Congress to review DOH, DepEd budgets for 2013

MANILA, Philippines - After scrutinizing the implementation of the conditional cash transfer program of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), the joint congressional oversight committee on public expenditures will go over the budgets of the Department of Health (DOH) and Department of Education (DepEd) in preparation for the 2013 general appropriations bill deliberations.

The oversight committee, headed by Senate committee on finance chairman Franklin Drilon and House committee on appropriations chairman Joseph Emilio Abaya, will first go over the expenditures of the DOH today while the review of the DepEd’s programs will be held tomorrow.

“As the examiners of the budget, we are taking every opportunity to be able to scrutinize the budgets of our agencies, so that our people would get assurance that their hard-earned money is being used for programs and projects that benefit them,” Drilon said.

For today’s hearing, the oversight committee would go over not only the expenditures of the DOH but also the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth).

With a total budget of P45.8 billion for this year or seventh among all government agencies, Drilon said there is a need to determine if all of the funds are being used efficiently.

He said the huge appropriations given to the DOH show the commitment of the administration to provide sufficient health care to all Filipinos.

Drilon said the DOH and PhilHealth must ensure that they are doing enough to achieve the United Nations Millennium Development Goals, particularly in reducing maternal and child mortality rates.

The oversight committee would look into the implementation of the National Health Insurance Program by the DOH and PhilHealth, which was given a P12-billion allocation this year to cover the premium subsidies for 5.2 million indigent households.

On Wednesday, the committee will look into the utilization of the DepEd’s budget for 2011 and 2012.

From P207 billion in 2011, DepEd’s budget was increased to P238.8 billion this year.

The oversight committee was created to review and evaluate the expenditure programs of all government agencies in order to ensure the funds appropriated for them are being spent efficiently and the programs are reaching their intended targets.