A lawmaker on Monday flagged budget cuts to medical assistance programs and other line items under the Department of Health’s (DoH) proposed 2027 budget, noting that funding had instead been earmarked for what he described as the “presidential pork barrel,” which may be distributed among politicians ahead of the 2028 elections.
“What they replaced it with was the P58-billion presidential pork barrel—the Local Government Support Fund (LGSF), which will be distributed to local governments that do not yet have specific plans on where it will be used,” Caloocan City 2nd District Rep. Edgar “Egay” R. Erice said in an interview on the sidelines of the second budget hearing of the Department of Health (DoH) before the House Committee on Appropriations in Filipino.
“Imagine, there is funding and there is a program that you can simply continue. It is already a good program. They took away its funding. There is no project, there is no program, but they put funding into it to be distributed to politicians.”
“This budget is for the 2028 campaign. So they’re putting up funds to be distributed to politicians,” he also said.
Mr. Erice said, for instance, that the budget for the Medical Assistance to Indigent and Financially Incapacitated Patients (MAIFIP) program was slashed by 53% to P24 billion under the 2027 National Expenditure Program (NEP), from P51 billion under the 2026 General Appropriations Act (GAA).
He also said the DoH’s Universal Health Care for Zero Billing program, which covers the out-of-pocket hospital expenses of indigent patients, will receive zero budget allocation for the next fiscal year.
The representative also pointed out cuts in various budget items of the agency, including a 34% reduction in the Health Facilities Enhancement Program (HFEP); a 10% reduction in the creation of DoH hospitals in Metro Manila; and a 68% reduction in the Health Emergency Preparedness and Response program, among others.
DoH Secretary Dr. Edwin M. Mercado asked lawmakers to restore the P11 billion cut from the agency’s Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses (MOOE) and increase the Health Facilities Enhancement Program budget from P14 billion to P29 billion.
“Our request is that once the Appropriations Committee deliberates, we hope our appeal will be reconsidered. We have already submitted [our proposal],” Mr. Mercado said.
If the smaller 2027 budget under the NEP is approved, Mr. Mercado said the agency will adapt by pursuing efficiency measures, such as making agreements with healthcare providers to shift from individual payments to bulk or bundled payments, which could help streamline transactions and improve cost efficiency.
The DoH will also pivot its focus to primary care to reduce hospitalization costs, noting that 33% of illnesses are controllable at the primary-care level.
On concerns over the zero allocation for the DoH’s zero-balance billing program, Mr. Mercado said the expenses would instead be covered by MAIFIP, while the quantified free services provided in DoH hospitals should be covered by efficiency savings from Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses (MOOE) and Personnel Services (PS). — Edg Adrian A. Eva
