“We intend to align [the budget for] the last two years of [the Duterte] administration [in] making the Philippines much stronger to address any shocks in the future,” Chua said. On health, priorities would include infrastructure and increasing capacity, housing, and water and sanitation, according to Chua. “We will also consider procurement and budget allocation flexibility to move delivery faster,” he said. These include improving the country’s health infrastructure, production of pharma-grade medical supplies, strategic inventory of medicines and equipment, the implementation of the Universal Health Care law, research and development, virology center, and pharma development center. Chua’s remarks come after the inter-agency Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) recently adopted a revised 2021 cash budget amounting to P4.18 trillion, or 19.6 percent of gross domestic product, higher than this year’s P4.10-trillion cash budget.

Source: Manila Times May 28, 2020 16:30 UTC