Senate Committee on Finance hearing: DBCC briefing on the 2021 National Budget

09 September 2020

Build, Build, Build din sa local hospitals, hindi lang sa kalsada at tulay

Noting how the pandemic has highlighted the poor healthcare situation in the provinces, Senator Ralph Recto emphasized the need for increased spending on our healthcare infrastructure at the local level.

“If we are willing to spend P1 trillion on BBB, why not also do a build, build build for our local hospitals? There is nothing in the budget to increase bed capacity at the local level–district, provincial or regional hospitals.

“Sa palagay ko, hindi lang puro kalsada ang kailangan natin ngayon. Hindi lang puro tulay ang kailangan natin ngayon.

“Our eyes are more open that we need to make more investments in our healthcare infrastructure. We must show the public that we are serious in fighting this pandemic, that we are allocating for health. Considering that we will be borrowing roughly P3 trillion next year, there should be enough funds for vaccines, for PPEs, for testing kits, for quarantine centers.”