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Sara’s secret use of DepEd money

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By Diego Morra

There is something unique in the way Sara Zimmerman Duterte Carpio spends public money. She just disburses cash without properly liquidating funds placed under her prudent custody. This happened when she secured a total of P221.424 million from the Contingent Fund (CF) of the Office of the President (OP) in December 2022 for the use of the Office of the Vice President (OVP.)

Now, the Department of Education (DepEd) under Secretary Sonny Angara also does not know where the P112.5 million of the Confidential Intelligence Fund (CIF) of the department for 2023 went. On Sept. 2, 2024, DepEd Undersecretary for Finance Annalyn Sevilla testified that the money is released quarterly and its liquidation is the job of the head of the agency, who was Sara. The fund was supposedly liquidated but she admitted that only a cover letter for the liquidation is on file with her office.

In the case of the P221.424-million that the OVP spent in the dying days of 2022, the Commission on Audit (COA) issued a notice of disallowance (ND) and ordered Sara to return P69-million of the P73 million for “non-submission of documents evidencing the success of information gathering and/or surveillance activities to support the acknowledgment receipts for payments of rewards in cash, various goods, and medicines.” COA was surprised to learn that P10 million of the money went to payment of rewards, P34.857 million for yet another payment of reward comprised of “various goods” and still another P24.93 million for payment of reward in the form of “medicines.”

COA said that P3.5 million of the disallowed P73 million was used to pay for “tables, chairs, desktop computers and printers without specifying that they were intended for the confidential operations/activities undertaken by the OVP.” In short, COA was gobsmacked by the wanton misuse of the money that Sara got from the CF of the OP. Officials handling the CF are accountable for its use. Technically, Sara cannot invoke the argument that the money extended to her was CIF since the OVP was not entitled to it under the 2022 budget. The OVP budget for 2022 has zero provision for CIF.

Why the clumsy reporting for the supposed “rewards” dispensed by Sara for the shadowy figures covered by her imaginary CIF? The answer is simple. It has been Duterte culture to play around with the CIF in Davao City, which appropriated billions of pesos from 2016 to 2022, beating the CIFs of Makati, Quezon City, Manila and Cebu, which are wealthier jurisdictions with bigger revenues than Davao City. CIFs are certainly enticing budget provisions that can readily be misused to pay for battalions of ward leaders, followers and even gunmen tasked to clear the city of unwanted elements. No wonder the COA has been importuning the Dutertes to clean up their messy three-decade-act in Davao City. Their flood of information and eerie arguments about the tangled state of city finances simply do not square.

It is strange how reward money can now be fungible, and millions have been likewise paid out for 132 surveillance operations. OVP surveillance operations are supposed to be covered by Sara’s security detail, which has a separate budget from the Presidential Security Group (PSG). Since Sara has been obsessed with having her own “command,” she now has a sub-unit for her 433 bodyguards, minus the 75 cops that the Philippine National Police (PNP) reassigned. Policemen are organic to the PNP, which can reassign them at any time. Sara is not their boss but she insists she is, and wants the Davao City cops who have served her well should always belong to her stable.

Fortunately for the Republic, Sara was not designated as secretary of the Department of National Defense (DND), which could provide her with a security detail, say a battalion each, from the Philippine Army (PA), Philippine Navy (PN) and Philippine Air Force (PAF.) The Philippine Marine Corps (PMC) of the PN can also lend her a battalion. Had she been assigned to the DND, COA would have found it next to impossible to understand the finances of the department since it also covers the operations of military attaches and covert personnel. Give Sara half-a-chance to handle funds for such operations, the irregularities in the CIFs of the OVP in 2022 and in DepEd in 2023 would have doubled or quadrupled.

By presiding over the unwieldy spending at OVP and the strange disbursements at DepEd, it is crystal clear that Sara cannot be entrusted with enormous responsibilities that require honesty and sincerity, particularly as regards money. Which brings us to the question of why she must stick to her post at the people’s sufferance when it has become more than evident that she neither has the intellectual delicacy or moral rectitude required of her office. By fiddling with people’s money and spending it penny-wise and pound-foolish, Sara has impeached herself. She has become the Philippine version of Peter Principle, when those deemed to be extraordinarily competent end up completely incompetent as they rise in the hierarchy. The Dutertes are a prime dynastic example of that management perfidy. #

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Diego Mora is a retired journalist.

Opinions expressed in his contributed article above are his own and may not necessarily reflect Kodao’s.

2 Trillion Pesos: Rice to feed Filipinos for the next 3 decades or cold bullets from the US?

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2 years on as President, where is Ferdinand Marcos Jr. taking the Filipino people?

Contributed by Jezrel V. Curambao and Joshua Reyes

DESPITE facing severe social and economic problems, such as skyrocketing prices and impoverished living conditions, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has approved a massive military budget for the defense department. A total of PhP2 trillion will be allocated to the AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) modernization project over the next decade. Even under the current economic woes of the Filipino people, such as extremely high rice price, this amount could provide the people’s staple food for 31 years. Considering the impact of the rising costs of living, it becomes imperative to assess the feasibility and affordability of a PhP2 trillion military budget.

Living cost is skyrocketing but household income continues to dive

While the defense sector is undeniably important, it is crucial to strike a balance that does not burden the Filipinos too much. Since Marcos Jr. took office, the domestic inflation rate has continuously risen, from 2.4% in 2019 to 6% in 2023, doubling in just a couple of years. This also means that the people’s costs of living keep rising. According to data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), the domestic consumer price index has increased from 102.4 in 2019 to 145.97 in 2023, representing a 42.2% increase in prices of daily necessary goods. Even non-staples such as mangoes, which used to sell for about 88 pesos per kilogram in 2019, now costs 125 pesos per kilogram.

Going back to rice, the Philippine Rice Research Institute reported a sudden increase in retail rice prices under Marcos Jr. From 38 pesos per kilogram in 2016, it has risen to the current 46 pesos per kilogram, an increase of 19%. And it is expected to increase even more this year.

In contrast, the employment rate remains consistently low while the poverty rate has also increased. The situation is far from optimistic. Unemployment rates under President Marcos’s administration are much higher than pre-pandemic levels, with many young people facing the dilemma of unemployment and low wages. According to the PSA, the youth unemployment rate in the Philippines in 2023 is 10.5%, with approximately 12.14 million young people without jobs and income. As the mainstay of the Philippines’ economic development, the youth could use more policy and financial support. Additionally, PSA data also show, for the first quarter of 2023, the percentage of the population below the national poverty line is 22.4%. This means that there are 25.89 million people in the country whose daily income is lower than 126 pesos (approximately 2.15 US dollars). The PhP2 trillion military budget should be used to provide more education resources and opportunities for the unemployed and impoverished people, particularly the youth, to stimulate economic growth and create job opportunities, or to ensure the basic livelihoods of the extremely poor population.

Another important consideration is the potential impact on essential sectors such as education and health. According to the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), the education department has been given Php710.6 billion in 2023. However large this sum appears on paper, it shows it is woefully inadequate in light of a 2022 World Bank reports that nine out of 10 Filipinos aged 10 cannot read and understand simple age-appropriate text. In comparison, the defense sector this year receives PhP285. 69 billion, significantly increased from P203. 4 billion allocated in 2023. If the education sector consistently receives such large increases year to year, the existing education crisis may finally be addressed. It is important to carefully consider the potential trade-offs of prioritizing the military over social services. Such a policy compromises critical sectors that directly impact the well-being of Filipinos.

Due to the low wages, soaring living costs and, there have been frequent eruptions of protests within the country. For example, our jeepney drivers are struggling to make ends meet, yet Marcos administration, disregarding pleas from affected transportation sector workers, has decided to implement the controversial for Public Utility Vehicles Modernization Program that requires the surrender of individual jeepney franchises. This policy has placed immense economic pressure on these drivers and has already incited multiple protests over the years. We ask, why are many government programs so heartless to the poor?

An urban poor community symbolizes state of millions of Filipinos. (Kodao file photo)

Unrealistic budget will lead to more foreign debt

Not only is the proposed PhP2 trillion military modernization budget unaffordable, it will also bring unprecedented financial pressure to the government. The modernization budget is a special fund separate from the defense department’s annual budget. In 2023, the program already received an allocation of PhP28 billion, and this year, that figure has grown to PhP40 billion. Over the next 10 years, expenditure on this project will dramatically increase to PhP200 billion annually. Additionally, the Marcos administration has made significant purchases in recent years, including a 375 million USD BrahMos cruise missile deal with India and a 1 billion USD patrol vessels deal with South Korea, all of which need to be paid in the coming years.

Based on the current economic growth and government fiscal situation in the Philippines, meeting this additional military expenditure of PhP2 trillion within 10 years would come at a huge cost. According to the 2023 government budget report, planners initially expected the Philippine economy to grow between 6.5% and 7% in 2024. However, as of now, the first-quarter economic growth rate for 2024 has only reached 5.7%, and the annual growth rate is likely to be only 6%. Additionally, this year, the global interest rates from both the US Federal Reserve and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas are quite stable, which means that the borrowing costs for the Philippine government will be higher than expected, and the fiscal deficit is likely to increase. It is very difficult to make predictions about the future development of the Philippine economy over the next decade. In the past two years, the GDP growth rate during the President Marcos administration has continually declined, dropping from 7.6% in 2022 to 5.6% in 2023.

According to the assessment by Southeast Asian trade and economic expert James Guild in May, given the fiscal situation in the Philippines in 2024, it is impossible to afford annual military modernization spending of billions of dollars, and a PhP2 trillion military expenditure is more of a wish than a reality. To meet this budget, the government will have to resort to heavy foreign loans. However, the current time is not ideal for the Philippines to borrow for military procurement. In 2023, according to BSP data, the total External Debt of the Philippines amounted to 125.4 billion USD, approximately 9.8% of the GDP for that year. The pressure from foreign debt will ultimately shift to the people, and it is difficult to imagine how many people will go hungry and poor as a result.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is received at the White House by US President Joseph Biden and defense sector officials. (White House photo)

26 million Filipino lives are eclipsed by the interests of Marcos, US

President Marcos has decided to invest Php2 trillion of the Filipino people’s money in military expenses that would only enrich US arms dealers. Marcos is unwilling to allocate even a small portion of it to provide essential daily goods for the nation’s 25.89 million impoverished people, ensuring their sustenance, or to support improved education for 12.14 million unemployed youth. President Marcos is sacrificing the welfare of the Filipino people for the next three decades to satisfy his desire to please his US masters whose idea it really is to “modernize” the Philippine military in the service of Washington’s Indo-Pacific pivot against its imperialist rival China. This is not peace and we may be spending for an inter-imperialist war where the Philippines is just a mere pawn. Once war breaks out, the US can gain geopolitical interests at less cost to itself, while the Filipino people have to pay with their lives and endure poverty and underdevelopment for the next hundred years.

What does our country need at this stage? Is it the food supply for the nation’s people for the next 31 years, or the steel and bullets from the United States? #

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Jezrel V. Curambao and Joshua Reyes are freelance writers and were former University of the Philippines students passionate about political and social justice issues.

Opinions expressed in their contributed article above are entirely their own and may not necessarily reflect Kodao’s.

Govt stinginess worsens Filipinos’ suffering and PH economic collapse

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Govt stinginess worsens Filipinos’ suffering and PH economic collapse

November 10, 2020

by IBON Media & Communications

The -11.5% growth, or contraction, in gross domestic product (GDP) in the third quarter, confirms that the Philippines is on its way to becoming the worst performing economy in Southeast Asia in 2020. The economy is saddled by the Duterte administration’s refusal to spend on aid for Filipino families and support for small businesses so needed amid the pandemic.

A fiscal response commensurate to the crisis at hand is critical but the economic managers are tying the government’s hands. The government package’s demand-side effort is grossly insufficient and even undermines its supply-side measures.

The Php3 trillion in government spending in the first three quarters of 2020 is only a 15.1% increase from the same period the year before. While this is larger than the 5.5% year-on-year increase in the same period in 2019, it is still much less than the corresponding 23.6% increase in 2018.

It remains to be seen how much more spending the administration can manage in the fourth quarter of 2020. The Bayanihan 2 law is supposedly the government’s main response to COVID in the remaining months of the year.

However, as of the president’s last report to Congress at the start of November, it appears that at most just Php28.4 billion has been spent so far. With only a little over a month left in the law’s effectivity, this is just 20.3% of Bayanihan 2’s Php140 billion in appropriations and just 17.1% of its Php165.5 billion including its standby fund. The report mentioned Php76.2 billion in allotments and releases which appears relatively large.

However, the same report did not mention any actual disbursements in major items especially for aid or support to small businesses or agriculture. These items with allotments released but not reported spent include: Php6 billion for the social amelioration program (SAP); Php13.1 billion for the COVID-19 Adjustment Measures Program (CAMP), Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers (TUPAD) and Abot-Kamay ang Pagtulong (AKAP) programs; Php9.5 billion for public utility vehicle (PUV) programs; and Php12.1 billion for the agriculture stimulus package. While there is supposedly Php8.1 billion for small businesses, only Php893 million worth of loans were reported.

There is also little real stimulus in the proposed 2021 budget. The proposed Php4.51 trillion budget is a 9.9% increase from the 2020 budget. This is however smaller than the 13.6% increase in the programmed 2020 budget from the year before, and even smaller than the historical annual average 11.1% increase in the national budget over the 35 years of the post-Marcos era. The Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) actually projects an even smaller 5.3% increase in 2022 which will be less than half the historical average.

The DBCC initially projected the economy to have -5.5% growth in 2020. To achieve this, GDP will have to grow an impossible 6.6% in the last quarter of the year which is all the more impossible with the administration refusing to give meaningful aid to millions of distressed families and small businesses including in the country’s vast informal sector.

Additional direct cash assistance to households is already pitifully small under Bayanihan 2 and virtually non-existent in the proposed 2021 budget. The record joblessness and collapse in family incomes because of the government’s poor COVID response compels much larger support to alleviate wide and deep suffering.

The economic managers also keep insisting that the CREATE law’s corporate income tax cuts will most of all benefit micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). This is untrue. Large taxpayers account for an overwhelming 72% of all corporate collections as of 2019 which means that large firms will be the biggest beneficiaries of CREATE. Moreover, many MSMEs are also unregistered and in the informal sector so will not really benefit from any tax cuts under CREATE.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) projects the economy to contract with -8.3% GDP growth in 2020. This is the worst GDP performance in the region with other countries either contracting less or even registering positive growth: Thailand (-7.1%), Malaysia (-6%), Cambodia (-2.8%), Indonesia (-1.5%), Singapore (-6%), Brunei (0.1%), Lao PDR (0.2%), Vietnam (1.6%), and Myanmar (2%).

Even the IMF’s projected 7.4% GDP growth rebound in 2021 will still not be enough to bring the economy back to its level last year in 2019. As it is, the 2020 Philippine economy is going to be as small as it was three years ago in 2017, and with GDP per capita approaching as low as it was in 2016.

The Philippines’ COVID response is the smallest among those announced by the region’s major economies, according to the Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) COVID policy tracker. This earlier reported the Philippines’ response as equivalent to just 5.8% of 2019 GDP which is smaller than in Singapore (26.2%), Malaysia (22.7%), Thailand (16%), Indonesia (10.9%), and Vietnam (10.1%).

Months into the worst economic collapse in the country’s history, the Duterte administration’s obsession with creditworthiness and the myth of a fundamentally strong Philippine economy is preventing it from taking the measures needed for real and rapid recovery. Its insensitivity is placing the burden of rebound and protracted recovery on millions of poor families and distressed small businesses. #

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Kodao publishes IBON articles as part of a content-sharing agreement.

Transport budget for infra but none for affected jeepney drivers

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by Jose Lorenzo Lim

The COVID pandemic has led to massive income losses for Filipinos. The Duterte administration suspended mass transport, including jeepneys, when the enhanced community quarantines (ECQ) in Luzon and other parts of the country were declared in March. Quarantine measures have eased in general community quarantine (GCQ) areas and public transport has resumed in phases. 

The government is attempting to usher economic activity back but public utility jeepney (PUJ) drivers keep getting left behind.

Lost income and jeepney modernization program

Three months into the pandemic, the social welfare department reported some 36,200 jeepney drivers of over 200,000 nationwide getting cash aid under Bayanihan 1. Even so, many jeepney drivers only received one tranche of the Php5,000-8,000 of social amelioration. IBON estimated that around 55,000-70,000 jeepney drivers in Metro Manila each lost an average of Php26,000 per month of lockdown over the first three months of suspended mass transport for a total of Php78,000 each.

When quarantine measures eased, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) prioritized modernized jeepneys in resuming operations in Metro Manila which left most PUJ drivers still unable to operate. More traditional jeepneys have recently been allowed back on their routes but physical distancing protocols make them operate on just half-capacity and, thus, their earnings are also halved accordingly.

The PUJ sector along with other vulnerable sectors have been calling for additional aid as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to rage. However, although the government is moving to gradually resume economic activity, it is allocating less and less for emergency subsidies.

The Php5.58 billion in aid promised PUJ and transport network vehicle (TNV) drivers under Bayanihan 2, for instance, only means an average of Php116-225 per driver per day* spread across four subsequent months of lockdown since the expiration of Bayanihan 1 in June 30. The 2021 proposed national budget allocation for overall emergency aid is even smaller at just Php9.9 billion.

The DOTr announced that it was doubling the subsidy for jeepney operators switching to modernized jeepneys from Php80,000 to Php160,000. However, this is still not enough as modernized jeepneys cost around Php1.6-2.2 million each.

The slow modernization of jeepneys is also a sign that the program is failing. During the 2019 budget hearing of the DOTr, it was reported that the jeepney modernization program was only able to modernize 1.5% of its initial target more than two years after it started. Thus, the DOTr took a step back on the jeepney modernization program and said that it will allow old jeepneys on the roads provided they pass “roadworthiness” standards.

Transport budget for infrastructure

The DOTr is proposing a Php143.1 billion budget for 2021. Of this, Php112.8 billion are capital outlays for railways, seaports and airports.

Of this, Php96.2 billion will be funded by ODA. Specifically, this ODA funding will cover the rail transport program or the construction of the Metro Manila Subway Project Phase 1, North-South Commuter Railway System, and Philippine National Railway (PNR) South Long-Haul Project.

If the government was sincere about its jeepney modernization program not displacing so many drivers and small operators, it could have increased the subsidy for this program. The government counterpart funding for these 3 railway infrastructure projects is worth Php12.6 billion. This could have been an additional Php181,000 jeepney modernization subsidy if shared among 70,000 jeepney drivers in Metro Manila. 

While these expansive mass transport projects will provide faster trips across longer distances, Filipinos still rely on jeepneys as a mode of transportation for short distances or the first or last miles. Increasing subsidies for jeepney modernization is actually a win for both the government and jeepney drivers with the government taking strides towards its goal and jeepney drivers keeping their livelihood.

Keyword: Pandemic

Because of the coronavirus crisis, the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) issued Memo Circular 2020-017 which only allows modernized jeepneys and traditional jeepneys under a corporation or cooperative to operate. This leaves out small jeepney operators and drivers. Unlike big corporate fleet operators, they can ill-afford the costly modernized jeepneys, or even the fees and requirements to form a cooperative. They are even less able today after months of lost incomes and depleted savings.

The government should prioritize subsidizing small jeepney drivers and operators and at least postpone costly infrastructure projects that are less urgent because of the pandemic. More railways, seaports, and airports might always seem like a good thing. However, it has always been questionable if these deliver the best economic and development returns for the huge spending on them and the increased debt taken out. Certainly, the emerging needs of vulnerable sectors because of the pandemic should be a more pressing use for scarce funds.

The Duterte administration should support drivers and operators with emergency subsidies for upgrading or replacing their units to meet safety, health and environmental standards. Getting them back on the road will contribute to spurring economic activity. It will also increase the mobility of the working people who are the most crucial elements in economic recovery. #

Pahayag ng Makabayan Bloc sa badyet ng Office of the President

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Nag-rali ang mga kasapi ng Makabayan Bloc sa Batasan noong Lunes, Setyembre 14, upang tutulan ang anila’y napakalaking badyet ng tanggapan ni Pangulong Rodrigo Duterte samantalang mababa ang badyet para sa kalusugan sa gitna ng krisis ng coronavirus.

Ang pagkilos ay kasabay ng deliberasyon ng House of Representatives Committee on Appropriations sa lampas walong bilyong piso para sa Office of the President sa susunod na taon, higit kalahati nito ay intelligence fund na maaring hindi na iulat sa Commission on Audit. Buong-buong inaprubahan kalaunan ang badyet ng pangulo.

Philippine health recovery not a priority for Duterte administration

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by Maricar R. Piedad

Deliberations on the proposed Php4.5-trillion General Appropriations Act (GAA) for 2021 have begun. This budget will be crucial for the Philippines to fast track recovery from the worst health and economic crisis in its history because of COVID-19. But it is not at all about health recovery as the Duterte administration hypes.

In the National Expenditure Program (NEP) for 2021 submitted to Congress, the government actually defunds areas that are vital to boost the public health system in the time of a pandemic. These include those for disease surveillance, health infrastructure, and human resource capacity building. Despite the glaring health and economic needs exposed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the NEP for 2021 reflects how the government sticks to its old priorities such as transport infrastructure and defense, which are not what the situation urgently requires.

Making the health system weaker

The effect of COVID-19 on the health and livelihoods of the Filipino people is more severe compared to other nations. While countries around the world are starting to recover from the pandemic, the Philippines has the most total and new COVID-19 cases and the most deaths per million population in East Asia.

COVID-19 is stretching the health system’s capacity and the vaccine for the coronavirus is still far from the people’s reach. It is only rational and urgent to ensure that resources to further enhance and capacitate the country’s health system are made available. However, the government is not prioritizing this.

Bayanihan 2, a stimulus package aiming to cushion the effects of the pandemic, allots only Php30.5 billion for health-related responses to COVID such as tracing, treatment, support for health workers, health facilities, and pandemic research. There is also a Php10-billion standby fund for testing, which is paltry according to health advocates.

The proposed 2021 budget for the Department of Health meanwhile has been increased from Php104 billion in 2020 to Php131.7 billion in 2021 or a Php27.7-billion hike. But allotments for some of the most essential programs for health recovery have been slashed.

Selected Health Programs, 2017-2021

Selected Health Programs
Infogram

The budget for the Epidemiology and Surveillance program, which is important to control the spread of diseases through timely data and research, was halved in 2020 – from Php263 million in 2019 to Php116 million this year. A larger budget would clearly have helped strengthen preventive measures versus COVID-19 in the country at the beginning of the year when the first cases emerged. Yet despite the proven importance of this program, the government even proposes to reduce it further to Php113 million in 2021.

The proposed budget allocation for the Health Facilities Enhancement Program (HFEP), which ensures the maintenance and quality of public healthcare facilities, also decreases this year. HFEP is actually being allocated lower and lower budgets each year as hospitals are obliged to generate their own income to fund infrastructure-building and maintenance. From an Php8.4 billion budget for HFEP in 2020, the proposed budget for 2021 is only Php4.8 billion, or almost 50% less than its current budget.

The National Reference Laboratories are vital in detecting and testing COVID-19 cases and other emerging diseases. But the proposed budget for these decreases from the present Php326 million to Php289 million.

Even though one of the main issues during this pandemic is poor data management and reporting by the DOH, the proposed budget for Health Information Technology drops massively from Php1.2 billion in 2020 – which it failed to use properly – to Php97 million, or a 92% decrease.

The proposed budget allocation for Human Resource for Health (HRH) deployment increases, but the program that ensures that the health workforce is equipped with proper training and knowledge to deal with different medical situations is decreased. The budget for HRH Institutional and Capacity Management has been cut by Php15 million.

The DOH’s COVID-19 specific programs – the Php4.2 billion Health System Enhancement to Address and Limit COVID-19 and the Php1 billion Philippines COVID-19 Emergency Response Project – are mere drops in the country’s budget bucket.

What government cares for

The Duterte administration’s proposed budget for 2021 shows how little it cares for the health and socioeconomic recovery of the Filipino people. The biggest chunk of the proposed 2021 budget goes to the Php1.1 trillion “Build, Build, Build” program taking up 24% of the total budget. Only a tiny fraction of this goes to health infrastructure with the DOH getting just Php2.3 billion or barely one-fifth of one percent (0.2%) of total infrastructure spending.

Many of the infrastructure projects lined up – such as big-ticket railways and roads funded with China and Japan loans – are not as urgently needed as facilities for health and more direct measures to support the socioeconomic recovery of distressed households and small businesses.

The government is apparently only willing to spend Php203.1 billion on its so-called universal health care program including to respond to the pandemic – this is just 4.5% of the total proposed budget for 2021. As it is, the Php1.1 trillion infrastructure budget is almost 5 ½ times larger.

The proposed budget for the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) is Php667.3 billion or over five times that of the DOH. The government will allocate Php7.6 billion for primary roads’ maintenance and repair alone which is almost three times the size of the DOH budget for the COVID-19 vaccine, at only Php2.4 billion.

The DOH’s proposed Php203.1 billion budget – even including the budget for PhilHealth – ranks only 5th among department budgets in 2021. This is because, amid the unprecedented public health emergency, the DOH’s proposed 2021 budget is only a Php25.4 billion increase from the GAA this year.

The DPWH gets a much bigger Php228.4 billion increase to Php667.3 billion, as does the Department of National Defense (DND) which gets a Php29.4 billion increase to Php209.1 billion. The military and police forces will still be receiving more funds than the health sector.

The Duterte administration’s proposed 2021 budget bares how it is not changing its priorities despite the marked worsening of the Philippine health situation. Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, infrastructure has been consistently a priority over the health sector which, if anything, is even being distorted and privatized. The people’s health and strengthening the public health system are among the most immediate areas needing attention which, apparently, the administration simply refuses to give. #

‘Government will only be putting millions of children, teachers, education support personnel and their families at risk’

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“Addressing classroom shortages, large class sizes, lack of adequate water supply, working comfort rooms, ensuring health, and (hiring additional) utility personnel in schools (must first be accomplished). The lack of gadgets and access to a strong internet connection for the new modes of teaching under the ‘new normal’ for schools would require additional budget for education, not cuts.

Without addressing these safety measures and lack of infrastructure for education, government will only be putting millions of children, teachers, education support personnel and their families at risk of getting the COVID-19 virus.”

Rep. France Castro
ACT Teachers’ Party
Assistant Minority Leader,
House of Representatives

Jo Maline Mamangun

2020 national budget, hiniling na i-sentro sa serbisyo at kabuhayan

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Hiniling ng iba’t-ibang grupo na ilaan sa serbisyong panlipunan at pang-matagalang kabuhayan ang nakasalang na pambansang badyet ng pamahalaan sa susunod na taong 2020.

Sa isang press conference noong Martes, 26 Nobyembre, isiniwalat nila na ang maling paggamit ng pondo ng bayan tulad ng kontrobersyal na hosting ng Southeast Asian Games at maging ang “Build Build Build” program ng administrasyong Rodrigo Duterte na anila’y para lamang sa madalian at di permanenteng ganansiya.

Sa halip, ayon sa mga grupo, ay dapat dagdagan ang badyet para sa edukasyon, kalusugan, agrikultura, at iba pa. (Bidyo ni Jek Alcaraz/Kodao)

Hospital of Our Hope, System of Our Despair

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by Gene Nisperos, MD

The Philippine General Hospital is the face of our perpetually neglected public healthcare system. As the biggest tertiary training hospital in the country, it provides specialized and very specialized services and training. It is also the end referral hospital of other public hospitals. Pero ito din ang Ospital ng Bayan na sadyang pinabayaan.

The ever-increasing number of patients in PGH reflects the country’s worsening social conditions. The poor’s limited access to basic services, aggravated by their absent economic power and the prohibitive costs of healthcare, all lead them to this single health institution.

Thus, we need to take a close, hard look at the state of PGH and its patients.

A casual stroll from the PGH Out-Patient Department (OPD) to the wards can break your heart.

Patients. Families. All are trying their best to get a measure of the health services they need, never mind deserve. Some are eating their baon along the sidewalk. Others are desperately trying to make their patients more comfortable under the sweltering heat and crowd. Many have been waiting in line since 3-4am just to get in.

A walk through the Emergency Room (ER) can break your spirit.

Everywhere, quietly, patients find small consolation in cold metal beds, in stretchers, in wheelchairs, or even in monobloc chairs. They fill up any unpeopled space that they can find and comfort is a luxury that they will readily forego if only to get seen and treated.

And all of them want to be seen, need to be seen. Many have travelled long distances hoping to be treated for their various infirmities. But the hospital is always shorthanded. The 4000-strong health personnel are almost always never enough for the deluge of patients that come daily.

The ER, currently under renovation, only has a 25-bed capacity. But its daily census is easily north of 150. In the last three years, PGH’s patient census has steadily increased from 586,000 to 647,000 per year.

There are patients who should be in the intensive care unit (ICU) but are still in the wards. There are patients who should be in the wards but are still in the ER. There are patients in “ectopic beds”, or beds in departments other than that where the patient should be confined in.

There is just not enough beds or space. There is just not enough health personnel.

Yes, even the best that PGH can provide remains too little. And everyone can do with much more.

Yet in spite of these, for 2020, Congress deemed it fit to cut the PGH budget rather than increase it. Apparently, for our honourable legislators, the less than P3 billion per year allocation is enough and there are more pressing matters to fund, like the P100 million pork barrel they will each get.

To provide its patients with the barest minimum, PGH needs about P5 billion per year. So why give the hospital much less than what it needs to operate?

Limited funds nga daw kasi.

Currently, around two-thirds of PGH’s budget goes to pay for its personnel, whose numbers cannot match those of the patients, even with medical and health sciences students taking up the cudgels.

Because of insufficient budget, the hospital cannot hire the additional health human resources it needs. It cannot even regularize the contractual employees it has. Worse, it is looking to further subcontract the work being done by institutional/utility workers, the “manongs” who brings patients around the hospital for their labs, x-rays, and what not.

About 25% of PGH’s budget goes to its operations, which directly benefit its patients. Even then, supplies and meds are often lacking so patients need to buy these outside.

Some laboratory exams are unavailable so these have to be done outside as well. Basic equipment, like respirators, have also been subcontracted to private firms and their use have to be paid for by patients.

All of these amount to out-of-pocket expenses that are catastrophic for an already impoverished patient.

To be fair, the PGH Administration exerts effort to augment the hospital’s funds. Donations from private individuals and/or corporations help stretch the meager resources. But at the end of the day, patients and health personnel alike, including students, shell out money to cover for what the hospital lacks.

Either that or they become mute witnesses to the consequences of unmet health needs: morbidity if not death.

PGH supporters calling for a higher budget for the country’s most important teaching hospital.

When government refuses to give enough funds, everyone suffers. Because in PGH, the need will always be much greater than what can be given. Sadly, this is being done to almost all public hospitals: they get less than half of the budget they need but are expected to operate fully, with VERY LITTLE support.

When health officials grow tired of asking enough to provide for what patients deserve, what is given is not even enough to provide for what patients need. When health officials console themselves by asking just enough to provide for what patients need, what is given is barely enough, so that patients expect even less.

This is government policy and it must be changed. THIS is the rotten system that refuses to see healthcare as a public good.

It is therefore right and fair to demand for a bigger budget for health and for PGH.

Every year, PGH should get P10 billion to give its patients the care THEY DESERVE. The hospital should not have to rely on the kind heart of philanthropists or on corporate social responsibility just to keep itself financially afloat. The hospital should NOT EXACT any more from the pockets of its patients and its staff.

The amount also enables PGH to hire and regularize enough hospital personnel to meet the ever-increasing demands of healthcare. The money affords the hospital enough to provide essential supplies and medicine, and ensures that the laboratory and diagnostic equipment are working.

If PGH is given the budget that it deserves, then it can fulfill its most important role: enable the poor and destitute to exercise, and maybe even experience, their right to health. #