Proper budget, right people key to improving PHL covid response

The Philippines recently ranked a poor 53rd in Bloomberg’s Covid Resilience Ranking of the best and worst places to be amid the pandemic.

It also ranked lowest in Nikkei Asia’s pandemic recovery rankings for September, which evaluates 121 countries worldwide in terms of infection management, vaccine rollout, and social mobility.

In a report released on October 6, the financial news magazine gave the Philippines a score of 30.5, placing it at the 121st place.

The Southeast Asian countries with better rankings are Indonesia (54th), Singapore (70th), Cambodia (76th), Malaysia (102nd), Myanmar (105th), and Thailand (109th).

An improved COVID response is top on the list of presidential bet Senator Ping Lacson if he wins the 2022 elections. He says the solution lies in proper disbursement and distribution of funds as well as choosing the right key people.

“Kasi nasa pandemya tayo tapos nakakarinig tayo ng misuse at abuse. Hindi maganda. Maraming namamatay, nagkakasakit, apos makakarinig pa tayo ng hindi magandang paggamit ng budget para sa kalusugan,” he said.

A member of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee, Lacson is one of the senators investigating corruption cases and misuse of health funds. Among these are the overpricing of P841M worth of ambulance, the non-transparent procurement of Sinovac vaccines, and the investigation into the controversial DOH deal with Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corp.

“Prepandemic or during the pandemic, it seems that buying expired medicines and overpricing have not stopped,” he said at a Senate hearing.

Lacson has always been vocal in criticizing the leadership of Health Secretary Francisco Duque III. He said the secretary’s close relationship with President Rodrigo Duterte is the only reason he could not be removed from his position.

If Lacson wins the presidential elections though, he promises to choose only the right people in key positions for the health department. “Dapat ilagay ang mga tamang tao sa trabaho. Kung mali ‘yung tao sa posisyon, puro mali na agad ‘yung susunod.”

 

Budget allocation for COVID response

Through proper distribution and allotment of budget, Sen. Lacson has introduced several measures to aid pandemic response as well as protect health workers.

He introduced as an amendment to Bayanihan I Law the entitlement of P1-million financial assistance in case of death and P100,000 and medical assistance to infected health workers.

He also increased the DOH budget allotted for urban and rural areas by P1 billion in 2020 and proposed an P8.6-billion budget increase for the Health Facilities Enhancement Program.

Education shouldn’t be left behind, even during the pandemic. Lacson allotted P3.6 billion for flexible learning options, to support and prioritize the provision of self-learning modules to financially challenged learners who have no access to internet and technology. He also

He also provided an additional P910 million for medical examination of schoolteachers who perform frontline services.