Students and health workers under the Coalition for People’s Right to Health (CPRH), Health Alliance for Democracy, Council for Health and Democracy, and Health Action for Human Rights (HAHR) launched a protest action outside the House of Representatives on September 4 to condemn the US-Marcos regime for its proposed allocation of ₱320.5 billion for health in 2026.
According to CPRH, the proposed small budget is an illusion and is fatal. The regime downplays the suffering of the people who have no access to needed health services. Doctors and hospitals are lacking, hospital beds are insufficient, queues for free diagnostic tests are long, and hospital expenses remain high.
“As it is, public health is already at a crisis. The proposed budget is very far from making public health services genuinely free,” CPRH co-convenor Dr. Jamie Dasmariñas explained. The proposed budget is too meager and has no impact on patients’ lives. Hospitals under the DOH will receive only ₱23.9 billion.
Worse are the budget cuts for essential services and programs such as the construction of facilities, epidemiology and surveillance programs, health emergency management, Nationally-Procured Commodities for Prevention and Control of Non-Communicable Diseases, Disease Prevention and Control, and Medical Assistance to Indigent and Financially Incapacitated Patients.
Conversely, the regime increased the budget for infrastructure, AFP modernization, confidential and intelligence funds, defense, and the NTF-Elcac.
“We believe that an allocation of at least 5% of the gross domestic product or not lower than ₱1.3-trillion for health will make public health care free, available and accessible to Filipinos–a compassionate public health care system every hard-working Filipino deserves,” Health Workers Partylist secretary general Dr. Gil Catalan added.
“CPRH calls to expose and hold all corrupt officials accountable, allocate 5% of GDP for health, organize and mobilize for free, comprehensive, and quality public health services, address the problem of poverty, and act for genuine land reform and national industrialization,” the group explained.
