Senator Sonny Angara, chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, explained that the newly minted administration of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. wouldn’t be able to complete its plan to establish specialty hospitals in all regions of the country within its six year term.

Read: https://mb.com.ph/2022/07/25/marcos-vows-no-more-lockdown-improved-healthcare-system-eyed/

“We have 16 regions, we are talking about maybe five to seven specialty hospitals. Five to seven times 16 then you’re talking about maybe a hundred different hospitals. Wala pang administrasyon ang nakakagawa ng isang daan na ospital sa loob ng isang adminisyon, so, konting reality check lang (No administration has made over 100 hospitals within one administration, so, this is a reality check),” Angara said in a DZBB interview on Sunday morning, July 31.

Despite the size and challenge of the project, Angara is a proponent of the government's plan, adding that the administration's primary goal was to establish a blueprint dictating the initiative's direction.

“Isang malaking hamon yan, napaka-ambisyoso nitong programa pero napakaganda kung magawa natin. Alam naman po natin hindi matatapos yan dito sa termino ni President Marcos pero ang importante, magawa yung blueprint o yung plano (It is a big challenge, a very ambitious program but it will do a lot of good if we can execute it. We know that it can’t be completed within the term of Marcos but what’s important is that we have a blueprint or a plan),” Angara continued.

“Gusto lang niya ay magkaroon ng plano ang ating bansa para maging klaro ang direksyon natin (Marcos wants that we have a plan so that our direction is clear),” he added.

The Finance Committee Chair previously clarified that financing the government’s plan to establish specialty hospitals was feasible, explaining that it could be funded through the Health Facilities Enhancement Fund.

Read: https://mb.com.ph/2022/07/28/funding-marcos-plans-to-build-specialty-hospitals-possible-says-angara/