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Updating health facility plan: Sen. Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go asks health officials to update the Committee on Health and Demography Tuesday, March 12, 2024, on the implementation of the Philippine Facility Development Plan (PHFDP) 2020-2024. Go said he is willing to hold weekly meetings to check on the progress of various health facilities and projects to determine the state of the country’s health care system. PHFDP refers to the infrastructure and medical equipment investments to ensure that the country’s health system would meet the demands of the Universal Health Care. According to a PHFDP report, about 50 percent of the total barangays in the country do not have a barangay health station and 53 percent of the population do not have access to a rural health unit within 30 minutes. “That is why we included in the budget the construction of 700 super health centers from 2022 to 2024. We want to hear about their status because we do not want a white elephant,” Go stressed during the public hearing. He said the plan also envisions that all provinces and highly urbanized cities should have at least level 1 and level 2 hospitals. However, Go said, of the 114 provinces and cities, 33 percent lack level 1 or level 2 hospitals as of 2019. As of September 2023, he said only 43 percent of the Health Facilities Enhancement Program (HFEP) were utilized. “We also want an update on this. Why is the fund utilization slow? What is the problem in the implementation (of the program?). We had reports that some constructed health centers suffer from substandard qualities. How would the Department of Health monitor the contractor?” Go asked. (Bibo Nueva España/Senate PRIB)