Senate hikes DoH 2025 budget by nearly 28%

THE SENATE has increased the total proposed budget of the Department of Health (DoH) and its attached agencies next year to P277.996 billion from the P217.388 billion proposed by the Executive branch.

Citing the Senate’s committee report on House Bill No. 10800, Senator Pilar Juliana S. Cayetano, who sponsored the department’s budget told the plenary that the increase would be used to build new outpatient clinics, the procurement of vaccines, and renovation of other hospitals next year.

“These are all part of our commitment to integrate the sustainable development goals into our National Development Plan and policies… ensuring healthy lives and to promote the wellbeing of all ages,” she said during Tuesday’s session.

Senator and Finance Committee chairperson Mary Grace Natividad S. Poe-Llamanzares earlier told the Senate floor that the Senate’s P6.352-trillion national budget bill would include funding for the construction of 700 rural health units, 300 local government units and DoH hospitals, and other clinics and health facilities next year.

In the 2025 National Expenditure Program — the document prepared by the National Government detailing its spending priorities before the budget is legislated — the Department of Budget and Management slashed the proposed funding for agriculture, health, and social welfare sectors by 4.7%, 7.6%, and 3.4%, respectively.

“We can do so much better than this than to see our countrymen lining up because we have funds,” Ms. Cayetano said. “It is really a matter of managing our resources properly and putting it into good use.” — John Victor D. Ordoñez