Health Alliance for Democracy (HEAD) opposes the Marcos Jr. administration’s budget cuts in health services in the 2025 proposed national budget and big budget allotment to pork barrel-like programs, debt servicing and militarization.
Marcos Jr’s proposed 2025 national budget reveals his priority: Pork barrel for himself and his cronies, debt servicing for his imperialist master, and militarization to suppress people’s legitimate dissent and satiate his generals’ greed.
As percent share of the proposed P6.352 trillion national budget, health sector allotment is only 5.1% (reduced from 5.6%), defense sector accounts for 6.6% (increased from 4.8%), while debt service is a whooping 13.4% (increased from 11.6%). Infrastructure allotment totals P1.5065 trillion, of which only 1% or 14.8 billion is allotted for hospitals and health centers.
Marcos Jr’s Confidential and Intelligence funds for 2025 is P10.29 billion, of which P4.37 billion is allotted for confidential and P5.92 for intelligence funds. Notorious red tagger National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC)’s budget for Barangay Development Fund will be increased from P2.1 billion to P7.8 billion or 371% increase. This Barangay Development Fund was touted as the Generals’ pork.
A fourth of health budget or 24.51% is allotted for PhilHealth. National Government subsidy for PhilHealth increased from P61.51 billion to P74.43 billion despite the P89.9B billion “excess funds” being taken back by Department of Finance and P500 billions reserve fund of PhilHealth.
This big centralized fund in PhilHealth is always the subject of anomalies and irregularities while the poor Filipino members are suffering from inadequate PhilHealth benefits and high out of pocket payments. Instead of allotting this much to Philhealth, HEAD calls to directly fund public health facilities nationwide.
Marcos Jr’s proposed 2025 budget reflects the neoliberal policies dictated by his US imperialist master.
Inadequate health budget promotes further privatization and commercialization of health services where health care is an expensive commodity profitable for big local and foreign businesses. This further privatization and commercialization of health services is ensured in the Universal Health Care Law and PhilHealth insurance scheme.
Increasing debt service allotment shows the government’s over-dependence on debt, giving the big monopoly capitalists tighter control over our economy through the pro-foreign, anti-development economic policies. Compared to the previous regimes, Marcos Jr is the biggest borrower, with P204.719 billion monthly gross borrowings in the past 23 months, compared to Duterte’s P130.677 billion, BS Aquino’s P61.455 billion, and Arroyo’s 45.185 billion.
The Marcos Jr’s proposed 2025 national budget will not bring about better health and better lives for the Filipino people as it primarily benefits the corrupt, big local and foreign businesses, red taggers and human rights violators.
We call on the Filipino people to stand up and demand to prioritize and provide adequate budget for health and other social services, and rechannel allotment for pork barrel-like programs, militarization and debt servicing to productive economic sectors particularly agriculture and manufacturing. Together let us push for a national budget that prioritizes people’s health and general well-being and the country’s development. #
