Another year has begun, and I hope we all have started our year right by resting and spending quality time with our loved ones. It is a great time to reflect and reset from all the hustle and bustle of the previous year and jumpstart a year with a positive mindset and competitive spirit. With this, I wish everyone a prosperous and joyous year ahead.

This year is significant in our collective journey to make a fuller and more inclusive recovery from the pandemic and other crises. Health, in addition to housing, food, and education, remains an area of our life as one nation that requires continued improvement. Cognizant of how poor health disrupts an ordinary family's few resources and limits one's ability to make gainful employment or livelihood, the government must continuously improve our healthcare system and bring various health and medical services and programs closer to our people. A healthier citizenry means a more robust economy and a stronger country.

As the Chair of the Senate Committee on Health and Vice Chair of the Senate Committee on Finance, we lobbied hard during last year's Senate budget deliberations for funding for more Super Health Centers nationwide. Under the 2024 national budget, 132 Super Health Centers were funded in addition to the 307 SHCs budgeted in 2022 and 322 in 2023. The government's budget belongs to and for the Filipino people, who should have access to the best possible care for their health.

Knowing how essential keeping a healthy citizenry is in the development of our country, I always envision improved medical infrastructure and services we could offer our fellow Filipinos. As the government builds more health facilities such as Super Health Centers all over the Philippines, we hope these will help Filipinos, especially in far-flung areas. This would lessen the number of patients coming in and out of the hospitals as SHCs already provide free consultations with the help of the municipal health offices, local government units, and the Philippine Insurance Corporation under their Konsulta program. These centers will also be vital in providing primary care and early disease detection.

By addressing various simpler health issues at the onset, we avoid more costly and life-threatening medical conditions later. Just take the case of simple hypertension. Failure to address it earlier may result to more serious cardiovascular diseases requiring more resources to treat.

In connection to this, as the principal sponsor and one of the authors of Republic Act No. 11959 or the Regional Specialty Centers Act, I am confident that these centers will provide specialized medical services for diseases of the heart, lungs, brain, spine, bone problems, mental health, etc. Because of more Regional Specialty Centers established outside Metro Manila, our fellow Filipinos do not have to travel to the metropolis where transportation, expensive food, and accommodation, like in Metro Manila, only add to the already heavy burden poor Filipinos bear.