As COVID-19 infection rages, senatorial aspirant Sorsogon Governor Francis ‘’Chiz’’ Escudero is pushing the Department of Health (DOH) to make coronavirus testing more affordable and accessible, if not free at all, to encourage the general public to get tested as a way to control the spread of the highly contagious disease.

Escudero said the prohibitive costs of antigen tests, priced as much as P960, and the gold standard Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR), which rate ranges from P2,800 for public laboratories and P3,360 for private laboratories, are preventing people from getting tested. The prices are set by the DOH.

“The government should make PCR testing accessible, readily available and most of all, free to encourage people to get tested,” Escudero said

“Masyadong mahal para sa mga ordinaryong Pilipino ang presyo ng bawat antigen or RT-PCR test kung sila mismo ang gagastos kaya dapat sana ay magawan ito ng paraan ng ating pamahalaan na maging libre na sa lahat ng COVID tests (Government should do everything to make AntiGen or RT PCR tests free at all as the cost of these tests is too high for ordinary Filipinos),’’ he said

“Magdadalawang taon na tayong nasa pandemya (It is almost two years how that we are into the pandemic). Perhaps, after billions of borrowings to fight this health crisis, it is now high time for the government to seriously consider providing this basic yet crucial tool to win the battle against the virus,” pointed out the veteran legislator, who is seeking a fresh mandate in the Senate come May, 2022 national elections.

According to the Department of Finance (DOF), the country’s borrowings to finance the government’s anti-COVID campaign have already reached $22.58 billion or P1.15 trillion, as of December last year.

But the DOF said in a statement that the total financial cost plus interest would bring this to $28.91 billion or P1.47 trillion, and by the time these loans mature between 2024 and 2060, the Philippine would have coughed up $6.32 billion or P320.85 billion in interest payments alone.

The former senator said the DOH should allocate a bigger budget for the procurement of COVID testing kits and more importantly, subsidize the laboratory costs.

“Hindi naman makakaya ng bawa’t local government units (LGUs), lalo na iyong mga maliliit at mahihirap, na sagutin ang antigen o PCR tests (Not all the LGUs can shoulder the cost of testing, particularly the poorer ones). Kailangan ng suporta ng pamahalaang nasyonal upang ito ay matustusan (They need the financial help of the national government),” Escudero explained.

In Sorsogon, he said, the provincial government provides free COVID tests at its public hospitals despite limited resources.