To ensure that district hospitals get their much-needed funds, Sen. Panfilo M. Lacson pushed on Tuesday for the devolution of the budget of the Health Facilities Enhancement Program (HFEP) from the Department of Health central office.
Lacson said local government unit (LGU) officials he has talked to have expressed concern that while the district hospitals are located in their areas, the funds are still lodged with the DOH central office.
“Bakante or kulang ang facilities or unmanned ang district hospitals, because DOH sometimes is slow in downloading or procuring equipment for district hospitals. Hindi nagkaroon ng serbisyong totoo sa district hospitals (District hospitals are unmanned or do not have enough facilities because the DOH is sometimes slow in downloading or procuring equipment for district hospitals. There is no true service in district hospitals as a result),” Lacson said in interpellating the 2022 budget of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG).
Related: Pag-Download ng Pondo ng HFEP para sa District Hospitals, Isinulong ni Ping