Press Statement of Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph G. Recto
PGH to get P456 M budget cut, unless Senate, House restore it

Funding for the Philippine General Hospital is the national barometer of our health priorities. It is the national hospital, so the money it gets from the government reflects the importance government gives to health.

But for 2020, PGH will be getting a P456 million budget cut. Its appropriations, which is lodged under UP in the proposed 2020 national budget, will be reduced from this year's P3.23 billion to P2.77 billion next year.

If the national budget increases every year without fail, then the budget of PGH must rise with it. Or at the very least, the amount be retained, which if inflation is factored in, actually constitutes a reduction.

The PGH is often the first option and the last resort of the poor and the middle class to get the best medical treatment, so any cut on its budget hurts the deepest.

Instead of getting more funds to treat more patients, and train more doctors, it has been prescribed a P1.25 million daily reduction in budget.

The proposed 2020 budget of the PGH will harm its patients. Not only must the cuts be restored, its budget must be increased.

This should likewise be done to the country's "regional Philippine General Hospitals", whose staff are as qualified and as dedicated as the PGH's, medical centers such as Vicente Sotto in Cebu, Southern Philippines Medical Center in Davao City and in other major cities.