₱485-B DOH funding gap leaves programs, operations short under 2027 nat’l budget

The proposed 2027 National Expenditure Program (NEP) provides less funding than requested for several major Department of Health (DOH) programs and operations, leaving the agency P485 billion short of its requested budget.

During the House Committee on Appropriations’ briefing on the DOH’s proposed 2027 budget, Health Secretary Edwin Mercado said the department and its attached agencies requested ₱837 billion, but only ₱353.8 billion was included in the proposed NEP, with PhilHealth, the Health Facilities Enhancement Program (HFEP), and DOH hospital operations receiving lower allocations than requested.

“Bale 42% lang ng aming hiningi ‘yung naisama sa NEP… P485 billion ang hindi naisama…‘Yung HFEP, ang hiningi natin sa HFEP is about P29 (billion), ang naibigay lang po ay P14 (billion). ‘Yung PhilHealth nga, which is P379 (billion), tapos ang naibigay ay P73 (billion). Ang DOH hospital operations po… P11B ‘yung nabawasan. ‘Yun ang top 3 na medyo hindi naibigay ‘yung aming ni-request,” Mercado said.

Mercado said the funding for these programs is needed to strengthen local facilities to prevent the overloading of regional hospitals and ensure adequate benefit payments for PhilHealth members. 

Cuts in operating funds

According to Mercado, most DOH hospitals are set to receive lower maintenance and other operating expenses (MOOE) allocations under the proposed 2027 budget.

“Pero ‘yun pong operations of DOH hospitals in Metro Manila, yun po yung bumaba from 30 billion po nung 2026 GAA to 26.9 billion which is lower than 10.2%,” said Mercado. “Although ang hiningi po namin ay 31.7 po para nga po to cover our projected MOOE pero na-grant lang po ay 26.9,” he added.

First unified national agenda of DOH, PhilHealth

Mercado presented the Unified National Agenda (UNA) for Health, the first common health agenda of DOH and PhilHealth which centers on five pillars covering prevention, primary care, hospitals, digital transformation, and institutional strengthening. 

“The end goal po is to move UHC from policy to practice and to ensure that its benefits are actually experienced by every Filipino…Hindi po ‘yung hinihintay pa na sila ay magkasakit para pumasok dito sa ating healthcare system,” he stated.

The agenda allocates ₱60.5 billion for Healthy Schools, Workplaces, and Communities, ₱29.1 billion for a Functional Primary Care System, ₱207.3 billion for Quality and Efficient Hospitals, ₱2.7 billion for Information Technology Transformation, and ₱54.2 billion for Strong Institutions and Health Workforce.

“Enough” medicines for leptospirosis

Mercado assured that DOH has “enough” supplies of medicines for leptospirosis amid rising cases following incidents of flooding.

He said the agency currently has at least 3.1 million capsules stored in its central warehouse, which he said would be enough to meet demand for the remainder of the year.

“Mayroon po tayong ni-download na preemptively even before the start of the rainy season and we have at least 3.1 million capsules still in the central warehouse, which is enough for the rest of the year,” Mercado said in response to 4K Party List Rep. Iris Montes.

“‘Yung mga for 2027… we will procure 4.88 million capsules for pre-positioning across the CHDs earlier. This will be part of our early procurement,” he added.