SENATORS warned that the uncertain job security of health workers employed by the Department of Health (DoH) could disrupt the implementation of the Universal Health Care Bill next year.
Senate Minority leader Franklin M. Drilon, speaking during the budget hearing of the health department on Monday, said: “You cannot have an ‘endo’ situation in the DOH, because the services will be affected. Let us regularize them so that we can provide stability to our health system.”
“Endo” or end-of-contract is a hiring practice that denies workers a path to permanent employment and the related benefits.
Health Secretary Francisco T. Duque warned during the hearing about the possible displacement of more than 15,000 of 26,307 workers who are on job order status because of the reduction in the health human resources deployment (HHRD) portion of the department’s 2019 budget. He said the reduced funding will only accommodate about half of them, as contractuals.
The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) slashed the 2019 budget of the health department to P71 billion for 2019 from P107.3 billion last year.
Senator Joseph Victor G. Ejercito told reporters on Monday that reducing the roster of health care workers will throw obstacles in the implementation of the Universal Health Care Bill, which the Senate hopes to pass as early as next month or as late as February 2019.
“You can’t deprive people of health care services they deserve especially (now) we are about to pass the Universal Health care program. Let’s hope we don’t have a reduction in workers in the first year of implementation,” he said.
Mr. Duque said there was a competing call on the DoH’s resources from “mobile health stations and rural health centers, district hospitals, provincial hospitals.”
The senators also questioned the reduction in the 2019 budget allocation for the Health Facilities Enhancement Programs, which fell to P50 million from P30.3 billion previously.
“The better alternative is for the DBM to readily recommend amendments to the DoH budget so that it won’t be vetoed,” Mr. Drilon said.
Sen. Risa Hontiveros-Baraquel said that the HFEP budget needs to be restored to accommodate the DoH’s planned facilities projects.
“I will move that we restore the HFEP budget based on the list submitted by the DoH. Second, I also move to make a similar motion regarding the health and human resources budget,” she said.
“We can sacrifice the other (department’s budgets), but not health,” said Mr. Ejercito. — Gilian M. Cortez
