No budget cut in specialty hospitals—DBM
The power of the purse lies with Congress, said the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) as it denied having reduced the budgets of four state-owned specialty hospitals under the proposed spending plan for next year.
Contrary to claims, the DBM argued on Tuesday, Sept. 13, that the proposed funds for the four specialty hospitals, as provided both in the National Expenditure Program (NEP) for 2022 and 2023, were actually unchanged, if not, increased.
DBM issued the statement after lawmakers raised concerns over the budget adjustments of the Lung Center of the Philippines (LCP), the Philippine Heart Center (PHC), the National Kidney and Transplant Institute (NKTI), and the Philippine Children’s Medical Center (PCMC).
Specifically, DBM cited that the comparative data stipulated in the 2022 and 2023 NEP for the LCP, which increased from P404 million to P630 million, respectively.
“The seeming decrease in budget for LCP comes from comparing the actual 2022 General Appropriations Act (GAA) to the 2023 NEP. In 2022 GAA, the allocated budget was further increased to P683.9 million due to upward adjustments made by Congress,” DBM said.
In the case of the PHC, the DBM said the hospital’s NEP was maintained at P1.8 billion in 2022 and 2023.
However, the DBM also said that Congress made an upward adjustment in the PHC budget under the 2022 GAA, which resulted in the perceived “decrease” in the 2023 NEP.
The NKTI’s proposed budget under the 2023 NEP was also kept at P1.3 billion, according to the DBM.
“The seeming decrease amounting to P362 million pertains to the congressional adjustments made in the 2022 GAA, which include additional assistance to indigent patients, procurement of electric patient beds, and expansion of the OPD Building Phase II,” DBM said.
Moreover, the PCMC’s budget slightly increased from P1.1 billion under the 2022 NEP to P1.2 billion in 2023.
But DBM also said that there was a perceived budget cut in the 2023 NEP of LCMC after Congress introduced upward adjustments in the 2022 GAA, which allotted P1.5 billion for the hospital.
“The DBM yields to the collective wisdom of the honorable members of Congress on whether to increase or decrease the proposed funds of government agencies during the series of budget deliberations and hearings,” the department said.