黑料社

MANILA, Philippines 鈥� Former Vice President Jejomar Binay on Monday called out the national government鈥檚 decision of cutting the budget of the Philippine General Hospital (PGH) despite current necessities to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.

鈥淭here is no way the administration can justify its decision to cut the budget of the [PGH] during a pandemic,鈥� said Binay in a statement.

This came amid a looming P1.3-billion budget cut for the University of the Philippines (UP), which also includes funding for the PGH and the Philippine Genome Center, which is leading the biosurveillance for genome sequencing of COVID-19 variants.

鈥淚n the proposed 2022 budget, PGH was allotted P5.67 billion, lower than the P6.87 billion for this year,鈥� Binay said.

鈥淭his is part of the huge cuts in the budget of the [UP] totalling P1.3 billion. The PGH is part of the UP System,鈥� he added.

According to Binay, if the decision to cut PGH鈥檚 budget is because of the administration鈥檚 ideological war against UP, 鈥渋t is misguided and wrong.鈥�

鈥淚t also underscores the disastrous management of the pandemic and misplaced priorities in the 2022 budget,鈥� said Binay.

Binay then noted that the PGH is the main hospital for less-privileged Filipinos, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.

鈥淐ongress should not only restore the budget of PGH but increase it,鈥� said the former vice president.

鈥淭his will correct an unforgivable act of neglect not only for the value of academic freedom in a democracy but public health during a disastrous pandemic,鈥� he added.

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