Senate President Vicente C. Sotto on Saturday, January 8 revealed that the Department of Health (DOH) has funds for free COVID-19 testing under its 2022 budget.
‘’Well, you can classify it already under the budgets we have put in place in the Department of Health (DOH). Meron na as– bilyon milyon eh (There is already..in billions),’’ Sotto said when asked whether funds for free coronavirus testing has been allocated in the 2022 national budget during a DWIZ radio interview today, January 8.
‘’It’s a matter of, really, magse-set aside ka ng para dito, ito ay para dito, talagang ano eh management eh. Malaking bagay ang management (It is a matter of setting for this, for that, it is management, Management is a big thing),’’ he added.
In the wake of spiraling cases of COVID-19 infections, 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 or the 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.
In a related development, Senator Christopher "Bong" Go on Saturday, January 8 reminded hospitals, laboratories, testing centers and other health facilities to follow the price cap for COVID-19 Reverse Transcription-Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) testing imposed by the Department of Health (DOH) and the Department of Trade Industry (DTI) to ensure that it remains accessible to the public at a fair price.
On the other hand, Senator Richard J. Gordon, chairman of the Philippine Red Cross (PRC), said the PRC is studying if it's possible to lower costs for its RT-PCR testing services with the skyrocketing demand for COVID testing.
Sotto also said that he allowed the Senate Office of the Sergeant-at-Arms (OSAA) has to bring Twinkle Dargani, president of Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corporation, to the Philippine General Hospital for reportedly being COVID-19 positive.
‘’Payag naman din si Senator Gordon eh. Ipinaalam (I was informed lang sa akin ng Sergeant-At-Arms (I was informed by the Sergeant at Arms),’’ Sotto added.
He said he has yet to receive the details of Ms Dargani’s infection since she is in the custody of OSAA at the Senate building for health reasons.
Retired Major General Rene C. Samonte is the OSAA chief.
Twinkle Dargani and her brother, Mohit, and Linconn Ong, both Pharmally officials, are under detention on orders of Gordon’s Senate Blue Ribbon committee, for failure or refusal to submit corporate papers of Pharmally related to its multi-billion-peso contract with Procurement Service, Department of Budget and Management (DBM) to supply COVID-related medical supplies.
Mohit and Ong are detained at the Pasay city jail.