Senator Christopher "Bong" Go, the chairperson of the Senate Committee on Health, emphasized in an interview on Tuesday, 26 September, the urgent need to bolster the Department of Health's budget as the country navigates toward pandemic recovery even amid several existing and emerging public health concerns.

"Gaya ng sinabi ko noon, full support ako sa DOH kung ano ang makakatulong sa ating healthcare system," said Go.

He recalled the budget deliberations in December 2019 when there were attempts to cut the budget of the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) for the year 2020.

"Nag-budget hearing noong December 2019, tinapyasan ang proposed budget sa RITM at DOH, di po ako pumayag noon. Dinagdagan pa natin at ibinalik natin ang pondo," he narrated.

This decision turned out to be crucial then, as RITM later played a vital role in COVID-19 testing when the pandemic started in 2020. Go noted that the restoration of RITM's budget underscored the importance of adequately funding healthcare institutions, especially in unpredictable times.

Go's recollection came at a critical time when the DOH was facing a P10-billion budget cut for 2024. The proposed budget cut would bring DOH's overall budget down to P199.45 billion from P209.62 billion under the General Appropriations Act of 2023.

With this, Go argued that the healthcare system needs more, not less, financial support. He then underscored the urgency for increased investment in the public healthcare system.

"The more we should invest sa ating healthcare system, dagdagan ang pondo," Go reiterated.

"Para sa akin po, dapat suportahan natin na dagdagan ang pondo ng DOH. 'Wag pong bawasan, dagdagan pa po," he stated further.

He emphasized that the funds should be used wisely to benefit patients particularly the less fortunate.

"Makinabang dapat ang mga pasyente, makinabang po ang mahihirap nating kababayan na walang ibang matakbuhan kundi tayo pong nasa gobyerno," he said.