Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto on Wednesday scored the “biggest factory defect” in the proposed P4.5-trillion 2021 national budget, citing how health infrastructure would be getting only a “microscopic” 1 percent share of total spending for government infrastructure amid the prevailing coronavirus pandemic.
He expressed dismay that in the proposed P1.1-trillion spending for capital outlay next year, only P11.4 billion is allotted for health infrastructure in the 2021 general appropriations bill.
Recto also pointed out that the proposed 2021 budget did not include funds for a sustained contact tracing for COVID-19.
Recto said the COVID-19 crisis had put the country’s health system to a “stress test,” whose results “are not good” and should have prompted the government to ramp up health spending.
Click here to read more.
Image credits: Shutterstock
Have anything to say about the health spending in this year’s budget? Please let us know in the comments section below.
