ACT-CIS Partylist Representative Eric Go Yap on Wednesday, August 25, said he will lobby for the budget increase for the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) for the year 2021 in the Lower House.
During the virtual Ugnayan sa Batasan news forum, Yap said funding for the RITM in the 2022 proposed national budget was slashed by P170 million.
“Kailangang may power ang RITM (The RITM should have power) to monitor lahat ng mga testing laboratories. Kailangan ng (They need) added fund. I will lobby na taasan ang pondo ng (for the budget increase of) RITM to monitor and regulate all the testing centers in the Philippines,” Yap, who chairs the House Committee on Appropriations, said.
Some solons have questioned why the RITM’s budget decreased when the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC)’s proposed budget for 2022 is at P28.1 billion, which is P19 billion more than its 2021 budget.
Yap, for his part, said the Lower House will slash the NTF-ELCAC’s budget if the agency fails to justify their proposed funding.
“Dadalhin namin kung saan namin nakikita na mas kailangan ng mga Pilipino ‘yung budge (We will take it where the Filipino need the budget more),” Yap said.