House Deputy Speaker and Batangas 6th district Rep. Ralph Recto (Rep. Recto's office) 

The over P3.8 billion slashed from the Health Facility Enhancement Fund (HFEP) in the proposed 2024 national budget should be restored in order to bankroll the implementation of the Republic Act (RA) No. 11959 or Regional Specialty Centers Act.

Thus, said House Deputy Speaker and Batangas 6th district Rep. Ralph Recto as he underscored the need to fund the new law next year. 

"Kung hindi ‘yan mapopondohan sa 2024 budget, ibig sabihin sa 2025 pa ang implementasyon n’yan (If that won't be funded jn the 2024 budget, it would mean that the implementation would be pushed back to 2025)," Recto said in a statement. 

"If that happens, then it is akin to a patient who will stay in the emergency room for a long time while waiting to be admitted," he said. 

"As these units will handle 17 specializations, from heart to lung to kidney, the Medical Specialty Centers Law has 'Do not delay' written all over it," underscored Recto. 

"Meron pong Health Facility Enhancement Fund sa national budget (We have the HFEP in the national budget). It’s a regular feature of annual health expenditures. Ngunit ang malungkot ay para sa taong 2024, ang HFEP ay kinaltasan ng P3.82 billion (But the sad part is for the year 2024, HFEP was reduced by P3.82 billion). 

Recto said that from the current allocation of P26.81 billion, the HFEP was allocated P22.98 billion for 2024. "Funding the Specialty Centers Act can probably begin by restoring the P3.82-billion cut," he said. 

According to the former Senate President Pro Tempore, there's already a place in the 2024 national budget for funds meant for the Regional Specialty Centers Act. 

"In fact, DOH (Department of Health) hospitals in which the specialty centers will be established have specific, line-item funding in the HFEP. What the House can do is simply augment it," he said.