inquiry into the 2019 budget and the alleged flood control scam yesterday.

Hamor said Diokno called him “Mayor,” but not as an in-law during one instance when they met.

“He called me mayor, but not as an in-law,” Hamor said.